Prevention of land use conflict in Zimbabwe's marginal lands

This paper outlines Zimbabwe's Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources, a policy of developing marginal lands of low agricultural potential where increased population has resulted in competition for land between people and wildlife. The proximity of national park areas to peasant lands has been a major source of conflict but the new development programme has removed this conflict by rationalizing land use policy. Traditional land use continues, but peasants are encouraged to participate in wildlife management on a commercial basis as shareholders. The accruing benefits are used to fund rural development projects.     

Analysis of wildlife tourism experiences with endangered species: An exploratory study of encounters with giant pandas in Chengdu,China

This research examined wildlife tourism experiences in a unique site and species combination: giant pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (CRBGPB) in Sichuan, China. Content analysis was undertaken on tourist reviews of CRBGPB on TripAdvisor.com in early 2012. The thematic analysis qualitative method was adopted in examining respondents' written reviews of experiences interacting with giant pandas. ROST CM6 and NVivo 8 were used for the content analysis and qualitative coding.A variety of tourist experiences, motivations, and preferences were revealed. Although respondents' experiences were varied, satisfaction increased with closer encounters and interactions with the giant pandas. The thematic analysis identified three features of the wildlife tourism experiences at CRBGPB: tourists, giant pandas, and settings. Implications and management recommendations were identified for sites offering wildlife tourism experiences.     

Facilitating zoo/aquarium visitors' adoption of environmentally sustainable behaviour: Developing a values-based interpretation matrix

Visitors to zoos and aquariums have diverse backgrounds, motivations, prior knowledge and life perspectives; however, for practical reasons, traditional interpretive methods do not allow for a nuanced approach that targets different visitor groups. Interpretation designed to appeal to the majority of visitors, who prioritize Self-Transcendence values (placing the welfare of others and of nature above self-interests), may not resonate well with those who prioritize different values. This paper explores how visitors with different value priorities respond to environmental interpretation, and identifies elements most likely to appeal to, and influence, their environmental behaviour. A total of 109 participants, selected by their value priorities, participated in 16 focus group interviews at 12 zoos and aquariums in Australia, Canada, and USA. Findings are distilled into a values-based interpretation matrix enabling the design of interpretation that connects with and builds on the motivations and value priorities important to a range of different visitors.     

Decision making by specialist luxury travel agents

We report an ethnographic study of specialist travel agents in luxury wildlife tourism. Agents consider 30 factors in 5 groups, related to client, destination, attraction, operator and agent. They consider the groups in sequence rapidly and intuitively. They are driven by a powerful regard for the high expectations of wealthy clients, and a sense of responsibility to the clients, but they assume authority over the decision. They rely on personal experience with each particular place and tourism product, and sell only what they know. One of their skills is to project themselves into the client's perspective so as to imagine a trip in great detail. This process contrasts strongly with the explicit deterministic approach used by retail travel agents in high-volume lower-priced subsectors, where earnings are driven by commission and incentive structures. For high-end agents, establishing long-term relationships of mutual trust with individual clients and tour operators is paramount.     

In the absence of a main attraction – Perspectives from polar bear watching tourism participants

Wildlife watching tourism has recently received more attention in the tourism literature. However, research is still needed on participants' perceptions on the unpredictable nature of wild animals as main attractions. Information on this topic may help providers keep participants satisfied in the absence of wildlife and move away from exploitative practices sometimes used to guarantee close encounters. Using polar bear tourism as a case study, content analysis of TripAdvisor reviews from Churchill (Canada) and Svalbard (Norway) was used to examine participants’ comments on unpredictable wildlife and reactions when polar bears were not found. Findings indicate that to keep participants satisfied, wildlife watching tourism providers should focus on more controllable parts of the experience, such as high-quality guiding, expectations management, and secondary, more guaranteed side activities. They should also make the most of the natural surroundings, other wildlife in the area and signs of the focal species when encountered.     

Earmarking conservation: Further inquiry on scope effects in stated preference methods applied to nature-based tourism

The way people assign value to nature conservation policies has important implications for management choices. Economic valuation surveys are affected by individual behavioural patterns that are not exhaustively explained by traditional sources of bias such as embedding, flagship species, fixed-budget, commodity misspecification and warm glows. Through a Contingent Valuation study of Alpine wildlife, we use an external scope test to evaluate the difference in willingness to pay among tourists for conservation policies targeted either to the ibex alone, or to the four ungulates populating the Gran Paradiso National Park in Northwest Italy (ibex, red deer, roe deer, chamois). We find that park users are willing to contribute significantly more to policies protecting one of the four ungulates than all four of them, a result that we argue should be ascribed to pure aversion to less specific policy objectives, i.e. to a preference for punctual earmarking of resources devoted to conservation.     

论野生动物灾害及其保护

本文提出了野生动物灾害的新概念，对野生动物灾害的成因、表现进行了分析，展示了典型的野生动物灾害个案，阐述了野生动物保护的措施。     

Protected areas, wildlife conservation, and local welfare

The establishment and expansion of protected areas in Africa have been motivated by the aspiration of increased wildlife abundance. However, during the past decades, this practice has been subject to a massive debate. While some claim that protected areas have failed in preserving African wildlife, others claim that existing protected areas are successful. This paper adds to this debate by presenting a bio-economic analysis of protected area expansion. The model considers a hunter-agrarian community located on the border of a protected area. An expansion of the protected area means less land for agricultural cultivation and hunting. Depending on the economic conditions of these activities, the model demonstrates that protected area expansion may reduce the degree of wildlife conservation. In addition, it may reduce the welfare of the local people.     

Whale shark tourism at Ningaloo Marine Park: A longitudinal study of wildlife tourism

This article demonstrates the changes that occur due to the maturation of a wildlife tourism industry through the application of a Wildlife Tourism Framework. Specifically, in 2005 survey data was collect from participants of whale shark tourism at Ningaloo Marine Park in Western Australia, facilitating a direct comparison with a study conducted a decade earlier. The results conformed with predictions by the Framework, in particular, a shift in the industry towards the mainstream from the periphery. In comparison with the past, whale shark tourism at Ningaloo now attracts more generalist tourists who place different preferences on the whale shark tourism experience. There is now a greater distribution of age groups; less skilled individuals; a higher tolerance to crowding; and a larger focus on the non-wildlife components of the experience. Furthermore, this article, discusses the pertinent management implications associated with this shift.     

Tourists' support for conservation messages and sustainable management practices in wildlife tourism experiences

A common justification for developing wildlife tourism attractions is that they help to secure long-term conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitats. Managers and guides often highlight their role in protecting wildlife and its habitat, yet little is known about the interests, needs and preferences of the tourists who participate in such activities – how aware are they of conservation issues; how concerned are they about the environmental impacts their visit may cause; do they expect and accept the conservation messages they receive? This research explores the perceptions, preferences and conservation awareness of tourists visiting the Mon Repos Conservation Park in Queensland, Australia. Comparison data from four other sites are also presented in order to provide a wider context for interpreting the data. The findings suggest that wildlife tourism management practices that enlist tourists as conservation partners, communicate the reasons behind any constraints imposed, and present a consistent message regarding interactions with wildlife, are likely to be most successful in meeting the needs of both tourists and wildlife.