Prof KF Mearns

Block B, Room 135
Florida Campus
Tel: 011 471 2973
Fax: 011 471 2866
Email: mearnkf@unisa.ac.za

Qualifications:
BSc, BSc Hon (Geography and Environmental management); MSc (Geography and Environmental management); PhD Environmental Design & Management

Field of specialisation:
Sustainable tourism, Environmental management, Ecology and Ecotourism.

Research interests: Sustainability of Tourism, the social dimensions of Conservation areas and environmental management.

Research Projects:

• Sustainability benchmarking for the South African Tourism Industry
• Social ecology of conservation areas
• Managing the environmental impacts of tourism within a southern African context.
• Social impact assessments
• Operational challenges of community tourism venture

Publications:
Mearns, K.F., J.Olivier & M.Jordaan (2012). Shipping Accidents along the South African Coastline. Peer reviewed Conference Proceedings 7th International Coastal & Marine Tourism Congress, 4-8 June, Breda, Netherlands, 55-60.

Engelbrecht,D. ,  M. Thorpe and K. Mearns (2012), The Life Cycle Assessment of Cyanide Containers in Ghana, Ghana Mining Journal, 13, 56 - 66.

Mearns, K.F. (2012). Using Sustainable Tourism Indicators to Measure the Sustainability of a Community-Based Ecotourism Venture: Malealea Lodge & Pony Trek Centre, Lesotho. Tourism Review International, 15 (1-2), 135-147.

Aregbeshola, M., K.F. Mearns & R. Donaldson, (2011) Interested and affected parties (I&APs) and consultants` viewpoints on the public participation process of the Gautrain Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Journal of Public Administration, 46(4), 1274-1287.

Mearns, K. F. (2011). Ekaluka Farmers' Association and the Land Reform Programme: Expectations and success factors. Development Southern Africa. 28(2), 241-254.

Mearns, K. (2010). Using sustainable tourism indicators to determine the sustainability of community-based ecotourism ventures in Southern Africa., Peer reviewed Conference Proceedings Sustainable Tourism conference, 11-15 November, Nelspruit.

Mearns, K. & V. Edwards, (2009). The social sustainability of community based ecotourism in Southern Africa. The international journal of environmental, cultural, economic and social sustainability. 5(6), 27-42.

Mearns, M.A. & K.F. Mearns, (2009) The implementation of research recommendations at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden: A comparative study. South African Journal of Natural Sciences and Technology, 8 (3), 205-219.