Perceptions of crop raiding: effects of land tenure and agro‐industry on human–wildlife conflict

Abstract

AbstractHuman–wildlife conflict (HWC) is an increasingly recognized threat to successful conservation and development efforts through reducing support for conservation effort or threatening the livelihoods of marginalized human populations residing adjacent to protected areas. Although much research is conducted on characterizing these conflicts, such as quantifying crop damage or identifying proximal causes and correlates, there is little effort in identifying the wider, distal drivers of potential conflict. These wider factors may often play as much a part in defining exposure to loss through HWC as local ecological or socioeconomic factors. Using a mixed methods approach, the current study assessed the role of distal factors in defining perceived exposure to crop raiding around a central African protected area; Volcanoes National Park (VNP) in northern Rwanda. Although harbouring critically endangered biodiversity, this transboundary protected area also lies in a region experiencing significant social pressures and struggles for natural resources. This study found that land tenure limitations and restrictions on agricultural autonomy, often driven by neoliberal trade, significantly impact on perceptions of conflict with VNP. Additionally, the lack of adequate revenue sharing with communities most exposed to conflict continues to foster ill feeling towards conservation efforts by failing to counterbalance losses through crop raiding. This study has shown the importance of considering national and regional policy revisions in addressing the drivers of conflict, while the value of a holistic approach to establish the relative importance of distal and proximal factors in HWC has been shown.