Attitudes Toward Wildlife and Conservation Across Africa: A Review of Survey Research

Browne-Nuñez, Christine; Jonker, Sandra A.

doi:10.1080/10871200701812936

Cited by 84 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Crop raiding by large herbivores and livestock depredation by carnivores can reduce tolerance toward species that are already threatened, whereas potential dangers posed by conflicts with large-bodied wild animal species may also negatively influence local attitudes towards animals (Browne-Nuñez and Jonker 2008). Perceptions about problems and attitudes Ecology and Society 18(4): 7 http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss4/art7/ towards conservation and/or animals are likely to be influenced by social interests and experienced costs and benefits (Leeuwis and van den Ban 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CAMPFIRE and Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Local Communities Bordering Northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

Gandiwa¹,

Heitkönig²,

Lokhorst³

et al. 2013

E&S

114

107

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ABSTRACT. Human-wildlife conflicts are a global problem, and are occurring in many countries where human and wildlife requirements overlap. Conflicts are particularly common near protected areas where societal unrest is large. To ease conflict, integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) have been implemented. The Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) is an example of an ICDP. We hypothesized that (i) a higher perceived effectiveness of CAMPFIRE would be associated with a decline in human-wildlife conflicts, and (ii) local communities with higher perceived effectiveness of CAMPFIRE programs would have more favorable attitudes towards problematic wild animals. Four focus group discussions and interviews with 236 respondents were conducted in four local communities adjacent to northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe from December 2010 to August 2011. Moreover, we included data on recorded incidences of human-wildlife conflicts and CAMPFIRE financial returns to study communities between 2000 and 2010. Our results indicate that local communities showed considerable differences in how CAMPFIRE effectiveness was perceived. Local communities with higher ratings of CAMPFIRE effectiveness generally perceived a decline in human-wildlife conflicts, although some people had experienced problems with wild animals. Attitudes towards main problematic wild animals varied across the study communities and were partly associated with perceived CAMPFIRE effectiveness. Our findings partly support both of our study hypotheses. Contextual factors across the four local communities seemed to influence the perceived effectiveness of CAMPFIRE programs and attitudes towards problematic wildlife species. We recommend that decisions and actions regarding the control of problem animals be devolved to the community level in order to help reduce human-wildlife conflicts in community-based natural resources management programs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CAMPFIRE and Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Local Communities Bordering Northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

Gandiwa¹,

Heitkönig²,

Lokhorst³

et al. 2013

E&S

114

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Furthermore, the use of cross-cultural questionnaires, especially in developing countries, can be problematic (Browne-Nuñez & Jonker, 2008;Manfredo & Dayer, 2004). Additionally, this method of data collection has been criticised for imposing the researcher's ideology on the topic (Drury et al, 2011), which can distort reality towards the perspective of the researcher (Cicourel, 2004).…”

Section: Questionnairesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, when these surveys are undertaken without prior research into the subject or study population, it is difficult to determine whether the questions are relevant or biased (Browne-Nuñez & Jonker, 2008). As there is often a limited chance of follow-up questions to probe reasons behind the respondents' answers, questionnaires are constrained because they cannot usually determine the underlying reasons for participants' answers (Newing, 2011b).…”

Section: Questionnairesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quantitative methods that aim to study human-wildlife interaction are important (Browne-Nuñez & Jonker, 2008) as they can numerically estimate and extrapolate relationships between factors such as livestock depredation, financial losses due to carnivores and numbers of carnivores killed. Such methods do not, however, tend to be able to fully explain the complex phenomena surrounding the 'how's and 'why's of human behaviour, particularly those related to culture (Skogen, 2009).…”

Section: The Human Dimensions Of Global Carnivore Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding the human dimensions of coexistence between carnivores and people: A case study in Namibia

Rust¹

2018

Preprint

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Many carnivore populations were in decline throughout much of the 20 th century, but due to recent conservation policies, their numbers are stabilising or even increasing in some areas of the world. This, compounded with human population growth, has caused increased livestock depredation by carnivores, which threatens farmer livelihoods, particularly those in developing countries such as Namibia. How to resolve this so-called "conflict" between carnivores and livestock farmers remains challenging, in part because some mitigation strategies have proven somewhat ineffective or unacceptable. By using a case-study approach on the commercial farmlands of northcentral Namibia, I aimed to understand the complexity of the human dimensions affecting coexistence between carnivores and people in an unprotected working landscape. Specifically, my objectives were to 1) develop a participatory decisionmaking exercise to analyse the views of stakeholders on how they would like carnivores to be managed in unprotected lands, 2) understand how the media framed financial incentives to improve human-carnivore coexistence, and 3) determine if there were any underlying social, economic or political causes of negative human-carnivore interactions on commercial livestock farms.To answer objective 1, I developed a new decision-making exercise that combined Q-methodology and the Delphi technique to determine whether a diverse group of stakeholders could agree on how to manage carnivores on commercial farmland. A strong agreement was reached by participants: providing conservation education and training on livestock husbandry were acceptable and effective ways to improve coexistence with carnivores. This new also method highlighted areas of disagreement between stakeholders and showed that there were two different narratives on how carnivores should be managed. This method could be used by policy makers to help with participatory decision-making for resolving other conservation conflicts.To answer objective 2, I undertook content analysis of national newspapers to determine how the media framed articles on financial incentives to mitigate this conservation conflict. The most common (30%) financial incentive discussed was compensation -many (61%) of these articles framed compensation positively. Niki Rust © 2015However, upon categorising these articles into those where respondents were enrolled in compensation schemes compared with those who were not, a clear pattern emerged: articles were more likely (89%) to be framed ambivalently or negatively when respondents had experience of this financial incentive compared with respondents that did not. These results can help conservationists plan more effective communication interventions and anticipate issues that can affect the success of mitigation strategies.To answer objective 3, I undertook eight months of participant observation on livestock farms and interviewed 69 respondents and found that reported livestock depredation was associated with increased instances of poaching of wildl...

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“… it can inform policy makers and managers which factors influence attitudes and this can assist with prioritising avenues for action (Anthony, 2007;Browne -Nuñez & Jonker, 2008;Zimmerman et al, 2005in Groom & Harris, 2008, including ways to maximise benefits to communities and to mitigate costs;…”

Section: The Impact Of Land Management Systems On Community Attitudesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of land management systems on community attitudes towards tourism and conservation in six South African countries

Snyman¹

2012

PARKS

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Many rural areas of Africa are characterised by high levels of unemployment, poverty and increasing population densities. Arid climates and erratic rainfall also make many of these areas marginal for agriculture and offer few alternative employment opportunities. Ecotourism in these areas can offer a sustainable land use option that promotes biodiversity conservation, can assist in poverty reduction and promote local socio-economic development. Receipt of benefits from ecotourism is also claimed to improve community attitudes towards conservation. Through extensive questionnaire surveys, this study analysed the impact of land management systems on community attitudes towards tourism and conservation in six southern African countries: Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The study found that diverse land management systems such as government-owned land and communal land had differing effects on attitudes. Overall, some level of community ownership or participation, such as in joint ventures, resulted in more positive community attitudes. The results highlight the importance of empowerment and ownership in order to promote biodiversity conservation and ensure the long-term sustainability of ecotourism operations.

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Attitudes Toward Wildlife and Conservation Across Africa: A Review of Survey Research

Cited by 84 publications

References 48 publications

CAMPFIRE and Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Local Communities Bordering Northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

CAMPFIRE and Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Local Communities Bordering Northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

Understanding the human dimensions of coexistence between carnivores and people: A case study in Namibia

The impact of land management systems on community attitudes towards tourism and conservation in six South African countries

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