Protected area staff and local community viewpoints: A qualitative assessment of conservation relationships in Zimbabwe.

ABSTRACT: With the increase in illegal resource harvesting in most protected areas (PAs), the need to understand the determinants and relationships between PAs and local communities to enhance wildlife conservation is increasingly becoming important. Using focus group discussions and interviews, we established the determinants of PA staff-community relationship from both PA staff and local communities' viewpoints, and assessedperceptions of their relationship with each other. The study was guided by the following main research question, 'What is the nature of the relationship between PA staff and local communities and what are the main factors influencing the relationship?' Data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews from four PAs and their adjacent communities in Zimbabwe bet

SUBMITTER: Mutanga CN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5438145 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature