‘Building a Wildlife Economy: Developing Nature-Based Tourism in African State Protected Areas’ – a report  by Space For Giants Conservation Capital and the UN Environmental Programme – says tourism drives 8.5% of Africa’s economy and supports 24 million jobs across the continent, and that 80% of annual trips to the continent are for wildlife watching, yet Africa's protected areas are underfunded by up to 10 times.

The natural assets that give Africa its global competitive advantage – its wildlife and landscapes – are under threat and could be lost forever unless they urgently prove their economic as well as ecological value.

According to the report, “One recent study, warned that as much as $2 billion more is needed if the continent’s surviving lions are to be maintained.” Nature-based tourism is not only a solution to this funding gap but, if implemented correctly, it has the potential to significantly improve the livelihoods of citizens.

Bringing new private-sector investment to underfunded protected areas would help fund conservation without draining state finances. It would also increase jobs and drive sustainable local and national development. The number of international tourists to Africa is projected to jump to 134 million from 62 million by 2030.  

The report sets out a Toolkit that in seven steps can guide protected area authorities to attract new international investment to fund national parks while also conserving environments and providing socio-economic benefits.

Using the Toolkit, models on several examples of protected areas in Africa predicted revenue increases of between four and eleven times within a decade. Every context will be different depending on the country, but following these steps in sequence gives every likelihood that the economic impact from nature-based tourism will be significantly enhanced.

An outline of the Toolkit is:

1. National protected area tourism plan: Conduct a thorough market analysis and tourism development planning exercise at a national level.
2. Individual protected area tourism plan: Develop a detailed plan at individual protected area level to determine all tourism development zones, product types and local capacity needs.
3. Identify commercial opportunities: Analyse the commercial opportunities in each individual protected area.
4. Award concessions: Identify and select the best private-sector commercial partners to develop available concessions in the individual protected areas.
5. Develop concession contracts: Develop optimal contracts that define how commercial tourism protected area concessions should be managed.
6. Communicate clearly: Develop and maintain a robust system for communication and mutual support between protected area management, relevant communities, and private-sector tourism partners.
7. Evaluation policy: Design and maintain a consistent system to monitor and evaluate the performance and impact of nature tourism businesses in protected areas.  

The full report can be found here.