Paper short abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to present, discuss and reflect upon urban-based eco-tourism implications on biodiversity conservation and rural development based on-going research in both Dar and Mikumi.

Paper long abstract:

Can growing urban-based ecotourism from Dar es Salaam to Mikumi be good news for the rural poor and biodiversity conservation?

Over the past decades focus in debates and academic literature on Africa's rural-urban relations has primarily been on flows from rural to urban areas. In most African countries urban-based eco-tourism are either non-existing or marginally developed as in many other places in the Global South. My main arguments for the relevance of research activities on urban-based eco-tourism to rural areas in an Africa context:

Increase and intensification of urban-based activities in rural area linked to the recreational activities. A new and growing financially privileged class in Africa's urban areas shows interest in eco-tourism related activities in rural areas.

Urban-based eco-tourism into rural areas has significant impact for both local communities and biodiversity based on my experiences from both the Global North and India.

Limited documentation of eco-tourism's impact on conservation of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa.

These new and intensified urban-rural activities will be focused on Tanzania with Mikumi as the rural case. Tanzania is one of the prime eco-tourism destinations in Africa and until recently almost exclusively North-South tourists. In recent years a growing number of urban-based tanzanians have shown interest in eco-tourism activities in the Mikumi area.

The presentation will be structured around the following three questions:

Why urban-based interests for eco-tourism to rural areas?

What are the implications for local communities related to growing urban-based interests?

What implications does urban-based eco-tourism have on biodiversity conservation in Mikumi?