Involving local people in the conservation of Mount Elgon National Park, Uganda

National Parks are central to conservation efforts in Africa, but people living close by often disagree with park conservation strategies. This can lead to conflict between park managers and neighbouring communities. Participatory park management is one approach that encourages local people to work more closely with National Parks.

Conservation in National Parks often involves enforcing laws to maintain and preserve natural processes and biodiversity, and protect these from harmful human activity. Research from the Institute of Development Policy and Management in the UK argues that this approach evolves from Western perspectives. It is often in direct opposition to the needs and values of neighbouring communities living close to National Parks.

Whilst National Parks focus on conserving natural resources, neighbouring communities focus on making use of the natural environment to generate income and provide food. This results in struggle and resistance from neighbouring communities, which use whatever power they have to challenge and resist park rules.

One example is Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda. During the years of conflict in Uganda, neighbouring communities encroached into the forests for agriculture and grazing, often bribing conservation officials. By the 1980s, much of the forest was degraded. In 1993, the Ugandan government declared the region a National Park, with a focus on laws to enforce biodiversity conservation, recreation and scientific research.

In the mid 1990s, this approach changed to include participatory management strategies. This approach includes members of neighbouring communities in the management of National Parks, so that the needs of both parks and communities can be met whilst protecting the natural environment. Strategies include environmental education, sharing revenues from Parks (such as ecotourism), and agreeing conditions for resources access agreements, such as hunting concessions.

However, the research shows:

• Previous differences in values between park managers and neighbouring communities were not negotiated or resolved.
• Park managers sought to use both old (law enforcement) and new (participatory) strategies to prevent local people from pursuing their own development activities. Communities responded by continuing to resist park management rules and activities.

Participatory park management has the potential to create a link between the different needs and values of park authorities and neighbouring communities. However, the Mount Elgon experience demonstrates the difficulties of achieving this in practice. To successfully integrate neighbouring communities into National Park management, the researchers suggest:

• A focus on conservation cannot be imposed onto neighbouring communities if they are unwilling to accept it. If imposed, resistance to, and tensions with, park authorities will continue.
• Power imbalances between park managers and communities must be recognised and balanced so that the needs of both groups are represented equally.
• It is essential that all neighbouring communities have equal voice in participatory management, and discussions are not dominated by the most powerful groups.
• Close monitoring will help to prevent the use of bribes, bargaining and self-interest in participatory park management.

Source(s):
‘Confronting Conservation at Mount Elgon, Uganda,’ pages 1093–1116 in Development and Change 37, 5, by Linda Norgrove and David Hulme, 2006

Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); Parkes Foundation; Royal Scottish Geographical Society

id21 Research Highlight: 21 April 2007

Further Information:
David Hulme
Institute for Development Policy and Management
University of Manchester
Harold Hankins Building, Precinct Centre
Booth Street West
Manchester, M13 9QH
UK

Tel: +44 (0)161 2752810
Contact the contributor: david.hulme@manchester.ac.uk

Institute of Development Policy and Management, UK

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id21 insights 57 'People and protected areas: new agendas for conservation'

'Using community conservation to achieve the MDGs'

'Community Based Natural Resource Management – questioning the ‘success stories’'

'Tour operators and Protected Area managers – a symbiotic relationship'

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