Impacts of community-based conservation on local communities in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

Community-based conservation in the developing world generally puts more emphasis on voluntary commitments and compliance rather than enforcement of formal laws and regulations for the governance of protected areas. However, as with other forms of organizational management, once institutions are established, they are required to comply with all relevant, legally binding regulations. Furthermore, it is broadly assumed that compliance with established regulations is critical for good governance. In this paper, we review these matters through an empirical study of Conservation Area Management Committees’ degree of compliance with regulations under Nepalese law, within the Annapurna Conservation Area—one of the best-known community-based protected areas worldwide—based on quantitative content analysis of the committees’ meeting minutes from 2008 to 2012. According to the established rules, two to four women and one to five minorities serve as committee members in each instance. On average, fewer members than expected attended meetings, and the number of decisions made per meeting showed a curvilinear relationship with the number of members present as well as their demographic diversity. Of the 13 committees selected for study, only two met the legal mandate of holding six regular meetings annually within two-month intervals. In all the other cases, non-compliance was noted for one to all five years of the committees’ terms. In general, compliance declined over the five-year terms, and some committees were significantly less-compliant than others. Although enforceable decisions were made within both compliant and non-compliant committees, several problems of non-compliance were identified that may affect conservation outcomes. We suggest several possible reasons for non-compliance and argue that these may be symptoms of institutional weaknesses. Organizations that fail to meet their commitments risk liability and may also lose the formal legal authority to govern. Regular monitoring is recommended to address compliance issues.

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Effectiveness of community involvement in delivering conservation benefits to the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892905002298 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 239-247 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

SIDDHARTHA B. BAJRACHARYA ◽

PETER A. FURLEY ◽

ADRIAN C. NEWTON

Keyword(s):

Community Involvement ◽

Basal Area ◽

Local Communities ◽

Community Based ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Social Surveys ◽

Animal Populations ◽

Annapurna Conservation Area ◽

Pellet Counts ◽

Himalayan Tahr

Community-based approaches to decision-making in the management of protected areas are increasingly being implemented in many areas. However information on the outcome of these approaches for conservation is often lacking. In this study, the effectiveness of community-based approaches for conservation of biodiversity was examined in Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) (Nepal) through a combination of ecological assessments and social surveys undertaken both within and outwith ACA. Forest basal area and tree species diversity were found to be significantly higher inside ACA than in neighbouring areas outside. The mean density of cut tree stumps was significantly lower inside ACA, associated with a decline in use of fuelwood as an energy source over the past decade. Social surveys also indicated that wild animal populations have increased inside ACA since the inception of community-based conservation. Observations of animal track counts, pellet counts and direct observations of selected species such as barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak) and Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) indicated higher abundances within ACA. The community-based management has been successful in delivering conservation benefits in ACA, attributable to changing patterns of resource use and behaviour among local communities, increased control of local communities over their local resources, increased conservation awareness among local people resulting from environmental education, and the development and strengthening of local institutions such as Conservation Area Management Committees (CAMC). However, these positive achievements are threatened by the current political instability in Nepal.

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Local attitudes toward community-based conservation policy and programmes in Nepal: a case study in the Makalu-Barun Conservation Area

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s037689299800040x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 320-333 ◽

Cited By ~ 136

Author(s):

JAI N. MEHTA ◽

STEPHEN R. KELLERT

Keyword(s):

Dispute Settlement ◽

Community Forestry ◽

Local Development ◽

Strong Support ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Local Communities ◽

Community Based ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Community Based Conservation ◽

Community Forest User Groups

Community-based conservation (CBC) has been projected as the most practical approach to stem biodiversity loss in developing countries. Since CBC is 'people-centred' and experience with it is relatively new, it is important to know the views of local communities regarding implemented policies and programmes. This paper examines the attitudes of local communities toward policy and programmes implemented by a project under the CBC approach in the Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area of Nepal, based on a 1996 survey of 400 people living in it.Overall, respondents did not have a particularly favourable perception of the community development programmes implemented. Strong support existed for ecotourism development in the Conservation Area. Respondents overwhelmingly endorsed community forestry. Wildlife protection remained a low priority amongst a significant majority of respondents. Some demographic and socio-economic factors exerted important influences on the attitudes of respondents. This study suggests that the project should continue addressing local development needs, encourage women's participation in community forestry, work toward dispute settlement of community forest-user groups, and allow hunting of pest wild animals, if it wants to win the support of local communities for long-term biodiversity conservation goals.

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Costs of elephant crop depredation exceed the benefits of trophy hunting in a community‐based conservation area of Namibia

Conservation Science and Practice ◽

10.1111/csp2.345 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Michael D. Drake ◽

Jonathan Salerno ◽

Ryan E. Langendorf ◽

Lin Cassidy ◽

Andrea E. Gaughan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Based ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Trophy Hunting ◽

Community Based Conservation

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Community-Based Conservation for the Sustainable Management of Conservation Conflicts: Learning from Practitioners

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13147557 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 7557

Author(s):

Juliette Claire Young ◽

Justine Shanti Alexander ◽

Ajay Bijoor ◽

Deepshikha Sharma ◽

Abhijit Dutta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Conflict Management ◽

Case Studies ◽

Sustainable Management ◽

Local Communities ◽

Snow Leopard ◽

Community Based ◽

Community Based Conservation ◽

Strategic Support

We explore the role of community-based conservation (CBC) in the sustainable management of conservation conflicts by examining the experiences of conservation practitioners trying to address conflicts between snow leopard conservation and pastoralism in Asian mountains. Practitioner experiences are examined through the lens of the PARTNERS principles for CBC (Presence, Aptness, Respect, Transparency, Negotiation, Empathy, Responsiveness, and Strategic Support) that represent an inclusive conservation framework for effective and ethical engagement with local communities. Case studies from India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Pakistan show that resilient relationships arising from respectful engagement and negotiation with local communities can provide a strong platform for robust conflict management. We highlight the heuristic value of documenting practitioner experiences in on-the-ground conflict management and community-based conservation efforts.

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Community-Based Conservation Area Management in Papua New Guinea: Adapting to Changing Policy and Practice

Biological Diversity ◽

10.1201/9781420042597-18 ◽

2001 ◽

pp. 351-367

Author(s):

Arlyne Johnson ◽

Paul Igag ◽

Robert Bino ◽

Paul Hukahu

Keyword(s):

Papua New Guinea ◽

New Guinea ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Community Based ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Community Based Conservation ◽

Area Management

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Threat reduction assessment of conventional and community-based conservation approaches to managing protected areas in Uganda

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892904001432 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 233-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

ARTHUR R. MUGISHA ◽

SUSAN K. JACOBSON

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Additional Data ◽

Local Communities ◽

Management Approach ◽

Government Officials ◽

Community Based ◽

Community Based Conservation ◽

Management Approaches

Loss of wildlife, encroachment on wild lands and conflicts between protected areas and neighbouring communities continue to threaten the integrity of protected areas (PAs) in Uganda. To increase support from local communities and ensure long-term sustainability for Uganda's PAs, a policy of community-based conservation was introduced in 1988 as a management approach in seven PAs. The effectiveness of the community-based approach for reducing threats was compared to conventional PA management by conducting a threat reduction assessment at 16 PAs, seven with community-based approaches and nine without. Additional data collected using document reviews, interviews with government officials, and surveys of PA wardens were compared with the threat reduction assessments. Twenty-three primary threats were identified at PAs. Local game poaching was the most common threat. The threat reduction assessment indices of community-based PAs (mean=49.0±12) were not significantly different from those of conventional PAs (mean=37.96±21.6). Some specific threats, such as bush burning, logging, encroachment and unclear boundaries, seemed to be better mitigated at community-based PAs. Management approaches at all PAs mitigated fewer than half of the identified threats. Management approaches are needed that directly target PA threats, go beyond PA boundaries by involving additional government departments, link people's livelihoods to conservation efforts and strengthen PA institutions.

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Preliminary Checklists of Birds for the Fura and Furagosa Wildlife Community Based Conservation Area, in Mirab-Abaya District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS ◽

10.47191/ijmra/v4-i4-05 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 04 (04) ◽

Author(s):

Amare Gibru ◽

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Wildlife Conservation ◽

Bird Species ◽

Southern Ethiopia ◽

Community Based ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Collection Method ◽

Data Collection Method ◽

Community Based Conservation ◽

Bird List

The field visit was conducted at Fura and Furagosa community based wildlife conservation area in February 2021. The survey aims to prepare a primary bird checklist. Transect walk data collection method was employed. The record of bird list was presented in a descriptive statics. 37 bird species were recorded during the survey time. Of the species recorded, 25 species were residents, 10 species Palearctic migrants and 2 Intra-African migrants. The survey suggests that further systematic studies of biodiversity are needed.

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