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Conservation Education and theAttitudes of Local Communities Living

Adjacent to Mt. Elgon National Park,

UgandaJoseph C. Oonyu

a

aDepartment of Science and Technical Education, Makerere

University, Kampala, Uganda

Version of record first published: 09 Dec 2009

To cite this article:Joseph C. Oonyu (2009): Conservation Education and the Attitudes of Local

Communities Living Adjacent to Mt. Elgon National Park, Uganda, Applied Environmental Education &Communication, 8:3-4, 153-164

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154 J. C. OONYU

efforts. Mt. Elgon is also an important catch-ment area supplying water to the River Nile anda number of lakes in Uganda, which are essen-tial to millions of people in East Africa, Sudan,

and Egypt. The conservation of the Mt. Elgonecosystem is therefore very critical in order toensure sustainable development for millions ofpeople in Africa.

The need to establish Mt. Elgon NationalPark in 1993 was supported by the internationalconservation agencies and the donor commu-nity (UWA, 1998, 2000). Consequently, it be-came necessary to evict families staying withinthe Park in order to ensure the threat to biodi-

versity was halted. Many families were evictedfrom the previously encroached areas, oftenusing force that was considered by the localpeople as excessive, leading to antagonism andnegative attitudes on the part of local commu-nities toward the Park and its natural resources(Oonyu, 2001). The situation was exacerbatedby increased restrictions on peoples access toforest and wildlife resources, and to the cultur-ally important sites. It was, however, soon real-ized that despite the change in status from a

forest reserve to a national park, the local com-munities in adjacent areas continued to violatepark regulations by poaching, grazing domes-tic animals within the Park, illegal settlements,and destruction of Mt. Elgon forest.

Consequently, the IUCN-supported Mt. El-gon Conservation and Development Project(MECDP) was initiated in 1988 to ensure theconservation of the Mt. Elgon ecosystem andto develop a sustainable land-use strategy for

adjacent areas in order to reduce pressure forland and other resources in the Park. One of itsmajor objectives was to educate the local peo-ple on the importance of conserving forest and

wildlife resources of MENP. It also promotedsoil conservation, agro-forestry, and the useof energy-saving stoves. In 1994, the Uganda

Wildlife Authority-Forests Absorbing CarbonDioxide Emissions Project (UWA-FACE) wasstarted to rehabilitate the degraded parts ofthe forest within the Mt. Elgon National Park.

At the end of the UWA-FACE Project, anothertransboundary project known as the Mt. Elgon

Regional Ecosystem Conservation Programme(MERECP) was started in 2003 with the sup-port of the Norwegian Agency for InternationalDevelopment and IUCN with the goal of pro-

moting biodiversity, ecological functions, andintrinsic values of the ecosystem (Vedeld et al.,2005; UWA, 2000; MERECP, 2006). This pro-gram has an education component. An impor-tant underlying assumption of the educationprograms of each of these projects is that theMt. Elgon National Park authorities would beable to raise awareness and encourage the de-

velopment of positive attitudes toward the Parkand its natural resources.

Research suggests that positive attitudesof local people living around protected areas(PAs) are significant in initiating appropriateaction to solve conservation problems (e.g.,Infield, 1988; Ite, 1996; Mkanda & Munthali,1994; Oonyu, 2001). One of the key factorsthat influence peoples attitudes toward con-servation of PAs is the value they attach to theresources (Akama et al., 1995; Docherty, 1993;UNESCO, 1997; Turyaho, 1999; Turhayo &Infield, 1993). Other factors include peoples

levels of awareness, their relations with theprotected area employees, and the services andbenefits that they receive from the protectedarea. Negative attitudes are often associated

with a lack of public participation in themanagement of PAs (Newmark & Leonard,1991; Newmark et al., 1993; Turyaho & In-field, 1993). In such situations, the perceivedrestrictions on resource-use tend to outweighthe benefits of conservation, and conflicts arise

between local inhabitants and the field staff.Because the attitude of local communitiesliving adjacent to a protected area is an impor-tant indicator of their willingness to participatein the conservation of its resources, monitor-ing the attitudes of local resource users would,therefore, help in improving the managementof these areas. The managers would be able toput in place strategies that promote peoples in-

volvement in conservation through the devel-opment of positive attitudes.

This article presents the results of a studyconducted among the local communities living


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CONSERVATION EDUCATION AND LIVING ADJACENT TO MT. ELGON NATIONAL PARK 155

around MENP to assess their attitudes towardthe Parks resources and the conservation ef-forts that have so far been implemented. Thestudy sought information on: (1) the attitudes

of local communities living around the Park to-ward the conservation of forest and wildlife re-sources of MENP, (2) the benefits they obtainfrom the Park, (3) their attitudes toward con-servation education programs, and (4) sugges-tions for improving the effectiveness of theseprograms.

METHODS

The Study Area (Fig. 1)

MENP has a variety of vegetation types depend-ing on altitude and aspect (Langdale & Brown,1960). At an altitude of less than 2,400 m, moisttropical mixed forests with tree species such asOlea welwitschiiand Khaya grandifolia are com-mon. Between 2,500 and 3,000 m is the bam-

boo and low canopy montane forest. Above3,000 m, the vegetation consists mainly of grass-land, heather, and moorland (Langdale-Brownet al., 1964).

MENP is bordered by 55 parishes inhab-ited by about 35,000 families in Mbale district,and 5,000 in Kapchorwa district (IUCN, 1990).Most of these people are small-scale farmers

with an average farm size of 13 hectares perfamily. Livestock farming is an important activ-

ity in Kapchorwa district.

Data Collection

A Survey of Attitudes of Local People

Toward the Park and Its Natural

Resources

A total of 348 household heads from eight ran-domly selected parishes adjacent to MENP in

Mbale and Kapchorwa districts were involved inthis study. With the assistance of local leaders

and two research assistants, a pretested ques-tionnaire was administered between December2003 and June 2004 in Bushiyi Parish.

The first part of the questionnaire sought

information on their background, the benefitslocal people derive from the Park and its re-sources, and their attitudes toward the Park.The second part sought information on respon-dents attitudes toward conservation educationprograms, the perceived benefits of these pro-grams, and suggestions for promoting their ef-fectiveness.

Questions were made short, clear, andsimple as recommended by Le Compte and

Preissle (1993). Those respondents who couldneither read nor write were orally interviewedand the responses recorded by the research as-sistants. Data from the questionnaires were an-alyzed using the Statistical Package for the So-cial Sciences (SPSS) Version 11.0. Descriptivestatistics were used to summarize the propertyof the data set, while inferential statistics werecomputed using the Chi-square test (2).

Focus Group Discussions

The limitations of questionnaire surveys suchas its inability to obtain information in an in-teractive manner (e.g., Gall et al., 1996) ledto the organization of local people into focusgroups, one in each parish. Focus group discus-sions that were conducted from July to Septem-ber 2004 were aimed at checking and expand-ing on insights gained from the questionnairesurveys.

RESULTS

The Benefits Local People DeriveFrom Mt. Elgon National Park

Data on the benefits local communities derive

from Mt. Elgon National Park (Table 1) haveshown that local communities were dependent


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156 J. C. OONYU

Fig. 1. A map showing the location of the study areas.

on forest and wildlife resources for their liveli-hood. The main benefit of the Park to them

was the provision of these resources. These re-sponses varied in the different parishes.

In all the parishes except Buwundu andMutshet, more than half the local peoplereported that the Park benefits them and thegreatest benefit was forest and wildlife re-

sources (direct benefits) (Table 1). Other ben-efits included indirect value benefits such as

rain formation and soil erosion control. A fewpeople mentioned employment as another in-direct benefit. Differences in the responses oflocal people in the various parishes indicatedthat the use of natural resources varied fromone parish to another. The negative attitudes inBenet and Buwundu parishes were attributedto the resource use conflicts being experienced

in the two parishes between the local commu-nities and the park officials.


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Table 1The benefits of Mt. Elgon National Park to the local people living in adjacent parishes

Yes (Positive attitude) No (Negative attitude)Parish

n % n %

(a) Does Mt. Elgon National Park benefit you? n = 328Bubyangu 61 92.4 5 7.6Buwundu 28 45.9 33 54.1Ulukusi 38 73.1 14 26.9Bugitimwa 46 90.2 5 9.8Bumasifwa 47 95.9 2 4.1Kwoti 37 84.1 7 15.9Mutshet 40 90.9 4 9.1Benet 31 93.9 2 6.1

What is the greatest benefit of MENP to you?

Forest and Indirect valueswildlife resources (e.g., rain formation, Non-use valuesParish (Direct values) control of soil erosion) (e.g., cultural)

(b) Local peoples views of the greatest benefit of Mt. Elgon National Park (% of respondents)Bubyangu 55.6 27.7 16.7Buwundu 66.7 30.3 3.0Ulukusi 55.3 44.7 0.0Bugitimwa 55.3 44.7 0.0Bumasifwa 61.2 30.6 8.2Kwoti 50.0 40.0 10.0Mutshet 46.3 46.3 7.4Benet 58.1 41.9 0.0

The most sought after plant species inboth Mbale and Kapchorwa was the bam-boo (Arundina alpina). Bamboo shoots areeaten by local communities in Mbale, andprovide building poles and materials for bas-ketry in both Mbale and Kapchorwa districts.The Black and White Colobus monkey andantelopes were hunted for skins and meat,respectively. Although people valued wildlifemainly as a source of game meat and skins fortraditional ceremonies, people in both Mbaleand Kapchorwa districts hunted the Black and

White Colobus monkeys for their skins thatare used during cultural ceremonies (non-use

value).

Peoples Attitudes Toward Mt. ElgonNational Park

In most parishes, the local people felt thatthe Park was too large and that there was

still plenty of natural forest (Table 2). Us-ing 2 test, no significant differences (p >0.05) were established between the responsesof the local people, indicating that it was similarin most parishes. Except in Bubyangu parish,most people suggested that they should begiven land in the park for agriculture andthe grazing of their animals. There were dif-ferences in responses of people in the differ-ent parishes indicating that not all favored thesuggestion.

Although the local people felt that theyshould be given some land in the Park, morethan half of all respondents in all the parishesexcept Benet and Bumasifwa did not favor theabolition of the Park (Table 2). Bumasifwaparish is one of the few parishes where thereis a very rapidly expanding population andan acute shortage of land. In Benet parish,the Park authorities failed to resolve the is-

sue of relocating the indigenous Ndorobo com-munity that lived in what is now the national


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158 J. C. OONYU

Table 2Local peoples attitudes toward Mt. Elgon National Park, Uganda

Positive Negative(Opposed to the suggestion) (Agree with the suggestion)

Parish Frequency % Frequency %

(a) Local peoples attitudes toward the suggestion that Mt. Elgon National Park should beexcised for settlement (n = 324)

Bubyangu 49 75.4 16 24.6Buwundu 56 88.9 7 11.1Ulukusi 41 78.8 11 21.2Bugitimwa 43 84.3 8 15.7Bumasifwa 38 77.6 11 22.4Kwoti 38 86.4 6 13.6Mutshet 36 80.0 9 20.0Benet 23 69.7 10 30.3(b) Local peoples attitudes toward the suggestion that Mt. Elgon National Park

should be abolished (degazetted) altogether, n = 171

Bubyangu 18 27.7 47 72.3Buwundu 26 41.3 37 58.7Ulukusi 23 44.2 29 55.8Bugitimwa 20 40.0 30 60.0Bumasifwa 29 59.2 20 40.8Kwoti 16 36.4 28 63.6Mutshet 11 25.0 33 75.0Benet 28 84.8 5 15.2

park, when it was still a Forest Reserve. The

Ndorobo community strongly feels that theyshould not be relocated from their present an-cestral home. This implies that there are dif-ferences in what people consider to be the solu-tion to the land shortage around the Park dueto differences in the extent of land shortage inthe different parishes.

People in most of the parishes also sug-gested that they be allowed greater accessto these resources. Differences in the re-sponses of local people from various parishes

on the access of resources varied. Restric-tions on resource extraction in areas nearthe Park that were formerly severely degradedare probably greater than in less damagedplaces.

Peoples opposition to the suggestion thatthe Park be abolished indicates that local com-munities value the Park and its resources, andhave positive attitudes toward its conservation.Pressure for forest resources is on the rise and

could change these values and attitudes.

Peoples Attitudes Toward the

Conservation Programs In andAround Mt. Elgon National Park

Evaluation of attitudes of local communitiesand their perceived benefits of the conserva-tion programs (Fig. 2) showed that three quar-ters of those living within the vicinity of MENPhave favorable attitudes toward the programs.

Attitudes of local communities in Mbaletoward the conservation education programs

were significantly different (p < 0.05) from

those in Kapchorwa District. More people inMbale (92%) supported the programs than inKapchorwa District (76%), although the differ-ence was small. This is because of the unre-solved problem of the Ndorobo settlers in Kap-chorwa district who fear an impending evictionfrom the Park. The major benefits reported bythe local people from these conservation edu-cation programs were increased environmen-tal awareness and acquisition of conservation

skills, which was reported by 4050% of the


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Table 3Influence of socioeconomic factors on the attitudes of local communities living around MENPtoward the conservation education programs (n = 348)

Whether Conservation education programs

are necessary (% of respondents)Factor

Category Yes No Statistic

Age (Years) 50 94.9 5.1

Sex Male 83.0 17.0 2 = 4.80df = 1

p= 0.028Female 88.1 11.9

Occupation Farmer 84.1 15.9

Teacher 80.0 20.0 2 = 7.21df = 2

p= 0.001

Other 86.7 13.3

Educational background None 73.1 26.9Primary 85.1 14.9 2 = 6.81

df = 3p= 0.078

Secondary 85.5 14.5Tertiary 82.6 17.4

Household size (No. of people) 14 85.8 14.2 2 = 6.89df = 2

p= 0.07658 87.0 13.0>8 77.1 22.9

people in each of the two districts. Other ben-efits included income-generating projects andconflict resolution skills.

Influence of Social Background onAttitudes of Local CommunitiesToward the Conservation of Forestsand Wildlife Resources

Attitudes toward conservation education pro-grams varied with gender, occupation, educa-tional background, and family size of the re-

spondents (Table 3). Although age did notsignificantly (p > 0.05) influence peoples at-titudes toward the ongoing conservation ed-ucation programs, more of the older people(>30 years) indicated that the programs werenecessary.

There were also no significant differencesin the needs of females and males for conserva-tion education programs. More females (88%)than males (83%) said the conservation educa-tion programs were necessary, perhaps because

the programs have involved more females thanmales so far. Females were more willing to par-

ticipate in the programs than their counterpartmales.

Occupation significantly influenced the

appreciation of conservation education pro-grams of the MECDP and UWA-FACE projects(p 0.05). However, respon-dents with higher formal education were morepositive toward the education and conserva-tion programs. Interviews with the local com-

munities further revealed that the more edu-cated and the younger members of the local


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160 J. C. OONYU

Fig. 2. Local communities attitudes and support forconservation education programs in Mt. Elgon Na-tional Park.

communities valued the park resources fortheir direct economic benefits.

It was also revealed that household sizesignificantly (p < 0.05) influenced local peo-ples perceptions of the need for programs ofthe MECDP and UWA-FACE projects. Respon-dents with small households said the projects

were necessary and advocated for the greaterinvolvement of the people in conservation pro-

grams. This observation is due to differencesin the demands for forest resources by families.

Large families need more land for farming anddo not support conservation very much.

Suggestions for Improving theEffectiveness of ConservationEducation Programs

In order to increase the effectiveness of theconservation education programs and ensurecontinuity (Fig. 3), most people in Mbale andKapchorwa suggested regular reviews of theirneeds, use of participatory approaches, involve-ment of more women, increase in incentives,and such measures as conflict resolution.

More people in Mbale (56%) than Kap-chorwa (35%) felt there was a need to in-corporate local demands for fuel wood andfarmland among other needs into the pro-grams through regular needs assessment. It wasalso noted that land shortage was a more seri-ous problem in Mbale than in Kapchorwa. Al-though the communities in both districts feltthat there was a need for use of participa-

tory approaches to enhance the effectivenessof conservation programs, the need was higherin Kapchorwa (38%) than in Mbale (24%).These responses indicate that there is a grow-ing awareness among local communities of theneed to mobilize local resource users to par-ticipate fully in any conservation programs. Inorder to ensure sustainability of the programs,the majority of people in both Mbale (64%)and Kapchorwa (56%) suggested conflict res-olution, which would lead to more effective

conservation education programs. Conflict res-olution is one of the major challenges facingconservation efforts in and around Mt. ElgonNational Park.

DISCUSSION

The study has revealed that local people liv-ing around MENP greatly benefited from the


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Fig. 3. Local communities suggestions for strength-ening conservation education in areas adjacent to Mt.Elgon National Park and ensuring program sustainabil-ity.

Parks forest and wildlife resources, and hadpositive attitudes toward their conservation.The attitudes were, however, influenced by the

socioeconomic characteristics of the commu-nity. Other studies conducted on attitudes of

people living around protected areas in Africa(e.g., Docherty, 1993; Infield, 1988; Mkanda &Munthali, 1994; Oonyu, 2001) indicate morepositive attitudes were recorded among people

who greatly valued and benefited from the useof the resources.

This study has also shown that in MENP,the local communities greatly depend on theforest resources for their livelihood. The for-est provides food, medicine, building poles,fuel wood, and timber. This dependence mighthave been partly responsible for the greater en-

vironmental awareness among these communi-ties reported by Oonyu (2001), and their pos-

itive attitudes toward the conservation of theParks resources. People who are aware and un-derstand the implications of resource destruc-tion on their livelihood generally have posi-tive attitudes toward the resource (Ite, 1996;Hughes & Flintan, 2001; Howard et al., 2000;Chhetri et al., 2002; Igoe, 2002). This observa-tion has a significant bearing on the conserva-tion of the Park because it indicates that localpeople would be willing to participate in themanagement and rational use of the resources.

However, for resource dependence and appre-ciation to be translated into awareness and con-servation of the resource, deliberate programsmust be designed to enable the people to re-flect on the value of the resource, to give in-sights into the possible alternatives available tothem, as well as to provide them with the neces-sary conservation strategies. The role of effec-tive conservation education programs is there-fore critical in sustaining positive attitudes and

in empowering local communities to activelyparticipate in conservation.It is evident, however, that not all com-

munities living around MENP had positive atti-tudes toward the conservation programs beingcarried out by the Uganda Wildlife Author-ity. For instance, the local people in BenetParish in Kapchorwa District had negative at-titudes toward conservation programs due tothe unresolved problem of the Ndorobo in-digenous people who were evicted but remain

in the Park. It would therefore be importantfor the management of the Park to integrate


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162 J. C. OONYU

conflict resolution into the overall conserva-tion and education program. Conflict resolu-tion would require leaders of both the localcommunity and the Park to continually clar-

ify on the causes of conflicts, negotiate andidentify solutions together, and to collaboratein ensuring that the resolutions are followedthrough. Benefit sharing should be part of thenegotiations. Compromises will be necessaryon both sides in order to ensure that in thelong run, the ecological integrity of the Parkis sustained. The Park Management AdvisoryCommittees (PMAC) initiated earlier to per-form such functions are no longer active and

should be reactivated.Apart from the people in Benet Parish, lo-cal people in the remaining parishes generallyhad positive attitudes toward the conservationof resources of MENP. Their continued depen-dence on the Parks resources may create man-agement problems. This is because as humanpopulations expand, their increasing demandsfor resources will increase the conflicts betweenMENP and the surrounding local communities.Conflicts between the local communities and

the Park staff would lead to negative attitudesamong the communities toward conservationof the Parks resources.

Clearly, local people living around Mt. El-gon National Park use forest and wildlife re-sources, and their attitudes influence the use ofthese resources. It was also noted that youngerrespondents, who were often better educated,

valued the Parks resources because of theirdirect economic benefits. This finding is con-

trary to that of Parry and Campbell (1992) whofound that peoples level of education had noeffect on attitudes toward conservation of wildanimals in Chobe National Park, Botswana.This difference is because the most importantfactor that influenced attitudes of local com-munities in Chobe was problems from wildanimals, whereas in MENP, local people aremore concerned with expansion of their farm-lands and the extraction of non-animal forestresources. From the findings of this study, peo-

ple with low or no formal educational back-ground were generally farmers who sought to

expand their farmlands and to have access tothe forest resources. As a result, many, partic-ularly those in the parishes with conflicts, per-ceived the conservation programs as a threat to

their activities.Ones attitude is directly related to his or

her behavior. As such, good knowledge of lo-cal peoples behavior would facilitate the un-derstanding of how they use forest and wildliferesources. This aspect is crucial in planning themanagement and conservation of protected ar-eas. The conservation education efforts shouldbe made an integral part of the management ofthe Park.

CONCLUSIONS

This study has provided evidence of positiveattitudes of local communities toward the con-servation of forest and wildlife resources in Mt.Elgon National Park, which were strongly influ-enced by the perceived benefits of conservation

to the local communities, exposure to conser-vation education programs, and conflicts overresource-use with the Park officials.

The local people value Mt. Elgon Forestbecause it provides fuel wood, building poles,fruits, honey, bush meat, and the skin of theBlack and White Colobus monkey. This contin-ued dependence on the Parks resources by thelocal communities for various forest products

will continue to create management problems

in MENP because much of the resource extrac-tion by the local communities is no longer sus-tainable due of the rapid population growthin areas around the Park. No major study inMENP that addresses the sustainability of re-source extraction by local communities livingaround Mt. Elgon National Park has been un-dertaken.

A number of communities living aroundthe Park were found to have negative atti-tudes toward it, mainly due to the restrictions

imposed on resource extraction, land short-age, and inability to effectively resolve conflicts.


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These communities face a lot of pressure aris-ing from rapidly growing populations leadingto land shortage.

Although the conservation education pro-

grams have been fairly effective in raisingawareness among the local communities re-garding the importance of conservation, theyare often ill-prepared to influence attitudes andthe conservation practices of the local people.These programs should cultivate an apprecia-tion among local people of the Park and its re-sources as a major theme in their plans.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Because the socioeconomic characteristics oflocal communities influenced their attitudes to-

ward forest and wildlife resources in MENP, itwill be important to investigate how these fac-tors relate to sustainable use of resources inthe park. An investigation into resource usepatterns of the different members of the local

communities living adjacent to the Park shouldbe undertaken.

Because no major study has been con-ducted in MENP to address the sustainabilityof resource extraction by local communities,this urgently needs to be done. As a short-termmeasure, local community exploitation of for-est resources needs to be limited to clearly des-ignated zones so that resource use does notconflict with the conservation objectives of the

Park.Because negative attitudes toward the con-servation of the resources of MENP stem fromrestricted access to resources in the Park, theprincipal focus of conservation education pro-grams being carried out should be to establishpermanent dialogue between the park man-agers and local people. These programs shouldaddress local concerns, and effectively com-municate the resource management objectivesand values of the Park. First, these programs

need to be made part of a larger strategy tomanage the population of local communities

living around the Park so as to reduce the de-mand on the resources. Secondly, the programsmust be designed to meet specific and uniqueneeds of the different communities living ad-

jacent to the Park and people within thesecommunities. In this way, peoples values andattitudes toward the resources of MENP andtheir conservation would continue to be posi-tive. Lastly, conflict resolution should be madean integral part of these programs. The park of-ficials need to be trained in conflict resolutionso as to ensure that there is harmony in the con-servation efforts of both the local communitiesand the park officials.

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