The Contribution of Tourism to Peacebuilding Processes

The concern for environmental protection within an increasingly globalised international system has led to the planning of Transfrontier Conservation Areas, among which Peace Parks aim to achieve or maintain peace across borders. Based on the growing importance that tourism practice has for the sustainability of Peace Parks, this chapter reflects on how the tourism activity developed within Peace Parks can contribute to peacebuilding processes. This dynamic is addressed by analysing a case study, focused on the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. It shows that tourism has the potential to positively contribute to sustainability, creating better living conditions for the local population and, consequently, promoting the achievement of peace. However, it also shows that tourism may have the opposite effect if national interests dominate, if there is insufficient consultation of local communities' interests or if sensitive border and land-use issues are not overcome.

Elephant movement patterns in relation to human inhabitants in and around the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park

The presence of humans and African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park can create situations of potential human–elephant conflict. Such conflict will likely be exacerbated as elephant and human populations increase, unless mitigation measures are put in place. In this study we analysed the movement patterns of 13 collared adult African elephants from the northern Kruger National Park over a period of eight years (2006–2014). We compared the occurrence and displacement rates of elephant bulls and cows around villages in the Limpopo National Park and northern border of the Kruger National Park across seasons and at different times of the day. Elephants occurred close to villages more often in the dry season than in the wet season, with bulls occurring more frequently around villages than cows. Both the bulls and the cows preferred to use areas close to villages from early evening to midnight, with the bulls moving closer to villages than the cows. These results suggest that elephants, especially the bulls, are moving through the studied villages in Mozambique and Zimbabwe at night and that these movements are most common during the drier months when resources are known to be scarce.Conservation implications: Elephants from the Kruger National Park are moving in close proximity to villages within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. Resettlement of villages within and around the park should therefore be planned away from elephant seasonal routes to minimise conflict between humans and elephants.