Source: The Herald (Harare)



by Tonderai Matonho



(Harare, July 26,) In the process of making protected areas such as the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park attractive tourist areas, it would be folly for Zimbabwean policy and decision-makers to ignore or marginally involve local communities in the sustainable use and management of natural resources.



The idea of designating land and seascapes as protected areas has gathered momentum in recent years.



According to environmental experts, if properly managed, the conservation of natural resources can make tangible contributions to poverty reduction and help preserve cultural identities.



However, experts note that local communities must be closely involved in such management if they are to reap rewards.



The Makuleke people, for instance, who live within the Kruger National Park in South Africa, have already agreed to such arrangements. The 2003 United Nations list of Protected Areas shows that since records began in 1962, the total number of sites has risen from 1 000 to more than 10 200 covering 18,8 million square kilometres, or 12,5 percent of the global land surface.



Nevertheless, despite such progress, environmental activists note that there is concern in some conservation circles that focusing on the quantity of protected areas may ignore the quality of the conservation effort or of the biodiversity contained within those zones.



It is equally important to note that there are doubts about the land and resource rights of people living in or near protected areas and how their costs and benefits are distributed.



Such activists assert that it is now widely agreed that in order to be effective, local people have to be at the core of management.



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