The Unfenced Desert Towards a strategy for eco ... - Nwrc.gov.sa

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SUMMARY
The Unfenced Desert
Towards a strategy for eco-tourism development
in protected areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Philip J. Seddon
Since 1986 the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD) has been
charged with the protection of wildlife in Saudi Arabia, principally through the creation and management of
a network of protected areas. Until recently the NCWCD protected area estate, numbering some 14 sites,
has been managed through a preservationist approach under which local communities and other
stakeholders have been denied access to natural resources, and receive few benefits. The NCWD has
acknowledged that this approach is unsustainable, particularly in the face of shrinking government funding.
Eco-tourism, nature-based tourism that protects the environment and enhances the well-being of local
communities, provides a potential solution to these problem. The value of both domestic and international
tourism is recognised in Saudi Arabia and moves are underway to develop the national tourism industry.
However, tourism development in Saudi Arabia has proceeded without environmental protection
regulations, and negative impacts are already evident in high-use regions.
The NCWCD has a window of opportunity in which to develop eco-tourism within selected protected areas;
such development should be co-ordinated within a comprehensive strategy for eco-tourism. Such a strategy
would, inter alia, ensure that the principles of true eco-tourism are upheld, and would provide examples of
best practise for national planning and regulation.
This study aims to set out a framework for strategic planning for eco-tourism within Saudi Arabia’s wildlife
protected areas, by drawing on a review of the current state of the tourism industry, and on an examination
of public attitudes to outdoor recreation, wildlife and protected areas.
The draft framework presented here is built around a vision statement; four objectives relating to
conservation, education, recreation and community participation; seven general principles considering
conservation, public enjoyment and education, rural economy, development and design, marketing and
promotion, and research and monitoring; and ten proposed topics of action.