IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i3p2248-d1046697.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Quality of Life and Perceived Human-Wildlife Conflicts among Forest Communities around the Mountain Gorilla’s Virunga Landscape in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Edwin Sabuhoro

    (Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management and African Studies Program, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802, USA)

  • Jim Ayorekire

    (Department of Forestry, Biodiversity and Tourism, School of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala P.O. Box 7062, Uganda)

  • Ian E. Munanura

    (Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA)

Abstract

This article examines the relationships between human perceptions of conflict with wildlife and satisfaction with the quality of life in the Virunga landscape in Africa where mountain gorillas live. In addition, it explores how determinants of quality of life may indirectly influence the perceptions of conflict between people and wildlife. Using the bottom-up spillover theory of life satisfaction, it is hypothesized that quality of life is determined by access to critical livelihood resources, such as food, healthcare, and income. Furthermore, socio-psychological conditions, such as emotional and psychological strength, may mediate the relationship between access to resources and quality of life. This study revealed that life satisfaction positively predicts perceptions of conflict between humans and wildlife. The findings also indicated that health and psychological conditions were the strongest predictors of life satisfaction compared to food and financial security. However, the findings revealed variations by country. For example, food security predicts life satisfaction in Rwanda but not in Uganda. Health security predicts emotional wellbeing in Rwanda but not in Uganda. These results indicate that the nature of the relationship between wellbeing indicators and perceived Human-Wildlife conflict is likely country-specific. Therefore, efforts to strengthen the quality of life to indirectly advance wildlife conservation goals may need to be different in Uganda and Rwanda. The findings also suggest that investing in improving the quality of life of forest communities may incentivize increased perceptions of Human-Wildlife conflict. This is likely a result of pervasive consequences of increased funding for community development programs to incentivize conservation, which risks associating conflict with funding. Additional implications for practice and research are discussed in the paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Edwin Sabuhoro & Jim Ayorekire & Ian E. Munanura, 2023. "The Quality of Life and Perceived Human-Wildlife Conflicts among Forest Communities around the Mountain Gorilla’s Virunga Landscape in Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:3:p:2248-:d:1046697
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2248/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2248/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tumusiime, David Mwesigye & Vedeld, Paul & Gombya-Ssembajjwe, William, 2011. "Breaking the law? Illegal livelihoods from a Protected Area in Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 273-283, April.
    2. Ed Diener, 1994. "Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 103-157, February.
    3. Aliber, Michael, 2003. "Chronic Poverty in South Africa: Incidence, Causes and Policies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 473-490, March.
    4. Joseph F. Hair & G. Tomas M. Hult & Christian M. Ringle & Marko Sarstedt & Kai Oliver Thiele, 2017. "Mirror, mirror on the wall: a comparative evaluation of composite-based structural equation modeling methods," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 616-632, September.
    5. Gavin, Michael C. & Anderson, Gregory J., 2007. "Socioeconomic predictors of forest use values in the Peruvian Amazon: A potential tool for biodiversity conservation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 752-762, February.
    6. Lund, Jens Friis & Treue, Thorsten, 2008. "Are We Getting There? Evidence of Decentralized Forest Management from the Tanzanian Miombo Woodlands," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2780-2800, December.
    7. Kamanga, Penjani & Vedeld, Paul & Sjaastad, Espen, 2009. "Forest incomes and rural livelihoods in Chiradzulu District, Malawi," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 613-624, January.
    8. Tiwari Aviral, 2011. "Primary Energy Consumption, CO2 Emissions and Economic Growth: Evidence from India," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 6(2), pages 99-117, November.
    9. Babigumira, Ronnie & Angelsen, Arild & Buis, Maarten & Bauch, Simone & Sunderland, Terry & Wunder, Sven, 2014. "Forest Clearing in Rural Livelihoods: Household-Level Global-Comparative Evidence," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 64(Supplemen), pages 67-79.
    10. Cavendish, William, 2000. "Empirical Regularities in the Poverty-Environment Relationship of Rural Households: Evidence from Zimbabwe," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(11), pages 1979-2003, November.
    11. Aviral Kumar TIWARI, 2011. "Energy Consumption, Co2 Emission and Economic Growth: A Revisit of the Evidence from India," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 11(2).
    12. Megan King & Vivian Renó & Evlyn Novo, 2014. "The Concept, Dimensions and Methods of Assessment of Human Well-Being within a Socioecological Context: A Literature Review," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 681-698, May.
    13. Miko Maekawa & Annette Lanjouw & Eugène Rutagarama & Douglas Sharp, 2013. "Mountain gorilla tourism generating wealth and peace in post‐conflict Rwanda," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 0(2), pages 127-137, May.
    14. Miko Maekawa & Annette Lanjouw & Eugène Rutagarama & Douglas Sharp, 2013. "Mountain gorilla tourism generating wealth and peace in post‐conflict Rwanda," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(2), pages 127-137, May.
    15. David Kimweli & William Stilwell, 2002. "Community Subjective Well-being, Personality Traits and Quality of Life Therapy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 193-225, December.
    16. Sommerville, Matthew & Jones, Julia P.G. & Rahajaharison, Michael & Milner-Gulland, E.J., 2010. "The role of fairness and benefit distribution in community-based Payment for Environmental Services interventions: A case study from Menabe, Madagascar," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 1262-1271, April.
    17. Mark Infield & William M. Adams, 1999. "Institutional sustainability and community conservation: a case study from Uganda," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(2), pages 305-315.
    18. Ed Diener & Ed Sandvik & Larry Seidlitz & Marissa Diener, 1993. "The relationship between income and subjective well-being: Relative or absolute?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 195-223, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dorothy Ruth Queiros, 2023. "Planning for Socio-Ecological Conservation in South African Nature Reserves: Model of Influences on the Attitudes of Proximate Communities," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-22, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baiyegunhi, L.J.S. & Oppong, B.B., 2016. "Commercialisation of mopane worm (Imbrasia belina) in rural households in Limpopo Province, South Africa," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 141-148.
    2. Nakakaawa, Charlotte & Moll, Ricarda & Vedeld, Paul & Sjaastad, Espen & Cavanagh, Joseph, 2015. "Collaborative resource management and rural livelihoods around protected areas: A case study of Mount Elgon National Park, Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-11.
    3. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Do, Truong Lam & Halkos, George & Wilson, Clevo, 2020. "Health shocks and natural resource extraction: A Cambodian case study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Cotta, Jamie N., 2015. "Contributions of local floodplain resources to livelihoods and household income in the Peruvian Amazon," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 35-46.
    5. Nerfa, Lauren & Rhemtulla, Jeanine M. & Zerriffi, Hisham, 2020. "Forest dependence is more than forest income: Development of a new index of forest product collection and livelihood resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    6. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Do, Truong Lam & Bühler, Dorothee & Hartje, Rebecca & Grote, Ulrike, 2015. "Rural livelihoods and environmental resource dependence in Cambodia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 282-295.
    7. Mawa, Christopher & Babweteera, Fred & Tumusiime, David Mwesigye, 2022. "Livelihood outcomes after two decades of co-managing a state forest in Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    8. Thondhlana, Gladman & Muchapondwa, Edwin, 2014. "Dependence on environmental resources and implications for household welfare: Evidence from the Kalahari drylands, South Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 59-67.
    9. Mazhar Biland & Alam Zeb & Ayat Ullah & Harald Kaechele, 2021. "Why Do Households Depend on the Forest for Income? Analysis of Factors Influencing Households’ Decision-Making Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.
    10. Angelsen, Arild & Jagger, Pamela & Babigumira, Ronnie & Belcher, Brian & Hogarth, Nicholas J. & Bauch, Simone & Börner, Jan & Smith-Hall, Carsten & Wunder, Sven, 2014. "Environmental Income and Rural Livelihoods: A Global-Comparative Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 12-28.
    11. Wan-Lin Yong & Jerome Kueh & Yong Sze Wei & Jang-Haw Tiang, 2020. "Energy Consumption and Economic Growth Nexus in China: Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)," Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Macrothink Institute, vol. 10(2), pages 194212-1942, December.
    12. Pouliot, Mariève & Treue, Thorsten, 2013. "Rural People’s Reliance on Forests and the Non-Forest Environment in West Africa: Evidence from Ghana and Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 180-193.
    13. Meyer, Maximilian & Hulke, Carolin & Kamwi, Jonathan & Kolem, Hannah & Börner, Jan, 2022. "Spatially heterogeneous effects of collective action on environmental dependence in Namibia’s Zambezi region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    14. Porro, Roberto & Lopez-Feldman, Alejandro & Vela-Alvarado, Jorge W., 2015. "Forest use and agriculture in Ucayali, Peru: Livelihood strategies, poverty and wealth in an Amazon frontier," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-56.
    15. Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Boachie, Micheal Kofi, 2020. "The environmental impact of industrialization and foreign direct investment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    16. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    17. Rayamajhi, Santosh & Smith-Hall, Carsten & Helles, Finn, 2012. "Empirical evidence of the economic importance of Central Himalayan forests to rural households," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 25-35.
    18. Chibueze, E. Nnaji & Jude, O. Chukwu & Nnaji Moses, 2013. "Electricity Supply, Fossil fuel Consumption, Co2 Emissions and Economic Growth: Implications and Policy Options for Sustainable Development in Nigeria," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 3(3), pages 262-271.
    19. Wunder, Sven & Angelsen, Arild & Belcher, Brian, 2014. "Forests, Livelihoods, and Conservation: Broadening the Empirical Base," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 1-11.
    20. Pritchard, Rose & Ryan, Casey M. & Grundy, Isla & van der Horst, Dan, 2018. "Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity and Rural Livelihoods: Findings From Six Villages in Zimbabwe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 115-124.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:3:p:2248-:d:1046697. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.