Community Tourism and Enterprise Training Manual

In Malawi, where there are strong traditions of natural resource use, legal permits are given for sustainable utilization of natural resources in Protected Areas (PAs). Although the PAs in Malawi have been established for a number of decades, they use what were traditionally communal lands, and in some cases, communities were moved in the past so that boundaries could be drawn.

Therefore, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and the World Bank Protected Areas Project seek to involve communities as partners in the conservation and management of PA natural resources. A command-and-control system has not proved a strong management option, but the form of cooperation implicit in the permit system can be extended to increase benefits to both the community and to the forces of conservation.

It has been demonstrated many times in other African countries that the best way to ensure the goodwill and support of local communities for conservation management is to re-establish use rights, which in turn will encourage a feeling of ownership. This is done by involving community representatives in co-management activities and by encouraging enterprises aimed at improving economic conditions in adjoining communities through the use of renewable natural resources.

This Manual was prepared initially to support the World Bank Project in the Lower Shire area of Malawi, which sought to improve the economic viability of the PAs through incorporating adjoining communities in their management and use.

This Manual was developed through field use and testing during workshops held in Lengwe National Park and in six (6) target communities in the Lower Shire adjacent to Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve, Lengwe National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve.

It was commissioned by the Community Partnership for Sustainable Resource Management project (COMPASS) in Malawi in support of its program to encourage the use of Natural Resources for increasing livelihood opportunities in rural and disadvantaged communities.