Walking the tight rope of local conservation practices : the challenge of both preserving wildlife and increasing human well-being simultaneously

Abstract: Wildlife conservation is a critical global environmental challenge. Understanding the local community’s perceptions about wildlife is crucial for any wildlife conservation project. This thesis studies the environmental values and practices of the pastoralist community in Ethiopia that has established wildlife preservation practices of its own and preserved wildlife in its area, a rarity among the pastoralist communities in the Horn of African region. The research looked at community perception and understandings towards wildlife and traditional institutions, norms, and values that have helped preserve wildlife resources. The study uses ethnography as a method of understanding this community’s perception of wildlife. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic that restricted travel to the site in 2020/21, the study undertook remote data collection with the support of two field assistants utilizing Cyber-ethnography. This study finds that the members of the community perceive wildlife as a common“group” property. It also finds that people perceive that wildlife has multiple values, and some wildlife species have special meaning to the community, such as the prediction journey safety. Yet, although the community has strong norms of not killing wildlife, its conservation practices marginalize some subsections of the society. In addition, it does not have a legally recognized system of governance with formal rules that regulate the resource sustainably. Therefore, the study points to creating multilevel organizations such as national, regional, and district level institutions to manage the resources equitably and sustainably. For research, some wildlife has socio-cultural significance, and others have ecological, ethical significance for the community, and this calls for deeper understanding and insights into the relation of the community and wildlife in the wider region. For policy implications, the study revealed the vulnerability of the wildlife as development projects and human settlement increase in the area. Also, the climate change effects such as recycling droughts, floods, and traditionally unknown diseases are rising. Commercialization of wildlife meat was also reported in some places. These call for conservation intervention to save the wildlife from disappearing. The study recommends creating a multi-stakeholder intervention based on community needs and involvement in managing the resources. These interventions should note and promote the community’s cultural, ecological, and ethical wildlife values.