Assessing conservation management practices within South Africa' s private game reserves
Abstract
Nowadays, the majority of traditional farming lands have been converted to private land used for wildlife as it is more economically viable for landowners. Due to a change from normal farming (crop and livestock) to game reserves, there are many new aspects that need to be managed on land for private game reserves, for example general management, tourism management and conservation management. Conservation management is one of the most important aspects on this land, as it affects the overall tourism experience. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to determine the conservation management practices on private game reserves and how those practices could influence the tourists' experiences. Secondary objectives were (1) to analysis literature regarding wildlife tourism and the private wildlife industry in South Africa, (2) to analysis literature regarding private game reserves, conservation management and tourism experiences, (3) to conduct qualitative research in order to achieve the goal of the study and (4) to draw conclusions and make recommendations regarding the results of the study. A descriptive research design was followed, more specifically qualitative research through structured interviews. Interviews were held with the members of the presidential council of WRSA (Wildlife Ranching South Africa) who were willing to participate and who own or manage private game reserves, as well as tourists present at the farms of the different game reserves who were willing to participate. A total of eight (8) reserve owners/managers and twelve (12) tourists were interviewed during the course of the research. Judgement sampling was used as these council members are seen by the industry and have also been involved in the industry for a number of years. For the tourists, convenience sampling was used. The main conclusion of the research was that the game owners and managers who formed part of the survey do contribute to conservation management and to the environment by implementing good conservation and environmental practices on their private game farms/reserves. This included aspects such as anti-poaching units, monitoring vegetation and wildlife, veld fire management, bush encroachment, reduction of negative impacts and waste, raising awareness and educating tourists. The study also found that tourists believe it is important to have conservation management practices present on the game farms/reserves they visit as it will influence their tourist experience.