The importance of national political context to the impacts of international conservation aid: evidence from the W National Parks of Benin and Niger

Abstract

National political context is widely understood to be an important factor shaping the ecological and socio-economic impacts of protected areas (PAs) and other conservation interventions. Despite broad recognition that national political context matters, however, there is little systematic understanding about how and why it matters, particularly in the context of PAs. This article seeks to advance empirical and theoretical understanding of the influence of national political context on the impacts of conservation interventions through study of an international aid project in a large transboundary PA in West Africa. It uses multilevel regression analysis to analyze the variable effects of changes in enforcement-a central mechanism through which the Protected Ecosystems in Sudano-Sahelian Africa project sought to achieve its objectives-in the W National Parks (WNP) of Benin and Niger. We find that differences in national political context relating to governance quality and extent of democratic decentralization moderated the social-ecological effects of enforcement. Increasing enforcement levels in Benin's WNP were associated with significant increases in mammal species abundance while having little average effect on the incomes of households around the Park. By contrast, greater levels of enforcement in Niger's WNP were associated with sharply decreasing income levels among Park neighbors but did not have a statistically significant effect on wildlife populations. These results highlight the importance of national political context to the outcomes of aid-funded conservation efforts. They suggest that state-led PA enforcement will have more positive social-ecological impacts in better-governed, more decentralized countries and that conservation policy centered on PAs should therefore devote greater attention to engagement with higher levels of governance.

First camera survey in Burkina Faso and Niger reveals human pressures on mammal communities within the largest protected area complex in West Africa

“…Our study occurred in three national parks established in 1954 that have stricter regulations than other designations within WAP: Arly National Park (ARL; 2,228 km 2 ), Park W‐Burkina Faso (WBK; 2,344 km 2 ) and Park W‐Niger (WNI; 2,226 km 2 ). Though area and ecological features are comparable, we present results separately for each survey because differences in management infrastructure (e.g., law enforcement, adjacency to hunting concessions) could influence human pressures and faunal responses (Barnes, Craigie, Dudley, & Hockings, ; Miller, Minn, & Sinsin, ). Surveys in our study included: WBK 2016 , WBK 2017 , WNI 2017 , ARL 2017 , and ARL 2018 .…”

Land Competition under Telecoupling: Distant Actors’ Environmental versus Economic Claims on Land in North-Eastern Madagascar

“…Harmonization appears to require sustainable resource use, co-management of protected areas by conservation agencies in collaboration with communities [16], and properly addressing local needs, expectations, and attitudes towards conservation [70]. Other keys include local ownership and social-economic integration [71][72][73] as well as engagement at higher levels of governance [74]. Appropriate policies would prevent increased agricultural production at the expense of local forests while ensuring people's food and livelihood security [2].…”

Effects of national forest‐management regimes on unprotected forests of the Himalaya

“…) and governance quality (Miller et al. ) can affect conservation outcomes. Governance quality may be a particularly important area for future research.…”

“…Most researchers examining aspects of national forest management (e.g., degree of decentralization) use qualitative case studies or focus on village‐level impacts of management (Lund & Treue ; Miller et al. ; Wright et al. ).…”

“…Although social, cultural, political, and economic conditions shape national forest-management regimes and can limit their effectiveness, there has been disproportionate attention to these conditions as drivers of deforestation relative to national forest management itself as a driver of deforestation (Geist & Lambin 2002;Bare et al 2015). Most researchers examining aspects of national forest management (e.g., degree of decentralization) use qualitative case studies or focus on villagelevel impacts of management (Lund & Treue 2008;Miller et al 2015;Wright et al 2016). These authors have explicitly called for more robust, cross-national studies and use of remote-sensing data to examine the relationships between national management regimes and conservation outcomes.…”