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Ecotourism Benefits and the Role of Local Guides at Masoala National Park, Madagascar

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Ecotourism Benefits and the Role of Local Guides at Masoala National Park, Madagascar Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Ecotourism Benefits and the Role of Local Guides at Masoala National Park, Madagascar Alison Ormsby Eckerd College, St Petersburg, USA Kathryn Mannle Seattle, USA An investigation of ecotourism at Masoala National Park, a forested coastal area in northeastern Madagascar and the country’s largest national park, focused on ecotourism benefits and the role of local guides in promoting conservation awareness. Interviews, participant observation, and archival research were used to investigate the park’s guide association, resident attitudes toward Masoala National Park, and ecotourism as a method of park and rural development. Many factors make Masoala National Park a prime ecotourist destination, including the possibility of viewing its endemic species, such as red-ruffed lemurs. The park has a strong local guides’ associa- tion and currently combines conservation and development through a programme that returns a portion of tourism revenue to local communities. Actual or potential benefits received from the park, including ecotourism revenues, were found to influence the positive and negative perceptions of Masoala National Park held by residents living in the park periphery. However, limitations on ecotourism development include poor infrastructure and difficult access, a challenging climate including a hurricane season, and past national political instability. Keywords: communities, ecotourism, Madagascar, Masoala National Park, revenue sharing, guides Introduction The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and Ceballos-Lascurain (1996: 20) define ecotourism as: environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompa- nying cultural features – both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations. This analysis of ecotourism at Masoala National Park in Madagascar explores how the park is achieving the various elements that characterise ecotourism, in particular economic benefits and conservation awareness raising amongst both visitors and the community. Ecotourism is one method of minimising people– park conflict and generating support for conservation by providing local bene- fits. Ideally ecotourism encourages natural resource conservation in return for 0966-9582/06/03 0271-17 $20.00/0 © 2006 A. Ormsby & K. Mannle JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM Vol. 14, No. 3, 2006 271 C:\Documents and Settings\Anne\My Documents\jost\2006a\jost2006a.vp 24 May 2006 09:35:40The Role of Local Guides at Masoala National Park, Madagascar JOST 554 Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen JOST 554 272 Journal of Sustainable Tourism local and national economic benefits, in addition to offering local, national and international tourists an opportunity to enjoy and learn about nature while respecting local culture (Brandon, 1996; Davenport et al., 2002; Emmons, 1991; Honey, 1999). Furthermore, training local guides to lead visitor education programmes can provide income for local residents and increase visitor environ- mental awareness (Paaby & Clark, 1995; Weiler & Ham, 2002). Ecotourism, while promoting the conservation of natural areas that are tourist destinations, can provide economic revenues through entrance fees, employ- ment of local residents of the park area, and tourist expenditures. Projects can generate foreign exchange and provide economic benefits to remote areas (Fennell, 1999). Ecotourism initiatives can attract investment capital for commu- nity infrastructure development, often including improved local social and educational services (Barnes et al., 1992). Initially, ecotourism does not require large capital investments, since ecotourists typically are willing to tolerate basic conditions and facilities. Park-based ecotourism often affects local community residents. Several attitu- dinal studies have been conducted to assess local opinions about conservation and tourism efforts in places such as South Africa (Infield, 1988), Tanzania (Newmark et al., 1993), Malawi (Mkanda & Munthali, 1994), Belize (Hartup, 1994), Ecuador (Fiallo & Jacobson, 1995), Nepal (Mehta & Kellert, 1998), and Madagascar (Peters, 1999). These studies correlated attitudes, perceptions, knowledge of ecology, conservation, and/or the purpose and benefits of the protected area with a variety of socio-demographic factors. People living in and around protected areas, as well as park tourists, often affect the ability of the protected area to meet objectives related to biodiversity conservation. Attitu- dinal surveys are a means of measuring the perceptions that local residents have of conservation areas and park staff, as well as the level of support for conserva- tion initiatives. This study at Masoala National Park contributes to the body of literature on environmental attitudes. Ecotourism efforts in Madagascar are well underway. Madagascar has been a top priority on the agenda of international conservation groups during the past two decades, due to its simultaneously high levels of endemism and demands on its natural resources. Accordingly, Madagascar has been identified as a global biodiversity ‘hotspot’, one of the world’s richest countries for living organisms, but one that has also lost a significant amount of native habitat (Mittermeier, 1988; Wright, 1994). Madagascar’s natural resources are under intense pressures at a variety of scales of resource use, ranging from the extraction of precious woods for export to the practice of shifting cultivation using swidden practices to clear land, called tavy in Malagasy.1 The fourth largest island in the world, equivalent in size to the state of Texas, or twice the size of Great Britain, with a population of 17 million people, Madagascar contains habitats ranging from the spiny forest desert of the south to the rainforests of the east. In 2004, Madagascar was ranked 150th out of 177 nations in the world by the UN in terms of life expec- tancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income (http://hdr.undp.org/ statistics/indices). Masoala National Park is the largest of Madagascar’s protected areas, and suffers similar environmental threats as experienced countrywide. The park contains diverse habitats including low and mid-altitude rain forest, littoral C:\Documents and Settings\Anne\My Documents\jost\2006a\jost2006a.vp 24 May 2006 09:35:41 Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen JOST 554 The Role of Local Guides at Masoala National Park, Madagascar 273 forest, mangroves and coral reefs, giving tourists a unique opportunity to view a wide range of rare and endemic species in a relatively concentrated area. Masoala National Park is co-managed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and l’Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées (ANGAP), a parastatal department in charge of managing the protected areas of Madagascar, equivalent to the United States’ National Park Service (Gezon, 2000; Peters, 1998). One of the biggest strengths for ecotourism at Masoala is its local associa- tion of ecotourism guides. In preparation for an expected increase in tourism to the area, the guides’ association has recently expanded and undertaken addi- tional training. Many factors make Masoala National Park a prime ecotourist destination, including its endemic species and lush forests and its partnership with Zoo Zurich in Switzerland (see www.zoo.ch/masoala.967.0.html). To draw attention to conservation issues in Madagascar and promote ecotourism to the Masoala region, the zoo has recreated an acre of Masoala rainforest as part of its ‘Masoala Regenwald’ exhibit. There are several possible negative aspects to ecotourism in any location, including Masoala National Park. Ecotourism may change cultural norms and cause detrimental ecosystem impacts, including stress to animal populations, trampling of vegetation, introduction of alien invasive species, soil erosion and compaction, water quality degradation, and coral reef destruction. Overuse of an area may result in a loss of wildlife and natural habitat (Barnes et al., 1992; Fennell, 1999; Honey, 1999). Higher volumes of visitors generally increase the potential for negative impacts. Once an ecotourism destination becomes popular and potentially overcrowded, it risks losing the qualities such as seclu- sion, beauty, and charm that initially made it appealing (Rosote et al., 1991). Another drawback of ecotourism is the potential for ‘leakage’, the loss of income from the host country to international investors and foreign-run tour companies (Fennell, 1999; Honey, 1999). This leakage can be minimised by promoting the use of inbound, or in-country, tour operators, keeping in mind that there is still a need to ensure that revenues stay at the local level and do not flow to a capital-based tour company. Ecotourism alone cannot provide conser- vation benefits to all residents of a protected area region, and therefore should be one aspect of a combination of natural resource protection strategies (Stem et al., 2003a). While ecotourism has economic and environmental promise at Masoala National Park, its potential is limited by several factors. Poor infrastructure creates difficulties in transportation and safety for tour operators. Road access is extremely limited on the Masoala peninsula. A general lack of training and stan- dards amongst local tour operators and rural hotel owners also hinders potential tourism in
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