You Can’t Start a Fire, You Can’t Start a Fire Without a Spark…

I recently returned from a rainforest trip to “my” national park, Zahamena, for a guide training. Our tour guides are not on the same level as most major national parks, due largely to the lack of tourists in our area. They have had little experience catering to tourists, and far too little time spent preparing in the rainforest. So we had guides and personnel from one of Madagascar National Parks (d/b/a ANGAP)’s flagship parks, Andasibe, come up to lead a training. They focused on bio-diversity, engaging tourists, presentation and other important qualities for any good guide to know. They crammed a lot of high-level material into a brief two-day training. The main result was that our guides realized how much they had yet to learn: distinguishing between obscure plant and animal life, recognizing all the sounds and smells of the forest, observing and pointing out any detail that might interest a tourist, and explaining everything in detail (not to mention English and French language skills).

The trainers talked about creating the infrastructure to handle major groups of tourists in our park. Now, to put this in perspective, Andasibe receives hundreds of tourists a week (maybe even a day?) while Zahamena has yet to see a dozen tourists since my arrival in November. The access to Zahamena is very poor, as you must traverse a series of dirt roads over numerous mountains. Even getting from the capital, Tana, to our region is a more difficult ride than many tourists would care to attempt. Our small group of six guides looked on in awe as the trainers talked of their multi-talented guides in Andasibe, and how their group of 20 guides was not enough to handle all the tourists pouring into the park. Obviously, they were comparing apples and oranges, or perhaps litchis and mangoes…

All of this makes me think about a chicken and the egg scenario (that’s Akoho sy Atody, for those of you Malagasy languages fanatics keeping track at home): How can a community increase tourism without improving the infrastructure for receiving tourists (including guide training, roads, trails, accommodation, etc.)? Yet how can a community prioritize tourism improvements, and more importantly fund them, without any tourists or sign that they may eventually come? One is tempted to quote Field of Dreams:
“Is this Heaven?”
“No, It’s Iowa”
Wait, that’s not the one… here we go: “If you build it, they will come.”
While that quote is very inspiring, it has probably led many people to attempt projects without any consideration of their likely success. I often think of tourism here in Madagascar as a zero-sum game (sorry if that terminology is wrong): there are only so many tourists coming to Madagascar, and in order to increase tourists to one park, you must decrease those going to another. Most people claim eco-tourism as the saving grace of Madagascar, the best way to relieve the effects of poverty on the populace while also preserving the island’s special biodiversity. But unless more tourists can be induced to come to the island, and I am pretty convinced that all who want to (and are able to afford to) are already doing so, the parks and communities are forced to compete amongst themselves for tourists and their revenues. So not only would Zahamena need to improve all of its facilities, guides and access roads, it would need to make itself attractive enough to tourists to draw them away from Andasibe and other parks. (Again, for reference, Andasibe is 2.5 hours from the capital on a nice paved road, while Zahamena is a two day trip over mostly slow dirt roads).

So, does that mean I think it is not worth trying to improve the park’s assets? Not at all! First, I am working with the guides on improved training, getting them into the forest for multi-day treks at least once a month. This is also in combination with the forestry service, and their field agents are helping in the technical aspects, while I assist with the “what the tourist needs” portions. Second, we are looking for funding to add to the guides’ meager collection of books and materials on the flora and fauna of the forest, as well as camping materials like tents, binoculars, and other equipment. Furthermore, we are hoping to fund a small office for the guides that would double as an Interpretation Center. Here the guides could pool their resources, have a place to study, and receive tourists (who as of now wander aimlessly around town upon arrival, looking for a guide). It would also be a place to further environmental education amongst the townspeople, and showcase handicrafts and souvenirs that might interest tourists. Third, I am teaching English classes to the guides, in an attempt to increase their marketability when tourists do come (and hopefully those tourists will spread the word of their good experiences). While these projects may not immediately increase the number of tourists coming to our park, we need to start somewhere, and as the Boss says, “You can’t start a fire without a spark…”