Linking Community Capitals and Capacity to Conservation and Development Outcomes: A Multidimensional Analyisis of Tanzania's Wildlife Management Areas

ABSTRACT In recent years, community‐based conservation approaches have gained popularity as essential tools for enhancing biodiversity conservation while improving community livelihoods. These approaches emphasize the vital role of communities in preserving and sustainably managing natural resources. However, their contribution to strengthening community capacity for conservation and development remains underexplored. This study applies the Community Capital Framework (CCF) to examine how Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), a community‐based conservation initiative in Tanzania, enhance community capacity for conservation and development. Using a multiple case study design, data were collected randomly from selected respondents in two WMAs: Ikona (northern Tanzania) and MBOMIPA (southern Tanzania). Qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated through household surveys and key informant interviews, and analyzed using expert‐driven and data‐driven techniques (Betti & Verma double‐weighting scheme) to generate weights of each community capital. Results indicate that natural and financial capitals are the most important for enhancing community capacity for conservation and development. No significant differences were found between the two WMAs in the contribution of community capital overall. However, the development of financial capital in Ikona WMA has stimulated improvements in physical capital, which in turn have strengthened human capital and supported the development of political, cultural, and social capital. In contrast, MBOMIPA WMA has invested less in financial capital, limiting development of physical capital and subsequent progress in human, political, cultural, and social capitals. The overall Community Capacity Index shows contributions ranging from low (natural and cultural capitals) to moderate (social, physical, human, political, and financial capitals) across WMAs. These findings suggest that WMAs have moderately enhanced community capacity for conservation and development. This study recommends that WMAs invest more evenly across all capitals to significantly strengthen community capacity for conservation and development.