Improving community livelihoods through participatory management of national game parks: factors affecting access to socio-ecological benefits of Mgahinga national park in Kisoro district

Abstract

The study was about improving community livelihoods through participatory management of National Game Parks: Factors affecting access to socio-ecological benefits of Mgahinga National Game Park in Kisoro district. The specific objectives included: to identify the activities the local community engages in the national game parks management, to identify the barriers communities face in accessing the socio-ecological resources in National Game Parks and to identify the benefits of local community participation in the national park’s social ecological resource management. The study was mainly qualitative, but the researcher also used quantitative methods. Data was collected through interviews, questionnaires and observation. A sample size of forty respondents was conducted whereby the researcher interviewed 10 key informants these are: five local leaders, five game park managers, and also interviewed thirty participants in the villages of Kabande, Nzogera, Mubuga, Ndego and Mataba. The findings revealed that most people who live around Mgahinga National Park benefit a lot in that they are able to access social ecological resources like bamboo, firewood, water, honey among others however on the other hand there is a problem of corruption, restriction of accessing the resources, lack of cooperation among local people and game rangers.It concluded that community conservation at Mgahinga is therefore far from self-sustaining. It has achieved a remarkable job of finessing the controversial park boundaries, and buying time for the development of institutional mechanisms that can meet legitimate local economic needs and conservation goals.