Pursuing Sustainable Tourism Development Through Wildlife Tourism: Local Residents’ Perceptions

Wildlife protected areas mostly situated in remote areas in Southern Africa have become integral elements of community development systems. The protected areas (PAs) create tourism spaces which enable local people to diversify their livelihoods. These PAs have the potential to promote human welfare and wellbeing by addressing various aspects of sustainable development, including poverty alleviation, food and water security, health, disaster risk reduction, sustainable cities, and climate change strategies. Therefore, PAs serve as a tool for promoting sustainable development by focusing on conservation and protection, while also intensifying the attainment of sustainable development goals. This chapter uses the cases of Majete Wildlife Reserve and Liwonde National Park in Malawi to show how sustainable tourism development is promoted in communities around the protected areas. The different programmes implemented in and around these protected areas are geared towards promoting conservation and social and economic growth within the communities. Results indicate that most of the development initiatives are funded by the protected area management agency, African Parks development partners, rather than solely by tourism. Furthermore, local communities get benefits through employment in tourism enterprises within and outside the PAs, the sale of arts and crafts, community run tourist facilities, community development projects, and income generating activities initiated by the management agency, tourism operators and environmental non-governmental organisations. The local people now appreciate that natural resources in the protected areas and their culture are valuable. They have started working together in groups to get involved in some tourism activities. For this to be sustained, the local communities need more help from other stakeholders to build their capacity in tourism. With external help through capacity building and financial assistance in starting up tourism related businesses, the local people can participate effectively is sustainable wildlife tourism.