From vision to narrative: A trial of information-based gorilla tourism in the Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon

Abstract

African great apes are threatened with extinction by an increasing number of human activities. Along with an increase in the habitat overlap used by local people and great apes, human-great ape conflicts have become intense. Many protected areas have recently been established for the conservation of great apes and other biodiversity in Africa, but difficulties have arisen while adopting the "fences-and-fines" management approach. Tourism could provide an alternative approach for the management of protected areas as a sustainable use of biodiversity, and an alternative source of income for local communities and governments of countries with this type of habitat. However, with few exceptions, great ape tourism projects are faced with challenges. Moreover, great ape tourism increases the risks of disease transmission between humans and great apes. Nevertheless, great apes, as charismatic flagship species, are essential for successful wildlife tourism. In this paper, I reconsider the current style of great ape tourism that depends on close visual contact between tourists and great apes. Then, I propose a novel style of great ape tourism. It is based on using narratives about great apes generated by local community members as the leading tour product, and visual contact as the supplementary product. This approach might 1) reduce the negative effects of tourism on great apes; and 2) enhance proactive commitment by community members, and lead to a fair revenue sharing system.