ABSTRACT
In the past ten years of the post-colonial era, the establishment of so-called Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs)1 has become an imaginative new strategy which, in principle, can play a very important role in the survival of wildlife in Southern Africa (Myers et al. 2000). These TFCAs can be seen as being part of a series of Transboundary Natural Resource Management (TBNRM) initiatives that attempt to facilitate or improve the management of natural resources across boundaries to the benefit of all parties in the area concerned (Griffin 2003). These areas give effect to the stated objectives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which aim for synergistic initiatives for economic, social and conservation benefits over the subcontinent (Kessler 2007). It is evident from the international literature that TFCAs also play a significant role in the mutual strengthening of the tourism industries of neighbouring countries (Chadwick 1996; de Villiers 1999; Ghimire 1997; Mabudafhasi 2008; Shonge 2006; Timothy 2001). They are indeed a key factor in increasing tourism in the entire Southern African region. This initiative is supposed to boost tourism, protect biodiversity, uplift communities and promote harmony in Southern Africa. Significantly, it provides a platform to address the individual parks’ most serious threats to wildlife, for example illegal poaching and the loss and fragmentation of habitats (Cumming 1987; Holt-Biddle 1998; Kessler 2007).
