The country's fauna and flora and variety of landscapes have enormous recreational value and attract several million tourists each year. Protected natural areas serve not only to maintain biodiversity. Sustainable visitor access to these areas adds economic, recreational and aesthetic value to that which is being conserved within their borders, and helps to preserve a wealth of traditional indigenous knowledge related to biodiversity, which is in itself a tourism resource. In short: the conservation of biological diversity adds variety and value to the total tourism product.
| The Species Wealth of South Africa | ||
| Taxa | Number of described species | Percentage of the earth's total |
| Mammals | 227 | 5,8% |
| Birds | 718 | 8,0% |
| Amphibians | 84 | 2,1% |
| Reptiles | 286 | 4,6% |
| Freshwater fish | 112 | 1,3% |
| Marine fish | 2 150 | 16,0% |
| Invertebrates | 77 500 | 5,5% |
| Vascular plants | 18 625 | 7,5% |
Thumbnail history
The first protected areas in South Africa - the forest reserves of Knysna and Tsitsikamma - were officially proclaimed in 1888. Today South Africa contains 21 types of protected areas which can be grouped under six internationally recognised management categories.
Collectively, publicly owned protected areas (national and provincial) make up 5,52% of South Africa. Although originally established opportunistically rather than in accordance with a national strategy, they cover most of the major terrestrial and marine biomes or habitat types that make up the biodiversity heritage of the country. In 1995 the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute at the University of Cape Town estimated that 74% of plants, 92% of amphibians, 92% of reptiles, 97% of birds and 93% of mammals were represented in existing protected areas.
Allowing private ownership of game has acted as a very important incentive for conservation, and resulted in many successful wildlife-based tourism enterprises. Today there are far more kilometres of game fencing around privately owned protected areas than around state parks. And, ironically, mainly because of a large and lucrative hunting industry, there is far more game to be protected on private land today than half a century ago. If privately and community-owned protected areas are added, the total national conservation area may approach 10% of the national territory.
Transborder parks make conservation more effective; some are already in existence, and more are being planned. On the other hand, both public reserves and game farms over-represent the savanna biome, whereas several other biomes are under-protected.
Also, some 25% of South Africa's land has been transformed in some way or another, usually at the expense of wild species; even tourism developments may impact negatively on them. In South Africa the number of plant species presently presumed to have gone extinct in the past few hundred years is 56; two bird and two mammal species are also known to have died out.
Fauna
South Africa's terrestrial animals are among the most spectacular on earth. Numbering over 300 species, they range in size from the tiny pygmy shrew to the imposing African elephant. This is one of the few countries where the "Big Five" (elephant, lion, rhino, leopard and buffalo) are frequently seen. Whales can also be seen off the Western Cape coastline.
Flora
South Africa's floral wealth represents some 10% of the total number of flowering species in the world. A mix of tropical and temperate climates yield five major habitat types, namely fynbos, forest, Karoo, grassland and savannah - each with its own diversity of species. South Africa is the only country to have within its borders an entire plant kingdom, the Cape Floral Kingdom, which has the highest recorded species diversity for any similar sized temperate or tropical region in the world - approximately 8 500 species. The flora of Table Mountain alone is richer than that of the whole of Tasmania, which is approximately 2 000 times larger, whilst the flora of the Cape Peninsula exceeds the total number of species in Great Britian.
Expanding stakeholdership
For the past few years, South African National Parks' Social Ecology Division has been forging links with communities adjacent to national parks, with a view to adopting an integrated environmental management approach that recognises both ecological and social systems as being critical to conserving national assets, both natural and cultural. Wildlife-based tourism is recognised as an important rural development tool and not - as it has been in the past - the exclusive domain of the privileged few. Local communities have become increasingly involved in the conservation and management of natural resources. In some cases, they have become shareholders in tourism enterprise. In others, the ownership of land has been returned to communities who had been removed after proclamation of parks/reserves. This land remains part of the park/reserve and is jointly managed by the park/reserve and the community.
Also, indigenous culture benefits from being associated with the wildlife tourism product. The location of some cultural destinations in close proximity to, or even inside protected natural areas, puts them on mainstream tourist routes. Apart from commercial benefits of nature conservation for culture, it also helps to safeguard a wealth of traditional knowledge, which would be lost if something happened to the biological resources on which it is based.
Bottom lines
Game and nature reserves remain the most popular category of destinations for international tourists coming to South Africa, and nature-based "ecotourism" has for several years been the fastest growing subsector.
Options: While no one has yet assessed the real economic contribution of the "outdoors adventure" subsection of tourism to the tourism-biodiversity equation, the range of available "soft" and "hard" options gives some indication of the potential:
In 1997, some 14% of overseas visitors recorded having taken part in an "adventure activity" during their stay in South Africa.
Nature-based tourism's direct and indirect contribution to total tourism earnings has not yet been accurately assessed. What is sure is that it is huge. International visitors rate Kruger National Park South Africa's fifth most important tourist attraction. In 1996/7 Kruger alone recorded over 1,2-million bed-nights; it's total turnover was over R200-million. This did not include ripple effects for the regional and national economies. If, as is shown in Satour's Survey of the International Tourism Market (Winter 1997), 33% of overseas holiday visitors considered wildlife and 31% scenic attractions as their most important reasons for coming to South Africa, then nature-based tourism contributed a major share of the R12,5-billion earned in foreign exchange in 1996. ("Experiencing African cultures" (23%), and "seeing South Africa after political change" (25%) were given as other main reasons for choosing South Africa for a holiday.)