Everything Life Sciences Grade 10

FACT

South Africa is

home to: The largest

bird — ostrich

The nitrogen cycle is shown in Figure 9.22.

Figure 9.22: The nitrogen cycle.

9.8 Ecotourism

Theattractions of touring South Africa DUMMY

South Africa is a beautiful country that boasts great diversity in its flora and fauna. There are
many interesting cultural, historical and environmental places that people from South Africa
and other countries want to visit.

From what you learnt from the different ecosystems, you can see that South Africa has a
range of systems from desert, wetland, mountains, sea and our own unique Fynbos biome.

South Africa is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Although it only encom-
passes about 1,200,000 km^2 , it is home to 10% of all plant species on earth. South Africa
is considered mega diverse, along with 17 other countries, which means that together these
countries contain 70% of the planet’s biodiversity. South Africa’s ability to support such a
diverse population of plants and animals is due in large part to its unique geography. The
combination of geography and wildlife makes South Africa an important travel destination
to many.

Ecotourism is thought to be the idea of bringing tourism into a country while supporting the
biodiversity.

Economic benefits of ecotourism

• Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of South Africa’s economy and is estimated
  to bring in up to R62 billion/ year


• Reinvesting some of the earnings from eco-tourism into the communities living near
  tourist destinations might be a means of alleviating poverty.


• Tourism provides jobs: e.g park operators, sellers of local crafts, guides, etc.


• Eco-tourism has the potential to create infrastructural development for communities
  that live around major tourist destinations. This is especially useful where major tourist
  locations are found in remote areas.

Chapter 9. Biospheres to ecosystems 285