Tourism participation in the Isimangaliso wetland park: perceptions, practices and prospects
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Date
2009
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Abstract
There has been turmoil between the Isimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and the Khula village community located adjacent to it. Khula village community members have been trespassing into the park and conducting illegal activities. Some of these include: killing wild animals, cutting trees for wood carving and medicinal purposes without permission from the Isimangaliso Wetland Park Authority. In addition, the number of hijacked tourist cars in the area is increasing and other serious criminal activities directed to tourists are becoming very common.
All these illegal activities are progressively contributing, not only to the gradual deterioration of the status of the resources, but also to the spoiled relationship between the authorities, tourists and the community around the Isimangaliso Wetland Park. These occurrences are impacting adversely on the park as a tourist destination. What is implicit is that tourist visitation numbers at the Wetland Park will drop, and these reduced numbers of tourists that will affect the employment rate within the local community. Pursuant to these observations and problems, the researcher found it appealing and necessary to explore the relationship between the Isimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Khula village community. This would be achieved by investigating the participation, practices, and patterns associated with the administration of the Isimangaliso Wetland Park.
In an attempt to address the research question or problem, the following research objectives were set up:
• To reveal the extent to which the local community is aware of the
importance of tourism in the study area
• To establish whether the communities do participate in the reserve
activities that bring in income
• To determine the existing type of relationship between the local
communities and the park authorities
• To explore whether the communities are given a platform to
express their preferences about the park
• To investigate whether there are any development initiatives the
reserve is offering to the local community.
The research methodology used to execute the objectives of the research study involved collecting information from the local community of Khula Village, Isimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and KwaZulu-Natal Ezemvelo Wildlife. Data was collected by means of sets of questionnaires. The data collected was analysed using the SPSS computer statistical package, which led to getting the research findings.
There were various findings that emerged and were deduced from the research data analysed. The findings showed that a dual relationship between the local community and Park Authorities. On the one side it was good because of the social involvement of local communities in the activities of the Park, whereas, on the other side, the lack of economic participation affected the relationship negatively. The findings showed that, among the respondents from the study area, a limited number of people had had access to tertiary education. It is believed that the lack of tertian7 education influenced the availability of skills that resulted in a small number of people participating in activities that would
bring economic benefit as opposed to social benefits. Social benefits were enjoyed by a larger number of the respondents whereas economic benefits were only experienced by few. Furthermore, these economic benefits were experienced through activities, which brought income to the local communities such as harvesting wood for carving and craft making. Some benefits involved the performance of cultural activities to tourists, whereby community participants were paid money for the services. The cited benefits reflect some of the important solutions to the research problem of this study.
Description
A dissertation of submitted to the Faculty of Arts
in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
Master's in Recreation and Tourism in the
Department of Recreation and Tourism
at the University of Zululand, 2009.
Keywords
Wetland Park, Tourism