A Tiered Analysis of Community Benefits and Conservation Engagement from the Makerere University Biological Field Station, Uganda

Socio-Environmental Conflicts in the Limits of Natural Parks in Africa: Characterization and Strategies for the Resolution of Conflicts Between Communities and Wild Animals in Kibale National Park - KNP- Uganda

“…These interactions are related to the fundamental role that wild animals play in the dynamics of the ecosystem, which, in turn, underlies a series of ecosystem services or contributions of nature to the rural communities settled in the vicinity of the KNP directly (Hartter et al, 2014), and also brings another large number of contributions to people who do not live in the area. As part of these contributions of nature in relation to the wild animals that inhabit KNP, there is nature tourism, which generates economic activity around the subject (Sarkar et al, 2019).…”

“…In addition to the provision of water, there are a host of other services or contributions provided by KNP, within which are the provision of resources for fishing, it is an important commercial timber from designated plantation areas, in addition, some of the local communities have traditionally been using the forest as a source of bush meat, building poles, thatching materials, firewood, medicinal products, wild coffee and other non-timber forest products (Chege, et al, 2002) in addition to tourism issues (Sarkar, et al, 2019). Complementary to this positive perception is that regardless of wealth levels, farmers perceive such ecosystem services or contributions from nature, and understand that they depend on them, as crops provide food security and monetary income (Hartter, et al, 2014).…”

Exploring multiple dimensions of conservation success: Long‐term wildlife trends, anti‐poaching efforts and revenue sharing in Kibale National Park, Uganda

“…Local people are typically smallhold farmers, cultivating less than 5 ha, to grow staple foods, such as bananas, maize, beans, and cassava. Some people also cultivate cash crops, such as tea, eucalyptus, and coffee, while others find work in tea plantations, as research assistants at the the various field stations, in the tourism industry, with the reforestation project, as casual laborers or commute to the nearest large town to work (Mackenzie 2012a;Mackenzie & Hartter 2013b;Sarkar et al 2019a;Sarkar et al 2019b). Wood is used for cooking and heating, as well as charcoal, alcohol production, brick production, and construction (Naughton-Treves & Chapman 2002;Naughton-Treves, Kammen & Chapman 2007), and residents depend on Kibale for craft materials, medicinal plants, and places to put beehives for honey production (MacKenzie, Chapman & Sengupta 2011).…”

“…A comparison of PAs in Uganda using community-based approaches to those that did not, documented no difference in threat reduction (Mugisha & Jacobson 2004), though likely the situation improved for the community around the park. Similarly, the establishment of a research field stations which increased community engagement in conservation activities, as well as provide health services through a clinic and mobile clinic for people living next to the park led to people viewing the park more positively (Chapman et al 2015;Sarkar et al 2016;Kirumira et al 2019;Sarkar et al 2019a;Sarkar et al 2019b). However, the improvement in park-people relations, the livelihood of people, and access to healthcare did not correspond to a decrease in illegal activities (Songorwa, Bührs & Hughey 2000;Dickman, Macdonald & Macdonald 2011;Kirumira et al 2019).…”

Primate conservation: Lessons learned in the last 20 years can guide future efforts

“…When conservation dollars are spent on sensors, funds are going to corporations, typically in high‐income countries. In contrast, when a local villager living close to the conservation efforts is hired to collect data, funds go to the community and engender a positive attitude towards conservation efforts as it ameliorates some of the negative impacts of living next to protected forests 48,166 . High tech is also being promoted to secure parks (e.g., thermal and infrared cameras, passive recorders, and software systems to detect people entering parks by the World Wide Fund and Google) 165 .…”