Can Governance in Revenue Sharing Be a Pathway for a Win-win Situation between Peoples Livelihood Improvement and Conservation

Abstract

This paper establishes the importance of good governance in improving local livelihoods and support for conservation. The study uses empirical realities from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, an afromontane Gorilla sanctuary that was recognized by UNESCO in 2005 as a world heritage due to its rich biodiversity. Governance is an important procedural dimension of equity that entails decision making processes and how local people are involved in matters that most affect them. The paper uses a Policy Arrangements Approach to illustrate the procedural dimension of the Justice and Equity Framework. A mixed method approach was used to generate results in this paper. Household surveys, key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions were employed for data collection. Linear and Multi Logistic Regressions were used to determine the level of significance and relationships that exist between governance, peoples livelihoods and conservation support. Polychoric Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to generate indices of livelihood improvement and conservation support. Results revealed that meaningful involvement, leadership composition on committees, local capacity, information flow and awareness and accountability significantly influence peoples livelihoods and conservation of Bwindi. Local people are not only concerned about distributive equity in benefit sharing but also the procedural dimension. This entails being part of revenue sharing projects from the design phase to the evaluation phase. The study recommends the use of equity framework in revenue sharing in order to increase greater involvement of local people in decision making processes.

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“…There is a growing need for greater involvement of local people in decision making. This is in agreement with Martin et al (2016) and Twinamatsiko et al (2015) that found there is a positive relationship between local involvement and conservation support. Dawson et al (2017) further articulates the conservation outcome generated as a result of respecting and valuing other conservation stakeholders.…”

“…Greater governance and equity strengthen community support for conservation and development. This revelation relates to the finding by Twinamatsiko et al (2015) that the more people felt involved and that they benefited from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the more they increased their conservation support.…”

“…The concepts of governance and equity which some scholars combine to mean equitable governance (Dawson et al, 2017;McDermott et al, 2013; have become vital in the context of protected areas conservation (Twinamatsiko et al, 2015;. Global and national conservation policy has evolved to include stronger emphasis on governance and equity issues .…”

“…Governance and equity are understood in the context of power, relationship and accountability (Dawson et al, 2017). Equitable governance is an important aspect of protected area management and contributes to better conservation outcomes (McDermott et al, 2013;Dawson et al, 2017;Twinamatsiko et al, 2015;. Equitable dimensions such as recognition of actors in conservation, procedures that relate to decision making and distribution of the costs and benefits of conservation are vital in facilitating sustainable conservation and effective protected area management (Dawson et al, 2017).…”

Collaboration or Contravention? Ramifications For Effective Participatory Decision-Making in Collaborative Forest Management at Echuya Central Forest Reserve, South Western Uganda

“…Participatory decision-making was officially adopted as a conventional conservation approach in 1982, following the 3rd World Park Congress, which acknowledged the value of community participation in forest management for the sustainable use of natural resources (Twinamatsiko et al, 2015;Nabanyumya et al, 2017). The involvement of local communities was re-echoed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.…”