Enhancing cultural ecosystem services in sub-Saharan African ecotourism destinations through heritage interpretation: a systematic review

Cultural ecosystem services (CES), the inherent non-material benefits derived from ecosystems, represent a critical yet underexplored dimension of ecotourism in sub-Saharan Africa, offering pathways for enriching visitor experiences, fostering cultural identity, and promoting community empowerment. Heritage interpretation, as a strategic communication and management tool, holds significant potential to enhance the delivery of CES in ecotourism settings. This paper undertakes a systematic literature review to critically examine this linkage. Content analyses were employed to analyse 77 published empirical articles. The results reveal that the CES framework in practice is overwhelmingly visitor-centric, with recreation and ecotourism emerging as the most frequently studied dimensions, while indigenous-centric values, such as spiritual and religious values, inspiration, and cultural diversity, were virtually ignored. This situation reflects an interpretation model that perpetuates colonial myths of pristine wilderness in a way that actively inflict cultural, spiritual and historical harm through cultural ecosystem disservices (CEDS). The review finds that current heritage interpretation often fails to address heritage dissonance and contested history, instead perpetuating these disservices. The paper concludes by arguing for a dynamic ecotourism model that moves beyond benefit-sharing to championing interpretation sovereignty, reframing interpretation as a core political and management function for decolonising ecotourism destinations.