CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Van Megen, Lizzy Theadora Maria |
|---|---|
| Title | Community-Based Wildlife Tourism and its Contribution to Distributive Environmental Justice for the Community of Welverdiend: A Case Study of the Wild Olive Tree Camp |
| Summary | The emerging wildlife tourism industry offers possibilities for communities displaced from their homelands during apartheid in South Africa to regain equitable access to environmental resources. By establishing community-based wildlife tourism enterprises, these communities aim to benefit sustainably from environmental resources by marketing them to attract tourists. This thesis explores the commodification of environmental resources and critically discusses the neoliberal conservation approach. Furthermore, this thesis examines the contribution of community-based tourism enterprises to achieving distributive environmental justice. A qualitative case study was done with narrative and semi-structured interviews with 23 participants. The case study involves the Wild Olive Tree Camp, a community-based wildlife tourism enterprise in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region in South Africa. The results demonstrate that for the community of Welverdiend, regaining legal ownership of their land is one step in achieving distributive environmental justice. Historical traumas regarding segregation and apartheid leading to unequal access to ownership of environmental resources must be acknowledged to involve all stakeholders in the future management of protected areas. By developing into agents of their land, community-based wildlife tourism enterprises in protected areas can be an additional piece of the puzzle in achieving environmental justice. |
| Supervisor | Anthony, Brandon P. |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/van-megen_lizzy.pdf |
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