1Masters Student, Dept. of Geography & Environmental Studies, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Gondar, Ethiopia
2Lecturer, Dept. of Geography & Environmental Studies, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Gondar, Ethiopia
Online published on 23 February, 2017.
Since early the 19th centuries, protected areas have been affected by illegal activities, which are induced by humans and continuations of these activities do not only harm wildlife, but also the welfare of current, as well as, future generations. Conservation of protected areas cannot be achieved if local community support is not ensured. The main objective of this study was to examine determinants of farmers’ participation in park conservation practices of the SMNP. A quantitative and qualitative survey-based study, which used a structured and close ended questionnaire, was undertaken to obtain information about determinants of farmers’ participation in the conservation of the study area. In addition, qualitative data was gathered through in-person unstructured interviews with key informants including local authorities and park officials in order to verify and enrich quantitative data which was obtained from the household survey. Data from completed questionnaires were computerized and analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and multiple linear regression analysis. The study revealed that conservation concerns are influenced by socio-economic conditions of households that are unable to fulfill their subsistence needs. Although local communities are willing to involve in conservation of SMNP, they participate in illegal activities like livestock grazing and deforestation. Crop and livestock damages caused by wild animals, combined with the absence of economic opportunities, unfair tourist service provision, shortage of grazing land and lack of clearly defined benefit-sharing mechanism from the protected area are strong determinants regarding the local community's conservation concerns.
Therefore, the study suggests that solving problems caused by wild animals effectively, providing people with more economic opportunities, designing fair tourist income generation scheme and benefit sharing mechanisms are the major priority areas for the success of participatory park conservation endeavors.
Participation, National Park, Protected area
