People-park conflicts: the case of Mt. Elgon national park, Eastern Uganda
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Date
2007-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Kampala International University,Scool of Engineering Science
Abstract
The study mainly set out to analyze the causes of people — park conflicts in Mt. Elgon
National Park in Uganda. The researcher based the study on the fact that National parks
are vital in conserving and managing the physical, ecological and cultural resources for
the benefit of present and future generations. It was mainly a field survey of a sample region / districts (Mbale, Sironko, Kapchorwa and Bukwo). The main objectives of the
study were: to find out the causes of the conflicts in the park, investigate the effects of
the conflicts to the people and to analyze strategies to manage the park-people conflicts
and ensure park sustainability. A number of research instruments were used in the study:
ranging from questionnaires, interviews, observation and review of related literature. The
sampling techniques used were: random sampling and the stratified random sampling to
ensure that all the population sub groups were fully and objectively involved in the study.
The major findings of the study are that conflicts in Mt. Elgon National Park mainly
caused by access to land, eviction,o restrictions to resource use, incitement by local
politicians, lack of community participation in park management programmes and poor
government policies. These challenges according to the study demand that there should
be mechanism to bridge the existing gap between the local community and park
management authorities. Local communities living around the park and entire
communities (world) should be educated on the importance of the national parks as far
as development is concerned. The research further reveals that to conserve national park
in a sustainable manner for both present and future generations, park authorities should
involve the local communities in the designing and implementation of park policies. The
government also should come up with mitigation measures for park conflicts like: training
the local residents to be park rangers, rather than deploying UPDF, poverty eradication
programmes, resettlement of the evicted landless people.
Description
A thesis submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies in partial fulfillment for the Award of Master of Science and Environmental Management and Development Degree of Kampala International University
Keywords
People, Park, Conflict, Mt. Elgon