Ward, C orcid.org/0000-0001-8362-4713, Holmes, G orcid.org/0000-0002-5393-5753 and Stringer, L orcid.org/0000-0003-0017-1654 (2018) Perceived barriers to and drivers of community participation in protected‐area governance. Conservation Biology, 32 (2). pp. 437-446. ISSN 0888-8892
Abstract
Protected areas (PAs) are a frequently used conservation strategy, yet their socioeconomic impacts on local communities remain contentious. A shift toward increased participation by local communities in PA governance seeks to deliver benefits for human well-being and biodiversity. Although participation is considered critical to the success of PAs, few researchers have investigated individuals’ decisions to participate and what this means for how local people experience the costs and benefits of conservation. We explored who participates in PA governance associations and why; the perceived benefits and costs to participation; and how costs and benefits are distributed within and between communities. Methods included 3 focus groups, 37 interviews, and 217 questionnaire surveys conducted in 3 communities and other stakeholders (e.g.,employees of a nongovernmental organization and government officials) in PA governance in Madagascar. Our study design was grounded in the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the most commonly applied behaviour model in social psychology. Participation in PA governance was limited by miscommunication and lack of
knowledge about who could get involved and how. Respondents perceived limited benefits and high costs and uneven distribution of these within and between communities. Men, poorer households, and people in remote villages reported the highest costs. Our findings illustrate challenges related to comanagement of PAs: understanding the heterogeneous nature of communities; ensuring all households are represented in governance participation; understanding differences in the meaning of forest protection; and targeting interventions to reach households most in need to avoid elite capture.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | comanagement; community-based conservation; Madagascar; participation; protected areas; Theory of planned behavior; áreas protegidas; conservación basada en comunidad; co-manejo; participación; teoría del comportamiento planeado; 共同管理; 基于社区的保护; 参与; 计划行为理论; 马达加斯加; 保护地; 胡怡思; 魏辅文 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Aug 2017 14:13 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 22:34 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/cobi.13000 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:120320 |