Assessing Nature Conservation and Tourism Development Effectiveness towards Local Economic Development in South Africa: Nuanced by the Perceptions of Local Communities?
Assessing Nature Conservation and Tourism Development Effectiveness towards Local Economic Development in South Africa: Nuanced by the Perceptions of Local Communities?

Summary/Abstract: Tourism development around protected areas is perceived a major development opportunity for rural sub-Saharan Africa. This study was conducted in South Africa to investigate how local communities living around a nature reserve, uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park (a World Heritage Site) in KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, evaluate the effectiveness of nature conservation and tourism development towards their local economy. Quantitative data were collected using a structured respondent-completed questionnaire from simple-randomly selected respondents. Descriptive and bivariate data analyses yielded information used to address research objective. Local community members who were surveyed declare that the ‗development strategy‘ seems to be the main issue adversely affecting community participation in conservation practices and tourism development around uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park. It is therefore recommended that nature conservation and tourism development strategies in rural South Africa align with the sustainable rural development critical success factors outlined in this paper. This will support optimising local economic development successes, especially in rural sub-Saharan Africa.

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