Nature Conservation and Opportunities for Local Community Involvement in Cave Tourism: Insights from Chirorodziva Calabash Festival, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe

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Abstract

Globally, there has been a gradual realisation of the potential of caves in attracting tourists. Zimbabwe has a rich heritage of caves, with the Chirorodziva[1] Caves in Chinhoyi being the most prominent ones. Currently conservation and management of the of the Chirorodziva Caves are in the hands of Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authorities. This authority is the sole beneficiary of proceeds from Cave Tourism around Chirorodziva Caves relegating local communities to spectators. However, the critical question for this paper therefore is what insights can be derived from a mere festival around the Caves such as Chirorodziva Festival to point at opportunities for local community and park authorities partnership in both conservation and management benefit sharing from Chirorodziva Cave Tourism. Study findings indicate that caves are very important to tourism if properly harnessed as it will improve the social and economic wellbeing of the host community and also in conservation of the biodiversity and the environment. The findings from this study are essential in fuelling the discourse on cave tourism and drawing relevant authorities’ attention to the need to accentuate and exploit the potential posed by Chinhoyi Caves as an alternative tourism resource for both management and local community benefit.