Community perceptions of wildlife management strategies and subsistence poaching in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper assessed household perceptions of the effects of wildlife management strategies on subsistence poaching in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. A total of 226 households in the Okavango Delta villages of Ditshiping, Khwai, Tubu, and Habu were interviewed about their views regarding wildlife legislation, policies, strategies, and possible impacts on subsistence poaching. Informed by the Routine Activities Theory, this study revealed that households perceived Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) as an effective strategy to reduce subsistence poaching. However, following the 2014 government moratorium on wildlife hunting, CBNRM became ineffective in reducing poaching. The hunting ban was perceived by households to have resulted in loss of trophy hunting income, joblessness, lack of game meat, and increases in subsistence poaching. CBNRM and the hunting ban were conflicting strategies, the simultaneous implementation of which led to the alienation of local communities in wildlife management and the perceived upsurge in subsistence poaching.