Known as Crossways Farm Village, the new town is spectacularly located on the edge of the Van Staden’s River Gorge outside Port Elizabeth. On 2 December in the presence of Mr Gugile Nkwinti, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, work will start on the installation of all services for the first residential and industrial phases. All the industrial stands and 70% of the residential stands in these phases have been sold. Construction of the first houses was expected to start by April next year.

The industrial stands, located some distance from the residential nodes, are intended for light cottage industries with a strong artisanal and agri-processing character.

design, planning and implementation

CMAI, the firm of Dr Chris Mulder, is responsible for the design, planning and implementation of the R3,4bn project. Dr Mulder, whose Thesen Islands project in the Knysna lagoon won two CNBC International Property Development Awards in 2007, said Crossways Farm Village would combine the benefits of a healthy rural existence with all the conveniences of sophisticated urban living.

The town consists of 747 residential stands of varying sizes divided into neighbourhoods spread throughout the 563 ha site of which more than half would be a conservation area. The plans for the development were approved earlier without any preconditions by the Department of Economic Affairs, Environment and Tourism of the Eastern Cape as well as by the national Department of Agriculture.

Mulder said Crossways was expected to set the benchmark for green building practises and would be the most advanced town in South Africa because of its high-tech infrastructure. “We plan to take the entire town of almost 800 stands off the national grid by means of photovoltaic technology which will provide us with a total alternative energy plan.

“The implementation of this technology will be made possible by the fibre-optic data communication network we will be installing throughout the development. The alternative energy and energy-saving technology will be built into the town’s infrastructure from the outset which means all owners will enjoy these benefits as standard features.”

80 solar panels on each roof

Mulder said the design of one of the new houses well illustrated this approach “Some 80 solar roof panels will provide the full energy requirements of the house, storing the excess produced in an integrated bank of photovoltaic batteries with the capacity to provide the energy needs of the house for three days. Additional excess can be fed into the town’s own energy grid and be sold be the owner for use elsewhere.

“Rainwater harvested from the roof will be stored in three 1000 litre tanks built into the structure of the house while a unique heat-pump system will circulate pool water through the flooring system to heat or cool the building to reduce seasonal temperature variances.”

Mulder said the fibre-optic technology will serve as infrastructure for a wide range of services, from regulating the town’s energy grid to controlling infra-red security systems and providing high-speed connectivity. “As the telephone system is also imbedded in this technology, all calls within the town will be free.”

Mulder said once the upgraded dairy farm with its stud herd was fully operational and generating profits, it would be ceded, debt-free, to the town. “The town’s people will have access not only to the range of dairy products but also to an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables which will be commercially grown on the property.”

Sourced for ecoAfrica Travel via The Green Times.

Not so long ago, the media carried reports of Chinese nationals in Mushumbi, a remote previously wildlife-rich area in the Lower Guruve District, who were allegedly poisoning elephants in the area for their tusks.

We also recently received reports from the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), that illegal hunters in the Charara area of Kariba have come up with a plan to try and prevent the authorities from discovering their activities.

It has come to their attention that when they shoot an animal, vultures circling in the sky above have been giving them away. So in order to avoid detection, they are now shooting animals and spraying them with a poison such as DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane — a deadly synthetic pesticide).

When the vultures feed off the carcass, they die from the poison, hence reducing the number of vultures available to give them away.

From such reports, it is clear that poaching is not going anywhere anytime soon as the illegal hunters have evidently upped their game in their relentless bid to self-enrich at the expense of the country’s wildlife  and overall ecological balance.

Poachers are mainly targeting the rhinoceros and the elephants for the ivory and reports show that if the poaching continues at the current pace, the rhinoceros will especially become extinct, and soon. Already there are very few left.

There are no exact statistics to show how much wildlife Zimbabwe still has as the Ministry of Environment and Human Resources Management and the department of National Parks have not conducted an audit that would take stock of the animals.

Self-enrichment behind rhino poaching

Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman for ZCTF, a non-profit organisation that strives to save the country’s wildlife, said the Environment ministry has not carried out audits because it is fully aware that the country has been cleared of most of its wildlife, partly for the pot but mostly for the ivory and skin.
Rodrigues insisted the estimated figures that the responsible authorities are currently basing their strategies and policies on are not a true reflection of the situation on the ground.

The ZCTF website says more than 90% of the game in private game ranches has been lost to poachers and illegal hunters in the past five years.
One only has to travel to a place like Gonarezhou National Park that was previously infested with elephants, to tell that the wildlife numbers have drastically depleted, said Rodrigues.

The problem would not have been so grave were it not for the get-rich-quick attitude that seems to have pervaded Zimbabwe. Curbing the gruesome practice would be easier if more people were willing to put the country’s wildlife ahead of personal gain.

The arrests of poachers are rare instances and reports of some police officers that are allegedly working in cahoots with the poachers are rife.
It is therefore of paramount importance that the responsible ministry puts proper measures in place that will transmit in a clear manner the message that poaching will not be tolerated. Those that are caught on the wrong side of the law must be dealt with accordingly.

Considering the rate of poaching in Zimbabwe, curbing the practice will take a lot more than just occasional public rebuke as the class of poachers that we are dealing with now requires smarter and sterner measures.

Wildlife is a major part of Zimbabwe and has since time immemorial added to the country’s appeal, which at one time made it a worthy destination for many tourists.

Article at the following link:
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/local/31344-poachers-devise-new-tricks-to-evade-detection.html

Sourced via Save The Elephants for ecoAfrica Travel

Both men had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Khoza and Luthuli were arrested after an exchange of gunfire with Ezemvelo field rangers that resulted in the death of a third suspect, Nhlanhla Ncanana.

At the scene, Ezemvelo field rangers recovered two unlicensed firearms, axes and two rhino horns that had been crudely removed.

A ballistic analysis linked the firearms to a dead rhino found nearby and the horns recovered were also linked by DNA analysis to the same carcass.

A post mortem examination of the rhino revealed that it had been shot six times and that an axe had been used to immobilise the animal by severing its spine

Sourced via Tourism update Online for ecoAfrica Travel

Week 1: Knysna Forest
Our first week with EDGE of AFRICA started with a day exploring the wilds of the Knysna forests. We were introduced to the local forest and wildlife expert called Hynie Tredoux (a merge of Crocodile Dundee and David Attenborough). We had previously watched a documentary on the Knysna Forest elephants and hoped to be lucky in spotting one of only three officially reported elephants. Hynie identified and introduced an unbelievable amount of flora and fauna to us and after 2 hours on the trail we stopped for a drink and were informed we had only covered around 800m. The rest of the hike was completed at a slightly quicker pace but no less interesting, and by the end of our trail we were more aware of the wildlife in the forest and started to identify tree and plant life ourselves. Our less than silent travel through the forest maybe the reason we weren’t lucky enough to see the elusive forest elephant.

Addo Elephant National Park
An EDGE of AFRICA organized trip to Addo Elephant Park was next for us. The four hour trip flew by with the prospects of seeing the Big Five especially elephants. Setting up the tents took longer than expected due to the strong South African “breezes”! Because of the windy delay we unfortunately didn’t have enough daylight left to go to the for a game drive so instead Jo and Joash organized for us to go to the Reptile and Raptor centre. As we were learning about them, reptiles were continuously placed on us whether we wanted it or not! These included gecko’s, a skink, ever increasing sizes of snakes and toads. With time running out and darkness setting in we were led into an enclosure where we met Jack the friendly owl. He was enticed with treats to land on various body parts ending up sitting on a surprised Eavanna’s head! The tour finished by meeting a brand new 4 week old fluff ball baby owl (very cute!). Thanks to Darren for introducing and educating us to your animals. Our first evening at Addo ended with a delicious braai cooked by our very own Joash, Jo and Eavanna- thanks guys!

Day 2 started early for our first game drive. With our eager faces pushed up against the windows we got the hang of spotting animals, a lot of warthog, kudu and tortoises later we were wondering if any elephant existed here. Luckily Liam needed a loo break so we stopped at a game hide and spotted our first elephant around a watering hole yay! This started off our elephant survey with GPS position, sex and group size being taken down. During the next 6 hours we were lucky enough to spot many more elephants, jackals, birds of prey, red hearty beast, eland, ostriches and enough warthogs to make Lion King 4! We then headed back to stretch our legs, have a drink and for those that needed it a nicotine fix before heading out on an evening game drive. This drive brought us within touching distance of a herd of elephant that had decided to make the road their next chosen feeding ground. It was amazing to see these beautiful animals (and young babies) so close up. The evening consisted of another delicious dinner and after few beers everyone headed for there tents in hurricane Addo.

There was enough time in the morning of day 3 for a quick game drive. We were on the hunt for lions as they had been spotted earlier in the day; unfortunately we got there just too late but did get to drive through a big herd of buffalo. After saying goodbye to Addo we packed up our things and headed home a little less enthusiastically than the journey there.

Week 2: Tuesday
Our first day at the Elephant Sanctuary, we got up at 6am and made our way with Jo and Larissa to The Crags Elephant Park just past Plettenberg Bay.

When we arrived we were armed with waterproof ponchos and Jo organized us to do the Elephant tour with the trunk in hand walk. We got to meet the three ellie’s that are mostly used for the tours; Marula, Jabu and Thandi. After some other members of our tour gave the elephants their morning scrub we were invited to take one each on a trunk in hand walk. The elephant’s handler told us to stand in front of them with our right hand out facing behind us, the elephant then placed the tip of their trunk in our hand. We walked them into the forest where we had a meet and greet. This involved each handler showing us different actions of natural elephant behaviour. Thandi shook, Jabu blew and Marula knelt. We were then introduced to the ellies and were allowed to touch different parts of their body to know how it felt. After leading them back out of the forest we then got to feed them which was their favourite part!

After a quick tea break, we got down to our ellie observation task. Firstly this involved identifying who was who (which is hard to begin with but easier with Jo’s help and knowing what to look for!), choosing two each and watching for certain behaviours. For example if Marula touched Thandi’s bum we would have to note the time of the bum touching, the two ellies involved in the bum touching and who initiated/received the bum touch! Seeing as elephants eat for up to 20 hours a day there often wasn’t many interactions to note down but it was a pleasure to sit and watch these gentle giants.

After a quick lunch, we were asked to do some painting in the new handler and elephant accommodation. The painting got a bit messy and we came out looking like we had serious dandruff problems. (a few paint fights may have been involved too!)

After clearing everything away this completed our first day, so we headed home possibly snoozing along the way!

Wednesday
Up early again, today was harder than yesterday! Jo (who travels every elephant day from Plettenberg to Knysna at 5 in morning) came and picked us up and drove us back past her house to the elephant sanctuary! (good old Jo!)

Today started with us getting stuck in clearing and sweeping out the ellie stables. You become very quickly more accustomed to ellie poo when your knee deep in it! We were then asked to collect together all the sticks and twigs from the elephants night enclosure.

After lunch we continued helping by painting poison (not human or ellie poison) on the connectors of the electric fences around the elephant enclosure. The solution should prevent spider webs being made as they disrupt the electric fence current.

After all of our hard work of the morning we were rewarded with a few more hours of elephant observation study. Today we felt a lot more comfortable identifying each elephant without looking at the helpful guide sheet.

Thursday
Day three and we dragged ourselves out of bed. After sleeping our way to the sanctuary we set about our familiar task of poo clearance and remaking the elephant’s sawdust based beds.

Our next task seemed simple at first and was to rake the stick cleared elephant night enclosure to make it look snazzy for the visiting tourists. After two and a half hours of raking in the hot sun we had successfully cleared half the enclosure and it did indeed look snazzy. Exhausted yet satisfied with our work we collapsed down for lunch and a few more hours of conservation study.

Week 3: Workshops
This week as part of our everything elephant project we visited local schools and youth centres around our area and carried our workshops on elephant anatomy and social behaviour. In the week we visited pre-schools (Judah Square, Siyafunda) with kids aged from 2-5 where we did colouring in, and cutting and sticking exercises all about elephants. We taught at a local orphanage with kids aged from 3-17. A little trickier to include all ages in the lesson but we managed it by each group drawing and labelling their own elephant. Following this was an elephant based word search and a fun interactive test that included everybody. With the skills and workshops we had created we also visited local youth centres, Sinethemba and Mad about Art. Although this all sounds very teacher like, we spent most of our time playing games, messing about with the kids and being human jungle gyms! We will take many fun and happy memories away with us and loved every minute of being a kid again!

Thank you EDGE of AFRICA & Knysna! We will be back! J

Lots of Love Cara and Seb xxx

Deforested slopes under cultivation

A few kilometres outside Lilongwe the contrast could not be starker. Lumbering 4×4′s give way to the dominant mode of transport – bicycles. Bicycles by the thousands, bicycles loaded with towers of wood and charcoal, bicycles as taxis. So while the inexorable rise in the oil price over the longer term has serious consequences for Malawi’s small formal economy as it gets priced out of the world oil market – not to mention for the operations of the 4×4-mounted NGOs et al – 85% of the population who live and sustain themselves in the rural areas could well be less affected by peak oil. However, there is a new indirect and perverse threat as indigenous woodland is replaced with Jatropha, a cash crop for biofuel, in a country already suffering severe and accelerating deforestation and destruction of biodiversity. I’ll return to the issue of deforestation later.

Bicycles everywhere

It is difficult to comprehend how dependent Malawi is on agriculture until you have travelled there (of course we all are ultimately; supermarkets alone are not sufficient – Bartlett’s 16th law of sustainability). Agriculture accounts for a third of GDP and 90% of exports. But dependence on agriculture is more fundamental: almost everybody is a farmer and a subsistence farmer at that. Malawi suffers from an ongoing food security crisis that affects more than five million people in the south of the country. Every scrap of land is cultivated, even the road verges in Lilongwe, to feed a burgeoning population growing at 2.39% annually. No wonder that much of the development aid is targeted at developing agriculture. While I am no agricultural expert it did bother me somewhat that the input of chemical fertiliser, which has as feedstock natural gas, to improve agricultural yields is regarded as one of the major interventions. To my mind this creates a new dependency on an imported resource, which is in any case unsustainable, and over the long term and with injudicious use, destroys the soil.

Bags of charcoal at the roadside

Almost as critical as the food security situation is hunger for basic energy in the rural areas. From simple observation I concluded that the average rural peasant’s day consists of cultivating, collecting and preparing food, and collecting building materials, wood and charcoal. Access to electricity, almost all of it generated by the hydro plants on the Shire River, is limited to the towns and cities and to only 7.9% of the population. Ninety percent (90%) of the country’s energy demand is met by burning wood or charcoal. And the effect of this hunger for biomass can be seen in a landscape denuded of woodland. Rural people are having to travel further and further for wood, and the production and sale of charcoal for cash is a serious problem.

At the same time small, informal brickworks dot the countryside and consume massive amounts of wood. Perhaps there is a perception that a house is only truly a house if it’s built from brick.

In summary there seem to be two drivers of deforestation:

1) energy demand: for cooking, for firing bricks, somebody else’s demand for biofuel crops

2) food cultivation.

As we climbed out of Lilongwe on the flight back to SA, the difference in vegetation cover along the border between Malawi – stripped and cultivated – and Zambia – forested – was stark, a light-dark line of contrast. Between 1990 and 2005 Malawi lost 12.7% of its forest cover. The situation is plainly unsustainable.

Charcoal transporter

Firing bricks with forest

All this got me wondering about development projects that address rural energy needs, deforestation and loss of biodiversity. In my short week in Lilongwe and 500kms of driving to Cape Maclear and back I had seen little or no evidence of rural energy projects, although clearly there must be. And there are – as a cursory Google search will reveal.

The obvious solution to the demand for cooking fuel is solar cooking, and it seems to be getting wide attention and government support. An alternative project involves the production of briquettes from wood and paper waste and other agricultural residues, and another promotes the use and manufacture of clay stoves. Clearly a wide array of technologies, methods and resources are being employed to address the problem of basic energy production.

So, if you want to make a contribution to sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in Malawi, make a contribution to these basic energy projects, especially the solar cooking projects. They need to be scaled up drastically to make a substantive difference. Some links are provided below.

Livestock transport

There are alternative paths too. Africans are resourceful and this young Malawian built a home-made wind turbine to power the family compound from what he had to hand from ideas that he read in a text book. You must watch this remarkable story:

Ralph Pina is ecoAfrica‘s chairman and is currently studying renewable and sustainable energy

References:

Ndirande Nkhuni Biomass Briquette Programme: http://www.undp.org/energy/publications/2001/files_2001a/06_Malawi.pdf

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi: http://www.escommw.com/distribution.php

Programme for Basic Energy and Conservation in Southern Africa (ProBEC): Malawi: http://www.probec.org/displaysection.php?czacc=&zSelectedSectionID=sec1192918473

The World Fact Book: Malawi: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mi.html

Malawi Deforestation Rates and Related Forestry Statistics: Malawi: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/2000/Malawi.htm

Malawian Food Crisis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malawi_food_crisis

The Solar Cooking Archive Wiki: Malawi: http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Malawi

Populations of the poor and uneducated will be pushed to the high ground as the sea levels rise.  There the already denuded and desertified lands will face increased pressure.   In the less prepared countries where governments are not equipped to deal with the influx, law and order will soon collapse and marauding gangs will soon rise and become the law of the land.  Just as the Difaqane wars displaced the peoples of southern Africa, so will we have waves of displaced people escaping the gangs.   Murder and starvation will prevail.  I have a vision of a small nomadic family fighting its way through a sandstorm, dragging their prize possession, a goat.  Out of the miasma comes a group on horseback (or in a vehicle, if there’s any fuel to be obtained).  They are strong and consist of men.  They take the goat and kill the father and son for good measure.  They rape the women and move on.  Sound familiar?  Could be Zimbabwe or it could be Darfur right now.  Most people in Africa know what desperation feels like.  It is a visceral rather than cerebral knowledge, born out of immediate and personal experience.

The strong countries will put up barricades and run police states to combat the rising tide of environmental refugees.   Civil liberties will fall away and the average person in these so-called civilized countries will soon be living as people in Johannesburg already do, with security systems that diminish the enjoyment of every day life.

It doesn’t require much of an imagination.  All this is already happening and the likelihood that the situation will deteriorate further, before it improves, is substantive.

Ignoring the problem is a cop-out.  Believing that you’re so mighty you’ll be one of the winners is fantasy.  There will be no winners.  There will only be losers.  (The significance of 9/11!)

Personally I can’t think of anything more dull and unhealthy than a world that is centered purely around human beings – just as cultural diversity is stimulating, so too is biological and spiritual diversity.  Be that as it may, even for those people who don’t think there’s any merit in preserving biodiversity, there is the incontrovertible truth that the resources available cannot match the demand.

But what keeps me awake at night, and it truly does, is that it seems that everyone pussyfoots around the root cause of all this:  if all humans are to enjoy a comfortable, Western lifestyle ( and it seems that everyone aspires to this) then there are way too many people on this planet to support that luxury.  Never mind the projections of population growth.

So what can be done?  Try and convince all the developing nations that material comfort and good health are not really what they want?  Or try and reduce the breeding numbers?  It’s strange, but even educated people have a mental block about the latter.  When you mention that the numbers need to be reduced they immediately jump to the conclusion that some kind of die off is what you’re suggesting.  On the contrary, the educated world has had the means to prevent pregnancies for some decades.  Yes, there are concerns about aging populations having to be supported by a declining working population, but there is no problem-free solution to the pickle we’re in.

A two pronged approach would probably do the trick, with a leg up from education.  Reducing our consumption and reducing the number of children we have is an individual’s choice.   We see in international politics the theme of the South not prepared to toe the line because the North isn’t prepared to lead by example.  So it will take ordinary people, people like you and me, the grass roots if you like, to figure this out on an individual level and do what we think is right to avoid having future generations cursing us for our selfishness and short-sightedness.

Having been born and raised in Africa I often think about the reverence that Africans hold for the ancestors.  What if we get to a point that future generations curse us, the ancestors, for what we’ve left as a legacy?  It is time for us all to take responsibility for what we leave behind.

What the world really needs is a new ethos, a new culture, a new spirituality.  One that celebrates diversity and takes responsibility for the power, we as a species, possess.   I believe we should be looking for it in the arts, the space where creative energies flourish.   But as there is a definite correlation between power and ostentation, we should be looking for it on the fringes.  Did you know that the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa is second only to Edinburgh for its programme diversity?

In examining my own life, I realized that energy saving bulbs and solar powered water heating is certainly contributing to the international effort to get our act together.  Still, with our terribly hot summers and icy cold winters in the Ceres Valley in South Africa,  our use of energy to cool or heat our homes, simply transcends my minor efforts to act eco-conscious.  And I suspect this is also felt in many places around the world.  So at the beginning of a building process for a new eco mountain cottage on our farm, what can I do to lessen the need to cool or heat that home?  Will the benefits to the people that will live there, add up to the benefits for the environment?  With these questions on my mind, I set out on my eco search.  You will see that my answers are not exclusive to any one area or climate.

During my search I came upon two alternative building methods that seem to be gaining trustworthiness in the building sector.  The one is “Straw Bale Building” and the other is “Sandbag and Timber Pole Building”.  Both appealed to me because they claim to reduce heating costs by up to 75% through natural insulation.  Although I had initial doubts concerning a wolf blowing a straw and stick house to pieces,  I must say I am certainly taking a hard look at using one of these two for the upcoming project.  This article will look at Straw Bale Building and the next one will look at Sandbag and Timber Pole Building.

Straw Bale Building:
This method uses tighlty stacked straw bales as large “bricks” to build just about anything.  All aspects of building remain the same as we have become familiar with in the 20th century (like plumbing, eletrics, roofing, etc.).  The main difference would be found in the design of foundations, the type of wall building material, and the type of render/plaster.  The straw bales are stacked on top of each other like bricks, with holes left open for windows.  It is then covered with chicken wire and plastered for an even finish.  Because it is usually not good to mix materials, gypsum plasters is not always a good idea when brick and cement isn’t used, but instead natural clay or traditional lime plasters are recommended. 

The main pro’s about this building method is that it is a) energy efficient, b) cost effective and c)  is easy to build.  It is claimed that a straw bale building will reduce heating costs by 75% because of the great insulation of the thick straw walls.  It will also cost you R140 000 (?10 000 / $20 000) less if used to replace brick and block for a normal 3 bedroom house.  And ease of building is proved by the fact that people with no previous skills/experience can participate in the straightforward design and construction, which again saves on labour costs.

Its super and affordable insulation qualities can be explained via the next formula:  the K value of  straw in a strawbale is 0,09 W/mK.  This, combined with walls typically over 450mm thick, gives a U value of 0,13W/m²K – which is two or three times lower than contemporary materials.  This also extends to create a fantastic sound insulation barrier (two recording studios in the USA were actually built of strawbales for their sound proofing quality).

In looking deeper at the energy efficiency of straw bale building, it seems that over 50% of all greenhouse gases are produced by the construction industry and transportation associated with it.  Straw, however, takes carbon dioxide and turns it into oxygen during its life cycle.  Coupled with vastly reduced heating requirements, thereby further reducing carbon dioxide emisssion (greenhouse gas) from the burning of fossil fuels, strawbale building can actually cause a net decrease in greenhouse emissions.  Straw is also an annually renewable natural product, grown by photosynthesis, fuelled from the sun.  It means less pressure to use other more environmentally damaging materials. 

But the advantages doesn’t stop at energy efficiency and low costs.  The ambiance in a straw bale house is cosy, calm and peaceful.  This is partly to do with the high level of sound insulation, partly to do with the air quality, and partly with the organic feel – a beautiful nurturing and safe environment to inhabit. 

There is also a growing body of knowledge on the harmful effects of  living longterm with modern materials that give off minute but significant amounts of toxins, the so-called “sick building syndrome”.  Living in a straw bale house protects you from all that.  It is a natural, breathable material with no harmful effects.

With all of these positives I am almost convinced to use this method.  Two questions I have however, is whether the plaster wouldn’t crack quite a lot with such a seemingly non-solid material, and secondly, will such a building last through decades of heavy rain, wind and climate hammering?

If there are knowledgeable people around who would like to convince me, I am quite eager to be told of long lasting success stories.

Lizanne Malherbe holds an MA degree in Environmental Ethics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
She is currently pursuing a PhD in Environmental Design.

Let’s take the second question first: what is eco-travel? Without entering into a debate about eco-travel – or ecotourism – definitions, it is worth pointing out that ecotourism represents a travel ethic rather than a market segment or type of tourism. It is purposeful travel, where the salient purpose, besides experiencing Nature, is the preservation of Nature.

Two generally accepted definitions of ecotourism are:

Ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation.

Ecotourism Association of Australia

Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)

One could write an academic article on just the differences between these two definitions e.g. “ecologically sustainable” versus “responsible” travel; and the one’s emphasis on “understanding” versus the other’s call to improve the “well-being of local people”. But let’s suffice by observing that there are usually three core elements in most definitions: preservation or conservation of nature; understanding of natural and cultural environments through education and interpretation, and benefits to local communities.

Eco-travel and sustainability

However, eco-travel is also a human economic activity and therefore has to be (ecologically) sustainable. And here we head into contested territory once more, because the concept of “sustainability” (and sustainable development) has been hotly debated since 1987 when the UN’s Brundtland Commission attempted to define “sustainable development” for the first time. I subscribe to the notion of strong sustainability, which basically means that human (e.g. people, knowledge, skills, etc.) and human-made capital (e.g. technology, goods, money, etc.) cannot substitute for natural capital (e.g. ecosystems, species, natural resources, etc.) ^[1] and that human and natural capital should be separately maintained. Eco-travel satisfies strong sustainability conditions as it is primarily concerned with the conservation (maintenance) of nature, with minimal trade-offs, if any. I would go further by arguing that nature should be conserved and preserved for its own sake, and not only because it has value to humans (ecotourism is a way of assigning human value to nature).

For eco-travel to be sustainable, the consumption of non-renewable resources should occur at a rate at which renewable sources can generate substitutes, and secondly, waste and pollution should be generated within the absorbtive capacity of the ecosphere. Eco-travel to Africa, which generally involves long-haul, air travel from the rich, developed countries, consequently has a problem on two counts:

1. Air travel is powered by non-renewable fossil fuels, and for air travel there is as yet no viable renewable fuel substitute;
2. Air travel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contribute a growing proportion of global GHG emissions, although the absolute amount is small. And as we know GHG emissions are probably influencing climate systems in unpredictable ways.^[2]

By these measures, even eco-travel fails the sustainability test. Does this then mean that we shouldn’t fly to Africa to experience its wild places? In the next section I will try to argue why one should.

Eco-travel makes a difference

Deforestation is the second largest source (20 to 25%) of anthropogenic carbon emissions globally. Conservation International has identified the miombo-mopane woodland and savanna of southern Africa as a global biodiversity hotspot, threatened by unprecedented deforestation. The vast wooded wilderness stretches from coast to coast, from Mozambique to Angola, spanning ten countries. It is the habitat for a diverse and vast collection of Africa’s animals, who live cheek by jowl with millions of poor, rural Africans, who use the woodlands and savanna as a natural resource and depend on its ecosystem services. One result is increasing deforestation. Zambia is a case in point where charcoal has become a major energy source and its production a livelihood for its rural peoples – and where the population is set to double by 2020.

So how does eco-travel contribute to avoiding deforestation?

It is fortunate that a large proportion of Africa’s charismatic mega-fauna occur here, making wildlife tourism a major economic activity. Eco-travel and wildlife safaris depend on, and occur most often, in protected areas. The miombo/mopane wilderness is reasonably well protected by national parks and reserves, and more recently the advent of transfrontier conservation areas (TFCA) and parks (known as peace parks) are stitching protected areas together to ensure the integrity of entire ecosystems. Traditionally, national parks and other formally protected areas exclude humans, and thus prevent deforestation. However, the TFCAs recognise that people are part of the ecosystem and national park policies are becoming more enlightened. Unfortunately, the reality is also that in many of these poor and under-resourced countries, protected areas’ continued survival is increasingly dependent on tourism – so that protected area security is at the mercy of global and local political-economic events and conditions and yes, the response of western tourists to calls not to fly…

While conserving biodiversity irrespective of its perceived value for humans is essential – which is what formal protected areas are meant to do – it is also clearly vital that local communities must benefit from conservation. Ecotourism is one way that they can. So it is important to vet tourism operations in these areas for the extent to which they invest in and help to develop local communities and establish sustainable livelihoods. Without a stake in the continued existence of wild lands and animals, it is understandable that locals will degrade the land in their efforts to survive.

In the final analysis, I suppose that it boils down to an ethical question: do I as a traveller heed the call not to fly to long-haul destinations in Africa because of concern about my contributions to carbon emissions and the depletion of non-renewable fuels, or do I rather continue flying in the knowledge that my visit will contribute to avoided deforestation, continued protection of wilderness, biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods for and development of local communities?

I would argue that you should make the trip and buy the carbon offsets^[2], but be sure that the suppliers of the trip truly adhere to the tenets of ecotourism and that the suppliers of the offsets invest in projects that ensure true sustainability.

If these conditions are met, then eco-travel does make a difference, not only in Africa, but also globally – and on various levels, including mitigation of climate change.

Links to ecoAfrica’s pages for selected protected areas in the miombo/mopane wilderness:

• Chobe National Park, Botswana
• Moremi Wildlife Reserve, Botswana
• Kafue Nationa Park, Zambia
• Luangwa Valley, Zambia
• Kruger National Park, South Africa
• Manda Wilderness, Mozambique
• Mana Pools World Heritage Site, Zimbabwe
• Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia
• Liwonde National Park, Malawi

About the author: Ralph Pina is ecoAfrica’s chairman

[1] Weak sustainability would almost always countenance trade-offs between socio-economic benefits and ecological impacts. This would generally be the type of sustainability that the business and industrial sectors would subscribe to.

[2] Although there are ethical problems around buying carbon offsets to make your air travel carbon neutral, it does have value if the carbon offset scheme a) invests in renewable energy projects that would generate renewable energy equivalent to your proportion of the fossil-fuel energy used in your flights, and b) invests in projects that result in substantive reductions in emissions, because our emissions have already overshot what can be absorbed. See a previous post on carbon offsets.

 A number of lodges have sprung up in the reserve over the years as the Parks Board have tendered out sites.  They range in price from SAR 1,000 to SAR 5,000 per person per night.

What impressed me most was how the authorities interact and engage with all the private sector stakeholders.  Monthly meetings are held between all the authorities e.g. park, police, tourism and each one of the following private groups:  guides, managers and owners/investors.  This is a working example of how issues can be nipped in the bud and provides a regular forum for problems to be discussed.

One such potential problem has been admirably solved.  That is the number of vehicles at a game sighting.  The rule, which all guides adhere to, goes like this.  No more than 3 vehicles are permitted at a sighting.  The first one there is “in charge” of the log.  That person allows 2 more vehicles in.  Any further vehicles must wait on standby.  When the first vehicle leaves he/she hands over the log to the first one on standby, who comes into the sighting.  And so it goes on.  Everyone is in constant communication over the radio so everyone knows who’s where and when, and how many are waiting etc. 

And it works.  We saw African wild dog, and understandably there were a lot of vehicles wanting to see them too.  Even though it would have been nice to stay longer watching them, everyone did manage to get good photos and all the other lodges got their guests in to the sighting. 

Another example of this excellent co-operation between all parties was the following.   A fresh eland bull carcass had been found by a guide.  It was apparent that another eland bull had killed it in a territorial battle.  The guide was dutifully reporting the death to the Park Headquarters.

Several lodge concessions have been leased to communities living on the boundary of the park.  And, once again, sound management principles are in place.  Communities own the lease, and where skills have not yet been developed in those communities an external company is brought into provide the operational and marketing expertise with a view to training the local communities up to those functions.  Agreements are in place that communities derive direct employment opportunities at the various lodges. 

To enrich the wildlife experience there is a lot of history in the area too; from early Bantu settlers pushed north during the Difiqane wars to the Boers, who also trekked north to escape repressive authorities.  Marico is an Afrikanerisation of Madikwe and all South African literature lovers will have reveled in the tales of Oom Schalk Lourens of the Groot Marico. 

In line with progressive conservation practice the Parks Board has gone a long way in the planning stages of a corridor-park between Madikwe and the Pilanesberg NP.  This Heritage Park will add another 167,000 hectares to the existing conservation areas and will open up much need migratory routes to the larger mammals.

All in all, Madikwe and the future plans for the area are totally impressive, innovative and exciting.

When you Google in North West Parks Board you’ll find it comes up as the North West Parks and Tourism Board.  The two are inextricably linked.  Now this is ecotourism. 
 

There are no words spoken in the film. “I wanted to choose images which are simple and visually based”, said van Meygaarden. The storyline? Well see for yourself.