Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-18T08:54:28.375Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Community attitudes and behaviour towards conservation: an assessment of a community conservation programme around Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Mark Infield  and
Agrippinah Namara
Agrippinah Namara
Affiliation:
Makerere Institute of Social Research, Kampala, Uganda. E-mail: misrlib@imul.com
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This paper analyses the impact of a community conservation programme (CCP) implemented over a 7-year period around a national park in Uganda. Programme activities included dialogue, conflict reduction, education, community resource access and support for community development. Surveys of attitudes show that communities benefited from the programme were significantly more positive towards the park and wildlife than communities that did not. The community conservation programme built an understanding of conservation objectives amongst communities whose members were more likely to recognize positive aspects of the park and less likely to demand that it be degazetted. Comparison over the 7-year duration of the programme, however, did not show that communities were generally more positive towards conservation. They were more critical of management and demanded more support and resources than they had received. Their behaviour was not greatly changed, and high levels of poaching and illegal grazing continued. Attitudes were influenced by communities receiving development assistance, but improvements were fragile, vulnerable to poor behaviour of park staff and lawenforcement activities. Both were seen as contradicting community approaches. Attitudes were also influenced by land ownership and economic occupation. The CCP was not a panacea for the problems of the park and did not resolve fundamental conflicts of interest between communities and park management. However, it did change the way the protagonists perceive and interact with each other.

Keywords

Attitudescommunity conservationLake Mburo National Parkprotected areasUganda
Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , January 2001 , pp. 48 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 2001

References

Abrahamson, D. (1983) What Africans think about African wildlife. International Wildlife, 13, 38–41.Google Scholar
Adams, J.S. & McShane, T.O. (1992) The Myth of Wild Africa: Conservation without Illusion. W.W. Norton, New York.Google Scholar
Adams, W.M. & Thomas, D.H.L. (1996) Conservation and sustainable resource use in the Gadejia - Jama'are Valley, Nigeria. Oryx, 30, 131–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
African Wildlife Foundation (1990) Lake Mburo Community Conservation Project Proposal. African Wildlife Foundation, Nairobi.Google Scholar
African Wildlife Foundation (1994) Support for Community Conservation for the Uganda Wildlife Authority with a special focus on Lake Mburo National Park;. Project Proposal. African Wildlife Foundation, Nairobi.Google Scholar
Busulwa, H. (1996) Lake Mburo Fisheries Study. Uganda Wildlife Authority, Kampala.Google Scholar
Byers, B. A. (1996) Understanding and Influencing Behaviours in Conservation and Natural Resources Management. African Biodiversity Series, No. 4, Biodiversity Support Program, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Calhoun, J. B. (1991) Plight of the ik. In Resident Peoples and National Parks: Social Dilemmas and Strategies on International Conservation (eds West, P. C. and Brechin, S. R.), pp. 55–60. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Ehrlich, P. R. & Daily, G. C. (1993) Population extinction and saving biodiversity. Ambio, 22, 64–68.Google Scholar
Eltringham, S. K., Malpas, R. C. & Tindigarukayo, J. (1992) The Conservation Status of Uganda's Game and Forest Reserves in 1982 and 1983. Unpublished report. Uganda Institute of Ecology, Kampala.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emerton, L. (1998) Balancing the Opportunity Costs of Wildlife Conservation for Communities around Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda. Community Conservation in Africa: Principles and Comparative Practice. 9. Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, Manchester.Google Scholar
Fiallo, E. A. & Jacobson, S. K. (1995) Local communities and protected areas: attitudes of rural residents towards conservation and Machalilla National Park, Ecuador. Environmental Conservation, 22, 241–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser-Stewart, J. (1992) Support for Wildlife and National Parks Management in Uganda. Report. FAO/UNDP, Kampala.Google Scholar
Ghimire, K. B. (1991) Parks and People: Livelihood Issues in National Parks Management in Thailand and Madagascar. Discussion Paper. DP 29. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva.Google Scholar
Ghimire, K. B. & Pimbert, M. P. (1997) Social Change and Conservation: Environmental Politics and Impacts of National Parks and Protected Areas. Earthscan, London.Google Scholar
Government of Uganda (1992) The 1991 Population and Housing Census. Statistics Department, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Entebbe.Google Scholar
Guard, M. (1993) Large Mammals of Lake Mburo National Park: their Population Status and Possible Seasonal Adjustments. Unpublished Report. Uganda National Parks, Kampala.Google Scholar
Hackel, J. D. (1999) Community conservation and the future of Africa's wildlife. Conservation Biology, 13, 726–734.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hulme, D. & Infield, M. (1998) Community Conservation in Practice: a Case Study of Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda. Community Conservation in Africa; Principles and Comparative Practice. Discussion Paper No 3. Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, Manchester.Google Scholar
Hulme, D. & Murphree, M. (1999) Communities, wildlife and the ‘new conservation’ in Africa. Journal of International Development, 11, 11–28.3.0.CO;2-T>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Infield, M. (1988) Attitudes of a rural community towards conservation and a local conservation area in Natal, South Africa. Biological Conservation, 45, 21–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Infield, M. & Adams, W. M. (1999) Institutional sustainability and community conservation: a case study from Uganda. Journal of International Development, 11, 305–315.3.0.CO;2-U>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamugisha, J. R., Oguta, Z. A. & Stahl, M. (1997) Parks and People – Conservation and Livelihoods at the Crossroads: Four Case Histories. Technical Report. 17. Regional Soil Conservation Unit/Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Nairobi.Google Scholar
Kamugisha, J. R. & Stahl, M. (1993) Parks and People; Pastoralists and Wildlife. RSCU Report 7. Regional Soil Conservation Unit/Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Nairobi.Google Scholar
Kangwana, K. & Ole Mako, R. (1998) The Impact of Community Conservation Initiatives around Tarangire National Park, Tanzania (1992–97). Community Conservation in Africa; Principles and Comparative Practice. Discussion Paper no. 16. Institute for Development Policy, Manchester University, Manchester.Google Scholar
Kazoora, C. & Victurine, R. (1997) The Economics of Community Conservation and Enterprise Development. Unpublished report. African Wildlife Foundation; Uganda Wildlife Authority, Kampala.Google Scholar
Kingdon, J. (1985) Lake Mburo – a new national park in Uganda. Oryx, 19, 7–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamprey, R. (1996) A Survey of the Wildlife Protected Areas of Uganda; Phase II: April – June 1996. Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Kampala.Google Scholar
Lamprey, R. H. & Mitchelmore, F. (1996) A Survey of the Wildlife Protected Areas of Uganda, September – December 1995: Preliminary Aerial Survey Results and their Assessment Plus Initial Recommendations. Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Kampala.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. M. & Phiri, A. (1998) Wildlife snaring – an indicator of community response to a community-based conservation project. Oryx, 32, 111–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, J. M. (1987) Chivalry, social Darwinism and ritualised killing: the hunting ethos in Central Africa up to 1914. In Conservation in Africa: People, Policies and Practice (eds Anderson, D. and Grove, R.), pp. 41–61. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Marquardt, M., Infield, M. & Namara, A. (1994) Socio-Economic Survey of Communities in the Buffer Zone of Lake Mburo National Park. Lake Mburo Community Conservation Project. Uganda National Parks, Kampala.Google Scholar
Monbiot, G. (1994) No Man's Land: an Investigative Journey Through Kenya and Tanzania. Macmillan, London.Google Scholar
Mugisha, A. (1993) A case study of Nshara Grazing Area, Mbarara, Uganda. MSc Thesis, Wye College, University of London, UK.Google Scholar
Muhweezi, A. B. (1994) The Lake Mburo National Park Management Plan: 1994–98. Uganda National Parks, Kampala.Google Scholar
Murombedzi, J. C. (1999) Devolution and stewardship in Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE Programme. Journal of International Development, 11, 287–294.3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, N. (1996) The rich diversity of biodiversity issues. In Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Natural Resources (eds Reaka-Kudla, M. L., Wilson, D. W. and Wilson, E. O.). National Academy Press, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Namara, A. (1998) Synopsis on Community Conservation Initiatives in Uganda: Report on Consultations among Communities Involved in Community Conservation in Uganda. Unpublished report. African Conservation Centre, Kenya.Google Scholar
Namara, A., Infield, M. & Sumba, D. (1998) The Influence of a Community Conservation Programme on Farmers and Pastoralist Communities; Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda. Report of a socio-economic survey carried out under the Community Conservation for Uganda Wildlife Authority Project. Uganda Wildlife Authority, Kampala.Google Scholar
Naughton-Treves, L. (1998) Prediction patterns of crop damage by wildlife around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Conservation Biology, 12, 156–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noss, A. J. (1997) Challenges to nature conservation with community development in central African forests. Oryx, 31, 180–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olivier, R. (1992) Aerial Total Counts in Uganda National Parks. Unpublished report. Uganda National Parks, Kampala.Google Scholar
Parry, D. & Campbell, B. (1992) Attitudes of rural communities to animal wildlife and its utilization in Chobe Enclave and Mababe Depression, Botswana. Environmental Conservation, 19, 245–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peluso, N. L. (1993) Coercing conservation? The politics of state resource control. Global Environmental Change, 06, 199–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pomeroy, D. & Kasoma, P. (1992) The Birds of Lake Mburo National Park. Lake Mburo Community Conservation Project Report. Uganda National Parks, Kampala.Google Scholar
Ratter, A. (1997). Participatory Evaluation: Community Conservation for Uganda Wildlife Authority Project. Evaluation Report. Community Conservation for Uganda Wildlife Authority Project, Kampala.Google Scholar
Robinson, J. G. (1995) The limits of caring: sustainable living and the loss of biodiversity. In Readings from Conservation Biology; the Social Dimension (ed. Ehrenfeld, D.), pp. 138–146. Society for Conservation Biology and Blackwell Science Inc., New York.Google Scholar
Scott, P. (1998) From Conflict to Collaboration: People and Forests at Mount Elgon, Uganda. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Uganda Wildlife Authority (1996) Lake Mburo National Park Reports. Uganda Wildlife Authority, Kampala,Google Scholar
van der Wegge, J. P. (1986) Akagera National Park. World Wildlife Fund International, Gland, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Wells, M. P. (1995) Biodiversity conservation and local development aspirations: new priorities for the 1990s. In Biodiversity Conservation (eds Perrings, C. A., Maler, K. G., Folke, C. and Holling, C.), pp. 319–333. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands.CrossRefGoogle Scholar