Abstract
Gaining insights into local people’s views, values and preferences for different conservation management options are increasingly gaining importance among conservationists and decision-makers. This can be achieved through the assessment and understanding of conservation attitudes and perceptions of rural communities including demographic characteristics predicting the attitudes to design and implement conservation policies in a more socially acceptable manner. In this study, we developed and validated user-friendly indices to measure attitudes towards the African elephant, a flagship species and its conservation in Trans Mara District. An iterative item reliability analysis was executed on household data from a random sample of 367 respondents using Cronbach’s Alpha in SPSS. Results yielded two indices; (i) Elephant Attitude Index (EAI); and (ii) Maasai Mara National Reserve Attitude Index (MAI). The EAI had a Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of 0.73 while the MAI had a Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of 0.77. Data analysis revealed that (i) location of residence; (ii) age of respondent; (iii) number of income sources; (iv) gender of the respondent; and (v) benefit reception were the main determinants of EAI and MAI in TM. Our attitude indices can assist conservation practitioners and decision-makers to prioritise resources, on the assumption that high-scoring individuals are more likely to participate in conservation initiatives. We encourage making available different sources of income for residents and working towards improving the involvement of younger people and women in conservation activities in TM.
Funder
Churchill/Sidney Sussex Southern African Cambridge Scholarship
WildiZe Foundation
Wildlife Conservation Society
Wildlife Conservation Network
Churchill College
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Reference82 articles.
1. Local attitudes and perceptions toward crop-raiding by orangutans (Pongo abelii) and other nonhuman primates in northern Sumatra, Indonesia;G Campbell-Smith;Am J Primatol,2010
2. Insights for integrated conservation from attitudes of people toward protected areas near Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe;C Guerbois;Conserv Biol,2013
3. Conservation outside of parks: attitudes of local people in Laikipia, Kenya;ME Gadd;Environ Conserv,2005
4. Community, lions, livestock and money: A spatial and social analysis of attitudes to wildlife and the conservation value of tourism in a human–carnivore conflict in Botswana;G Hemson;Biol Conserv,2009
5. Hazzah L. Living among lions (Panthera leo): coexistence or killing? community attitudes towards conservation initiatives and the motivations behind lion killing in Kenyan Maasailand. MSc. Thesis. University of Wisconsin, 2006.
Cited by
8 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献