Needle in a haystack? Community cultural heritage in wilderness and wildlife tourism environments of southern Africa

 by Dr Susan  Keitumetse

Abtract

Wildlife and wilderness environments currently dominate resources conservation and management models in southern Africa. Therefore plans for protection of natural heritage resources heavily obscure the development of conservation initiatives specific to cultural and heritage resources management, making it inevitable that approaches initiated for natural heritage are directly adopted, rather than adapted, into the management and conservation of cultural heritage resources. In most parts of southern Africa, this adoption is influenced by the need for a diversified tourism product. However, this approach poses a challenge for sustainable development of African cultural heritage because it blurs the development of conservation and management measures that are compatible with cultural and heritage resources and contribute to these resources’ sustainability. This paper highlights this scenario as it occurs in southern Africa, the inherent challenges it brings to the development of sustainable cultural heritage management approaches; and goes further to show how, and why African cultural heritage resources management strategies should strongly pursue approaches that are unique to cultural and heritage resources such as Community-Based Cultural Heritage Resources Management (COBACHREM) model that will create sustainable communities in Africa.

The paper will be presented at a conference in Cambridge Universtity in a conference organised by Centre for Research  in the Arts, Social sciences and Humanities which will be held from today ,15th  May 2015 - 16th  May 2015.

More info about the conference: http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/25667