Ranger perceptions of the role of local communities in providing actionable information on wildlife crime

Anagnostou, Michelle; Mwedde, Geoffrey; Roe, Dilys; Smith, Robert J.; Travers, Henry; Baker, Julia

doi:10.1111/csp2.202

Cited by 27 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(59 reference statements)

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“…There is considerable reporting on community perceptions of rangers (Bennett and Dearden 2013), rangers' perception of communities (Moreto 2019;Anagnostou et al 2020), rangers' perception of their jobs (Moreto 2015;Ogunjinmi et al 2008), and community perceptions about protected areas (Infield and Namara 2001;Mutanga et al 2017).…”

Section: Key Issue #1: Perceptions Are Only Part Of the Picturementioning

confidence: 99%

Building healthy relationships between rangers and communities in and around protected areas

Woodside¹,

Vasseleu²,

Pyke³

et al. 2021

Parks Stewardship Forum

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Positive ranger-community relationships are vitally important to effective conservation in and around protected areas. In this paper we take a practical approach to identifying and examining the key issues and practices that affect the relationship, both where it is strained and where it is working well, and provide recommendations for action. The issues and the solutions are multi-layered, with embedded complexity based on history, cultural identity, and rights to access natural resources. Solutions require a deep understanding of and respect for the needs and aspirations of the community and its capacity to partner in conservation efforts. Similarly, rangers require effective support and training that enables alternative interactions with communities and greater professionalism. In general, the improvements will require building trustworthy relationships grounded in understanding and supported by strong collaborative management systems and governance. Essentially this means strengthening the social capital of conservation. Our problem analysis revealed that the internal and external factors affecting relationships can usefully be divided into six themes: law, policy, and safeguarding human rights; organizational systems and strategies; options for ranger-community interactions on-site; model systems and the role of communities in conservation and stewardship; and the role of both external supporters and disruptors. Our recommendations for action target conservation bodies at four levels-international, regional, national, and local. They are further clustered around four types of action grouped into: critical responses and crisis planning; establishing general guiding principles, systems, and management and governance; promoting the best models and practices; and strengthening of professional knowledge networks and support.

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Section: Key Issue #1: Perceptions Are Only Part Of the Picturementioning

confidence: 99%

Building healthy relationships between rangers and communities in and around protected areas

Woodside¹,

Vasseleu²,

Pyke³

et al. 2021

Parks Stewardship Forum

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Any and all interactions can influence community-conservation partnerships [Moreto et al, 2015;World Wildlife Fund (WWF), 2020]. Such partnerships can affect responses to wildlife crime; interactions between rangers and community members can also facilitate effective wildlife crime prevention (Anagnostou et al, 2020). Rangers are often embedded in the communities surrounding the conserved areas which they are charged with protecting, which presents both challenges and opportunities for their work on wildlife crime prevention.…”

Section: Introduction Protected Area Rangersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Challenges included an increased risk of corruption due to pre-existing relationships with poachers or pressure or extortion from senior officials, as well as tension with family or community members, who may ostracize or threaten rangers due to their roles in crime prevention (Moreto, 2016;Massé et al, 2017). Importantly, communities often prefer to work with rangers who come from the communities they are responsible for protecting (and vice versa) and these relationships may offer novel opportunities for information-sharing that can enhance wildlife protection Anagnostou et al, 2020). Cultural brokerage provides one lens through which to categorize the different social roles performed by rangers and to examine how these various roles affect wildlife crime prevention.…”

Section: Introduction Protected Area Rangersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protected Area Rangers as Cultural Brokers? Implications for Wildlife Crime Prevention in Viet Nam

Rizzolo¹,

Gore²,

Long³

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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The scope, scale, and socio-environmental impacts of wildlife crime pose diverse risks to people, animals, and environments. With direct knowledge of the persistence and dynamics of wildlife crime, protected area rangers can be both an essential source of information on, and front-line authority for, preventing wildlife crime. Beyond patrol and crime scene data collected by rangers, solutions to wildlife crime could be better built off the knowledge and situational awareness of rangers, in particular rangers' relationships with local communities and their unique ability to engage them. Rangers are often embedded in the communities surrounding the conserved areas which they are charged with protecting, which presents both challenges and opportunities for their work on wildlife crime prevention. Cultural brokerage refers to the process by which intermediaries, like rangers, facilitate interactions between other relevant stakeholders that are separate yet proximate to one another, or that lack access to, or trust in, one another. Cultural brokers can function as gatekeepers, representatives, liaisons, coordinators, or iterant brokers; these forms vary by how information flows and how closely aligned the broker is to particular stakeholders. The objectives of this paper are to use the example of protected area rangers in Viet Nam to (a) characterize rangers' cultural brokerage of resources, information, and relationships and (b) discuss ranger-identified obstacles to the prevention of wildlife crime as an example of brokered knowledge. Using in-depth face-to-face interviews with rangers and other protected area staff (N = 31, 71% rangers) in Pu Mat National Park, 2018, we found that rangers regularly shift between forms of cultural brokerage. We offer a typology of the diverse forms of cultural brokerage that characterize rangers' relationships with communities and other stakeholders. We then discuss ranger-identified obstacles to wildlife protection as an example of brokered knowledge. These results have implications for designing interventions to address wildlife crime that both improve community-ranger interactions and increase the efficiency of wildlife crime prevention.

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“…Petrossian, 2015) and engaging communities in wildlife crime prevention (e.g. Anagnostou et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women and wildlife crime: hidden offenders, protectors and victims

Kahler

Rinkus

2021

Oryx

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Gender is an explanatory factor in multiple dimensions of conservation, including women's access to and participation in conservation programmes, with gender bias in wildlife research persisting globally. There is reason to believe the current global wildlife crime crisis is no exception, with a lack of critical examination of gendered roles in security for biodiversity conservation. Despite the emergence of high-profile all-women ranger units (e.g. Akashinga in Zimbabwe) there has been a lack of systematic integration of gender within biodiversity protection. Theoretical and methodological applications from criminology have become progressively more common in response to an increase in a wide range of environmental crimes with consequences for women and their communities. Here we consider the implications of the lack of knowledge of women's direct and indirect roles in wildlife security. We used the criminology and conservation literature to identify key gaps in research, and relevant and robust typologies and frameworks informed by criminology to structure future research on women as offenders, protectors (handlers, managers, guardians) and victims of wildlife crime. We argue that more intentional research into the direct and indirect roles of women in wildlife crime is needed to address wildlife crime, protect biodiversity and support social justice in response to wildlife crimes.

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Ranger perceptions of the role of local communities in providing actionable information on wildlife crime

Cited by 27 publications

References 59 publications

Building healthy relationships between rangers and communities in and around protected areas

Building healthy relationships between rangers and communities in and around protected areas

Protected Area Rangers as Cultural Brokers? Implications for Wildlife Crime Prevention in Viet Nam

Women and wildlife crime: hidden offenders, protectors and victims

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