Local Communities’ Attitudes and Support Towards the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in Southwest Botswana

Naomi Moswete, Brijesh Thapa and William K. Darley
Additional contact information
Naomi Moswete: Department of Environmental Science, University of Botswana, Gaborone 00704, Botswana
Brijesh Thapa: Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
William K. Darley: College of Business and Innovation, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Protected areas are of national importance and have developed into sources of benefits while in other situations have sparked conflicts among stakeholders, including residents from adjacent local communities, and park authorities. In this study, we examined community residents’ attitudes towards the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) in the Kalahari region (SW Botswana). This study assessed factors that influence support for, or opposition to, the KTP. A questionnaire with semi-structured questions was used to gather information from head of households (N = 746) in nine villages in the Kalahari region. Overall, positive attitudes and support for the KTP as a transfrontier park were documented, though tangible benefits were limited. Further based on analyses, literacy, proximity, and employment status were key variables that influenced support. In addition, any increase in residents’ perceived benefits, land ownership, conservation awareness, and local benefits resulted in increased support for KTP. The implications indicated that communities near the KTP (Botswana side) need to be consulted, while further communications between the KTP management and authorities and adjacent villages are required to initiate effective community conservation programs. Additional programs and community outreach initiatives would also enable positive attitudes and support of KTP.

Keywords: conservation; Transboundary Park; residents; attitudes; Kalahari; southern Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1524/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1524/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1524-:d:322114

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().