Tourism linked to bird watching has provided an alternative to slash-and-burn agriculture in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Its viability has also been recognised as a worthwhile source of income in industrialised Richards Bay, according to Duncan Pritchard, Rio Tinto’s programme director of the Zululand Birding Route.
He was speaking at the weekend’s Sasol Birds and Birding Fair, held at Johannesburg Zoo.
Pritchard said 20 guides on the birding routes in northern KwaZulu-Natal have earned about R450 000 in the past two years.
”For a rural community where people have no money and there is the incentive to chop down forests to harvest muti to sell in Durban, this is a significant impact.”
On the other end of the economic spectrum, land at Richards Bay — located around the Thulasihleka Pan and attractive for development — was zoned as a conservation amenity area by the Umhlatuze municipality 18 months ago.
It is now managed by Bird Life South Africa.
”This was a big thing for an industrial-minded municipality,” said Pritchard.
Meanwhile, the Zululand Bird Route project has proved itself a role model for other projects in avitourism, as birding tourism is called.
”We want to develop similar routes to emulate their success,” said Malcolm Gemmell, chairperson of Bird Life Sisonke, representing an area of southern KwaZulu-Natal. — Sapa