Vote for SA birding route

2003-09-16 13:59

Sharon Hammond

Eshowe - South Africa?s Zululand Birding Route has made it to the top three finalists in the global Sustainable Tourism Award for Conservation.

The award, an initiative of the US-based Smithsonian Magazine and Travellers Conservation Foundation, aims to raise awareness in the travel and tourism industries about environmental, cultural and wildlife conservation.

The winner must demonstrate a clear connection between their conservation endeavours and tourism.

The Zululand Birding Route is a non-profit project of Birdlife South Africa and aims to protect indigenous birds and their habitats by creating tourism-related jobs in adjacent rural communities.

Since its founding in 1997, the project has trained nearly 30 local people to act as bird guides and facilitated a number of community-based tourist attractions.

"By giving these birding areas some socio-economic value through tourism, we hope to ensure their long-term conservation by the people who live there," says Karen Marx, the route's business manager.

Residents of Eshowe, which is at the centre of the route, are already casting their votes online in the hopes that the route will win and draw more tourists to the region.

We could do great things

"It would mean a lot to us in this little town if the Zululand Birding Route won, as we could then really market ourselves and do great things for tourism and the rural communities," says one resident and tourism promoter, Jane Chennells.

"Voting is easy, and it is quite interesting to see what the competition is like out there."

Those interested in voting for the Zululand Birding Route can do so online at www.sustainabletourismawards.com.

- African Eye