title: Perceptions of risk in communities near parks in an African biodiversity hotspot.
abstract: Understanding conservation and livelihood threats in park landscapes is important to informing conservation policy. To identify threats, we examined perceived risks of residents living near three national parks in Uganda. We used cross-sectional household data to document, rank, and measure severity of perceived risks. Three risk categories, grouped into protected area, climate, and health, were cited by 80 % of respondents and received the highest severity scores. Elevation, proximity to the park, local forest loss, recent population change, and measures of poverty were the most important variables in predicting whether or not an individual identified these risks as the most or second most severe risk. Health issues were cited throughout the landscape, while problems attributed to climate (mainly insufficient rainfall) were reported to be most severe farther from the park. Increased population density was associated with increased perceived risk of health challenges, but decreased perceived risks attributed to the park and climate. Participatory risk mapping provides the opportunity to make standardized comparisons across sites, to help identify commonalities and differences, as a first step to examining the degree to which conservation management might address some of these local challenges and where mitigation techniques might be transferable between different sites or conflict scenarios.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado, Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Complex, 4001 Discovery Drive, UCB 397, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA. joel.hartter@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hartter
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, 114 James Hall, Durham, NH, 03824, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dowhaniuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, McGill University, Burnside Hall Building, Room 705, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A 2K6, Canada.|Department of Geography, University of Vermont, 200 Old Mill Building, 94 University Place, Burlington, VT, 05405-0114, USA.
authors.forename: Catrina A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Florida, 3141 Turlington Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.|Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100009, 2055 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.|Center for Global Health and Translational Science, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 4200 IHP at 505 Irving Ave, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA.|Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA.|School of Life Sciences, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu Natal, Private Bag X 01, Scottsville, Kwazulu Natal, 3209, South Africa.
authors.forename: Sadie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, Georgia State University, 351B Sparks Hall, Atlanta, GA, 30302, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Diem
authors.affiliation: Earth Systems Research Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Morse Hall, Durham, NH, 03824, USA.|Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Palace
authors.affiliation: McGill School of Environment and Department of Anthropology, McGill University, 855 Sherbrook Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T7, Canada.|Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Colin A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Chapman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000351:Africa, Eastern; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001290:Attitude; D044822:Biodiversity; D057231:Climate Change; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D000068316:Parks, Recreational / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D010465:Perception; D011158:Population Growth; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Albertine Rift; Climate variability; Population growth; Protected areas; Risk perception