Charity or Partnership? Striking a Relational Balance in Wildlife Conservation and Ecotourism Development

Tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa has grown considerably in recent years, in fact, 7% of the region's gross domestic product (GDP) is derived from travel and tourism (DeVivo, 2012). Collaborative governance brings public and private stakeholders together in collective forums with public agencies to engage in consensusorientated decision-making (Ansell and Gash, 2008). This study explores the community voice and engages with the community for its views and opinions. While there was an appreciation for the activities of Phinda and Africa Foundation, the participants expressed their unfulfilled expectations, concerns and made suggestions for a way forward to prevent future conflicts, to establish collaborative partnership and ensure sustainable conservation and tourism. Skewed power relations, lack of participation in decision-making, poor local governance and poor communication strategies were among the main issues raised by the participants. This paper delivers valuable criticisms and suggestions for improvement of private sector conservation and tourism management.