Ec 210 / Ev 141: Summer 1999 Sustainable Development Fieldcourse: Africa: Wildlife, Ecotourism, & Sustainable Development Hwange District Team Reports

22 students in the class will be divided in to 3 teams of 7-8 students each

Each team will be responsible for carrying out an analysis of the diverse uses of the natural resources of the Hwange area, and assessing the sustainability of these uses from ecological and economic/social points-of-view.  Based on this assessment and analysis, each team will give recommendations/"prescriptions" for managing the natural resources of the Hwange area sustainably, so that they contribute to the welfare and development of users over the long-term.

Resources and lands under several forms of tenure are found in the area, including Hwange National Park, State Forests, communal areas, and private lands in the Gwayi Valley Conservancy.  These lands and resources encompass several variants of what can broadly be thought of as "common property."  Each team should develop a vision or blueprint for sustainable integrated resources management over the whole area. Use "Investigating a Natural Resource Commons: A Framework for Diagnosis and Prescription" (Byers, 1999) to help guide and organize your team's fieldwork and your written reports and oral presentations.

Natural resources of the area include:
 

• Wood (for timber, local construction, fuel, and woodcarving)
• Palms (for baskets, fruits)
• Grass (for thatching, grazing)
• Wildlife--elephants, wild dogs, giraffe, rhinos, crocodiles, cheetah, etc. (for viewing and photography by tourists, sport hunting by foreign hunters, meat for local residents, crocodile leather)

First day in Hwange, July 2, will be for area orientation and fieldwork planning:
 

• Morning tour with entire class into national park to observe wildlife
• Afternoon tour to local craft markets and to nearby communal lands
• Evening: plan next day logistics

During the following 5 days (July 3-7), teams will work in the field to gather information.  The logistics of team research will be complicated, and will require good communication and frequent re-planning in the field.  Teams may approach the assignment either by remaining together at all times, and sequentially gathering information of both ecological and social/economic kinds; or they may split up these information-gathering tasks, with some members gathering ecological information while others gather social and economic information, and/or some members specializing in certain resources and/or uses (e.g., sport hunting by foreign hunters, woodcarving for sale to tourists, wildlife viewing, palm basketry).

Each team will present a report to the class on Thursday, 8 July, in which they give an integrated (i.e., including both social/economic and ecological elements) diagnosis of management problems regarding the natural resources of the area and prescriptions for solving current management problems in order to promote sustainable development based on natural resources.  Each member of the team should have a role in the oral presentation.  The presentation should be backed up by a well-outlined and organized written "brief" or summary of your findings.  The written brief (limited to 10-15 pages) will be turned in for evaluation by the instructors.

The team report, including written and oral portions, is worth 25% of your total grade.  Each team member will probably receive the same grade for the fieldwork oral presentation and written summary.  However, we will ask you to confidentially rate each of your team member's contributions, and if there are serious and substantiated discrepancies in the efforts of team members, the grades of individuals on the team may be adjusted accordingly.
 

Elephants:

• Qualitative survey of elephant damage to vegetation in relation to water points in Hwange N.P.
• Qualitative survey of elephant density in relation to water points based on dung and direct observation methods
• Discussions with Hwange N.P. staff about elephant density, management
• Tourist survey including crude "contingent valuation" of elephant sightings
• Tour guide survey re elephants
• Communal lands: discussions re sport hunting of elephants under CAMPFIRE, elephant damage to crops, people

• Wildlife other than elephants (e.g., wild dogs, giraffe, rhinos, crocodiles, cheetah)
• Discussions with Hwange N.P. staff about non-elephant wildlife management
• Discussions with Painted Hunting Dog staff re research, issues related to hunting dog conservation
• Tourist survey including crude "contingent valuation" of non-elephant wildlife sightings
• Tour guide survey re non-elephant wildlife
• Communal lands: discussions re sport hunting of game other than elephants under CAMPFIRE, wildlife conflicts other than elephants
• Crocodile "ranching" in Gwayi Valley Conservancy and contribution to communal lands CAMPFIRE programs

Palms:

• Observations on ilala palm ecology
• Survey of status of ilala palm populations on: communal lands; private lands in Gwayi Valley Conservancy, esp. Karna Block and De Fries Farm
• Ilala palm nursery project in communal lands (Chris Van Wyck)
• Basketry market surveys at Gwayi River, Mabali craft center, and roadside markets
• Interviews with basketmakers re techniques, economics, etc.
• Interviews regarding use of palm fruits for food

Wood:

• Discussions with woodcarvers and sellers re techniques, economics, etc.
• Survey of woods and sizes of carved objects at roadside craft markets
• Interviews with wood cutters, visits to woodcutting sites with cutters to assess ecological status of carved tree species
• Mapping of wood sources in relation to carving markets
• Market surveys to determine prices
• Interviews with foreign tourist purchasers of carvings
• Interviews with Forestry Commission officials regarding commercial timber cutting in the area
• Interviews/observations regarding use of wood for fuel by local residents and for sale along highway

Grass:

• Observations and interviews regarding sources of thatching grass in area
• Observations and interviews regarding grazing in area (private, communal, and Forestry Commission lands)

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