Abstract
Wildlife crop depredation represents a serious human-wildlife conflict around protected areas globally. It undermines farming livelihoods and local support for long-term conservation. Though studies have focused on different aspects such as the economics, spatiotemporal and vulnerability of farms to crop depredation, little attention has been given to the farmers’ evaluation of the effectiveness of the strategies used to manage crop depredation. This paper aimed to examine the strategies used to manage wildlife by smallholding farmers who are among those closest to national parks, and how they evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies around Bui National Park in Ghana. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, involving 17 farmers from Makala community living close to the park. The results indicated that farmers apply a single strategy and/or a multiple strategies, to manage crop depredation. The single strategy is generally ineffective in the long-term, but short-term and temporary successes were observed. However, farmers sought effective results by using strategies in different combinations depending on the major crop cultivated, the wildlife diversity involved, and the frequent experience of farm damage. Understanding the effectiveness of the strategies provides knowledge about how the strategies could be made effective against crop depredation to protect farms and facilitate local support for wildlife conservation. Key words: Crop depredation, wildlife species, effectiveness, human-wildlife conflict, strategies, protected areas.
Highlights
Protected areas are the cornerstone of conservation around the world, covering over 32 million square kilometers, and representing about 15% of the world's land area (Juffe-Bignoli et al, 2014)
This paper aimed to examine strategies used to manage wildlife crop depredation by smallholding farmers that are among the most vulnerable who live near to conserved areas, and how they evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies around a protected area in Ghana
The multiple technique strategy is a norm, because of the common practice of mixed cropping that attracts a variety of wildlife species
Summary
Protected areas are the cornerstone of conservation around the world, covering over 32 million square kilometers, and representing about 15% of the world's land area (Juffe-Bignoli et al, 2014). They provide benefits to close communities, including income and employment through tourism (MacKenzie et al, 2017). Their creation has resulted in issues such as displacement of local communities, loss of extraction rights, losses due to wildlife interferences with livelihoods, inadequate compensation for losses, and human fatalities resulting from human-wildlife interactions (Namukonde and Kachalic, 2015; Ango et al, 2017).
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