Project Update: October 2009

While the Mabamba Pro-poor Eco-tourism Project aims at laying a firm foundation for ecosystem conservation using the expansion of the tourist attractions, documenting indigenous knowledge and developing institutional capacity of community associations, the Home Herbal Gardens initiated in another project that was implemented by Nature Palace Foundation, provides an opportunity for visitors/tourists with interest in plants, herbal medicine and botany in general. Indigenous knowledge documentation and sharing is also an integral part of the Home herbal gardens approach which can also complement the objectives of the Mabamba Pro-poor Eco-tourism Project.

An exposure and learning tour was organised for tourist guides that were trained under the Mabamba Pro-poor Eco-tourism Project. At an operational level, the tourist guides and participating households got a chance to chat out ways how the integration of the two approaches can best be achieved. Nature Palace Foundation is facilitating the institutional frameworks and official collaborative terms that need to be agreed on between Mabamba Wetland Eco-tourism Association (MWETA) and Twekembe Herbal Promoters Association.