Revista de ecosistemas y ecografía

Abstracto

Attitude and Perceptions of Local Residents toward the Protected Area of Abijata-Shalla Lakes National Park (ASLNP), Ethiopia

Tewodros Kumssa and Afework Bekele

Abijata-Shalla Lake National Park has immense natural resources including wetland, aquatic and terrestrial birds. Land settlements and human, livestock population increases is a major problem in the conservation area. Its biodiversity has undergone dramatic environmental changes. This study addresses the need to explore people attitudes toward protected areas in a way that allows them to describe the values they hold toward the areas. Field surveys, questionnaires and direct observation were used in data collection. A total of 360 households in the four selected villages were carried out from January 2011 to October 2013. Most (96%) respondents depended on land to generate income making the competition with wildlife more direct and intense. All members of the villages consider the Park as their communal pasture area. The conflicts are a consequence of the problem of resource utilization in conservation area. 85% of the respondents were unhappy on the existence of the Park. Educated and young people with access to information and awareness mostly supported the Park. All respondents from all villages without any significant variation agree wildlife of the area is depleted. Increasing anthropogenic pressure, due to continuously expanding human settlements and increasing demands for farming and grazing land, is the main reason why relatively large wildlife areas have been subjected to over-exploitation, degradation and destruction. Competition for land and resources has led to intense human-wildlife conflicts in the area.