Gustavsson o Nordlund e 170928-26-30

alongside the lodge area and which have buildings only a few meters from it is an area where we
need to make a decision. Shall it be open for everyone or shall it in reality become another part
of a secluded lodge? Today the river is mostly used by local fishermen in their dugout canoes. We
want these fishermen to feel that they have the right to use the waters as much as they do now
with the lodge in place. The river landscape is consisting of the narrow river (about 20 meters
wide) with lush vegetation on the sides. When constructing the lodge there is very important to
keep this lush vegetation and that the buildings not are too visible from the river. By doing this
the buildings with their natural materials and organic feeling can blend into the river landscape
and become a natural part of it. Natural high grass is for example to be preferred over well-cut
turfs. By respecting the fishermen’s traditional use of these waters we believe that we not only
can satisfy the fishermen, we can also increase the genuine qualities and therefore the attracti-
veness of the lodge. The view from a chalet veranda with the river, flood plains with antelopes
and a fisherman paddling on the river in a dugout will be highly appreciated. It also would not
be a surprise if the fisherman found interest and amusement in the tourists and their different
paddling techniques. An example of shared use is Kaya Mawa, Malawi (Case study 1.) where the
beach next to the lodge is used both by the locals for washing laundry and by the tourists for
swimming. In this way it can also work as a meeting point (on equal terms) between cultures.
There are some other possible conflicts that this project may arise. Some farmers who today are
farming inside the future lodge area will have to cultivate on other places. This is of course a mat-
ter of conflict, as is the dynamiting of the rivers (which is illegal by the way). The people engaging
in this will have to find a different living and might be upset. The way forward here is to offer
them something better then what they have today. The farmers can be compensated and even
get some more work out of changing the location of where they farm, the people dynamiting
can be offered a job right away. These tactics are planned to be used by CSM.
In this kind of project it is crucial that the local community is supporting the project. This is not
necessarily the case, even though the project in this case is endorsed by the chief. The matter of
rumours is also an important aspect. People will talk when they hear that something is going on
and we as students just doing a design proposal, were not separated from CSM by the local com-
munity. For them, we were part of CSM and they wanted to know what we were planning. It was
hard for them to understand that we only were students and actually did not know that much
about the project. People also kept asking us for jobs. We were representatives of the whole pro-
ject to them, and very responsible of what feelings we might arouse within the local community.
If we were to make a mistake concerning this, the whole project and the confidence of the local
community might suffer severely. As representatives in that way, it is important not to give too
high expectations, since it’s only in the planning stages, it is not certain that it will happen.
Finally when discussing ecotourism it is important to know that few ecotourism projects have
been declared a success. This is due to the fact that many so called “ecotourism projects” are
actually nothing but large scale projects using ecotourism as a marketing strategy. The Royal
Mutanda, if built, can hopefully be a better example.
25
6. conclusion -
are ecoutourism projects worth it?
As we see it, ecotourism in many ways presents an alternative to mass-tourism. Alt-
hough sometimes a superficial market strategy, ecotourism also has to live up to a re-
putation of being perfect; perfect for the local culture in terms of cultural respect and
as a source of income, perfect for the environment and perfect for the tourist looking
for an unforgettable experience. This is of course also a myth, nothing is perfect. But
we feel that ecotourism is a way forward that needs to be further developed through
trial and error. The decrease of our common natural resources is truly a threat and the
poverty is devastating in many parts of the world. This project could therefore be seen
as a small step forward for landscape architects working with ecotourism.
Are ecotourism projects worth it?
To cite Martha Honey :
“ It is worth the struggle, local communities are being empowered and their mem-
bers lives improved; national parks and other fragile ecosystems are recieving more
support; and there is a growing awareness that we cannot continue to play in other
people’s lands as we have in the past.”
26
7. references
Aronsson, L. and Tengling, M. 2003. ”Turism – världens största näring,” Liber, Malmö.
Burdette, M. 1988. Zambia, between two worlds, Westview press inc, Boulder.
Ceballos-Lascuran, H. 2002. ”Preface, Current issues in tourism.” Vol 5, Nos 3 &4. Webpage:
http://www.commerce.otago.ac.nz/tourism/current-issues/homepage.htm
Dixey, L. 2005. “Inventory and Analysis of Community Based Tourism in Zambia” USAID, Zambia.
Dooley, B. And Plewman, N. 1999. African adventurer’s guide to Zambia, Southern Book Publis-
hers, Cape Town.
Else, D. 2002. Zambia, Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd, China.
Faiers, J. 2005 ”Exotic retreats : eco resort design from barefoot sophistication to luxury pad.”
RotoVision. Mies, Switzerland
Fennel, A. D. 1999. ”Ecotourism, an introduction.” Routledge, UK.
Fisken, T. 2006. ”Affects of Landscape in Tocqueville’s American Psychogeography.” UC Berkeley,

USA.
Gunn, A.C. 1988. ”Vacationscape, designing tourist regions”. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company,
New York, USA.
Honey, M. 1999. ”Ecotourism and sustainable development, who owns paradise?” Island press,
USA.
Jukofsky, 1992. Magazine: ”Landscape architecture”, 1992:8. Vol. 82. Editor, James G. Trulove.
Washington D.C. USA.
Mcintyre, C. 2004. ”Zambia, the Bradt travel guide, 3rd edition.” Bradt travel guides ltd. UK.
Mclaren, D. 1998. ”Rethinking tourism and ecotravel.” Kumarian Press, Inc, Canada.
The World Bank in Zambia, Country brief 2005-2006. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INT-

ZAMBIA/Resources/Zambia_2005_7.pdf
UI (Utrikespolitiska Institutet), 2003. ”Länder i fickformat nr 206 Zambia”.
Wearing, S. and Neil, Y. 1999. ”Ecotourism, Impacts, Potentials and Possibilites.” Butterworth-
Heinemann, UK.
27
8. acknowledgements
We would like to thank Mark, Chris, Fiona and the staff at Nsobe Game Camp for eve-
rything. Kapembwe and Lettish for your help in the bush. Chief Kapijimpanga and the
Kaonde tribe for letting us into your land and showing us your hospitality. Steve for the
trip and Dan Olofsson for the interview. Also many thanks to our Swedish supervisor
Maria Hellström for your intelligent thoughts and guiding.
28
Appendix 1.
The Design Proposal

The following pages briefly
presents the design material
we presented at the Nsobe
game camp. It consists of a
material concept for the lodge,
reference pictures, a proposal
for the restaurant area, an il-
lustration of the character
of the landscape within the
lodge and a proposal for one
of the chalets.
The design concept. (right)

Illustrates our design concept
aswell as the material concept.
It shows the main materials of
the lodge which are all found
in the area around Solwezi.
Reference pictures. The ref-

erence pictures were used
for inspiration and as a way
of explaining our ideas. They
also provide visual guidelines
for the interior design of the
buildings.

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alongside the lodge area and which have buildings only a few meters from it is an area where we

Are ecotourism projects worth it?

To cite Martha Honey :

Else, D. 2002. Zambia, Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd, China.

Fennel, A. D. 1999. ”Ecotourism, an introduction.” Routledge, UK.

Fisken, T. 2006. ”Affects of Landscape in Tocqueville’s American Psychogeography.” UC Berkeley,

The World Bank in Zambia, Country brief 2005-2006. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INT-

UI (Utrikespolitiska Institutet), 2003. ”Länder i fickformat nr 206 Zambia”.

The Design Proposal

The design concept. (right)

Reference pictures. The ref-

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