Projektdetails

Possibilities for the Realisation of Ecological Sustainable Tourism Concepts in Protected Areas in Cameroon

von Oktober 1998 bis April 2003

Projektbeteiligte

Leitung: Prof. Dr. Renate Bürger-Arndt

Bearbeitung/Kontakt: Sébastien Luc Kamga Kamdem

Förderer: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

Projektabhängige Publikationen

KAMGA KAMDEM, S. (2003): Possibilities for the Realisation of Ecological Sustainable Tourism Concepts in Protected Areas in Cameroon. Dissertation. Verlag Dr. Kessel. Remagen, 265 pp.

Stichworte

Ecotourism development; Nature conservation; Protected area management; National parks; Sustainable tourism; Cameroon

Projektbeschreibung

Ecotourism had been proposed as a tool of sustainable management of protected areas since it is considered to be an environmental and social form of land use, which may ensure the long-term conservation of natural and socio-cultural resources; contribute to the local development; and provide an equitable satisfaction to all stakeholders. However, this concept is relatively new in many countries including Cameroon and its definition and implementation principles are still under consideration. Accordingly, it is still open the question on how tourism can be realised in a protected area in conformity with the requirements of sustainable development of the Rio conference. This question is the main concern of the study, which aims to analyse the possibilities for the realisation of ecologically sustainable tourism concepts in protected areas in Cameroon. Four protected areas were selected for the case study: Waza National Park, Benoue National Park, Korup National Park and Campo-Ma’an National Park.

The study highlights that the preliminary conditions for tourism development exist in the case study areas. Actually for example, tourism can be legally developed in some protected areas including national parks and the government want to promote ecotourism as a tool of sustainable management. There is a rich potential of natural and cultural attractions whose quality varies generally with the areas. Although tourism has potential for creating jobs and constitutes an important source of revenue, some constraints and risks (can) hinder the sustainability of its development, for example: Inadequacy of some law provisions; non active involvement of all stakeholders; small number of visitors; lack of marketing; and inequitable sharing of benefits and bearing of costs.

The study findings lead to the suggestion of strategies and indicators for the successful realisation of the ecologically sustainable tourism concepts in the protected area. These strategies are important for the development and revision of the tourism and management policy, especially for the proetected areas management plan. Additionally, this study constitutes a basis for further investigations in the field of ‘tourism and nature protection’, especially in the central Africa sub-region.

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