1975 Mosi-oa-Tunya Handbook

"The sensitive visitor will recognise that tourist, commercial and industrial development in the immediate vicinity of the Falls in both Zambia and Zimbabwe already far exceeds that which should ideally have been tolerated. Probably more irrevocable damage to the Falls environment has been done in the last decade than in the whole of the previous century; never again will man be able to see the wild beauty of the Victoria Falls unmarred by his own thoughtless activities. Let us hope that the visitor will ponder on this despoliation, and that the authorities will in future take a more responsible and long-term view of the need for constant surveillance if the beauty and scientific interest of the Victoria Falls are to survive for future generations."

David W Phillipson
formerly Inspector of the Zambia National Monuments Commission and now Curator of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University.