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标题：IN SEARCH OF A BETTER AND VIABLE ECOTOURISM INDUSTRY: LESSONS FROM MTEMA ECOTOURISM CENTRE, SOUTHEASTERN ZIMBABWE
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作者：Munyaradzi Mawere ; Tapiwa Raymond Mubaya
期刊名称：The Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (JSDA)
电子版ISSN：1520-5509
出版年度：2013
卷号：15
期号：3
出版社：Institute of Sustainable Development in Africa
摘要：Zimbabwe like many other developing countries in Africa has an emerging ecotourism industry that is fast growing. This is considered positive as ecotourism is primarily meant to benefit the local host community and conserve the environment. Yet, whilst the industry has the potential to boost the national economy and enhance the status of local host co mmunity it has met with criticism. Drawing on the positive and negative impacts of Mutema Ecotourism Centre (MEC) in southeastern Zimbabwe, we demonstrate the complexities and subtle nuances of consolidating possible benefits of ecotourism in a society that is threatened by globalization and riddled by abject poverty, weak erratic po wer supply and underdeveloped industrial base. Against this background, we argue that the institution of robust practices that support ecotourism should be constructively aligned with its grassroots implementation (at institutional levels) to foster epistemological access and develop 'best practices' of environmental management and a culturally responsive, knowledge rich environment that promote sustainable ecotourism- an ecotourism that enhances the status of local host communities and biodiversity. We further argue that to confront the possible adverse impacts and the potential jeopardy caused by ecotourism, MEC should make partnership with the Ministry of Land s and Agriculture as well as Ministries of Tourism, Educatio n, Sports and Culture, National Parks and Wildlife, AGRITEX, Veterinary Services, among others to establish a Monitoring Committee consisting of scientists and experts from different ministries and relevant bodies to help manage the environment sustainably and enhance local cultures in the name of ecotourism
关键词：Ecotourism; local host communities; developing economies; Mutema Ecotourism Centre; southeastern ;Zimbabwe ;Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Volume 15; No.3; 2013);ISSN: 1520;-;5509;Clarion University of Pennsylvania; Clarion; Pennsylvania; var currentpos;timer; function initialize() { timer=setInterval("scrollwindow()";10);} function sc(){clearInterval(timer); }function scrollwindow() { currentpos=document.body.scrollTop; window.scroll(0;++currentpos); if (currentpos != document.body.scrollTop) sc();} document.onmousedown=scdocument.ondblclick=initialize115 ;INTRODUCTION ;In recent times; ecotourism has become the fastest growing sector of the to urism industry; gro wing annually by 10 -15% ;worldwide (Miller; 2007). Tourism can be defined as "polite; organized sticky -beaking (to satisfy one's curiosity) into other ;people's places and cultures" (Panos; 1997; Neill; 2004). This means that tourism involves organized traveling to other ;places; and ecotourism as a form of tourism also involves travelling. Perhaps it pays to define ecotourism though briefly as ;this will be discussed in detail in the ensuing discussion. Technically; ecotourism can be defined as: ;Environmentally responsible; enlightening travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas in order to ;enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features both past and present) that promotes ;conservation; has low visitor impact; and provides for beneficially active socio-economic invo lvement of local ;populations (Ceballos-Lascurain; 1996). ;Following the definition above; it is clear that ecotourism normally involve both cultural and natural environments and; also ;seeks to conserve the natural environment and most importantly to benefit the local host communities. In this regard; it ;should be remarked that ecotourism plays a significant role especially in Third World economies like Zimbabwe which have ;little other than their natural resource endowment upon which to base their develop ment. Yet ecotourism especially its impact ;on the culture of local host communities and the natural environment has been heav ily contested in the last two decades in ;many countries across the globe. In fact there are monumental studies on the merits of ecotourism in terms of its potential to ;promote the gro wth of develo ping economies. Other studies have however devoted more attention to examining the negative ;impacts of ecotourism on local host communities and the natural environment. Cater(1993) for example has argued that it is ;precisely the more remote; less developed tourism areas that eco -tourists seek which are most vulnerable to cultural ;disruption and environmental degradation. In the words of Cater (ibid: 85) ". . . there is a very real danger of viewing ;ecotourism as the universal panacea; and the eco -tourist as some magic breed; mitigating all tourism's ills". Emphasizi ng the ;same point; other scholars like Hvenegaard (1994); Cater and Lowman (1994) have cautioned us from uncritically accepting ;ecotourism as a common go od as it can impact negatively on both the natural environment and the life of host local ;communities. We therefore attempt to demonstrate that ecotourism can promote the growth of developing economies without ;impacting negatively on the local host communities and the natural environment if all its (ecotourism) activities are careful ly ;planned; executed and controlled. We marshal 'sustainable' ecotourism and position it against the Zimbab wean ecotourism ;landscape; particularly the Mutema Ecotourism Centre (MEC) in order to unravel the extent to which MEC captures ;sustainable ecotourism and informs this genre of ecotourism. ;It is worth noting that the social pressures by interested groups and academics on ecotourism; the need for economic growth ;by developing eco no mies and the need for sociall y relevant epistemologies on issues o f biodiversity and culture st udies have ;necessitated ecotourism industry to revisit its activities; and especially; to foreground 'sustainable ecotourism'. ;This study is based on fieldwork undertaken in Mutema Ecotourism Centre (MEC) and the surrounding local community ;between February and March 2012. Drawing on the above observations and the case study of MEC; we argue that ;ecotourism; and 'unsustainable tourism' in particular have not only undermined possibilities for ecotourism to be ranked