Assessing the drivers of illegal resource use to improve wildlife conservation interventions

Abstract

Strategies to reduce illegal resource collection vary depending on the assumptions made about the underlying drivers of resource use. Interventions to reduce illegal resource use commonly include law enforcement, integrated conservation and development projects, and environmental education. Despite using a mixture of strategies, illegal activities continue to threaten the endangered mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Volcanoes National Park (VNP), Rwanda. For conservation interventions to work effectively, it is important to understand the drivers of and motivations behind illegal resource use. To assess the drivers of, motivations behind, and deterrents to illegal resource use, we combined interviews of suspected illegal resource users with a larger household survey, indirect questioning (unmatched count technique), and focus groups. Overall, illegal resource use was most common among large households with lower well-being scores. Illegal resource users were more likely to report a problem from living near VNP and tended to be from households whose primary form of income was part-time labor. Although poverty was associated with illegal resource use overall, we found that several illegal resource users came from locally wealthy households and were motivated primarily by profit. Demand for forest products, like wild meat, highlights the structural factors likely behind illegal resource use and warrants further investigation. Because the drivers of illegal resource use varied between households, we find that neither law enforcement nor livelihood projects alone will decrease illegal resource use. Instead, effective conservation interventions require a multipronged approach to address the complex motivations of illegal resource use.