Coupling law enforcement and community-based regulations in support of compliance with biodiversity conservation regulations

Abstract

SummaryThe scope and scale of wildlife crimes around the world have risen in intensity and complexity, yet current enforcement strategies have often not delivered desired effects on illegal activities, even within protected areas. Tackling the array of illegal activities by emphasizing law enforcement above other options is challenging and potentially unsustainable. We explored the potential for social norms, community regulations and socioeconomic factors to promote compliance with wildlife laws by interviewing 334 respondents in 28 villages that share boundaries with protected areas in Nigeria. Using an anonymous direct questioning approach, we recorded a high prevalence of non-compliance behaviours in all studied communities. Injunctive norms (i.e., perceptions of acceptable behaviour within a social group) significantly predicted compliance, as respondents with no complicit friends or family members were more likely to comply with wildlife regulations. Perceived likelihood of community-level sanctions played a more salient role than the fear of arrest by rangers in influencing compliance. In addition, non-compliance increased with number of dependents, but reduced with average monthly household income. Our study demonstrates that clear knowledge of the social norms that drive local behaviour as well as the authorities that enforce them is integral to understanding the forces that drive community involvement and participation in conservation. Incorporating local communities in planning enforcement interventions may help protect threatened species and landscapes.

Stakeholder preferences for pangolin conservation interventions in south‐east Nigeria

“…The public's knowledge of the laws prohibiting pangolin killing (S24) suggests that the continued hunting of pangolins (Fa et al, 2006; Meseko et al, 2020; Tengwood Organisation, 2018) is not because of ignorance of the legislature forbidding their hunting. Cultural, socioeconomic and political factors, such as injunctive norms, the dietary and monetary values of pangolins to local populations and weak law enforcement (Atuo et al, 2020; Ed et al, 2020), are probably facilitating pangolin exploitation, underpinning the need for context, site‐specific and nuanced policies (Chausson et al, 2019). The only consensus statement for Intervention suggests more pangolin‐centred research to improve our understanding of the conservation status and threats to pangolins.…”

Advancing Applied Research in Conservation Criminology Through the Evaluation of Corruption Prevention, Enhancing Compliance, and Reducing Recidivism

“…These steps align with the CBC principles described above (i.e., collectivechoice management; monitoring of users and monitoring of the resource), however, CTC highlights the assessment of risks and protective factors, which are key factors for crime prevention. Lastly, there is evidence that injunctive norms (i.e., perceptions of what constitutes acceptable behavior in a social group) and perceived likelihood of community-level sanctions are more pertinent to compliance with IWT regulations than fear of arrests by rangers (Atuo et al, 2020). This research adds to a body of literature that concludes that normative compliance, consistent with CTC programs, may be as effective (if not more) than increased enforcement and detection, and the use of state-based sanctions (e.g., Kahler and Gore, 2012).…”

Social-Ecological Archetypes of Land Degradation in the Nigerian Guinea Savannah: Insights for Sustainable Land Management

“…According to [83], technology is necessary to scale up the adoption of initiatives amongst resource-poor users. With the widespread poverty, weak industrial presence to absorb the increasing population, and the reliance on the primary sector, the quest to exploit environmental resources supersedes interest for environmental protection and management [84]. Hence, pathways to improving land management need to be sought both outside agriculture (e.g., creating employment opportunities outside agriculture) as well as within agriculture through improving farmers/herders' access to sustainable land management practices as well as motivating their adoption [85].…”