What Is Ecotourism Destination?
Ecotourism is a form of tourism marketed as “responsible” travel (using what proponents say is sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. The stated purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human rights.
South Africa is a country on the southernmost tip of the African continent, marked by several distinct ecosystems. Inland safari destination Kruger National Park is populated by big game. The Western Cape offers beaches, lush winelands around Stellenbosch and Paarl, craggy cliffs at the Cape of Good Hope, forest and lagoons along the Garden Route, and the city of Cape Town, beneath flat-topped Table Mountain.
Ecotourism generally possesses the following characteristics:
- Conscientious, low-impact visitor behavior
- Sensitivity towards, and appreciation of, local cultures and biodiversity
- Support for local conservation efforts
- Sustainable benefits to local communities
- Local participation in decision-making
- Educational components for both the traveler and local communities
Increased tourism to sensitive natural areas without appropriate planning and management can threaten the integrity of ecosystems and local cultures. An increase of visitors to sensitive natural areas can lead to substantial environmental degradation. Local communities and indigenous cultures can also be harmed by a large influx of visitors. Ecotourism offers an opportunity for an increase in education and activism among travelers, making them more effective supporters of conservation.
Top Ecotourism Destinations In South Africa?
1. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
The Kgalagadi’s 37 256 k㎡ is one of the largest ecosystems in Africa virtually devoid of human interference. Meaning ‘place of thirst’ (referring to its southern kalahari arid environment) over 70% of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park lies in Botswana, the remainder in South Africa.
It is both a conservation project and a peace park. Despite its aridness it is criss crossed by two rivers – the Nossob and the Auob – that flow only once or twice a century after heavy rains. Three large pans in the Mabuasehube area of the park support wildlife that includes leopard, cheetah and hyena, black-backed jackal, caracal and foxes.
The park’s defining features are the spectacular red and white sand dunes, separated by dune valleys, and black-maned lions. In late 2002, 58 000 ha of the Kgalagadi Park were restored to the Khomani San and Mier communities. The income generated on this land is split between them and they retain commercial benefits and rights.
2. iSimangaliso Wetland Park
iSimangaliso has been using ecotourism as part of its conservation strategy since the early 2000s. What was once merely a great fishing and beach destination is now a nature based activity and adventure zone. Visitors head to this ecotourism destinations in South Africa for its beauty, boating, cycling, game drives, bird watching, turtle tours, guided walks and whale watching.
iSimangaliso’s ‘10 jewels’ include Sodwana and Kosi Bay, its coastal forest, lakes, wetlands, oceans, mountains and shorelines, its 220 km of pristine coastline and protected coral reefs, 520 bird species and huge diversity of game – from hippos to elephants, and including the unusual endemic Setaro dwarf chameleon and nocturnal leopard.
This ecotourism destinations in South Africa is a greater biodiversity hotspot even than Kruger or Botswana’s Okavango delta. All but one historically occurring animal has been reintroduced, huge tracts of land have been rehabilitated and alien plants removed, all privately owned lodges have local community equity (mandatory in iSimangaliso), there are nine community-owned and operated companies running game drives, boat and turtle tours etc., the park trains tourism guides from the community, and 90% of jobs are filled by local community.
3. Addo Elephant National Park
The home of the elephants, Addo Elephant Park is about 45 minutes’ drive from Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape. It’s the only national park with the Big 7 and rates as the country’s third biggest park with a finely tuned ecosystem that holds a unique subtropical thicket vegetation, lion, buffalo, black rhino, hyena, leopard, whales, penguins and the unique flightless dung beetle (found exclusively in the park).
The park runs a Mayibuye Ndlovu (let the elephant return in Xhosa) Development Trust representing eight local communities who get a percentage of the turnover of the Park’s Matyholweni rest camp, Eyethu hop-on guides (who literally hop into your car with you to guide your wildlife experience in the park) come from communities close to the park.
4. uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park
uKhahlamba (Zulu meaning barrier of spears) Drakensberg (Afrikaans for dragon mountain) Park is a 243 000 hectare World Heritage Site and one of the country’s largest conservation areas.
The park marks the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho – the mountainous terrain between manned by a group of over 500 local men in an attempt to curb illegal passage through the myriad passes.
Every visitor to uKhahlamba pays a community levy which goes to fund local communities’ school, medical clinic and basic services’ needs, community conservation programmes are engaged with local communities to protect areas and wildlife, and local community guides are available for certain hikes and rock art sites.
5. Agulhas National Park
The southern tip of the African continent is at Cape Agulhas. It’s also where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet, hence its popularity particularly during summer.
Its windswept, rugged coastline is a botanical smorgasboard of Lowland fynbos combining effortlessly with the cultural heritage of shellfish middens created by a people who were here way before the land was settled by colonials.
As an ecotourism destination it’s incredible – just outside the Agulhas National Park is a lighthouse heritage building that dates back to 1849, roughly 300 of the plants in the park are found nowhere else on earth, and over 21 000 water birds flock in the park.
Agulhas National Park actively benefits local communities, employing around 450 people and 38 SMMEs in local projects, whilst local farmers have formed a co-operative to increase the area’s biodiversity and to practice sustainable agriculture.
6. Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
The /Ai-/Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a World Heritage Site, a Peace Park and a conservation area in the country’s north westerly region close to the border with Namibia.
Its 5 920 km² includes awe-inspiring desert mountain scenery (one of only two arid ecosystems to earn hotspot status), a river mouth that’s a Ramsar site, inspiring succulent flora and the famed Fish River Canyon (on the Namibian side).
Like the Kgalagadi (one of the top ecotourism destinations in South Africa above) it is one of the last regions where people continue a traditional nomadic lifestyle (transhumance lifestyle) herding their goats and sheep over vast distances.
It has one of the best efforts at an all-inclusive bottom-up local community participation and includes the Richtersveld Community Conservancy (first known as the Rooiberg Conservancy) – which includes accommodation controlled by a local community (not advertised by SANParks so do your own research on the little settlements of Eksteenfontein, Lekkersing and Kuboes).