Demand and proximity: drivers of illegal forest resource extraction

• Published in: Oryx Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 288 - 297
• Main Authors: Mackenzie, Catrina A., Hartter, Joel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.04.2013
• Subjects: assets; Attitudes; Biological and medical sciences; capital; carbon sequestration; conservation areas; Deforestation; Degradation; Employment; employment opportunities; Forestry; Forests; fuelwood; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General forest ecology; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; Global positioning systems; GPS; grazing; harvesting; household surveys; Households; human population; issues and policy; Kibale National Park; landscapes; livestock; markets; National parks; Natural resources; ownership; Population density; protected area; Socioeconomic factors; socioeconomics; Tourism; Towns; trails; trees; tropical forest; Uganda; villages; Wildlife conservation; Wood; Uganda; Africa; Uganda, Kibale Natl. Park; Degradation; Kibale National Park; population density; protected area; fuelwood; tropical forest; Uganda; Illegal practice; Forests; Proximity
• ISSN: 0030-6053; 1365-3008; 1365-3008
• DOI: 10.1017/S0030605312000026

Illegal extraction from protected areas is often shaped by the surrounding socio-economic landscape. We coupled village-scale socio-economic parameters collected using household surveys with measured levels of illegal resource extraction proximate to study villages to investigate the socio-economic drivers of illegal extraction from Kibale National Park, Uganda. The level of illegal tree harvesting and the number of illegal entry trails into the Park were driven by subsistence demand from villages adjacent to the Park and by for-profit extraction to supply local urban markets, whereas grazing in the Park was linked to high livestock ownership. Capital asset wealth, excluding livestock, was found to mitigate illegal resource extraction from the Park. We also found high human population density to coincide spatially with park-based tourism, research and carbon sequestration employment opportunities. Conservation strategies should be integrated with national policy to meet the needs of local communities and to manage urban demand to reduce illegal extraction from protected areas.