Perceptions of tourism revenue sharing impacts on Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda: a Sustainable Livelihoods framework

ABSTRACT

Tourism revenue sharing (TRS) has become a popular strategy for integrated wildlife conservation and rural development in Africa. In Rwanda, 5% of tourism revenue is invested annually in communities adjacent to protected areas. However, the conservation impact of the TRS strategy has been challenged. Previous studies have revealed structural constraints of TRS, which partially explain TRS shortfalls. The TRS application is complex and needs deeper understanding of both conceptual and structural constraints. In this paper, we examine local perceptions of TRS, and use the Sustainable Livelihoods framework to conceptually understand the livelihood capability, equity and sustainability constraints of TRS at Volcanoes National Park (VNP). Results suggest that TRS has had minimal conservation impact due to acute food insecurity and limited livelihood capabilities among the poorest residents in proximity to VNP. This is exacerbated by several TRS structural constraints, such as the association membership fee requirement for TRS benefits, political influence, poor conservation linkages, and limited participation of the most socially and economically disadvantaged residents in proximity to VNP. This paper recommends restructuring of the TRS decision-making process to ensure consideration of both short-term and long-term conservation goals, wildlife conservation linkages and participation of the most economically disadvantaged residents in proximity to the park boundary.

对卢旺达火山国家公园的旅游收入分配影响的看法：一个可持续生计框架

旅游收入分配（TRS）已成为一种在非洲对综合性野生动物保护和农村发展的流行的策略。在卢旺达，旅游收入的百分之五每年投入到毗邻保护区的社区里的。然而，TRS策略的保护影响已经受到了挑战。以前的研究已经揭示了TRS的结构限制，这部分解释了TRS的足。TRS应用是很复杂，需要对概念和结构的限制更深入的了解。在本文中，我们将考察TRS的地方观念，并使用可持续性生计框架来概念性地理解TRS在火山国家公园（VNP）的生活能力，公平和可持续发展的制约。结果表明，由于在靠近VNP的最贫穷居民中严重的粮食不安全和有限的生活能力，TRS已将保护的影响最小化。这是由几个TRS结构性制约因素决定的，例如，TRS利益的协会会员费要求，政治影响力，不良的保护连接，和对接近VNP的社区里社会和经济弱势居民有限的参与。该文章建议TRS决策过程的重组，以确保在靠近公园的边界考虑短期和长期的保护目标，保护野生动物的联系，和经济最弱势的居民的参与。

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism revenue sharing
• local residents
• sustainable livelihoods
• Volcanoes National Park

关键词:

• 旅游收入分配
• 当地居民
• 可持续性生活
• 火山国家公园

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge fieldwork assistance from Rica Rwigamba, Janvier Kwizera, Prosper Uwingeri, Edwin Sabuhoro, and Jean Mwambusta. We thank Dr Michel Masozera and his team at the Wildlife Conservation Society office in Rwanda for assistance during fieldwork. We thank Dr Graham Miller and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on the earlier version of this paper. The Great Ape Conservation Fund of the United States Fish and Wildlife Services supported this work under Grant Number F12AP01121.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Great Ape Conservation Fund of the United States Fish and Wildlife Services [grant number F 12AP01121].

Notes on contributors

Ian E. Munanura

Ian E. Munanura, PhD, is an assistant professor of nature-based tourism in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. His research and teaching are focused on examining the potential of tourism in promoting wildlife conservation and sustainable rural livelihoods. He has previously led and advised USAID-funded ecotourism projects in Rwanda. He also served as country director for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Rwanda. His research is conducted in the United States Pacific Northwest region and the Albertine Rift montane forests eco-region in East Africa.

Kenneth F. Backman

Kenneth F. Backman, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management and fellow of the Institute for Parks at Clemson University. He is the editor-in-chief of Event Management, an international journal. He also serves as associate editor on peer reviewed editorial boards such as the Journal of Ecotourism and Tourism Analysis. His research areas of interest are sustainable community tourism development, ecotourism, international tourism development, virtual and social networking travel and events. He has conducted research in over 20 counties.

Jeffrey C. Hallo

Jeffrey C. Hallo, PhD, is an associate professor in Clemson University's Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. His research and teaching are focused on understanding, planning for and managing visitor use in protected areas. His work has specifically focused on empirical studies of park visitors/tourists' attitudes, nature-based recreation, carrying capacity, transportation planning and modeling of use patterns. The intent of Jeff's work is to help ensure that we continue to sustainably and appropriately use protected areas for public enjoyment.

Robert B. Powell

Robert B. Powell, PhD, is the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Endowed Professor in philosophy, parks and environmental ethics in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University. He is also the director of the Institute for Parks, which is an interdisciplinary institute focused on providing research, training and outreach to support park and protected area management. His research and outreach program has taken him to over 40 countries and 6 continents and focuses on environmental education/interpretation, ecotourism and protected area management.