Africa Geographic March 2004 [antikvár]

Pppr ii l . V , v if- .l.'^ .1'! ' ' V- ! ll it!:';! Ij 11 '"i t ' ¦ ¦ 1' ¦' I I'; ¦ i' ¦( - ; !I'i .-. , , ik': '"I'v;,!'M ii V' 'ff'M .i ' ^ - ¦ i-'t! !V ¦ , ' L - ,. ¦ ^ iM'-. t'-'- ll. f editorial Imagine a South African conservation society with hundreds of thousands of members and led by black environmentalists who are iconic figures in the greater community In Africa, tourism and conservation are very closely linked - and so they should be, for so much of tourism's potenttal is nature based. Therefore tourism is, or certainly should be, part of the sustainable-use equation: the wise exploitation of a natural resource. In South Africa, the importance of tourism - and within that, sustainable nature-based tourism - is strongly endorsed at both national and local government levels as a growth industry capable of realising considerable foreign exchange earnings. In fact, so closely are tourism and the environment linked that they are two arms of the same govemment ministry. This being so, it seems stiange that apart from parastatal tourism and conservation organisations and their provincial counterparts, the process of tiansformation seems to be proceeding at little more than snail's pace. (Transformation is the deliberate movement towards redressing past imbalances that resulted in white South Africans being the overwhelmingly dominant force in virtually all aspects of society.) Go to almost any private game lodge in South Africa and it will be white owned, black management will be the exception, and get into a game-drive vehicle and your guide will most likely be a young white man. The reserve ecologist and veterinarian will be white, as will any young scientists busy with conservation and animal research. And when you get to conservation NGOs, the complexion of management, project managers and supporters (both individuals and corporate) will be devoid of colour. Now this doesn't mean that the people in these positions aren't worthy. On the contiary, they are almost without exception highly committed, well-trained individuals who are a credit not only to their organisations and professions, but to the country as a whole. But it concerns me deeply that so few black South Africans are engaged in these areas other than in pretty menial capacities, for surely if there is little black involvement in conservation and tourism at the higher level, the importance of these industries in our society can at best only be tenuous. Without such involvement, how can there be a widespread conviction that conservation should be a national priority and that our wild lands are not just a waste of space as playgrounds of the rich? I know that my colleagues in conservation NGOs share these concems, but it is one thing to be aware of the problem, and quite another to do something about it. What is needed, therefore, is a concerted effort on the part of the tourism and conservation industries to change from within - a genuine commitment and stiategy to see a targeted number of black people in key positions within an agreed time frame. Transformation in conservation and tourism cannot be an idle conceit; it must happen, and now. Imagine a South African conservation society with hundreds of thousands of members and led by black environmentalists who are iconic figures in the greater community. Then the movement will have real teeth and not just be dismissed as a bunch of rich whiteys who are regarded as being more concerned about flowers and animals than about people.