Over the almost 20 years I’ve worked in community-led conservation, I have seen the significant benefits that sustainable tourism can generate for communities who are managing their natural resources – and the resulting positive impacts on nature. But even before Covid, vulnerabilities were evident in this tourism-based income model. Movements in the global north – the main source market for African tourism – can have serious repercussions. For example: increasingly vocal opposition to sustainable use of wildlife; the growing awareness of climate change and the emergence of ‘flight shaming’; and a looming possibility of another global economic crash.
Diversity is key to resilience. Many initiatives to create new models for communities were already underway – such as Wildlife Credits in Namibia, forest carbon initiatives in Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania, and the development of conservation trust funds – but more was needed.