Doctoral Dissertation Research: Linking Tourism, Wellbeing, and Conservation in the Okavango Delta

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

In Africa, efforts to improve the lives of rural people often entail finding a balance between use and conservation of natural resources. Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) projects were established under the assumption that rural people would be more inclined to husband resources they governed themselves and could derive benefits from. Nature-based tourism has been a common strategy of CBNRM projects because its revenue generating potential depends on intact natural resources and thus has strong potential to merge ecological and socioeconomic objectives. These kinds of projects have been particularly popular in Southern Africa, but previous studies have raised questions about whether they actually fulfill their goal of improving people''s lives. Previous research has focused mostly on single site assessments, however, rather than adopting a comparative approach. This doctoral dissertation research project will explore whether nature-based tourism projects and how they are governed influence the wellbeing and conservation support of individuals in rural communities in the Okavango Delta of northeastern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia. The doctoral candidate will test three common assumptions in natural resources management. The first assumption is that nature-based tourism improves rural residents'' wellbeing. The second assumption is that programs with higher degrees of power devolution foster higher wellbeing for those individuals. The third assumption is that rural residents with higher wellbeing are more supportive of conservation efforts. This research project will be conducted in six communities in Botswana and Namibia. It will compare communities without tourism projects to communities involved in tourism with different governance structures. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected through household surveys, informal interviews, and focus groups. The findings will document how nature-based tourism projects and the way these projects are governed impact the wellbeing and the conservation support of rural residents in the Okavango Delta. Among hypotheses to be tested are (1) that nature-based tourism impacts people''s lives in more ways than just providing financial revenues and employment opportunities, (2) that some impacts are positive while others are negative, (3) that impacts will differ depending on how the tourism projects are governed, and (4) that people with higher wellbeing are more supportive of conservation than others. This project will explore the links between tourism, governance, and rural development. As a result, it will respond to local research needs identified in the Okavango Delta Management Plan. The study will focus on human wellbeing in order to capture the multidimensional socioeconomic impacts of tourism rather than more conventional indicators, such as income or employment. While this approach may be more difficult to implement, it is increasingly recognized as providing a more accurate representation of the complexities of measuring how conservation and development interventions, such as nature-based tourism, impacts people''s lives. The results from this study will inform conservation and sustainable development strategies. It has the potential to influence the management of the unique socioecological systems found in northeastern Botswana and the Caprivi strip of Namibia as well as sites beyond this region, because the project results may inform decision makers in other tropical developing countries who are interested in fine-tuning CBNRM projects and providing environmentally sound economic opportunities that truly benefit rural people''s lives. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career. This award is jointly supported by NSF''s Office of International Science and Engineering.