Gusto Lyakurwa, a doctoral student in recreation, parks, and tourism management at Pennsylvania State University, conducts his research while walking through land adjacent to Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania. Photo by Gusto Lyakurwa
East African national parks protect endangered wildlife but sometimes don’t support the livelihoods of local people, says Edwin Sabuhoro, an assistant professor of recreation, parks and tourism management at Pennsylvania State University. A new study by Sabuhoro and two East African doctoral students at Penn State finds that poverty and a lack of adequate food supplies drive much of the poaching and other illegal activity in some national parks.
The researchers, led by Gusto Lyakurwa, a doctoral student in recreation, parks, and tourism management at Pennsylvania State University, surveyed 267 household heads in eight villages bordering Mkomazi National Park in northern Tanzania. They focused on the park’s land use and families’ food, economic, and educational security to understand factors that lead to illegal park use. The team’s findings were published in the journal Conservation.
Mkomazi National Park covers over 1,250 square miles and provides a protected habitat for rare and endangered wildlife, including elephants, lions, buffalo and rhinos. Established in 1951, the park underwent two major evictions of its inhabitants, once in the early 1950s and once in the late 1980s, when many of its inhabitants were forced to leave the park and move to surrounding areas.
Researchers say that since the establishment of this park, and other protected areas across East Africa, park authorities and forest rangers have viewed local people as a threat rather than potential conservation partners.
“For countless generations, people in this region have derived meat, traditional medicines, firewood, fish and timber from this land,” Lyakurwa said. “These resources were essential to their livelihoods, and suddenly they were cut off from the land. Locals told us they felt a connection to the wildlife, but they also made it clear that they would not respect the park’s boundaries if they could not feed themselves and their children.”
The park’s tourism, which is largely driven by visitors wanting to see the large mammals, generates revenue for the state, the researchers said. Part of the park’s revenue is dedicated to projects aimed at improving the lives of the 45,000 people who live in 22 villages near the park. While many government programs focus on improving health and education infrastructure, the findings show that reducing food insecurity and poverty is the only way to build partnerships between parks and villages, the researchers said.
Of the 267 households surveyed, 253 were dependent on agriculture (growing crops or raising livestock for food). The average annual household income for these households was US$1,115, and 74% of household heads had only primary school education.
When asked whether and why they used the park for illegal animal grazing or poaching, many villagers said they did. The researchers compared these results with people’s statements that their families always had access to food, education, and sufficient funds, or that they were “safe.”
The findings showed that food security was the main driver of illegal activity, while education security and economic security had little impact on poaching.
The researchers said their findings demonstrate that people poach not to line their pockets or pay for their children’s education, but for food. To effectively protect wildlife and their habitats, parks need to address the food security of their residents, they said.
“Local communities are expected to support conservation, but they face poverty,” said Lyakurwa. “Animals, especially elephants and lions, come out of the parks, trampling crops and injuring or killing people. People also feel they need park land to graze their animals. It is easy to understand why they are not more supportive of park boundaries when their own lives are at risk.”
In addition to existential concerns, many villagers believe that revenues from tourism in the park should be spent more to support local residents, but told researchers that much of the money goes to other projects around the country. Sabhoro said these shared frustrations prompted him to spearhead a regional effort to reduce conflicts between the needs of humans and wildlife.
“Traditionally, local people have been expected to follow the rules but not be involved in the planning and benefits associated with the park,” Sabhoro says. “Through the Human-Wildlife Coexistence Research Network, we are trying to change that.”
Sabuhoro leads a network that brings together non-governmental organizations, government officials, academics, park leaders and local people from across East Africa to address ways in which conservation can support local community needs, and ways in which communities can support conservation efforts.
“People in each country express their needs and seek their own solutions,” Sabhoro said. “Last year we held a conservation stakeholder meeting in Uganda. This year we had one in Tanzania, and next year we have meetings in Kenya and Rwanda.”
To support and expand the work of the Human-Wildlife Research Network, Sabuhoro was looking to recruit and train researchers from East Africa, and after reviewing many applications, he said he found the ideal candidate in Lyakulwa.
Lyakurwa was born in Tanzania and previously worked as a park ranger there, meaning he had the language skills, cultural knowledge and perspective necessary to carry out research like this. Sabhoro also stressed the need for local connections to build trust.
“Traditionally, Western researchers have studied African animals and people and then left without making their findings understood by local communities or providing lasting, tangible benefits,” Sabhoro says. “Researchers with local connections, like Gast, have more credibility to bring that knowledge back to the communities.”
Lyakruwa agreed.
“Because I’m from there, they can hold me accountable,” he said. “I believe that because of that, we’ll get more honest and complete answers from villagers and park rangers. These are all people trying to do the right thing in difficult situations, but they need to feel safe and accountable.”
Sabhoro said universities like Penn State play an important role in training local people like Lyakuluwa and Mercy Chepkemoi Chepkwonye, a graduate student in recreation, parks and tourism management at Penn State and another co-author of the study.
“By training local people in research methods and helping develop and support meaningful research projects, we can help manage the park in a way that is sustainable for both people and animals,” Sabhoro said.
Further information: Gasto Jerome Lyakurwa et al., “Lawsuits for survival: Understanding the impact of household stability on biodiversity conservation in Tanzania.” Conservation (2024). DOI: 10.3390/conservation4030022
Courtesy of Pennsylvania State University
Citation: Food shortage, not money, is the cause of poaching in East Africa’s national parks (September 25, 2024) Retrieved September 25, 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2024-09-lack-food-money-poaching-east.html
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