Socio- economic benefits of collaborative management approach to communities around Nyika National Park, Nothern Malawi.

Abstract

Many protected areas (PAs) have followed the conventional and exclusionary approaches to preserve and conserve the flora and fauna. In some cases, these approaches have triggered adverse social impacts on local communities, disrupting their traditional ways of living and limiting their control of and access to natural resources. As such, inclusive approaches such as the Collaborative Management (CM) were introduced for the communities to be involved in the management of natural resources whilst deriving benefits from the PAs. However, the impact of these approaches on communities has not been adequately explored. Since the introduction of the CM to Nyika, the community is still not fully supporting wildlife conservation, which means limited benefits. The overall objective of this study was to assess the socio-economic benefits of the Collaborative Management approach to the communities around Nyika National Park. A mixed research approach was conducted in communities around Nyika National Park. The data collection tools included questionnaire, where a survey was conducted on 250 households, six focus group discussions, and 7 key informant interviews. The study results found that communities perceive Collaborative Management as an approach that, is a suitable for park management, and can contribute a lot towards the socio-economic status of communities and can reduce poaching. In addition, passion for conservation of wildlife (26%), economic benefits (30%), Resource Use Programme (32%), and safeguarding properties from animals (12%) are motivational factors for community participation in Collaborative Management of Nyika National Park. The study found that the CM approach has many socioeconomic benefits to communities. The study recommends enhancing benefit sharing procedures to ensure that all members have equal opportunities to benefit. It also suggests focusing on both individuals and the broader community to maximize socio-economic gains at the local level.