the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

However, as Gunn (1994) points out, it is unfair to lay the blame for environmental
damage entirely on the tourist sector without first trying to understand why this
problem has arisen. Gunn (1994, p. 243) states, that although large numbers of
visitors to a fragile ecosystem will certainly lead to depletion, "...most environmental
damage is caused by a lack of plans, policies and action to prepare for any
economic growth". A common problem is that those who tend to benefit the most
from tourism development, such as developers, usually refuse to be held
accountable for their projects' environmental externalities, such as pollution of rivers,
seas, lakes and ground water by the discharge of impure water and sewage from
coastal resorts (Ioannides, 1995; Vellas and Becherel, 1995).
Ecologically sensitive sites, such as wildlife habitats, are not the only areas that may
experience damage through tourism development. Tourism can also be responsible
for degrading valuable agricultural land through reducing it into property for
recreational purposes, and modifying land values and usage in areas surrounding
such developments (Schneider, 1993). For example, with the growth of the tourism
industry in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, much traditional agricultural and
graZing land was converted into wildlife sanctuaries, tourist resorts and lodges,
resulting in the displacement and migration of many traditional communities.
Even though the impacts of tourism development on the environment are debatable,
it can be stated that "tourism development always changes, sometimes degrading or
even destroying, the very qualities of an area that made it attractive to its first
tourists" (Martha, 1993, p. 218).
As this study focuses on aspects of both tourism and natural resource management,
the following section provides a general overview of natural resource management
and the nature of tourism impacts upon a destination area's natural resources.
2.9 Natural Resource Management
According to Gibbs and Bromley (1989), natural resources may be defined as
"...those components of an ecosystem which provide goods and services useful to
man" (p.22). The majority of the world's population, being rural and impoverished,
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