Increasingly, conservationists are becoming concerned about the negative impacts of tourism on conservation areas due to the extreme pressures brought to bear by the tourism industry that demands instant gratification from a product that is simply not equipped to deliver on these heightened short-term expectations over the longer term. The negative impact of habituation on groups of the highly endangered mountain gorilla is a case in point ­ although tourism has commoditized and thus greatly enhanced the conservation value of these charismatic animals, the impact of tourism is now endangering their very survival. It is becoming an increasingly difficult trade-off to try and balance; on the one hand the commoditization of wildlife provides a commercial incentive for governments and the private sector to invest in conservation, but on the other hand the commoditization demands short-term results that may not be realistically achievable without intrusive and very often harmful intervention.

In many reserves in the country, a short-sighted focus on game viewing only has led to significant habitat deterioration and ultimately the degradation of the tourism product that is being sold. Since Welgevonden is a relatively new reserve (15 years old), we can learn from the mistakes made elsewhere and adopt a more informed and sustainable approach that does not ultimately kill the goose that is laying the golden eggs. In keeping with this analogy, the golden sheen of our goose may not be as bright as other reserves in the immediate to short-term, but we expect the sheen to persist for a lot longer and ultimately to improve rather than fade over time.

In pursuit of a more sustainable and responsible approach, we have undertaken a detailed analysis of the specific opportunities and constraints relating to both biodiversity and tourism on Welgevonden. As discussed in the attached document, the key outcome of this analysis was the decision taken to focus the largely unnatural impact of short-term game viewing demands on an unnatural component of the landscape to achieve a win-win situation whereby both biodiversity and tourism benefit simultaneously. The location of Welgevonden in a mountain sourveld environment and thus the ability to establish preferred grazing areas with limited intervention was identified as a strategic opportunity to transform what was always perceived as our weakness into a compelling strength. To this end, we are collaborating with scientists from the University of Natal and Waginigen University in Holland to test different treatments to improve the palatability and productivity of the grass layer on the already transformed old agricultural lands. Interim results are extremely encouraging.

In addition to the adjustment to the overall management vision, other interventions that have been adopted to satisfy tourism expectations without compromising biological diversity include such things as the contraception of our elephant population. Out of concern for the cumulative impact of elephant feeding over time in a confined reserve, the elephant contraception project was started in 2005 whereby our breeding population (40 cows) was vaccinated with the pzp-immuno-vaccine to retard the growth of our 120-strong elephant population as an interim measure to buy us time to pursue opportunities for relocation to reduce the population. Thus far, the programme has been an extremely successful alternative to other more drastic interventions such as culling.

Andrew Parker, CEO Welgevonden Private Game Reserve