My paper abstract is as follows: Birds, people and Money: Can local people make a living from culturally-based bird tourism?

In this paper I will examine the potential for culturally-based bird tourism to provide opportunities for employment and economic development for local groups and people.

Birding tourism is widely regarded as a lucrative sub-set of the broader tourism market, with a variety of services provided by a wide range of local and international suppliers. Those services range from tours where birds are included in a broader, general product to dedicated birding-only tours.

I will examine and compare recent proposals in Australia and several countries in eastern Africa that have sought to develop economic and employment opportunities for local people to enter the birding tourism market by developing and offering birding tourism products that are distinguished by the inclusion of local cultural knowledge of birds into products offered to potential clients.

Issues that will be considered include local training requirements, marketing, issues related to access to land and the involvement of national peak bodies and organizations, government assistance and the potential benefits and risks involved in culturally-based birding tourism.