local communities knowledge perception of conservation and perceptions of conservation and ecotourism around mabira forest reserve

Description

The purpose of the study was to assess the Local Communities Knowledge and Perceptions of Conservation and Ecotourism around Mabira Forest Reserve The study objectives were to; identify the ecotourism activities that the communities adjacent Mabira forest are involved in, examine the benefits local communities get from awareness of ecotourism conservation and conservation efforts, and assess the local communities’ perception on ecotourism and conservation. The study adopted a comprised of both qualitative and quantitative methods to asses the local communities’ knowledge and perception of conservation and ecotourism in Mabira central forest reserve. A descriptive research design was used in which a sample survey was used to collect information using questionnaires and observations. These instruments are preffered because they are considered reliable access to relevant information of the study. The study established that; most of the people are farmers however this is not most current cases around Mabira as people now engage in timber cutting, hunting and mixed farming, the main socio-Economic activities of the respondents were mixed farming, livestock keeping and timber cutting, humans and wildlife plus livestock had the same grazing area, co-existences between wildlife and livestock patterns are regulated in a way that necessary to maintain wildlife, cultivation is bad and use practice to wildlife and conserve wildlife, Settlements were found in open community area and not in the forest, no new wildlife species eco-growths in the study zone which were not present in the past or migrated. The study concluded that; livestock has no effect on wildlife but increase in human settlement and cultivation has, common vegetations of the mitoma trees had a highest density, there is more collection between wildlife population and settlement than that between wildlife and livestock, conservation area that’s to say forests have declined, a local extinction of tree species like the Mivule and the Mitoma, and wild life, human and livestock were found in areas that have less habitat destruction. The study recommended that ; there is need for Law enforcement, Family planning, Income generation projects.