Ecotourism has often failed to deliver appropriate, tangible benefits to host communities living near protected areas in developing regions of Africa. The
Robford Community Conservation Benefit Centre (RCCBC) model was
developed as a means to overcome many of the common problems of
community-based ecotourism and to enhance the range and flow of benefits to such communities by developing a suite of products and programmes aimed specifically at scientists, volunteer tourists and participatory environmental research tourists. This study tests the aims that the necessary
tourism, geographic, social and research conditions are present for the implementation of the RCCBC model in a local community situated close to the Great Fish River Nature Reserve (GFRNR) in South Africa. Situational
assessment fieldtrips determined that the GFRNR, its immediate tourism egion and the ten settlements surrounding the nature reserve conformed to
RCCBC development guidelines and were suitable for further detailed
investigation. One of the settlements, Glenmore Village, conformed most closely to the RCCBC model’s guidelines for selecting a preferred host
community. A census survey of all households in Glenmore determined a
demographic profile of village residents. A random sample survey of 70 Glenmore households established a social profile of the community’s residents and their attitude to various aspects of the RCCBC model. A spatial
analysis of the Glenmore precinct determined that sufficient, suitable land was available for the development of RCCBC products and programmes. The findings of the research indicated that the tourism, geographic, social and
research conditions were present at Glenmore, the GFRNR and its
surrounding tourism region for the implementation of the RCCBC model and the development of the model’s proposed products and programmes at
Glenmore Village. Implementation of the RCCBC model at Glenmore and the GFRNR as a pilot study could introduce a new way of bringing tangible, meaningful benefits to select communities located close to protected areas in existing tourism regions that have failed to benefit either completely or
partially from traditional forms of ecotourism development in the past. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/4054 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Hicks, Robert William |
| Contributors | Mearns, K. (Mr.) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xvii, 275 leaves) |
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