Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Luangwa Safari Association Trade Contributions to the Local Economy
300,000
250,000
200,000
Sub-total
Average
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2003
Years
Source: Luangwa Safari Association, 2004 cited in Pope, 2005
Figure 7.2 Luangwa Safari Association business contributions
to the local economy, 1990-2003
Zimbabwe
Policy
The Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources
(CAMPFIRE) was established in 1988 as a mechanism to allow local communi-
ties to manage natural resources (including wildlife) on communal lands, and sell
quotas to hunting operators. Rural District Councils (RDCs) were devolved the
legal authority to manage wildlife from the government (Jonga, 2003). However,
in the run up to the 2000 general election, various coalitions of actors, gathered
under the banner of 'war veterans', stepped up a previously low-level campaign of
occupying commercial farms and some state-owned land. ZANU(PF), the ruling
party, fought the election under the slogan 'Land is the economy and the
economy is land' (Wolmer, 2003). In February 2000, a national referendum was
held regarding a draft new Constitution for Zimbabwe, and was followed in June
by a nationwide parliamentary election. These two processes dramatically
changed the country's political environment. Unfortunately, the changes were
traumatic and reported as such, resulting in a poor international image for
Zimbabwe, which had adverse implications for the whole economy, and most
particularly the tourism industry (de la Harpe, 2001). Farm occupations and a
'fast-track' land reform process picked up momentum after the election, under-
pinned by a policy emphasis on the importance of small-scale peasant agriculture
at the expense of white-dominated commercial agriculture in general, and the
wildlife industry in particular (Wolmer, 2003). Wildlife tourism in Zimbabwe is
considered within this political and historical context.
Communal and household benefits
Wildlife conservation was linked to community benefits from safari hunting and
wildlife tourism, and by 1993, 23 CAMPFIRE districts were earning revenue
Search WWH ::




Custom Search