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

Chapter two reviews global changes in approaches to protected area management and
community involvement; examines the growing importance of the tourism industry, and
considers the potential for eco-tourism to contribute to protected area management, and
thus provides NCWCD planners with background information on the general issues.
This chapter has been compiled through a review of the literature, including industry
statistics, internet websites and NGO newsletters, and IUCN publications.
Chapter three provides background information about the natural history, political and
economic change in Saudi Arabia, and gives an overview of the recent history of
conservation management. The aim of this section is to indicate the diversity of
landscapes, habitats and wildlife, a legacy of the Arabian Peninsula’s close relationship
with Africa and with Asia. This section concludes with a comparison of four wildlife
protected areas to demonstrate three things: 1) that a preservationist approach to
protected areas has only met its conservation objectives with fenced sites; 2) that without
improved relationships with local communities, unfenced areas suffer on-going problems
of encroachment and poaching of native species, and 3) the NCWCD has acknowledged
these difficulties and is moving towards greater community consultation for protected
area creation and management. This chapter was constructed through a review of the
literature, including both published and unpublished source material, the latter
comprising reports by NCWCD and other Saudi Government agencies, and
supplemented by reference to conference proceedings and presentations.
Chapter four assesses the current state of the Saudi Arabian tourism industry, examining
its unique features, its administration, environmental impacts and problems. Because
available information consisted only of limited Government pamphlets and in-house
publications in Arabic, information for this section was compiled largely through
interviews and surveys, including the circulation of a questionnaire to a sample of
tourism operators to gauge industry attitudes to wildlife, protected areas and the potential
for nature-based tourism development. The questionnaire was compiled following initial
interviews with a number of tourism related businesses. It was then translated into
Arabic and faxed or mailed to over 40 travel agencies and tour companies. It soon
became apparent that there was little current interest in nature-based tourism and few
completed questionnaires were forthcoming. Consequently information was obtained
from personal interviews with Government officials, particularly senior members of the
Chamber of Commerce and including the co-chairman of the National Tourism
Committee.
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