Conservation Fees in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park between Botswana and South Africa in the Presence of Land Restitution

Now that some of the resource rights inside the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park have been vested in the surrounding communities, the park should contribute toward improving the lives of these communities, so that land restitution and conservation objectives can reinforce each other. In this spirit, the aim of this study was to estimate optimal conservation fees which should be charged at KTP to maximise revenue. Overall, our results suggest that there is sheer underselling of the recreational services offered by the South African park systems, which implies that there is room for improvement in the conservation fee policy. Revenue could be maximised by increasing conservation fees for domestic tourists at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park as well as other parks with little effect on visitation.