Uganda Wildlife Authority research overview

Building Capacity for Pro-Poor Responses to Wildlife Crime in Uganda

Research Overview

Henry TraversProject research lead

Project research objectives

1. What are the drivers and impacts of wildlife crime at the local level?

2. What are the socio-economic profiles and motivations of individuals who participate in wildlife crime?

3. In the eyes of local people, government and conservation managers, which interventions are most effective in reducing wildlife crime and contributing towards poverty alleviation?

Evidence Review• A systematic review of

existing evidence from Uganda and other countries

• Examines evidence on drivers and impacts of wildlife crime

• Launch tonight at 17.00

Household socio-economic survey

• Survey of ~2000 households in villages bordering MFCA and QECA completed

• Survey focused on measuring key household demographics and socio-economic variables, including two poverty indices

• Included indirect questioning approach to estimate scale of participation in resource extraction from the two conservation areas

Choice experiment and scenarios

• Survey of ~500 households included in the household socio-economic survey

• Both approaches focused on potential interventions aimed at reducing participation in wildlife crime

• Choice experiments investigated preferences of likely beneficiaries/targets of different interventions

• Scenario interviews investigated likely behavioural response to different interventions

Interventions investigated

• Revenue sharing funds directed to human-wildlife conflict (HWC) mitigation

• Increased utilisation of natural resources (sustainable hunting of bushmeat)

• Withdrawal of all access to natural resources• Wildlife friendly enterprise scheme• Eco – guards and anonymous text scheme

Key-informant interviews

• Interviewed ~50 reformed or current hunters from villages north of MFCA

• Interviews focused on understanding: - main motivations of illegal hunters- hunting methods - likely response to interventions aimed at reducing

participation in wildlife crime• investigated relationship between bushmeat and

trophy hunting