Perceptions of risk in communities near parks in an African biodiversity hotspot.

ABSTRACT: Understanding conservation and livelihood threats in park landscapes is important to informing conservation policy. To identify threats, we examined perceived risks of residents living near three national parks in Uganda. We used cross-sectional household data to document, rank, and measure severity of perceived risks. Three risk categories, grouped into protected area, climate, and health, were cited by 80 % of respondents and received the highest severity scores. Elevation, proximity to the park, local forest loss, recent population change, and measures of poverty were the most important variables in predicting whether or not an individual identified these risks as the most or second most severe risk. Health issues were cited throughout the landscape, while problems attributed to climate

SUBMITTER: Hartter J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5012996 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature