An Exploratory Study of Community Conservation Enterprises As A
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Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations 5-2017 An Exploratory Study of Community Conservation Enterprises as a Model for Improving Community Livelihoods and Conservation of Mountain Gorillas Across the Greater Virunga Transboundary Landscape Edwin Sabuhoro Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Recommended Citation Sabuhoro, Edwin, "An Exploratory Study of Community Conservation Enterprises as a Model for Improving Community Livelihoods and Conservation of Mountain Gorillas Across the Greater Virunga Transboundary Landscape" (2017). All Dissertations. 2112. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2112 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF COMMUNITY CONSERVATION ENTERPRISES AS A MODEL FOR IMPROVING COMMUNITY LIVELIHOODS AND CONSERVATION OF MOUNTAIN GORILLAS ACROSS THE GREATER VIRUNGA TRANSBOUNDARY LANDSCAPE A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management by Edwin Sabuhoro May 2017 Accepted by: Dr. Brett A. Wright, Committee Chair Dr. Robert B. Powell Dr. Jeffrey C. Hallo Dr. Patricia A. Layton ABSTRACT Greater Virunga Transboundary Landscape (GVTL) is highly known for its abundance of wildlife resources and mostly flagship and endangered species such as Mountain Gorillas. Despite this importance, parks across GVTL continue to face enormous pressure from neighboring communities who harvest park resources illegally. This illegal harvest has sparked off intense park-community conflicts, community resentment and continuous poaching. To reduce them, community conservation enterprises (CCEs) were established across GVTL. The belief was that these CCEs provide and enhance socio-economic benefits to local communities which will in turn improve their household livelihoods. This will ensure that communities, in theory, will be less dependent on park resources, thereby reducing park-community conflicts, resentment and poaching. However, little is known about these CCEs, and how much they have improved community livelihoods and contributed to conservation. This dissertation addresses this lack of empirical knowledge by analyzing the perceptions of resident communities regarding the impacts of CCEs across GVTL. Two sites (Volcanoes and Mgahinga National Parks) out of the three in GVTL were selected for this study. A mixed methods approach was used for this research. This method took a two-phased approach. The first phase, included analyzing Ranger-based Monitoring (RbM) data recorded over a period of nine years (2007-2015). The second phase, included a face-to-face household survey interviews to examine residents’ perceptions of illegal activities (bamboo cutting, poaching, wood cutting, water collection, medicinal herbs and forest fires) and household livelihood securities (food, ii health, education and economic) between CCEs participants and non-participants. Findings regarding the perceptions of residents living adjacent to GVTL suggest that current illegal behavior has decreased compared to the past. However, RbM findings suggest that illegal activities are still a significant problem across GVTL. Further findings regarding the household livelihood security (HLS) suggest that community conservation enterprises have contributed significantly to the overall quality of life and in particular, to the food, health and economic security of residents living adjacent VNP compared to residents living adjacent to MGNP. This provides empirical evidence to support the view that CCEs have the potential to contribute significantly to household livelihood security. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my late mother and father, Jolly B. Mpama and Titien Mpama for their love and inspiration. I also dedicate it to rangers, trackers and wardens who continue to put their lives on the line to protect Mountain Gorillas across the Greater Virunga Transboundary Landscape from extinction. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people deserve my gratitude and appreciation. Without their support, guidance and encouragement, this dissertation would not be what it is. I am eternally grateful to Dr. Brett A. Wright (Committee Chair) for your mentorship, guidance, patience and constant encouragement. It has been an honor to learn from you. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Jeffrey C. Hallo, Dr. Patricia A. Layton and Dr. Robert B. Powell for your guidance, support and feedback which helped to shape my scholarly character and made this study much more interesting. I learnt a lot from you all. I also want to thank the United States Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) for the financial support. Equally, I would like to thank Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) for allowing me to conduct my research across Volcanoes National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Additionally, I would like to thank the field staff at VNP including Mr. Proposer Uwingeli, Mr. Abel Musana, Mr. Kwizera Janvier, Mr. Oreste Ndayisaba, and MGNP including Mr. Masaba Christopher, Mr. Sunday Frank, Mr. Twinomugisha Deusdedit, Mr. Turinawe Moses, Mr. Ismael Bakebwa. I also extend my appreciation Mme. Valerie Akuredusenge, Mr. Mukiza John, Mr. Phillip, Mr. Mugisha Emmanuel, Mr. Phillip Sebagenzi, Mr. Twagirimana Innocent for their field help and all the 571 participants for their time and contributions. Am grateful to my fellow EAC students at Clemson University. We laughed, joked, debated and learnt a lot from each other. Dr. John Mgonja, thank you for taking me through the statistics journey. Dr. Ian Munanura, thank you for your encouragement and inspiration. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their support, love and prayers. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 Background to the Study ....................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................4 Purpose Statement ..............................................................................................6 Research Questions ............................................................................................6 Site Descriptions and Background .....................................................................7 Intervening External Factors ..............................................................................9 Dissertation Structure.......................................................................................11 Literature Cited ................................................................................................12 2. PERCEPTIONS OF ILLEGAL BEHAVIORS AMONG INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS OF THE GREATER VIRUNGA TRANSBOUNDARY LANDSCAPE ..................................................................................................15 Introduction ......................................................................................................15 Description of Research Locations ..................................................................17 Methods............................................................................................................18 Results ..............................................................................................................21 Discussion ........................................................................................................30 Conclusions ......................................................................................................31 Literature Cited ................................................................................................33 vi Table of Contents (Continued) Page 3. PERCEIVED AND ACTUAL IMPACTS OF INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS ON PARK RESOURCES IN THE GREATER VIRUNGA TRANSBOUNDARY LANDSCAPE ..........................................37 Introduction ......................................................................................................37 Description of Research Locations ..................................................................38 Methods............................................................................................................39 Results ..............................................................................................................43 Conclusions ......................................................................................................51 Discussion ........................................................................................................53