Effects of protected areas on welfare of local households: The case of Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya

People and Nature

article

Dagne Mojo¹  Ayub M. O. Oduor²  Chao Fu¹  Yunli Bai¹  Huaping Long¹  Guoqin Wang¹  Linxiu Zhang² 

[1] Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences;United Nations Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP);Department of Applied Biology, Technical University of Kenya;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

关键词: conservation;    East Africa;    pastoralist communities;    poverty incidence;    well-being;   

DOI  :  10.1002/pan3.10123

学科分类：护理学

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Protected areas are vital for biodiversity conservation although some have been criticized for not providing adequate socio-economic benefits to local people. Yet, empirical studies on socio-economic impacts of protected areas that control for confounding factors are rare. Here, we assessed the potential impacts of Maasai Mara National Reserve in south-western Kenya on welfare (indicated by levels of income, consumption and assets) of, and poverty incidence among, 423 randomly selected local households. We used descriptive statistics to summarize demographic and socio-economic statuses of the households. Then, we estimated effects of the protected area on welfare of the households using ordinary least-squares regression models and entropy balancing. The protected area did not have a statistically significant effect on welfare of, and poverty levels among the households. Households that lived within a 5 km radius of the protected area boundary incurred significantly higher economic costs related to crop destruction and livestock depredation than households that lived 5–25 km from the boundary. Nevertheless, the majority of the households (86%) held positive views about the protected area due to its conservation role and direct and indirect benefits that they had already gained and expected to gain from it in the future. These results suggest that interventions are needed to reduce economic losses caused by wildlife from the protected area and improve its social and economic benefits to local households. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

【 授权许可】

CC BY