Wildlands and human needs: Resource use in an African protected area

Abstract

The question of how to resolve conflicts between traditional uses of wildland resources by rural populations on the one hand, and interests of conservation on the other, is central to conservation in Africa. Conservation plans implemented in Africa have been largely based on Western values rather than those of the people whose livelihood is most affected. This paper describes a method whereby resource use by rural populations can be quantified and analyzed to be included in protected area planning. With the proclamation in 1977 of Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve in northern Malawi, settlement was effectively prohibited within the reserve boundary. Today, the reserve is surrounded by cultivated land. A method of obtaining a quantitative index of rates of wildlife resource use is presented and illustrated. Changes in rates of use in the reserve are presented for seasons and for the entire three-year study. Distributions and types of utilization are described relative to the region in the reserve in which they take place and to the adjacent population centers. The World Wildlife Fund's “Wildlands and Human Needs Program” is presented as an option for integrating conservation and the needs of rural populations in the reserve based on the data collected and for other areas in general. It is recognized that the future of the Earth's biological diversity is extricably linked to improving the quality and security of life of rural populations: so people are not forced to deplete their resources to survive; to create the conditions necessary for populations to begin to stabilize; and to make it logical and prudent for them to invest in longer term sustainable exploitation strategies.