Towards harmonious conservation relationships: A framework for understanding protected area staff-local community relationships in developing countries

Mutanga, Chiedza Ngonidzashe; Vengesayi, Sebastian; Muboko, Never; Gandiwa, Edson

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2015.02.006

Cited by 69 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Benefits are an incentive for people to perceive conservation positively [42]. Open interviews with respondents revealed that there was a strong willingness to gain more benefits with a freer life, a preference for increased subsidies from the government, and a view that 'the more the better.'…”

Section: Future Expectationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation Policy-Community Conflicts: A Case Study from Bogda Nature Reserve, China

2017

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Bogda Nature Reserve is a World Heritage Site (WHS) in Xinjiang, China. Potential conflicts between community development and heritage conservation are important topics to study and may have an impact on the sustainable development of heritage sites. In this study, we conducted a survey with the community residents of the Bogda Nature Reserve to examine major potential conflicts arising from local residents' perceptions regarding conservation policy and its interventions. The results indicated that the local community supports heritage conservation and development, but they expressed negative attitudes towards their present living conditions, especially due to policy-induced loss of benefits. Through the research, three major conflicts were identified: (1) a divergence in residents' awareness of the WHS designation and the conservation policy (grazing restriction policy); (2) negative changes in living conditions compared to before the WHS designation; (3) the degradation of well-being caused by tourism. In addition, expectations from residents were combined to assess the implications for the present situation and advise on conservation plans to facilitate sustainable management in Bogda.

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Section: Future Expectationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation Policy-Community Conflicts: A Case Study from Bogda Nature Reserve, China

2017

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“…The reasoning behind selecting these two departments was that they are responsible for and directly involved in environmental conservation, in addition to tourism planning and development in the region. The attitudes of protected area staff towards the community can influence their relationship with the community (Mutanga et al, 2015) which in turn can affect local resident attitudes towards protected area management. Valuable information about the tourism program with regard to policy and planning in local, regional and national levels was achieved through these interviews.…”

Section: Brief Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the main challenges in achieving conservation outcomes was conflict between humans and the wildlife which in turn created local people-park conflict. A positive local community-park relationship is vital to wildlife conservation in protected areas (Mutanga, Vengesayi, Muboko, & Gandiwa, 2015;Tessema, Lilieholm, Ashenafi, & Leader-Williams, 2010). In central Iran, strict conservation policies limit local people's access to natural resources such as for grazing lands.…”

Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Protected area authorities are sometimes criticised for overemphasising strict restrictions rather than encouraging sustainable management (Sharpley & Pearce, 2007). This results in the local people ignoring, breaking or working around the imposed rules (Mutanga et al, 2015). There is a wide range of issues including; water use, forest access, agricultural land management, involvement of different stakeholders such as rural institutions, and economic and cultural issues regarding natural resources management.…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To achieve conservation goals in protected areas, local resident attitudes must be considered in planning and management stages (Nastran, 2015). Moreover, positive relationships between local people and park authorities can increase local support for environmental conservation programs in protected areas (Mutanga et al, 2015). It is suggested that attitudes towards protected areas can affect intention to engage in conservation activities (Sirivongs & Tsuchiya, 2012).…”

Section: Significance Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental protection and local resident attitudes at early stages of tourism development

Rastegar¹

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In many developing countries, there are protected areas with very strong natural resources and tourism development potential but in a poor conservation condition. Many of these areas are at pre or early stages of tourism development. These protected areas face problems including shortages of financial resources and park staff, and difficulty in enforcing conservation laws. Strict conservation laws have limited local residents' access to the natural resources and created problems such as increased poaching, habitat destruction and local people-park conflicts. This study adopts a case study approach, choosing two villages in rural Iran that are located near protected areas, one with no tourism and one at the early stage of tourism. Both these villages are experiencing challenges in striving for environmental protection and community development in a remote area of the country.There is a growing body of literature that recognises the importance of local resident attitudes and local people-park relationship roles in achieving both conservation goals and sustainable tourism development in and around protected areas. It is also suggested that incentives from tourism have a pivotal role in positively affecting local resident attitudes to the environment and consequently their behaviour.However, a challenge in the tourism literature is that most of the studies on local resident attitudes to the environment were conducted at a certain stage of development and their results cannot be applied to other stages. Although the literature indicates that tourism revenues improve local resident attitudes towards the environment and conservation, with no study comparing attitudes before and after tourism development, it is unclear whether these positive attitudes are due to tourism benefits or whether the local resident attitudes were positive even before tourism development.It is also widely discussed and hypothesised in the tourism literature that people with positive environmental attitudes are more likely to support environmental conservation activities.Local resident attitudes towards conservation have generally been studied as a single variable in the tourism literature. Importantly the environmental literature suggests that local resident attitudes towards environmental conservation and their attitudes towards protected area management might be different and a distinction has been made in studying these attitudes as separate variables.Consequently, this study aims to investigate the differences between local resident attitudes towards the environment, protected area management (PAM) and tourism at two early stages of tourism development by comparing attitudes in a community that has no prior experience of tourism and a community at an early stage of tourism development. This involved developing six ii hypotheses to assess the association between the three variables within and across a non-tourism setting and a setting with some tourism development in the two case study villages.A survey instrument was designed to mea...

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An analysis of threats, strategies, and opportunities for African rhinoceros conservation

Chanyandura

Muposhi

Gandiwa

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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The complexity and magnitude of threats to black ( Diceros bicornis ) and white ( Ceratotherium simum ) rhinoceros conservation in Africa have triggered global concerns and actions. In this study, we analyzed (i) threats to rhinoceros conservation including external shocks, (ii) historical rhinoceros conservation strategies in Zimbabwe and Africa, more broadly, and (iii) opportunities for enhanced rhinoceros conservation in Zimbabwe and Africa. A literature search from 1975 to 2020 was carried out using a predefined search protocol, involving a number of filters based on a set of keywords to balance search sensitivity with specificity. A total of 193 articles, which were most relevant to key themes on rhinoceros conservation, were used in this study. The common threats to rhinoceros conservation identified in this paper include poaching, habitat fragmentation and loss, international trade in illegal rhino products, and external shocks such as global financial recessions and pandemics. Cascading effects emanating from these threats include small and isolated populations, which are prone to genetic, demographic, and environmental uncertainties. Rhinoceros conservation strategies being implemented include education and awareness campaigns, better equipped and more antipoaching efforts, use of innovative systems and technologies, dehorning, and enhancing safety nets, and livelihoods of local communities. Opportunities for rhinoceros conservation vary across the spatial scale, and these include (a) a well‐coordinated stakeholder and community involvement, (b) strategic meta‐population management, (c) enhancing law enforcement initiatives through incorporating real‐time surveillance technologies and intruder detection sensor networks for crime detection, (d) scaling up demand reduction awareness campaigns, and (e) developing more certified wildlife crime and forensic laboratories, and information repository for international corporation.

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Towards harmonious conservation relationships: A framework for understanding protected area staff-local community relationships in developing countries

Cited by 69 publications

References 64 publications

Conservation Policy-Community Conflicts: A Case Study from Bogda Nature Reserve, China

Conservation Policy-Community Conflicts: A Case Study from Bogda Nature Reserve, China

Environmental protection and local resident attitudes at early stages of tourism development

An analysis of threats, strategies, and opportunities for African rhinoceros conservation

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