Godfrey Mtare
Other projects
27 Jan 2023
Transboundary Landscape Connectivity Propels a Robust Wildlife Economy: Modelling with African Lion (Panthera leo)
Large predators are commonly seen as a major challenge for conservation due to factors such as livestock depredation and direct threats posed to human life, with lions exemplifying the costs and benefits associated with carnivores, including threats they face from conflict (Jacobsen et al., 2022). Encouragingly, recent approaches are reshaping the focus of policy and scientific debates towards a ‘coexistence’ narrative (Konig et al., 2020) and understanding attitudes or perceptions of local communities towards biodiversity (Canales et al., 2023).
This project aims to address the following question within the scope of the perceived economic value of African lions: What are the prospective future scenarios in terms of lion abundance, tourism revenue, and potential for conflict that would be more or less acceptable to people living in KAZA TFCA’s Hwange-Kazuma-Chobe Wildlife Dispersal Area?
An understanding of local socio-economic factors that impact the conservation of lions and coexistence in Hwange-Kazuma-Chobe WDA is envisioned to result in tangible conservation gains across the boundary (KAZA Master IDP, 2015), with potential for replication in other areas of KAZA TFCA. To explore this in great depth, this study will utilize discrete choice experiments, complemented by questionnaires, for understanding the perceived economic valuation through eliciting local people’s values for lions. We will ask participants about their experiences, attitudes towards lions, and their expectations for coexistence with lions.
With a greater understanding of how local people go about making decisions when valuing lions in the Hwange-Kazuma-Chobe WDA, policymakers can design conservation interventions tailored to local people's preferences and constraints to ensure increasing levels of coexistence and reduce potential negative perceptions/attitudes towards lions. However, a negative experience with lions could create unfavourable views by local people toward the economic valuation of lions and ultimately reduce the incentive for coexistence.
Thus, project findings will improve the knowledge base related to the economic valuation of African lions in KAZA TFCA by understanding and integrating perceptions from local communities through exploring potential future scenarios in terms of lion abundance, human-lion conflict, and tourism revenue. This information would be relevant and critical for prioritizing the conservation and maintenance of Hwange-Kazuma-Chobe WDA as an important and strategic wildlife dispersal area. Ultimately, understanding the perceived economic value of lions by local communities will assist in influencing and shaping more effective policymaking, particularly related to the conservation of lions, coexistence, and challenges they face in KAZA TFCA.