Linking Tourism & Conservation recently addressed all providers of the 52 LT&C Examples to bring their examples of tourism supporting protected areas on the PANORAMA platform. It only can make their practical examples more widely and globally known and hopefully inspire others to replicate or learn from their solutions. Our member Greg Bakunzi from Rwanda was the first to follow that recommendation. He worked with Cécile Fattebert from IUCN, documenting his example in a PANORAMA solutions format. We like to ask both of them about their cooperation experience briefly:

Greg Bakunzi: What was your motivation to publish your LT&C-Example also as a PANORAMA solution?

The motivation to publish this solution to Panorama was to demonstrate how tourism can support the conservation of protected areas and become the best tourism destination, benefiting the country and the local community near those protected areas.

Cécile Fattebert: can you tell us more about the project ‘Sustainable Tourism and Protected Areas in a Post-COVID World’ and how that relates both to PANORAMA and LT&C-Examples?

This project is led by IUCN on behalf of GIZ and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is implemented by the IUCN Protected and Conserved Areas Programme in collaboration with Planeterra Foundation and other partners.

Tourism is a key economic driver to support protected areas and provides an important instrument to foster the public’s and local communities‘ connections to protected areas. Within the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, tourism has been one of the most impacted sectors, affecting economies, livelihoods, public services and opportunities on all continents.  

The goal of the project is to deliver sustainable community-based tourism development, with a focus on flagship protected areas across Peru and Vietnam, building on – and informing – international best practices. 

I’m sourcing good practices examples around the world, that showcase a successful community-based tourism model, enhanced community resilience and Covid-19 mitigation actions. These examples are documented in the PANORAMA solutions format. PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet is an online open-access portfolio of best practices around the world, which have demonstrated tangible positive impacts in terms of nature conservation and sustainable development. They will also be featured in a dedicated publication on this topic.

LT&C Examples provide a wealth of existing good practices that are worth to be shared on the PANORAMA platform as well. The organisations carrying out these successful activities would benefit from wider visibility in the field of conservation and sustainable development. In 2021, about 200,000 people visited PANORAMA, which gives an idea of the scope. For more information on the PANORAMA initiative, I invite you to watch this intro video: PANORAMA – Who we are on Vimeo

Greg: How did you experience the procedure of posting your example on the PANORAMA platform?

The procedure was somehow complicated, but in the end, after the guidance, I found it to be the best procedure, especially when posting solutions that will attract a big number of audience who are interested in the solution.

Cécile: What would you take out of your cooperation with Greg Bakunzi and Red Rocks in order to motivate more LT&C-Example providers to take your offer of publishing their example on the PANORAMA platform?

Firstly, it has been a great opportunity to connect with Greg Bakunzi and learn about Red Rocks Initiative. Second, we worked together to identify what impacts he wanted to showcase and what are the key ingredients of success that made it work. Now that the solution is published on the platform, I’ll be able to feature it in the publication for the specific project mentioned above, but not only. It can inspire other actors working across various fields of activities, such as environmental conservation and natural resources management, who are looking for ways to engage communities more in their activities, including creating incentives and alternative livelihoods. PANORAMA solutions are also often promoted as examples of existing good practices in webinars, different communication channels, events, publications and policy briefs by the partner organisations of the initiative. The solutions providers can also be invited to share their experience in specific knowledge exchange activities with peers or in conferences and events. 

I believe that for all of us, whether we are practitioners on the ground, national, regional or global project managers, decision-makers, donors, policy influencers, it is challenging to find existing successful examples or solutions, that are scattered on the internet, in thousands of websites and formats, or documented for the sole purpose of a defined project, whose website may eventually be closed. I think in this regard, PANORAMA offers a great service in providing a collection of solutions and contacts readily available for further visibility, promotion and exchanges.