Community perceptions towards the impacts of ecotourism development in the central highlands of Ethiopia: the case of Lake Wanchi and its adjacent landscapes

Abstract

Scientific studies harmonizing biodiversity conservation, ecotourism development, and local livelihoods in areas of natural endowments have significant importance in the welfare of society. The objective of this study was to investigate the local community's perception of the impacts of the Wanchi Ecotourism Association (WETA) and test the relationship between these perceptions and some socio-demographic predictor variables. Data was collected using household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field observations, and document analysis. Simple statistical analysis, such as descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, multiple response sets, and chi-square tests were used to analyze the socio-demographic characteristics and opinions on ecotourism development. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze the local community's perceptions towards the impacts of ecotourism using socio-demographic variables as predictors of the community responsiveness. The non-quantifiable information was analyzed using qualitative descriptions. There was enough evidence for the high resident's support for ecotourism development and perceptions of its positive impacts, while there was limited community participation, less economic benefit, and inequitable sharing of the revenues generated from WETA. The examination in the distribution of observed and expected perception responses on the impacts of ecotourism showed statistically significant differences (x 2 ¼ 110.833, df ¼ 3, P ¼ 0.000). The multinomial logistic regression revealed that the variables of educational level, duration of stay in the study landscape, ecotourism benefit, and place of residence from the ecotourism attraction center have a significant association with respondents' perception toward impacts of ecotourism. The study supported the social exchange theory, in that those who benefited from ecotourism viewed it as a development preference, and so are more likely to have positive attitudes concerning ecotourism.

Prospek dan Strategi Pengembangan Pesisir Tanjung Setan Sebagai Kawasan Ekowisata Bahari

“…Agar ekowisata berkelanjutan dan berkontribusi meningkatkan mata pencaharian masyarakat local, masyarakat perlu diberdayakan untuk mendapatkan manfaat ekonomi dan diversifikasi ekonomi (Angessa et al, 2022).…”

“…Istilah Ekowisata berkembang pada akhir tahun 1980 an sebagai konsekwensi langsung dari pengakuan dunia terhadap pembangunan berkelanjutan dan praktik lingkungan global. Hal ini telah mendapatkan perhatian serius di kalangan akademisi dan pembuat kebijakan untuk menyeimbangkan antara konservasi dan pembangunan, dengan menciptakan hubungan sinergis antara lanskap alam, penduduk local, dan industry pariwisata (Angessa et al, 2022). Ekowisata sangat peduli dengan lingkungan alam dan budaya, dan ingin meminimalkan efek negative pada lingkungan.…”

A review of the role of tour operators towards sustaining ecotourism in Tanzania

“…All of these combined with a lack of stakeholders' engagement in ecotourism management and conservation may have an impact on the physical, natural, and cultural ecotourism resources for both present and future use. Due to the above challenges, a number of researchers have gained an interest in working more on ecotourism, as evidenced in Drumm and Moore (2002), Garrod (2003), Mgonja et al (2015), Clifton and Benson (2006), Backman and Munanura (2015), Courvisanos and Jain (2006), Aban et al (2016), Ahmad et al (2016), Pasape and Mujwiga (2017), Nugroho et al (2018) , Li and Liu (2020), Saidmamatov et al (2020), Kerimbergenovich et al (2020), Motlagh et al (2020), Angessa et al (2022) and Rahman et al (2022). Besides, Motlagh et al (2020) still urge more comprehensive studies on both the positive and negative aspects of sustainable ecotourism.…”

Bird Conservation Effort in Jakabaring Sport City Based on Community Perception

“…Persepsi wisatawan adalah suatu bentuk intepretasi atau kesan yang diwujudkan dalam bentuk interpretasi sikap dan perilaku terhadap objek (Angessa et al, 2022). Hal ini akan berpengaruh terhadap perilaku sehari-hari.…”

“…Persepsi masyarakat merupakan sebuah interaksi dan penafsiran masyarakat terhadap suatu obyek (Pinillos et al, 2021). Berdasarkan hasil penelitian terdahulu menyatakan bahwa sikap dan persepsi yang dipahami akan sangat menentukan perilaku dalam diri manusia (Angessa et al, 2022;Katuwal et al, 2021;Marcelina et al, 2018;Pinillos et al, 2021). Atas dasar hal tersebut penelitian mengenai persepsi masyarakat terhadap konservasi burung menjadi sangat penting untuk dilakukan guna menjaga kualitas lingkungan serta menjaga populasi burung perkotaan.…”