Attitudes of Local Communities Towards Forest

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Attitudes of Local Communities Towards Forest Conservation in Botswana: A Case Study of Chobe Forest Reserve Article in International Forestry Review · June 2016 DOI: 10.1505/146554816818966309

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International Forestry Review Vol.18(2), 2016

Attitudes of local communities towards forest conservation in Botswana: a case study of Chobe Forest Reserve H. GAREKAE1, O.T. THAKADU1 and J. LEPETU2 1 2

Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana, Private Bag 285, Maun, Botswana Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Private Bag 0027, Gaborone, Botswana

Email: [email protected]

SUMMARY Understanding conservation attitudes of local communities is essential to the long-term sustainable management of natural resources such as forests. This paper, guided by the Social exchange theory, examined attitudes of local communities towards management of Chobe Forest Reserve (CFR) and explored factors influencing conservation attitudes in the study area. A survey instrument was administered to 183 households, randomly sampled across three communities adjacent to CFR. Additionally, in-depth interviews with selected key informants were conducted. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysing data. The study findings revealed that communities generally held positive attitudes towards forest conservation. Place of residence, age, length of residency and forest dependency were observed to be significantly influencing attitudes towards forest conservation. For sustainable forest management and conservation to be achieved, it is vital that community’s needs and aspirations, their attitudes and perceptions regarding conservation are considered and factored into strategies and management planning. Keywords: sustainable management, forests, attitudes, intergenerational influence, Chobe Forest Reserve

Attitudes des communautés locales envers la conservation forestière au Botswana: une étudecas de la réserve forestière de Chobe H. GAREKAE, O.T. THAKADU et J. LEPETU Il est essentiel de comprendre les attitudes des communautés locales envers la conservation pour aboutir à une gestion durable à long terme des ressources naturelles telles que les forêts. Cet article, guidé par la théorie de l’échange social, a examiné les attitudes des communautés locales face à la gestion de la réserve forestière de Chobe (CFR) et a exploré les facteurs influençant les attitudes de conservation dans la zone d’étude. Un instrument de sondage a été utilisé auprès de 183 foyers, sélectionnés au hasard dans trois communautés adjacentes à la CFR. De plus, des interviews d’informateurs clé sélectionnés prirent place. Des statistiques descriptives et déductives étaient utilisées pour analyser les données. Les résultats de l’étude révèlent que les communautés ont généralement des attitudes positives à l’encontre de la conservation forestière. Il fut observé que la location, l’âge, la durée de résidence et la dépendance à la forêt avaient des influences notoires sur les attitudes envers la conservation forestière. Pour permettre à la gestion et à la conservation forestière de s’établir, il est vital que les besoins et les aspirations des communautés, leurs attitudes et perceptions quant à la conservation soient considérés et pris en compte dans la planification des stratégies et de la gestion.

Las actitudes de las comunidades locales hacia la conservación del bosque en Botswana: un estudio de caso de la Reserva Forestal de Chobe H. GAREKAE, O.T. THAKADU y J. LEPETU Entender las actitudes hacia la conservación de las comunidades locales es esencial para la gestión sostenible a largo plazo de recursos naturales como los bosques. Este artículo, que está guiado por la teoría de intercambio social, examina las actitudes de las comunidades locales hacia la gestión de la Reserva Forestal de Chobe (RFC) y explora los factores que influyen en las actitudes hacia la conservación en el área de estudio. Se distribuyó una encuesta a 183 hogares elegidos al azar en tres comunidades adyacentes a la RFC. Además, se llevaron a cabo entrevistas en profundidad con una selección de informantes clave. Para el análisis de datos se utilizaron dos tipos de estadística: descriptiva e inferencial. Los resultados del estudio mostraron que estas comunidades presentan generalmente actitudes positivas hacia la conservación de los bosques. Se observó que las actitudes hacia la conservación de los bosques se ven influidas significativamente por el lugar de residencia, la edad, el tiempo de residencia y la dependencia del bosque. Para lograr un manejo forestal y una conservación sostenibles, es vital que las necesidades y aspiraciones de las comunidades, sus actitudes y sus percepciones en materia de conservación se consideren y se tengan en cuenta en las estrategias de gestión y su planificación.

Attitudes of local communities towards forest conservation in Botswana

INTRODUCTION Despite the long-standing tradition of exclusion of local people in management of protected areas, literature has demonstrated local communities as integral actors in management and conservation of protected areas. As a result, a new paradigm shift was embraced in management of protected areas based on community participation. According to Wells and Brandon (1993), there is a growing recognition that successful management of protected areas ultimately depends on the cooperation and support of local people. Likewise, Kothari et al. (1995) argued that protection strategy that alienates local communities from conservation is not only unjust and disrespectful to their fundamental right but it is also detrimental to conservation. Furthermore, literature on common pool resources demonstrated communities as important actors in the management of natural resources, such as forests (Agrawal 2003). Subsequently, participation of local communities is pivotal to the sustainable management and conservation of natural resources, including forests. In bid to raise local communities’ participation in forest conservation, many countries are now embracing the concept Community Forestry. Nepal serves as a success example in embracing Community Forestry (Adhikari 2015). The Nepalese have robust community involvement in forest management and conservation; this is evident from the various ‘forest user groups’ (FUGs) which have been formed by communities in order to manage and conserve forests. Despite the observed thriving impacts of community participation in forest management and conservation elsewhere, it is not yet embraced in Botswana. Forest sector in Botswana has been given little recognition from both the government and the local communities. The forest sector has been relatively unimportant and undeveloped, due to its size or capacity to generate significant economic returns (Mogaka et al. 2001). On a contrary note, local communities have actively participated in management and conservation of wildlife through community based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives (Thakadu 2005). However, CBNRM initiatives have not yet found support within the forestry sector. Inadequate participation of local communities in forest sector in Botswana denies their involvement in and potential contribution to forest management and conservation. There is therefore need to promote community participation in forest management and conservation for sustainability of Botswana forests (Forest Policy 2011). In a move towards doing so, it is necessary to explore factors contributing to the inadequate participation of communities in forest management and conservation. Whilst literature has shown that there are several factors that may contribute to this, attitudes are considered critical in predicting conservation behaviours. Understanding conservation attitudes of local communities is paramount to the longterm sustainable management of natural resources including forests (Takon et al. 2013, Triguero-Mas et al. 2010). Furthermore, studying communities’ attitudes and perceptions is a fundamental step towards formulation of holistic and inclusive conservation approaches (Badola et al. 2012). An attitude

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involves evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour (Eagly and Chaiken 2007). With reference to conservation, the entity depicted on the latter explanation of attitude can be equated to forest conservation. Empirical studies have explored links between community’s attitudes and forests conservation. However, the studies have revealed mixed results on communities’ attitudes and forest conservation. Some studies found that local communities had positive attitudes towards forest conservation (e.g. Ansong and Roskaft 2011, Badola et al. 2012, Chowdhury et al. 2014, Genc et al. 2012, Lepetu 2007, Macura et al. 2011) while others’ findings were contrary (e.g. Obua et al. 1998, Shibia 2010, Takon et al. 2013). The variance in conservation attitudes is brought about by the fact that communities and even households are not homogeneous in nature, hence conservation attitudes will vary within and among communities (see. Infield and Namara 2001, Shrestha and Alavalapati 2006). Literature has shown that attitudes are formed in part by communities’ and individuals’ preferences and experiences (Infield and Namara 2001). Adam and El Tayeb (2014: 108) also indicated that “social groups differ in their needs and perceptions with respect to a resource, and so do their attitudes towards resource systems”. Firey (1960) posited that perceptions towards a resource system are shaped and determined by three frame of references, being the ecological, economic and ethnological / cultural factors. As such, this calls for more site dedicated research to assess communities’ conservation attitudes towards various resource systems including forests. Literature has shown that conservation attitudes are shaped by various factors, most important of which include demographic and socioeconomic factors, benefits derived from conservation, resource use and access rights, prevalence of resource-use conflicts and distance from the reserved area (Mcfarlane and Boxall 2000, Shibia 2010, Shrestha and Alavalapati 2006). Despite numerous studies conducted to determine household’s attitudes on forest management and conservation (Ansong and Roskaft 2011, Badola et al. 2012, Bhavannarayana et al. 2012, Chowdhury et al. 2014, Infield 1988, Lepetu 2007, Mcfarlane and Boxall 2000, Obiri and Lawes 2002, Shibia 2010, Takon et al. 2013), there is still a need to understand the experiences in southern African region. This will help in shaping the ever changing forestry policies as they drive towards inclusion of locals in management and conservation of the resources. Though literature review has revealed that more studies were done elsewhere in respect to forests, which may serve as the basis of informing policy and practice in Botswana, the fact that attitudes are volatile in nature (Infield and Namara 2001), makes it difficult to generalise some study findings to different locations. Following on the proposition that attitudes are shaped by the ecological, economic and ethnological/cultural factors, it becomes important to undertake site specific studies to assess conservation attitudes. This also becomes necessary as empirical studies have shown mixed results on community attitudes towards forests and forest conservation. On the foregoing,

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this article examined attitudes of local communities towards management and conservation of Chobe Forest Reserve and explored key factors which influenced communities to develop certain attitudes towards conservation of CFR. Theoretical framework The study was guided by the Social Exchange Theory (SET), which was developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s (Chibucos et al. 2005). SET has been widely used in the field of natural resource management, more especially in understanding communities’ conservation attitudes (e.g., Bagherian et al. 2009, Coulson et al. 2014, Kipkeu et al. 2014). SET explains the actions and/or behaviours of individuals in social relationships. In the context of this study, social relationship entails management and conservation of forest resources. The main propositions of SET are that “…human in social situations choose behaviours that maximise their likelihood of meeting self-interests in those situations” (Chibucos et al. 2005: 137). Secondly, “individuals evaluate their exchange relative to the personal benefits and costs associated with the exchange” (Andereck and Vogt 2009: 29). This implies that individual’s action and/or behaviour in social relationships are based on the perceived outcome of their action or behaviour. In most cases, individuals participate in relationships or situations that bear positive rewards or are profitable and they always strike to avoid costs or negative rewards. Napier and Napier (1991) posit that activities that generate net benefits will tend to be perceived positively, while those activities that generate net losses will tend to be perceived negatively. Luo (2002) argued that exchange partners look beyond short-term inequities or risks and concentrate on long-term mutual gains. For example, people’s participation in forest conservation in Nepal has been robust because forests management have been devolved to the local community and as such the benefits and gains accrued goes to the participants over a long term and this incline them to opt for conservation. Contrary, SET has received criticism for “…treating social life as exchange and for the reduction of social interaction to economic transaction…” (Zafirovski 2005: 15). Furthermore, the theory has been critiqued for not taking into consideration the issue of culture in its analysis of social exchanges or interaction (Zafirovski 2005). In the context of the current study, SET will help in qualifying the underlying factors which influence attitudes of households towards forest management and conservation. SET shed light on understanding why households hold positive attitudes towards forest management and conservation if the expected outcomes are positive and rewarding and vice versa. People’s perception of protected areas is influenced by the perceived costs and benefits from protected areas (Chowdhury et al. 2014, Ratsimbazafy et al. 2012). It is envisaged that local people will hold positive attitudes towards forest management and conservation if the derived benefits from forest outweigh the costs incurred (Badola et al. 2012, Infield and Namara 2001, Takon et al. 2013).

METHODS The study area The study was conducted in Chobe enclave communities bordering Chobe Forest Reserve. Chobe enclave is situated on a land sandwiched by protected areas (Lepetu et al. 2008) and the resource use is restricted (Cassidy and Madzwamuse 1999). The enclave is flanked by Chobe National Park and Chobe Forest Reserve on the west and eastern side respectively, while Chobe river is on the northern boundary of the enclave (Cassidy and Madzwamuse 1999, Lepetu et al. 2008). Chobe river marks the border between Chobe region and Namibia. Chobe enclave is the second pristine area for wildlife and tourism activities after Okavango delta (Jones 2002, Lepetu et al. 2008). Chobe region receives the highest amount of rainfall in the country, averaging 650mm per annum (Jones 2002). In Botswana, more than 60% of the total land comprises of forests and woodlands and merely 0.8% of this land is gazetted forest reserves (Lepetu 2007). Botswana is endowed with six forest reserves and all are located in the Northern part of the country; Chobe Forest Reserve, Kasane Extension Forest Reserve, Kasane Forest Reserve, Maikaelelo Forest Reserve, Kazuma Forest Reserve and Subiya Forest Reserve. Among the six gazetted forest reserves, CFR is the largest forest reserve in Chobe district (see Table 1). CFR is situated adjacent to the Chobe enclave communities. The reserve serves as a source of livelihood for adjacent communities of Mabele, Kavimba, Kachikaku, Satau and Parakarungu. Chobe enclave communities derive products such as firewood, poles, handicrafts materials, medicinal plants, fodder for livestock, wild fruits and thatching grass from CFR. These communities collect forest products either for subsistence or commercial purposes. Firewood and thatching grass are collected for both subsistence and commercial purposes, and of late, Chobe enclave residents are in the process of forming thatching grass association, aimed at regulating prices for selling thatching grass. The study focus was on three villages: namely Kachikau, Mabele and Kavimba which forms part of Chobe enclave (Figure 1). The ethnic groups found in Chobe enclave were BaSubiya, BaTawana, BaNabjwa, Basarwa and Hambukushu (Kerapeletswe 2005, Lepetu et al. 2008). The three main

TABLE 1 Sizes of forest reserves in Chobe Name Chobe Forest Reserve

Size (Km2) 1 485

Kasane Forest Reserve

109.9

Kasane ext. Forest Reserve

641.1

Kazuma Forest Reserve

156

Maikaelelo Forest Reserve

543

Sibuyu Forest Reserve SOURCE: (Norwegian Forestry Society, 1993)

1161


economic activities in these villages were crop production, livestock production and wage employment. The main economic activities were supplemented by small-scale businesses such as beer making and natural resource selling’s (baskets, thatching grass, fishing) (Jones 2002, Kerapeletswe 2005). Crop production was favoured by the climatic and soil conditions prevalent in Chobe region (Gupta 2013). The residents practice both rain-fed and flood recession farming activities. However, in some instances both arable and pastoral activities were endangered due to the dense wild animals in the area which often raid on crops and also predate on livestock (Gupta 2013). The study villages and the rest of Chobe enclave villages were participating in CBNRM. The five villages have formed a trust called Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust (CECT) which is mainly responsible for implementing the CBNRM programmes in the area (Lepetu et al. 2008). CECT has helped with infrastructure developments in the respective villages such as tourist campsite, hardware shop, retail shops, grinding mill and vehicles to be used in administration work (Lepetu et al. 2008). However, the CBNRM project is mainly based on wild animals and forests have been neglected despite their significance in rural livelihoods. Data collection The study largely draws from primary and other secondary data sources. Secondary data sources comprised of both published and unpublished documents. Moreover, mainly scholarly articles and government reports and documents were consulted. Multi-stage sampling was used to select the

FIGURE 1 Map of Chobe district depicting study areas

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study participants. Firstly, three communities surrounding the forest reserve were purposively sampled. The communities were chosen based on their proximity to Chobe Forest Reserve which is the focal point of the study. Secondly, 35% of total households from each of the three communities were selected randomly. Thus, a total of 183 households were considered to form part of the study. Household heads were targeted for interviews. In circumstances where the household head was absent, any member who was 18 years and above was considered in lieu of the household head. The participants were selected from the communities of Mabele, Kavimba and Kachikau. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the sampled respondents at their homes, during their convenient times. A standardised semi-structured questionnaire was used to solicit data from the respondents. The questionnaires were administered to the respondents by the researcher. Prior to commencement of the interview, each respondent was fully briefed on the purpose and objectives of the study. Furthermore, those respondents who volunteered to take part in the study were asked to sign informed consent forms. The questionnaire was structured into three sections with information on demographic and socio-economic profile, forest resource utilisation and household’s attitudes towards forest management and conservation. The socio-demographic variables included gender, age, education level, employment, lengthy of residency, household size and forest dependency. Attitudes were assessed by items denoting protection, sustainability, management and conservation of forests. The items mainly assessed the respondent’s evaluative responses and the degree of favour or disfavour on forest conservation.

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A five-point semantic differential scale was used to measure the respondent’s ratings on the aforesaid items. During instrument design, the bipolar responses were randomised to counteract response bias (Ary et al. 2010). The items were adopted from Mcfarlane and Boxall (2000) and modified to suit the context of the current study. Prior to commencing the actual data collection, a team of experts from the University reviewed the instrument for content validity. Moreover, a pilot study was conducted in one of the ungazzeted settlement adjacent to the forest reserve to pre-test the instrument. The instrument was then revised accordingly. The attitude scale developed was subjected to reliability test. The Cronbach alpha coefficient was .89, suggesting very good internal consistency of the scale items. The coefficient is within the range of the one reported by Mcfarlane and Boxall (2000), (ź = .83) though slightly higher. Therefore, the scale reveals a true reflection of respondent’s attitudes towards forest conservation. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with selected key informants. A total of six key informants were purposively sampled for interviews. The informants were selected based on their position, expertise and knowledge on issues of natural resource utilisation, management and conservation (Marshall 1996). The informants comprised of three local chiefs (being traditional or tribal authorities), one from each village, one community trust member and two officials from the Department of Forestry and Range Resources (DFRR). All the key informants were responsible for the management and conservation of natural resources in Chobe district. Furthermore, the community trust member worked on daily basis with communities on natural resource management within their area while officials from the DFRR were responsible for sustainable management of forest resources in Botswana. The interviews were conducted with individual informants at their respective offices using an interview guide. The interview guide captured the following themes: forest resource utilisation, community attitudes towards forest management and conservation as well as factors influencing community attitudes. The interviews lasted between 30 and 60 minutes. All the interviews were audio-recorded subject to interviewee’s permission coupled with additional note taking during and immediately after the session. Data analysis Data were compiled and managed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysing data. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine differences in conservation attitudes across the study villages and respondents age groups respectively. Respondents were categorised into three groups based on age, being youth (18–39 years); middle (40–57 years) and elderly (58 years and above) to facilitate in-depth analysis. Secondly, independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare conservation attitude scores between males and females. Pearson product moment correlation was used to establish the relationship between conservation attitudes and selected socio-economic

characteristics such as age, household size, length of residency, education, employment and forest income. Lastly, logistic regression was employed to test for independent variables predictive ability on the dependent variable. Thus, conservation attitude was regressed against age, household size, length of residency, gender, education, employment and forest dependency. Normality tests were conducted on different variables, and the dependent variable: attitude index was observed to be violating the assumption. Since the outcome variable (attitude index) was negatively skewed, it was transformed (reflect and square root) to improve normality. The resultant shape of the transformed variable was almost close to normal. Since the outcome variable was reflected during transformation, interpretation of the coefficient direction was reversed (Tabachnick and Fidell 2014). Subsequently, assumptions associated with ANOVA, independent-samples t-test and Pearson correlations were assessed and no serious violations were observed. And for logistic regression, preliminary analyses were conducted to test for multicollinearity and no violations were observed. The maximum Mahalanobis distance was Ɛ2 = 19.08, p < .001 and this is less than the set critical value of Ɛ2 = 24.32, p < .001. All the explanatory variables were above the conventional cut-off point for Tolerance and Variance Inflation Factor (VIF): none of the variables had tolerance less than .10 and greater than 10 for VIF.

RESULTS Respondent’s profile The objectives of the study were to examine attitudes of local communities towards management and conservation of Chobe Forest Reserve and to explore key factors which influenced communities to develop certain attitudes towards conservation. A total of 183 respondents from the three villages were interviewed. Majority of the respondents were females (61.2%, n = 112). The mean age of respondents was 49.33 years (SD = 17.28), ranging from 18 to 94 years. The predominate education level of the respondents was primary (44.8%, n = 82) while tertiary constituted the least (5.5%, n = 10). However, 13.1% (n = 24) of the respondents indicated that they have not attained any form of education. Unemployment was rife in the study area as close to 54% (n = 99) of the respondents were unemployed while only 12.6% (n = 23) were employed on a full-time basis. Furthermore, fewer respondents were self-employed while others employed on part-times basis. Household average monthly income varied between two extremes: very low average income for majority of households and very high average income for few households. Based on the foregoing, 42.8% (n = 77) of the respondents reported an average monthly income of less than BWP500.00 while 3.9% (n = 7) indicated an average monthly income amounting to BWP3 000.00 or more. The mean household size was 4.85 (SD = 2.64). Lastly, the mean length of residency in the area of settlement was


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TABLE 2 Respondent’s socio-demographic profile Variable Gender

Items

N

M (SD)

Male Female

Age (years)

182

%

n

38.8 61.2

71 112

49.33 (17.28)

Ethnicity

Basubiya Bayei Batawana Hambukushu Basarwa Banabjwa Others

53 13.7 10.9 6.6 7.1 .5 8.2

97 25 20 12 13 1 15

Education level

None Primary Secondary Tertiary

13.1 44.8 36.1 5.5

24 82 66 10

Employment status

Full-time employed Part-time employed Self-employed Unemployed Others

12.6 6.6 14.2 54.1 12.6

23 12 26 99 23

Average monthly income

< 500 > 500 < 1000 > 1000 < 1500 > 1500 < 2000 > 2000 < 2500 > 2500 < 3000 > 3000

42.8 32.2 7.8 3.9 6.1 3.3 3.9

77 58 14 7 11 6 7

Household size

183

4.85 (2.64)

Length of residency (years)

175

40.26 (20.73)

40.26 (SD = 20.73), this indicates that most of the respondents lived in their area of settlement since birth. The respondent’s profile is summarised in Table 2. Attitudes towards forest conservation Respondents were presented with statements which they were asked to agree or disagree and indicate the level of their agreeableness or disagreeableness, ranging from very negative (coded 1) to very positive (coded 5) (Table 3). During preliminary data analysis, the statements responses were summed and averaged to develop an index of attitude towards conservation. Higher index demonstrated more favourable attitude towards conservation. The mean attitude index was 4.12 (SD = .76), ranging from 1.68 to 5.00. This attests that on average, households held strong positive attitudes towards CFR conservation. With regard to the itemised statements, 65.9% (n = 120) of the respondents concurred that ‘conservation of forests is…’ very positive while a negligible 4.4% (n = 8) disagreed. Similarly, 52.2% (n = 93) expressed that ‘setting aside a place for plants and animals to live is…’ very positive whereas 6.7% (n = 12) considered it to be very negative. About 63.7% (n = 116) of the respondents were strongly

positive on the statement ‘conserving forests so that future generations may know and make use of them is…’ while only a few (2.7%, n = 5) were strongly negative. Furthermore, majority of the respondents (65.6%, n = 118) were totally against the issue of ‘burning the forest’ while only a few (4.4%, n = 8) were on the affirmative side. Lastly, 44.4% (n = 80) of the respondents were strongly negative on the statement ‘allocating CFR land to the landless people is…’ while a considerable number (17.8%, n = 32) were strongly positive. Generally, the respondent’s attitudes on conservation were mainly skewed towards the affective component of attitudes as compared to the experiential one. Table 3 provides a summary of pattern of respondent’s attitudes towards forest conservation. Furthermore, the study findings revealed no significant association between gender and conservation attitudes while household’s place of residence (F (2, 173) = 17.98, p = .00) and age of respondent (F (2, 172) = 13.15, p = .000) were found to be significant. With regard to the place of residence, the post-hoc comparisons using Hochberg GT2 test revealed that the mean scores for Kachikau (M = .16, SD = .09) were significantly different from Mabele (M = .25, SD = .08) and Kavimba (M = .22, SD = .09). Mabele and Kavimba did not

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TABLE 3 Respondents’ attitudes towards forest conservation Very negative

Items Conservation of forests is …

8 (4.4) *

Negative

Neutral

Positive

Very positive

M (SD)

7 (3.8)

8 (4.4)

39 (21.4)

120 (65.9)

4.36 (1.06)

Setting aside a place for plants and animals to live is …

12 (6.7)

13 (7.3)

24 (13.5)

36 (20.2)

93 (52.2)

3.99 (1.25)

Conserving forests so that future generations may know and make use of them is …

5 (2.7)

2 (1.1)

7 (3.8)

52 (28.6)

116 (63.7)

4.43 (.83)

118 (65.6)

26 (14.4)

12 (6.7)

16 (8.9)

8 (4.4)

4.27 (1.18)

80 (44.4)

23 (12.8)

24 (13.3)

21 (11.7)

32 (17.8)

3.50 (1.57)

Burning the forest is … Allocating CFR land to the landless people is … * Percentages

study hypothesised that socio-economic and demographic characteristics will contribute towards predicting conservation attitudes. Logistic regression analysis was employed to test for independent variables predictive ability on the dependent variable. The model goodness of fit was significant, Ɛ2 (10, n = 141) = 28.81, p = .001, indicating that the model was able to classify the respondents in terms of possessing either negative or positive attitudes towards conservation. The full model was able to explain between 18.5% (Cox and Snell R square) and 24.7 (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance on conservation attitudes and correctly classified 63.1% of the cases. Among the predictor variables: age, length of residency and forest dependency significantly explained the attitude towards forest conservation (Table 5). Since the outcome variable scores were reflected and squared, interpretation of the coefficient direction was reversed (Tabachnick and Fidell 2014).Among the significant predictors, age emerged the strongest predictor of holding favourable conservation attitudes, followed by length of residency. Since the coefficient of age was negative, the likelihood of holding favourable attitudes towards conservation was decreasing with age. This finding suggests that an increase on respondent’s age decreases the likelihood of holding favourable attitudes towards conservation. The coefficients of length of residency and forest dependency

differ significantly from each other. The findings suggest that households at Kachikau held strong positive conservation attitudes towards CFR as compared to the other two villages. Likewise, the age differed significantly with conservation attitudes. Post-hoc comparisons using Turkey HSD test indicated that the mean scores for each age group were significantly different from each other: youth group (M = .16, SD = .09), middle age group (M = .20, SD = .09) and old age group (M = .24, SD = .09). The youth recorded a slightly higher mean score compared to the rest of the groups. Evaluation of the means plot showed a decreasing trend on conservation attitudes with age. Effect of socio-economic characteristics on conservation attitudes Conservation attitude is a function of various factors, key among them includes demographic and socio-economic factors. Pearson product moment correlation was used to establish the relationship between conservation attitudes and household characteristics such as age, household size, length of residency, education, employment and forest income. Pearson correlation showed both negative and positive relationship among the different variables with r ranging from –.23 to .41 (See Table 4.). It is against this backdrop that the

TABLE 4 Summary of intercorrelations, means and standard deviations Variables

1. Attitude 2. Age

Correlations

M

SD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

–

.41**

.19*

–.23**

–.22**

–.23**

–.23**

.20

.10

–

.59**

–.25**

–.08

–.54**

–.31**

49.33

17.28

–

–.23**

–.04

–.36**

–.23**

40.26

20.73

–

.07

.15*

.06

4.85

2.64

–

.11

.02

57.90

22.57

–.25**

1.33

.78

–

.65

.78

3. Length of res… 4. Household size 5. Forest income 6. Education 7. Employment * Significant at p = .05, ** Significant at p = .01

–


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TABLE 5 Table 4-3. Logistic regression predicting likelihood of having favourable conservation attitudes Predictor Age

B

S.E

Wald

Exp(B)

95.0% C.I. for EXP(B) Lower

Upper

1.03

1.12

.07

.02

10.51

1.08*

Length of residency

–.03

.02

4.56

.97*

.940

Household size

–.04

.07

.29

.96

.84

1.11

.37

.41

.80

1.45

.64

3.26

Forest dependency

–.85

.40

4.49

.43*

.19

.94

EduCollapsed (1)

–.11

.64

.03

.89

.26

3.13

EduCollapsed (2)

.04

.75

.00

1.04

.24

4.53

EduCollapsed (3)

.39

1.10

.13

1.48

.17

12.74

EmployCollapsed (1)

–.19

.47

.17

.83

.33

2.07

EmployCollapsed (2)

–.68

.51

1.82

.51

.19

1.36

–1.42

1.39

1.05

.24

Gender

Constant

.997

* Significant at p = .05

were positive. This suggests that the likelihood of holding favourable conservation attitudes was increasing with an increase on length of residency and the level of forest dependency.

DISCUSSION The study results have provided notable insights on household’s attitudes towards forest conservation. The findings revealed that majority of households held positive attitudes towards CFR and its conservation. Key informant interviews revealed that the positive attitudes were promoted by benefits communities derive from the forest reserve. The positive attitudes were mainly attributed to the perceived benefits endowed in CFR and other factors such as respondent’s age, place of residency and length of residency in the area of settlement. The informants concurred that Chobe enclave communities generally have positive attitudes towards forest conservation. The findings are consistent with studies from elsewhere (Ansong and Roskaft 2011, Badola et al. 2012, Mahanta and Das 2013, Ratsimbazafy et al. 2012). The studies found out that communities generally held positive attitudes towards protection and conservation of forests. Household’s positive attitudes on conservation were mainly skewed towards the affective component of attitudes as compared to the experiential one. More than half of the respondents concurred on conserving forests while a negligible number disagreed. The latter suggests that respondents in the study area are somehow aware on the need for conserving forests and biodiversity. Despite shortage of land been a contentious issue in Chobe enclave, on average, respondents expressed a positive attitude towards setting aside a place for plants and animals to live whereas few disagreed. This implies that the respondents valued much the establishment of the forest reserve in their

area despite their demand for more land for expansion. Chobe enclave is sandwiched by protected areas and the available land is not enough for the development needs of the locals, however, this didn’t impel locals to opt for abolishment of the forest reserve at the expenses of their land demands. Similarly, a considerable number of respondents disagreed with the statement that allocating CFR land to the landless people is important. This depicts the strong values and attitudes held by communities towards the existence of the reserve. Furthermore, more than half of the respondents concurred on conserving forests so that future generations may know and make use of them. This promising attitude will prompt communities to practice sustainable harvesting of resources in order not to compromise on the need for future generations to make use of the same resources. Interestingly, majority of the respondents opined against their primitive practices on the use of fire as a management tool. The respondents totally disagreed with the statement on burning the forest. They perceived it as a disastrous act on the survival of forests. Contrarily, fewer respondents reasoned that timely burning for regrowth is necessary, especially for thatching grass. The findings further showed gender had no influence on conservation attitudes. Therefore, both males and females held similar attitudes towards conservation in the current study. The finding is consistent with those reported by Genç et al. (2012), Mahanta and Das (2013), and Shibia (2010). However, in other regions where there is resource use restriction put in place; women were observed to be more likely to harbour negative attitudes towards conservation. The reason advanced was that women were mostly affected by the effects of the imposed resource use restrictions (Badola et al. 2012). Conservation attitudes were observed to be negatively associated with age. Thus, young people were more likely to hold favourable attitudes on forests as compared to the elderly. The possible explanation is that the literacy level for majority of

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the youth was generally higher than their elderly counterparts. Majority of the youth have completed secondary and tertiary education respectively whereas few elderly respondents have attained primary education as their only highest education level while some have not gone through formal education at all. Therefore, the youth are better enlightened on the importance of forests to the ecosystem and the need for their conservation. This finding implies that the youth are better placed to be used as drivers of sustainable forest management. The study finding resembles the observation made by Shibia (2010) on the association between age and conservation attitudes. In their study which was conducted in Kenya, the younger respondents held more favourable attitudes towards conservation as compared to their elderly counterparts. Furthermore, the negative attitudes held by the elderly were influenced by the associated costs of living in proximity to the protected area. As such, older respondents have been disadvantaged for long time by wildlife damages and also resource use conflicts arising from the establishment of the reserve (Shibia 2010). Beside respondent’s age, conservation attitude mean scores varied with household’s area of settlement. Households who were residing in Kachikau were observed to be holding strong positive attitudes towards conservation of CFR compared to the ones at Mabele and Kavimba. The reason for the variation on attitudes with regard to area of settlement may be linked to the latter explanation on the association between education and conservation attitudes. The population of Kachikau comprised of a slightly higher literacy level than the other two villages. Moreover, the positive attitude held by residents of Kachikau may be synthesised from their proactive-conservationist actions. The residents initiated a project which was aimed at rehabilitating the area which was inhabited by their ancestors named ‘Old Kachikau’. They were doing so by planting both indigenous and exotic tree species in the said area and ensuring their growth. Furthermore, some households were observed to be engaged on domestication of some of the local species, especially the ones found in CFR such as Rhodesian teak (Baikiaea plurijuga). This notable act may be used to sensitise the entire community on the importance of their forests and the need for their conservation. Socio-economic characteristics and conservation attitudes As evidenced from the literature, attitudes towards conservation are influenced by various factors and key among them includes socio-economic and demographic factors. From the results of logistic regression model, only three explanatory variables: age, length of residency and forest dependency made a unique statistical significant contribution towards predicting conservation attitudes. Among the significant variables, the strongest predictor of holding favourable conservation attitudes was age. The coefficient of age was negative, suggesting an inverse relationship with conservation attitudes. This finding is corroborated by the results of Pearson correlation and ANOVA tests. Pearson correlation revealed a moderate negative association between respondent age and

conservation attitudes. Post-hoc comparisons using Turkey HSD revealed that attitudes mean scores for the youth were significantly different from both the middle and the elderly groups. Therefore, the finding suggests that the likelihood of holding favourable conservation attitudes decreased with age. The finding of the youth bearing positive attitudes on conservation is very encouraging. The youth may be very instrumental on intergenerational influence on sustainable forest management. Intergenerational influence could be a powerful means for shaping and influencing adults’ environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviour (Ballantyne et al. 1998). Disaggregating respondent’s age with regard to education level and employment status provided an interesting insight in explaining the inverse relationship between conservation attitudes and age. Generally, the youth have attained higher education level as compared to their elderly counterparts in the study area. Obua et al. 1998 argued that education tends to increase ones awareness of the importance of the environment and natural resources. Furthermore, the youth have better employment opportunities which tend to lessen their dependency on forest resources. This finding conforms to those of another study locally (Lepetu 2007). The study concurred that the likelihood of holding favourable attitudes towards conservation decreases with age, suggesting that the elderly people were less likely to conserve as compared to the youth. Lepetu (2007) reasoned that unemployment coupled with less education among the elderly contributed to their disfavour on conservation. Studies conducted elsewhere offered mixed results on the influence of age on conservation attitudes. Shibia’s (2010) findings are consistent with the current study. In their study, respondent age was associated with length of experience of the costs and benefits of the reserve. Therefore, elderly respondents happened to be adversely affected by wildlife damages and resource use conflicts prevailing in their area. This promoted elderly respondents to hold negative attitudes towards conservation. Studies conducted by Ansong and Roskaft (2011), Masozera (2002) and Ratsimbazafy et al. (2012) offered a contrary view on the latter. Their studies suggested that older people were more likely to hold favourable attitude towards conservation. In Masozera’s study, the youth were beset with limited economic activities which were exacerbated by resource use restriction in the forest reserve. Length of residency in the area of settlement was the second major predictor of respondent’s conservation attitude. Long-term residents were more positive on forest conservation than their counterparts. Majority of the respondents have lived in their area of settlement for many years. Therefore, the forest reserve constantly served as their source of livelihood and this inclines them to favour conservation of the resources. The noteworthy finding from this study is that forest dependency significantly influenced conservation attitudes. The coefficient of forest dependency was positive, implying that an increase on the level of forest dependency leads to an increase on the likelihood of holding favourable attitudes towards conservation. Those who were highly dependent on the reserve were more positive on forest conservation than those who were less dependent.


The main economic activity in Chobe enclave is agriculture. Majority of the residents were engaged in both crop and livestock production. Hence, they relied on CFR for extracting farm inputs such as poles for fencing fields and constructing livestock enclosures. Conversely, Chobe region is prone to persistent human-wildlife conflicts. The abundant wildlife in the area has negatively impacted on some of the household’s livelihood activities more especially farming. This drives the locals to be dependent on forest products for their sustenance more especially edible wild fruits to cushion the devastating effects of low yields. Therefore, households will be more appreciative on forest conservation as it is paramount to their overall wellbeing. This result is consistent with the proposition of social exchange theory. The theory posits that activities that generate net benefits will tend to be perceived positively and the reverse is for those generating less benefit (Napier and Napier 1991). The latter finding contradicts with results of other studies (e.g., Ansong and Roskaft 2011, Sah and Heinen 2001, Shrestha and Alavalapati 2006). The studies concluded that households dependent on the forest and other resources for their livelihood were more negative towards conservation. Household’s valued less the benefits derived from forests and other resources, hence favouring resource exploitation at the expenses of conservation. The predictor’s household size, gender, education and employment were not significant but showed both positive and negative relationship with conservation attitudes. The positive coefficient of household size suggested that an increase on household size, results in an increase on the likelihood of holding favourable attitudes towards conservation. The coefficient of gender was positive, demonstrating that males were more positive towards conservation. The positive coefficient of employment suggested that employed respondents were more likely to hold positive attitudes towards conservation. Lastly, education was negatively associated with conservation attitudes, implying that educated respondents were more likely to hold negative attitudes towards conservation. This finding is counter-intuitive; however this could be attributed to the unequal variation in education among the respondents. The observation suggesting that education negatively influenced conservation attitudes is contrary to other studies elsewhere (Badola et al. 2012, Mahanta and Das 2013, Obua et al. 1998, Ratsimbazafy et al. 2012). These studies reported that educated respondents were more likely to hold positive attitudes towards conservation. Educated people are well informed on pertinent forest issues and the importance of conservation. Furthermore, the key informants opined that the positive attitude held by communities is promoted by their desire for devolution of CFR to the community. Communities are of the view that CFR should be transferred from ‘state forest’ to become community forest. With this devolution of rights and powers, Chobe enclave communities will be responsible for the management of CFR. Devolution will promote a sense of ownership of the reserve and strive towards protecting and preserving it for their benefit. The Chobe enclave residents were actively engaged in management and conservation of wildlife in their area through their community trust. This was

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a community initiative, demonstrating communities’ commitment to wildlife conservation. The locals were managing wildlife in trust of government. Community escorts were assisting with patrol services and they played a critical role in the implementation of management oriented monitoring system (MOMS) for wildlife. In their endeavour with MOMS, they recorded among other things threatened, poached and sighted species as well as illegal activities within the park. Therefore, communities experience on wildlife management coupled with indigenous knowledge on natural resource management offers them the capacity to management the forests sustainably if devolution comes their way. Lastly, positive attitudes may have been enhanced by the hunting ban enacted in 2014. The ban prompted communities to seek additional areas to undertake tourism activities in order to compensate for revenues loss from hunting ban. And the possible area to diversify the tourism activities is Chobe Forest Reserve. Therefore, communities may be eying the CFR for possible diversification of their trust activities which were mainly focussed on wildlife.

CONCLUSION This study provided an understanding on attitudes of local communities towards management and conservation of Chobe Forest Reserve. The findings revealed that communities’ attitudes towards CFR were generally positive. The positive attitude held by residents of the Chobe enclave is a very encouraging finding. Conservation attitudes were mainly influenced by the perceived benefits derived from the reserve and other socio-demographic factors. Respondents’ place of residency, i.e., village, significantly influenced conservation attitudes. Residents in Kachikau harboured the strongest positive attitudes towards conservation compared to Mabele and Kavimba. Kachikau residents proactively initiated conservation approaches in order to curb biodiversity loss in their area. Respondents’ age, length of residency and forest dependency significantly predicted conservation attitudes. The findings suggested that the youth were more likely to hold positive attitude towards conservation. This observation is associated with the relatively high literacy level among the youth as compared to the other groups. Secondly, the likelihood of holding favourable attitude towards conservation increased with length of residency, with residents who have resided in the area longer harbouring more positive attitudes towards forest conservation than those who have stayed shorter in the study area. This could be linked to the continued benefits derived from the reserve by long-term residents. Lastly, forest dependency positively influenced conservation attitude. Households who were highly dependent on the reserve were more likely to hold positive attitudes compared to those who were less dependent. Therefore, the benefits derived from the reserve served as an incentive for enhancing favourable attitude towards conservation. Factors such as household size, gender, education and employment did not make a significant contribution in predicting conservation attitudes. In order to foster more positive attitudes, it is important to raise conservation awareness

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among communities so that the value and the importance of forest conservation could be appreciated. Furthermore, young people should be used as change agent on sustainable forest management. This could be achieved by empowering them with skills and the capacity to engage the elderly in activities that will assist them (elderly) to better understand and appreciate the importance of forests and the need for their conservation. Lastly, the desire for devolution of the forest reserve to the community could be something which can be tapped into by the management in order to foster communities’ participation in conservation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper is part of an ongoing study at Chobe enclave, Botswana. The major study attempts to understand forest resources, utilization and household’s attitudes towards conservation. The broader study was financed by Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) hosted at Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The earlier version of the paper was presented at Botswana Symposium on Wetlands and Wildlife, 17th–20th March, 2015; Maun lodge, Botswana. The valuable suggestions made by three anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged. The authors are grateful to the valuable information provided by the Chobe enclave locals and key informants. The warm welcome from the Department of Forestry and Range Resources officials in Kasane is duly acknowledged. Special appreciation to Mr. Thapelo Mothobi for his kind assistance during fieldwork and Ms. Florence ‘Sadi’ Molapisi for proof reading the revised manuscript and editorial services.

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