Protected area staff and local community viewpoints: A qualitative assessment of conservation relationships in Zimbabwe

With the increase in illegal resource harvesting in most protected areas (PAs), the need to understand the determinants and relationships between PAs and local communities to enhance wildlife conservation is increasingly becoming important. Using focus group discussions and interviews, we established the determinants of PA staff-community relationship from both PA staff and local communities’ viewpoints, and assessedperceptions of their relationship with each other. The study was guided by the following main research question, ‘What is the nature of the relationship between PA staff and local communities and what are the main factors influencing the relationship?’ Data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews from four PAs and their adjacent communities in Zimbabwe between July 2013 and February 2014. Our results showed that a total of seven determinants were identified as influencing PA staff-community relationship, i.e., benefit-sharing, human-wildlife conflict, compensation for losses from wildlife attacks, communication between PA staff and local communities, community participation in the management of CAMPFIRE projects, lack of community participation in tourism in PAs, and community perceptions of PA staff or PA staff perceptions of the community. Of the seven, only one determinant, benefit-sharing, was recorded as the main factor that differentially influencesthe perceptions of community and PA staff on their relationship. Furthermore, both the communities and PA staff reported mixed perceptions on their relationship with each other. We conclude that both communities’ and PA staff’s views on determinants are largely similar in all studied PAs irrespective of PA ownership, management and/or land use. Our findings could be relevant in policy making especially in developing countries in developing PA-community relationship framework in natural resource conservation.随着多数保护区（Protected Areas，PAs）内非法资源采伐活动愈发猖獗，厘清保护区与当地社区间的影响因素与相互关系，以提升野生动物保护成效的需求日益迫切。本研究采用焦点小组讨论（focus group discussions）与访谈法，分别从保护区工作人员与当地社区的视角，明确了影响二者关系的核心决定因素，并评估了双方对彼此关系的认知。本次研究以如下核心研究问题为指引：“保护区工作人员与当地社区之间的关系本质为何？哪些核心因素会对二者的关系产生影响？” 研究于2013年7月至2014年2月期间，在津巴布韦的4处保护区及其周边社区开展，通过焦点小组讨论与访谈收集研究数据。研究结果共识别出7项影响保护区工作人员与社区关系的决定因素，分别为：利益共享（benefit-sharing）、人兽冲突（human-wildlife conflict）、野生动物肇事损失补偿、保护区工作人员与当地社区间的沟通、社区对CAMPFIRE项目的管理参与度、社区参与保护区旅游的缺失情况，以及双方对彼此的认知。在上述7项因素中，仅“利益共享”这一因素，会对社区与保护区工作人员的关系认知产生差异化影响。此外，社区与保护区工作人员均表示，双方对彼此的关系持有褒贬不一的复杂认知。本研究得出结论：无论保护区的权属性质、管理模式及土地利用类型如何，在所研究的全部保护区中，社区与工作人员对影响双方关系的因素的认知大体一致。本研究结果可为发展中国家制定政策提供有益参考，尤其是在构建自然资源保护领域的保护区-社区关系框架方面。