Abstract
Local communities’ support for resource conservation projects are essential for their success. Nevertheless, in the Pacific Island countries, many community-based conservation (CBC) projects remain ineffective due to the lack of community members’ engagement. To better understand the motivations of local community members to support resource conservation projects; this research looks at the four community-based conservation sites in North Tarawa, Kiribati. We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to investigate why community members support (or do not support) CBC. The findings reveal that while local community members are overall aware of the significance of resource conservation, they do not always support or participate in conservation projects. Indeed, the local community members’ motivation to participate in such projects are influenced by various factors, including their status in a household or community, village practices, the quality of community leadership, and their past experiences with similar projects. Our research also finds that community members become unsupportive with conservation projects when their daily livelihood activities are restricted by the projects. This research suggests that project organisers need to understand such factors and be strategic to retain community members’ support for the success of conservation project.
Highlights
Community-based conservation (CBC) values the participation of the local community members in the planning, design, and implementation of a conservation project
In the Pacific Island countries (PICs), community-based marine conservation initiatives have been implemented amongst other CBC projects (Johannes 2002)
Our results show that overall the interviewees are aware of the concept of resource conservation and its significance
Summary
Community-based conservation (CBC) values the participation of the local community members in the planning, design, and implementation of a conservation project. In the Pacific Island countries (PICs), community-based marine conservation initiatives have been implemented amongst other CBC projects (Johannes 2002). North Tarawa is the only rural subdivision of the atoll (with Betio and South Tarawa classified as urban towns) and comprises 15 islets with a total land area of 31.2 square kilometres (Delisle et al 2016). Many of these islets are separated by a lagoon channel and some of the bigger islets have been connected by a causeway construction. The island is the 13th largest island of Kiribati and according to 2015 census, it hosts the second largest population in the country with 6,629 persons
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
