In South Africa, an estimated 30,000 children under the age of 18 are said to be victims of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). Even more shocking is that many of these victims are children between the ages of 10 and 14 years old. Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA), South Africa’s leading responsible tourism NGO, is now challenging citizens to become involved and assume their role as protectors of our children, forming part of their initiative where key players in the travel and sector are stepping up and taking a stance against Child Sex Tourism (CST).

Since Alex Haley’s book ‘Roots’ was published in 1976, tourists have been flocking to the villages of Juffureh and Albreda in the Gambia where the story began. The book and subsequent film tell the story of Kunte Kinteh, a man captured as an adolescent from Juffureh and sold into slavery in the United States. Today, around 2000 people live in Juffereh and Albreda, including decedents of Kunte Kinteh’s family. Tours to the villages involve international visitors arriving by boat and spending a few hours in the community learning about the slave trade and life in the village.

In 2009, Basecamp Explorer, in partnership with 500 Masai landowners, agreed to create a 20,000 hectares community wildlife conservancy in Masai Mara Kenya. The called it Naboisho, which means togetherness in local Maa language. Unique to this conservancy is that each of the 500 landowners is guaranteed of monthly income paid as rent for fifteen years, for setting aside part of their land for conservation. The rent is determined by the number of acres a landowner has contributed to the conservancy and will increase each year based on inflation rates.

The Forest Conservation by Livelihood Development Project (LIVE Project) aims to conserve the forest areas and biodiversity in Zanzibar by supporting alternative livelihoods for the local communities. LIVE Project supports 40 groups in 11 villages around the Kiwengwa-Pongwe Forest Reserve, including Kiwengwa. There are also ten Village Conservation Committees involved in the project, working to develop sustainable use of forest resources. By visiting the caves, visitors will also be able to support the project, as well as experiencing one of the natural wonders of the island.

If you are considering joining a volunteer program in South Africa, then you are likely the kind of person who wants to make a positive contribution, be it to conservation or to a community in need. However, before deciding which project you want to join, there are a few things that you may want to consider. Does the project have a genuine need for volunteers? The whole idea of volunteering is for you to make a real and significant contribution to a cause through your specialist skills, or simply through your hard work and enthusiasm!

In October 2010, a new group of visitors will arrive on Sierra Leone’s John Obey Beach, 20 miles south of the capital, Freetown, and begin to build a new life alongside the local fishing community. The initiative is led by Tribewanted, a social enterprise whose groundbreaking social experiment on the Fijian island of Vorovoro has injected since 2006 more than US$ 1 million into the local economy by setting up an online tribal community of more than 10,000 people.

Part 2 – Ecotourism Now

The business of ecotourism has not changed dramatically in 20 years, though it has expanded globally. Businesses around the world have increasingly adopted ecotourism principles in an effort to create more low-impact and greener tourism opportunities. This social and environmental business model has continued to prove viable for companies around the world.

Part 1 – Ecotourism 20 Years Ago

Before ecotourism emerged, adventure travel was already 10 years old and counting. After rafting, mountain trekking and climbing in Africa and Latin America took off in the 70s, ecotourism businesses began to test out trips with more “nerdy” international ecology themes popularized in the 80s. Most early ecotourism pioneers carried binoculars, watched birds as second nature, and could be found crawling on the ground to observe insects and mushrooms more often than scaling dramatic peaks.

Wilderness Safaris Toka Leya camp – on the banks of the Zambezi River in the western part of Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park – offers wildlife treks to view the endangered White Rhino.

The Rhinos have 24 hour armed security following them in the bush to protect them from poaching.

Photos courtesy of Lights of Africa, an 8-month media expedition throughout Southern and Eastern Africa.

Namibia’s Communal Wildlife Conservancies help promote the welfare of the people and maintain the country’s ecosystems, biodiversity and natural resources.

While the coast is rich in Diamonds and Uranium, its most sustainable resource is tourism.

Photos courtesy of Lights of Africa