TOSCO was born at a time of adversity, when lions were poisoned in Puros Conservancy in the Kunene Region during 2011. For Félix Vallat, who was working as a tour guide at the time, the incident highlighted the paradoxical relationship between the tourism sector and local communities when it comes to lions and other iconic, but problem-causing species. Communities were vilified for killing the lions, yet they bore all other costs of living with lions and received none of the benefits that were reaped by the tourism sector.
Inspired by Garth Owen-Smith and Dr. Philip Stander, Felix founded the ‘Tourism Supporting Conservation Trust’ in 2012 to assist communities living with wildlife on behalf the tourism sector. This way, he wanted to strengthen the relationship between the tourism industry, conservations and communities, and ensure the long-term viability of travel in Namibia. In that same year, 18 tourism companies joined as paying members. As a result, TOSCO started funding three community members in Puros – Bertus, Kootie and Colin – to monitor lion movements and mitigate human-lion conflict. They were among the first Lion Rangers employed in Namibia.
Tourism has been amongst the most important industries in Namibia. Since 2014 foreign arrivals started growing significantly, which continued until 2019 with a contribution of approximately 14.7% to GDP. Because of its relatively long value chain, tourism has a substantial contribution to the country’s employment, both directly and indirectly, making up 15.4% of the total in 2019. Namibia’s landscapes, wildlife and authentic cultures, combined with good infrastructure and low levels of crime, will grow Namibia’s popularity as a tourism destination. Although tourism has much potential to make positive impacts, it can put pressure on natural resources including endangered species, lead to soil erosion and habitat loss. Another common issue of tourism is the unequal distribution of benefits.
COMMUNITY CONSERVATION IN NAMIBIA
Namibia has been acknowledged worldwide for its conservation success story through its CBNRM (community based natural resource management) approach. Since independence, communities have been empowered to manage and utilise natural resources in so-called conservancies. With the focus on poverty alleviation and rural economic development, community conservation resulted in the largest population of black rhino in the wild and healthy populations of lions, elephants and other species. Today there are 86 conservancies in Namibia, covering 20% of the country’s surface.
Since 2012, we reached a peak of 42 members, and expanded our projects beyond human-wildlife conflict mitigation to include other important themes that helped align tourism and conservation, including research, awareness raising and carbon offsetting. In the first ten years, more than N$6 million have been collected and disbursed through TOSCO, mostly from the tourism industry through memberships. During the first decade, TOSCO worked without a budget for operating expenses, relying on a team of tourism professionals devoting their free time to its projects, and so most of the funds were creating immediate conservation impact. The focus has always been on filling critical gaps identified by our partners, whether it was by supporting external projects managed by various organisations, or initiating its own projects.
Going forward, conservation will be more focused on income generation for these conservancies, to secure rural livelihoods, covering conservation costs and ensuring their overall sustainability. At TOSCO we believe this can be linked to the increasing need for tourists seeking to travel with a positive impact on their holiday destination. Travelers do not necessarily know what responsible choices are in the Namibian context and how their money can help make a real difference, and so they are looking for responsible travel agents, including tour operators, accommodations, car rentals and guides, that ensure their impact will be positive.
TOSCO assists these tourism businesses in adapting to this global trend. There is a growing number of tourism businesses that seek to integrate sustainability at the heart of their business, but they may not be aware the actual conservation needs are, or do not have the time and resources to take their own initiatives. Besides, they face the challenge of greenwashing, whereby they have to compete with businesses that purport to be environmentally conscious for marketing purposes. By joining TOSCO, we take collaborative action on behalf of the tourism industry and make sure that it is linked to positive conservation results, that in return help to sustain tourism.
Our vision for tourism and nature to flourish in harmony. Tourism numbers go up as natural ecosystems grow more diverse and spectacular, while benefiting local communities for the natural resources that they conserve, in a self-sustainable and infinite way.
Looking into the future, we believe that with its wide-open landscapes, free-roaming wildlife and authentic traditional cultures, Namibia will continue to be an inspiration for travellers from all around the world. The contemporary, conscious traveller will be eager to learn more about Namibia’s conservation successes. This encourages the tourism sector to continue reimagining its relationship with nature, and it inspires us at TOSCO to continue finding new ways to bridge tourism and conservation. To achieve its vision, TOSCO’s work is centered around consolidating its two pillars of tourism and conservation within three relevant and pertinent themes:
Through its work, TOSCO aims to grow tourism-related support for community-centered conservation. This growth will be achieved by strengthening and deepening the relationship of tourism and conservation, by ensuring that tourism contributes to poverty alleviation and rural economic development, whilst answering the traveller’s need for transparency in terms of their impact, as well as more authentic and engaging experiences.
Our mission is to provide a benchmark for sustainable tourism in Namibia by ensuring that tourism conserves the natural reources it depends on. By linking travel to actual, positive conservation outcomes for the benefit of nature and communities, we assist tourism businesses in being the responsible agent that travellers are looking for.
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My immense love for the natural world made me want to devote my life to conservation from an early age. My MSc in Tourism, Society, and Environment in the Netherlands grew my passion for the role sustainable tourism can take in conservation. As an avid traveler, I understand why exploring the unknown can be so enriching for many of us and I hope future generations can still enjoy traveling. I am originally from the Netherlands, and arrived in Namibia in 2016. It appeared the ultimate country to learn what successful conservation is about.
I could not have found a better organisation than TOSCO to involve tourism in the conservation equation. I joined TOSCO in 2019, initially coordinating the Desert Lion Program, and then became manager in 2020. Apart from that, I am involved in the Wildlife Credits program on behalf of TOSCO, partnering with WWF Namibia and CCFN. Through TOSCO and working with rural communities and other conservation partners, I really got to understand what successful conservation is about. I am very excited to grow TOSCO further with the team, broadening the connection between tourism and conservation by getting more of the tourism industry to join our movement, and deepening this connection by making conservation an integral part of tourism and the travel experience. I believe TOSCO with its team and programs can make a real difference!
My immense love for the natural world made me want to devote my life to conservation from an early age. My MSc in Tourism, Society, and Environment in the Netherlands grew my passion for the role sustainable tourism can take in conservation. As an avid traveler, I understand why exploring the unknown can be so enriching for many of us and I hope future generations can still enjoy traveling. I am originally from the Netherlands, and arrived in Namibia in 2016. It appeared the ultimate country to learn what successful conservation is about.
I could not have found a better organisation than TOSCO to involve tourism in the conservation equation. I joined TOSCO in 2019, initially coordinating the Desert Lion Program, and then became manager in 2020. Apart from that, I am involved in the Wildlife Credits program on behalf of TOSCO, partnering with WWF Namibia and CCFN. Through TOSCO and working with rural communities and other conservation partners, I really got to understand what successful conservation is about.
I am very excited to grow TOSCO further with the team, broadening the connection between tourism and conservation by getting more of the tourism industry to join our movement, and deepening this connection by making conservation an integral part of tourism and the travel experience. I believe TOSCO with its team and programs can make a real difference!