Not just the Big Five: African ecotourists prefer parks brimming with bird diversity

Abstract

Ecotourism helps sustain protected areas (PAs) that in turn conserve Africa's declining fauna. Identifying ecotourist preferences and which species and landscapes benefit from ecotourism could therefore support African biodiversity conservation efforts. Due to historic associations with trophy hunting and subsequent ecotourism marketing efforts, ecotourist preferences have been thought to traditionally center around the ‘Big Five’: elephant, lion, buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. But these preferences may be evolving. Here, we ask two questions, one about the drivers and one about the consequences of ecotourism: (1) Which species and landscapes do ecotourists most prefer based on realized visitation data? And (2), differently, which species and landscapes benefit most from ecotourism? We gathered data on average annual tourist visits, the occurrence of nine mammals, bird species richness, forest cover, national wealth, local human population and accessibility for 164 Sub‐Saharan African PAs. To address our first question, we used a Bayesian multivariable model to identify whether bird and megafaunal diversity explain visits to PAs while controlling for other factors. To address our second question, we used Bayesian univariate models to analyze the relationships between park visitation and each species/landscape. We found that tourist preferences extend beyond the Big Five to include bird diversity. We also observed that ecotourism may be well suited to conserve bird diversity, lion, cheetah, black and white rhinoceros, African wild dog and giraffe species. Collectively, our results may help inform how to leverage ecotourism to conserve African fauna.

Beyond the Big Five and Birds: Divergent ecotourism perspectives in rapidly changing Africa

“…Ecotourism has increasingly been recognized as an important source of revenue for protected areas as well as their surrounding communities (Hausmann et al ., 2016; Eyster, Naidoo, & Chan, 2022; Gupta et al ., 2023). Particularly in southern and eastern Africa, ecotourism is linked with charismatic species ‐ the Big Five‐, i.e., African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ), rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis , Ceratotherius simum ), lion ( Panthera leo ), African buffalo ( Syncerus caffer ), and leopard ( Panthera pardus ).…”

How virtual representations of ecotourists' experiences on social media may shape meanings and preferences: insights for future research complementing visitation data

“…Eyster, Naidoo, & Chan (2022) importantly suggest that the negative association found in their study between tourists' visits and nearby human population may imply that revenues from ecotourism could favor the displacement of people and the conservation of landscape types which may not be envisioned or desired by locals. In protected areas, ecotourism imaginaries can drive environmental change by influencing normative value judgments on how landscapes should look like, which species are considered of value, and thus worth conserving, and for whom.…”

“…Eyster, Naidoo, & Chan (2022) found that beyond charismatic megafauna, areas with high bird diversity may also attract more visitors. Birdwatching is a growing niche in nature‐based tourism attracting bird enthusiasts to diverse locations worldwide.…”

“…Content shared on social media (e.g., images, videos, and texts) has been used as a cost‐efficient proxy for understanding a wide set of people‐nature interactions, including ecotourists' preferences, visitation, and broader experiences in protected areas (Teles da Mota & Pickering, 2020). Place‐specific content from social media (e.g., geotagged photographs) could help unveil how factors of attractiveness found by Eyster, Naidoo, & Chan (2022) interplay with the plurality of reasons underpinning visitation at more local scales, for example, by assessing whether bird diversity or birdwatching activities are reflected in social media content posted in relation to bird‐rich areas. Moreover, social media data could provide further insights into complementary results by unveiling emerging preferences and meanings which may not be detected through visitation data.…”

“…Overall, the study by Eyster, Naidoo, & Chan (2022) sets a fertile ground for future research to further assess the set of social‐ecological conditions for ecotourism to contribute to biodiversity conservation. Although increasing evidence shows that ecotourists' preferences may be diverse, there is need to understand how virtual representations of nature‐based experiences may shape meanings, perceptions, and preferences in protected areas.…”