Why are lions killing us? Human–wildlife conflict and social discontent in Mbire District, northern Zimbabwe

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Matema ◽  
Jens A. Andersson

AbstractAn emerging perspective on Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Zimbabwe is that increased authoritarianism in governance has enabled elite capture of wildlife resources and silenced local people's voices. This paper qualifies this perspective, showing how ordinary people continue to raise their concerns about local governance. In the Mbire district, people's interpretations of an upsurge in lion attacks on livestock and people in early 2010 took on a dimension of social commentary on the evolving governance arrangements in the district and beyond. Beneath an apparent human–wildlife conflict lie complex human–human conflicts about access to, and governance of, wildlife resources. Interpretations of the lion attacks built on two distinct epistemologies – a local religious discourse on spirit lions and an ecological one – but invariably construed outsiders as the ones accountable for local problems. This construction of outsiders is also a salient feature of Zimbabwean political discourse. Local voices thus constitute a widely understood discourse of protest.

Author(s):  
Nkatha Mercy

Culture, environment and, therefore, knowledge of socioeconomic constructs are intricately interwoven. Over the past decade or two, pastoralists without formal education in Kenyan drylands have increasingly found themselves on the receiving end of community empowerment trainings that lean towards human–wildlife conflict and environmental conservation. Why would research entities set aside mega budgets to teach the pastoralist about human–wildlife conflict? A pastoralist who has long roamed drylands with his livestock grazing alongside elephants and lions, and whose major life transition ceremonies, celebrations, songs, riddles, proverbs, sayings, poetry and jokes fundamentally feature wildlife. What makes these trainings in ‘imparting knowledge’ superior to the ‘indigenous knowledge’ already in the custody of the Borana or the Turkana or the Rendile? This article explores the relevance of community-based knowledges in addressing sustainable development and climate resilience, as articulated by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The specific setting for this discussion is the Kenyan drylands, which are central to the achievement of the SDG agenda given that they constitute 84 percent of Kenya’s total land surface. They also host up to 75 percent of  Kenya’s wildlife population, account for more than 80 percent of the country’s eco-tourism interests and support about 9.9 million Kenyans, or approximately 34 percent of the Kenyan population. Today, the drylands are impoverished, deficient for both humans and nature. Their vulnerability to disasters is amplified, while their resilience to shocks is greatly weakened, a situation made worse by climate change. To understand the importance of community-based knowledges within policy making for sustainability and resilience, this article examines in detail epistemological, social, historical, political and environmental factors converging on the Kenyan drylands, as well as the opportunity to address this complexity that the SDGs represent.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola S. Branco ◽  
Jerod A. Merkle ◽  
Robert M. Pringle ◽  
Lucy King ◽  
Tosca Tindall ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 1195-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Blackburn ◽  
J. Grant C. Hopcraft ◽  
Joseph O. Ogutu ◽  
Jason Matthiopoulos ◽  
Laurence Frank

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-233
Author(s):  
Manoj Pokharel ◽  
Chandramani Aryal

Local people are the major stakeholders of biodiversity conservation. Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) could result in a negative attitude of the general public towards wildlife adding challenges for conservation. This is more applicable in the landscapes which are outside the protected area (PA) coverage. But, the majority of HWC related studies in Nepal have centered on PAs and their peripheries. This study documents the prevailing situation of HWC in Sundarpur of Udayapur district that shelters some HWC prone wildlife species, while situating outside PA. Data about conflict and people's perception of wildlife conservation was collected using household surveys supplemented by key informant interviews and direct observation. Monkeys (93%, n=93) and elephants (86%, n=86) were found to be the major animals involved in the conflict, mostly resulting in crop raiding, the major form of conflict as reported by (95%, n=95) of respondents. Livestock depredation cases were mostly by common leopard (84%, n=21) and sloth bear was involved in the majority of human attack cases (90%, n=9). The results showed increasing trend of conflicts for elephants (63%, n=63) and monkeys (73%, n=73), while declining trend for sloth bear (64%, n=64), wild boar (85%, n=85), and leopard (46%, n=46). People believed the natural attraction of wildlife towards crops and livestock to be the major driving factor of conflict. Majority of respondents had a positive attitude towards wildlife conservation. However, implementation of community based conflict management strategies, robust compensation schemes along with conservation education programs are highly essential to achieve desired conservation success.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 585-605
Author(s):  
Terrence Thomas ◽  
◽  
Befikadu Legesse ◽  
Cihat Gunden ◽  
◽  
...  

The failure of top-down categorical approaches for generating solutions to many local problems has led to the adoption of alternate approaches. Many scholars believe that a confluence of local and global forces have generated complex problems, which call for new approaches to problem solving. Previously, the top-down approach relied entirely on the knowledgeable elite. Communities were seen as passive study subjects and information flow was one way only- from knowledgeable elites to the less knowledgeable community agents or community-based organization acting on behalf of communities. The objectives of this study are to provide a review of governance as a means of organizing community action to address community problems in the Black Belt Region (BBR) of the Southeastern United States, and an assessment of community problems in the BBR from the perspectives of community-based organizations (CBOs). Data was collected from CBOs via a telephone survey in eleven Southeastern states and via listening sessions conducted with CBOs in 9 Southeastern states. The study provides valuable insight regarding the challenges faced by these organizations and strategies they employ in adapting to serve their communities.


Geography ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan B. Dixon ◽  
Afework Hailu ◽  
Tilahun Semu ◽  
Legesse Taffa

Leadership ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 174271502097592
Author(s):  
Sarah J Jackson

Herein, I share a conversation with Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, as context to detail the collective visionary leadership of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. After highlighting how Garza enacts this tradition in the contemporary era, I revisit Ella Baker’s foundational model of collective visionary leadership from the civil rights era. Collective visionary leadership, embodied across these generations, is local and community-based, centers the power and knowledge of ordinary people, and prioritizes transformative accountability and liberatory visions of the future. Such leadership has been central to a range of transformational movements, and especially those anchored by Black women and Black queer folk. I also consider what critiques of traditional models of leadership collective visionary leadership levies both past and present. I call on all those concerned with the act of leading justly to take up this model.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document