Nature Preserves Benefit Local Communities

During periods of excessive drought, local herders in northern Kenya, including this woman at the Samburu National Reserve, are allowed access to protected areas, where livestock will share scarce water with elephants and other wildlife. During two recent droughts, 60 percent of the cattle in this primarily pastoral region died, but herding communities on the borders of Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves fared far better as a result of their legal access to parklands.

The study, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, provides evidence that conservation activities can have positive impacts for local communities. The U.C. Berkeley study comes during a period of explosive growth in the creation of nature reserves – a 500 percent increase over the past 30 years. Concerns about park creation and social injustice date back to the days of colonialism, when many reserves started as hunting grounds for the elite.

"The findings counter the perception that park creation comes with high costs and few benefits to marginalized rural populations who lose out when conservation areas restrict their access to traditional lands and natural resources," said George Wittemyer, U.C. Berkeley post-doctoral researcher and an NSF International Research Fellow.

Credit: George Wittemyer, UC Berkeley