THE WECHIAU HIPPO SANCTUARY OF GHANA; A QUINTESSENCE OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Abstract

Left with very few livelihood options, rural folks often tend to use natural resources unsustainably either through hunting or poaching as a source of livelihood and survival. However, with the right interventions put in place by development partners, they easily overcome these problems. The study explored how tourism in a rural setting contributes to environmental conservation. The sustainable livelihood framework model was adapted to shed more light on the write up. A sample size of 192 respondents was obtained making use of both probability and non probability methods in addition to 96 tourists sampled accidentally over a one month period. The study revealed that benefits obtained by local people such as direct employment generated at the sanctuary site in addition to income accruing from other sources linked to these visits inspired them to put in key measures aimed at safeguarding their main resource (river hippos). Tourists also expressed their satisfaction with the project. Making tourism in the area purely rural oriented could therefore be the way out to enhancing and sustaining the livelihood of locales.