Strategies for promoting community participation in wildlife conservation: Examples from the field

Since the mid 1980s efforts have been made by national governments and other stakeholders to promote local community participation in wildlife conservation. Despite this, realizing full and active community participation has since then remained a challenge to protected area managers, conservationists and other actors in the conservation sphere. Using results from a study conducted among local communities living adjacent to protected areas in Kenya, this paper discusses the strategies used to promote local community involvement in wildlife conservation. The study targeted local communities residing adjacent to Ruma, Amboseli and Saiwa Swamp National Parks and Kakamega Forest National Reserve all of which are managed by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), as well as KWS staff working in these parks. A sample of 315 respondents was interviewed among them 300 randomly selected local community members, and 15 purposively selected KWS staff. Structured questionnaires, key informant interviews and informal consultations and discussions were used to generate data. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that local community involvement in wildlife conservation takes various forms among them active (92%), passive (84%) and token (80%) participation. Further, diverse strategies are used to promote local community participation in wildlife conservation among them holding consultative community meetings (79%), education and outreach (78.4%), benefit sharing (74.3%%), collaboration and networking (65.6%), enterprise development (62.2%), initiation of integrated conservation and development projects (62.1%), promotion of community based conservation (62.1%) and formation of partnerships (59%%). In spite of their wide use, results showed that the success of these strategies in promoting community participation varied from one study area to another. Concerted efforts should be made by KWS and other stakeholders to motive local communities to participate in protected area management and wildlife conservation in order to realise the objectives and benefits of wildlife conservation, and also secure the future and sustainability of the four protected areas and their wildlife.