Designed by Conservation Strategy Fund for the Africa Nature-Based Tourism Platform, with generous support by World Wildlife Fund, this course will cover fundamental economic and finance tools for successful nature-based tourism strategies across Africa. By enabling local communities and organizations to use economic tools to show the value of nature and communicate the true costs and benefits of human activities and development projects, courses such as this one can help countries and communities to make smarter development decisions that support nature conservation and improve human well-being.
The course will give participants an overview of economic fundamentals from theory to practice, and will explore the links between ecosystem services and human benefits. After completing this course, participants will be able to perform a cost-benefit analysis that integrates the values of ecosystem services to more accurately weight environmental and economic outcomes of human development. To serve the Africa Nature-Based Tourism platform, this training will include emerging financing opportunities for IPLC tourism-based businesses and effective models for community ownership. Lastly, course participants will learn to use an economic impact analysis to improve conservation outcomes in their communities.
