OPINION | Why eco-tourism trumps extractive industries in Eastern Cape

The decline of the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency’s 17 provincial nature reserves has a profound existential implication for the province which is under the pressure of a number of heavy mining applications in sensitive environmental areas. According to the local Green Ripple public interest group’s Kevin Harris: “Our way of life in the Eastern Cape is rarely about heavy industry. People here have had a very hard time serving as a labour resource for highveld miners and many have returned destitute, without much pension and sick.

“They have heard what UN ambassador and movie star Leonardo DiCaprio said as he flew over the smashed-earth tar sands in Canada. ‘It looks like Mordor.’ This is a land of smoking ruins and violence. A wasteland.

“We are arguing that people see the natural beauty of our province, especially in the eastern half with the Wild Coast and East Coast, and our spectacular southern highveld, as prime real estate,” Harris said. “Our stunning, wild province’s stupendous coastline’s rich biodiversity and unique ecosystems aren’t just pretty scenery — they’re the core asset. “Like owning a high-yield property with reliable, long-term tenants who pay rent year after year without destroying the building.

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“Eco-tourism, in which our provincial nature reserves are an integral part, works exactly like that. “Visitors come to experience the untouched parts of the Wild Coast, East Coast and Sunshine Coast, the beaches, the estuaries, the riverine forests, the marine and coastal wildlife, and the cultural heritage of life lived by the sun and moon. “They spend money on transport, lodges, guides, local crafts and food.

“This income can flow indefinitely, as long as the natural environment — the capital — stays healthy. “The ‘tenant’ (tourism) must look after the property because its success depends on it remaining attractive and intact. “Generations of locals can benefit through jobs, small businesses and community growth — forever, if managed right.

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