Dilys Roe of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) presents about the potential of great ape tourism as a means for alleviating poverty in Africa. She gave this presentation at the ‘Linking Great Ape Conservation with Poverty Alleviation’ workshop hosted by CIFOR in January 2012.

1. Linking Ape Tourism and Poverty
Alleviation in Africa
Issues and Opportunities
Dilys Roe
International Institute for Environment and
Development (IIED)

2. Sources:
www.propoortourism.info

3. Approaches to linking conservation
and poverty at ape sites
• From changing the behaviour/attitudes of
communities towards conservation
(education, outreach) to changing the
practice of conservation (community-
based natural resource management
[CBNRM], community conserved areas)
• From finding alternatives to resources of
conservation concern (alternative
protein/energy sources) to generating
benefits from resources of concern
(tourism, payments for ecosystem
services [PES])

4. Specific examples:
• Job creation – formal (tourism) and
informal (SMEs)
• Income generation (revenue sharing,
PES, CBNRM, market access)
• Primary health and family planning
• Subsistence needs – bushmeat
alternatives, firewood alternatives/fuel
efficient stoves
• Addressing human-wildlife conflict
• Skills/capacity development
• Governance and empowerment
• Ape tourism by far the most
common approach

5. Nature and scale of ape tourism
in Africa
 Four species of great ape in Africa:
bonobo, chimpanzee, western gorilla,
eastern gorilla
 Distributed across 21 countries
 Majority of countries not major tourism
destinations

6. African Great Apes Distribution

7. Ape attractions
 Most significant in countries with mountain
gorillas – Rwanda and Uganda (and
Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC])
 Slower development of western gorilla
tourism but some in Gabon, Republic of the
Congo and Central African Republic (Nigeria)
 Chimpanzees – mainly Tanzania and Uganda
but also starting in Rwanda and in west and
central Africa
 Bonobos – just beginning in DRC

8. Limitations
 Political stability – for international
tourists
 Transport connections
 Pricing – for local tourists
 Accessibility of ape habitats
 Presence of habituated groups

9. Some major impacts
 Ape tourism a clear contribution to the
national economy of some countries –
notably Rwanda and Uganda – and a
prominent feature of Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers
 Impacts of poor people less clear

10. Poverty impacts
+ Employment
+ Small enterprise development
+ Revenue sharing
+ Tourism infrastructure and services – transport,
communications, health
+/- Maintenance of natural resource base
- Increased law enforcement restricting livelihoods in
short term
- Elite capture of benefits
- Increased human-wildlife conflict

11. Interventions that ―work‖
 Building assets and income: 1) employment; 2) selling local
goods and services; 3) increasing access to land and
resources; 4) increasing productivity of existing resources
 Providing or improving infrastructure and services: to reduce
environmental health risks (e.g. sanitation) or mitigate
impact of risks (e.g. healthcare, safety nets etc.)
 Securing safety nets: social protection crucial — protects
people from shocks and reduces vulnerability, helps
conserve and accumulate assets, helps transform economic
and social relations
 Increasing voice: within national political structures and own
locality e.g. through CBOs or elected local authorities

12. How does ape tourism compare?
Intervention Example
Building assets Maintenance/restoration/enhancement of natural asset
and income base; jobs; revenue sharing; SME development
Improving Maintenance/restoration/enhancement of ―pro-poor‖
infrastructure ecosystem services; extension of conservation/tourism
and services infrastructure/services to local communities;
conservation-linked health initiatives
Securing safety Maintenance/restoration/enhancement of biodiversity-
nets based healthcare, wild foods, etc; regular cash from
revenue shares; compensation for wildlife damage
Increasing voice Community involvement in tourism enterprises;
clarification/strengthening of land and resource rights

13. Factors affecting success
1) Scale of poverty: difficult to have meaningful impact in
areas with huge populations of poor people
2) Commercial viability of tourism: many ape habitats are
necessarily remote and undeveloped. Without roads,
airports, services (and a receptive market) tourism is not a
viable option
3) Local capacity to engage: many local people lack the
necessary skills and time to engage effectively in tourism
4) Conservation/tourism organisation capacity: many
organisations lack the necessary development skills to
ensure pro-poor impacts and business skills to develop a
successful tourism enterprise

14. Making tourism more ―Pro-poor‖
 Recognise different levels of wealth within local
communities and target the poorer segments
 Address potential negative impacts of strictly enforced
protected areas
 Develop more transparent and equitable benefit-sharing
mechanisms that generate realistic benefits
 Target training and employment strategies at poorer people
 Purchase local goods and services (for lodges, guides etc.)
 Encourage visitor use of local services (home stays,
handicrafts, transportation)
 Provide opportunities for tourists to make philanthropic
donations

15. Overall conclusions
 In many African ape habitats (remote, inaccessible
forest) tourism is not a viable option
 Where tourism is viable, jobs and revenue have
reduced poverty in some places for some people
 Tourism provides a number of overlooked local
benefits which contribute to alleviating poverty
 Tourism is not without its costs, and these must be
recognised
 Much can be done to make tourism more pro-poor