EVALUATION OF COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION APPROACHES: MANAGEMENT OF PROTECTED AREAS IN UGANDA By ARTHUR RWABITETERA MUGISHA A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2002 Copyright 2002 by Arthur R. Mugisha I would like to dedicate this work to my wife Martha for her inspiration and support, and to my children Jean and Dean for all their love, patience and encouragement. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My study program was made successful by the generous support of many individuals and organizations, which supported and financed this research. I am particularly indebted to the McArthur Foundation, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Compton Fellowship Foundation, the Beineckle Brothers Foundation and the Ford Foundation. I cannot forget to thank the Program of Studies for Tropical Conservation, which played a key role in developing and implementing this research project. I wish to thank Dr. Lauren Chapman and Dr. Colin Chapman, who gave me the inspiration, encouragement and assistance to join the University and embark on this degree. I am indebted to my committee chair, Dr. Susan Jacobson, for her support and encouragement during my entire study program. Special thanks go to my wife Martha, and my children, Jean and Dean, for their patience support, and understanding throughout my studies. Members of my committee: Dr. Janaki Alavalapati, Dr. Peter Hildebrand Dr. Mark Hostetler and Dr. Colin Chapman also helped me greatly and I thank them sincerely. My friends gave me confidence to finish this undertaking. I am especially indebted to Matthew Udziela, Andrew Lepp, Karl Pomeroy, Elly Amani-Gamukama and many others who helped me in numerous ways. My research assistants in Uganda: Mr. Jimmy Mugisha, Mr. Kenneth Sabila, and Mr. Martin Asiimwe, did superb work collecting the field data. The staffs of Uganda Wildlife Authority also assisted me during the data collection. I am indebted to Executive Director Dr. Robbie. Robinson, Research Director Ms. Apophia. Atukunda, and the field wardens, who gave me their cooperation iv and support. I also acknowledge the support of my sister Joan Nyakato, my parents, and all my friends during the fieldwork in Uganda. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................iv ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 Protected Areas in Africa................................................................................................ 1 Establishment of Protected Areas ............................................................................... 2 Introduction of Community-Based Conservation....................................................... 5 Literature Review............................................................................................................ 6 Community-Based conservation (CBC) ..................................................................... 6 Factors for Success.................................................................................................... 13 Research Hypotheses and Objectives ........................................................................... 15 Hypotheses................................................................................................................ 15 Objectives.................................................................................................................. 16 2 DO COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION PROGRAMS HELP REDUCE THREATS TO PROTECTED AREAS? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SIXTEEN PROTECTED AREAS IN UGANDA ..........................................................................25 Introduction................................................................................................................... 25 Methods......................................................................................................................... 27 Threat Reduction Assessment (TRA) Technique ..................................................... 27 Document Review..................................................................................................... 32 Interviews of the District Leaders; Local Council Five (LCV) ................................ 32 Survey of Protected Area Managers ......................................................................... 33 Results........................................................................................................................... 33 Threat Reduction Assessment Indices and Threats Percentage Occurrences........... 33 Documented Illegal Activities .................................................................................. 34 Responses from the District Leaders and Protected Areas Wardens........................ 35 Discussion..................................................................................................................... 36 Effectiveness of Management in Mitigating Threats to Protected Areas ................. 36 Conservation Status of the Protected Areas.............................................................. 39 Threat Reduction Assessment and Illegal Activities ................................................ 39 vi Linkages between People’s Aspirations, Threat Reduction and Survival of Protected Areas ............................................................................................... 42 Linkages between Political Leadership and Protected Area Management............... 48 Limitations of the Study............................................................................................ 50 Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................. 52 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 52 Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 53 3 DO COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION PROGRAMS POSITIVELY INFLUENCE ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS AND INCREASE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PROTECTED AREAS? AN EMPRICAL STUDY OF COMMUNITIES NEIGHBORING PROTECTED AREAS IN UGANDA..............................................95 Introduction................................................................................................................... 95 Hypotheses and Objectives of the Study...................................................................... 99 Hypotheses................................................................................................................ 99 Objectives.................................................................................................................. 99 Methods....................................................................................................................... 100 Study Sites and Respondents Selection.................................................................. 100 Survey Design......................................................................................................... 101 Administration of the Survey.................................................................................. 103 Results......................................................................................................................... 104 Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics ........................................................... 104 Attitudes toward Protected Areas and Conservation.............................................. 106 Explanatory Responses to the Open-ended Questions............................................ 108 Responses to knowledge questions ......................................................................... 109 Responses to behavior questions ............................................................................. 111 Responses to costs and benefits questions ............................................................... 112 Comparison among Protected Areas....................................................................... 114 Discussion................................................................................................................... 116 Comparison of Attitudes, Knowledge and Behavior of Community Members between CBC and Non-CBC Protected Areas........................................................ 116 Conflicts between Conservation and Peoples’ Needs............................................. 116 Linkage between Community Needs and Protected Areas Values......................... 119 Association between Socio-demographic Variables with Attitudes and Knowledge .................................................................................................... 119 Access to Resources................................................................................................ 120 Importance of Communication and Dialogue in Influencing Attitudes.................. 120 Problem Animals..................................................................................................... 121 Comparison of Attitudes, Knowledge and Behavior among All Protected Areas.. 122 Influence of Community-Based Conservation, on Attitudes and Behavior ........... 122 Benefits and Costs Analysis