THE EFFECTS OF HUMANWILDLIFE CONFLICT ON THE POTENTIAL

THE EFFECTS OF HUMAN/WILDLIFE CONFLICT ON THE POTENTIAL FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ECOTOURISM IN THE KASIGAU REGION OF SOUTHEAST KENYA

“The developing world faces many challenges; chief among them is the need to balance ecosystem protection with the advancement of rural community development and food security (Reynolds 2001). ” Community-based ecotourism may be a possible solution and can, if introduced and maintained correctly, achieve this balance by benefiting both local people and wildlife.

Tourism (733 billion USD) Wildlife Tourism Ecotourism Community-based Ecotourism

Community Based Ecotourism Seven Key Aspects (Honey 1999) 1 - Respect local culture 2 - Involve travel to natural areas, 3 - Minimize impact 4 - Build environmental awareness 5 - Provide direct financial benefits for conservation 6 - Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people 7 - Support human rights and democratic movements

The Potential of Community Based Ecotourism • If rural communities gain resources from CBE they are more likely to protect their environment (Ngece 2002) • CBE allows local people to have more control over ecotourism projects in their area and receive most, if not all of the benefits (Ngece 2002). • New forms of wildlife management, like CBE have begun to lead a recovery in wildlife populations (Emerton 1998)

CBE in the Taita Taveta District: A potential local for increased ecotourism • CBE could be regarded as a tool for sustainable local development in Taita Taveta, Kenya (Himberg 2004) • The Taita Taveta region is the next leader in ecotourism development (Maina 2004) • The development of ecotourism in the Taita Hills is recommended by the Cross-Border Biodiversity Project (Karanja 2002)

Can community-based ecotourism meet these objectives? • Limited information is available “concerning means to assess the success of CBE” (Ross 1999). • Not all sites have the potential for long-term profitability from ecotourism (Isaacs 2000). • Actually achieving benefits for the local community is difficult (Isaacs 2000).

The African Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Objective: To assist in the development and evaluation of a sustainable, ecologically-sound, wildlife- and ecotourism-based economic model on the community-owned Maungu Ranch Goals: 1) Reduce poaching and subsequent bushmeat utilization 2) Increase a sense of enfranchisement of these communities 3) Produce a model economic system for other rural communities in Kenya

Three Areas of Focus to Reach our Goals: Bushmeat Utilization Community Surveys Wildlife Abundance Is there potential for successful CBE in the Kasigau region of the Taita-Taveta District?

Background on Kenya