Livelihood impacts and rangeland access shape community attitudes towards four conservation models in a Tanzanian village

Abstract The effectiveness of conservation areas often depends on the extent to which local people support their implementation. We used mixed methods to assess and contextualize people’s conservation attitudes in a village surrounded by a wildlife corridor and three distinct types of conservation areas in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania: a national park, a wildlife management area (WMA), and a multiple-use ranch. Our study employed questionnaire surveys ( n = 89) and in-depth interviews ( n = 20) to illuminate people’s views. We analyzed the survey data using ordinal logistic regressions to assess demographic factors influencing attitudes and used a grounded theory qualitative approach to analyze the interview data. Across all four areas men held significantly more negative attitudes than women. Participants with formal education were generally more positive towards the national park and respondents with larger farms and livestock holdings held more negative attitudes towards the ranch. Ethnicity was a significant predictor of attitudes towards the WMA. Qualitatively, we found that village residents were primarily concerned with the impacts of conservation on their livelihoods: areas associated with seasonal livestock grazing were favourably received, while those seen to undermine tenure security and increase human-wildlife interactions on village land were viewed in a negative light. While acknowledging the importance of conservation governance and institutional dynamics, we conclude that direct effects on people’s livelihoods and material well-being are perhaps the most important policy-actionable factors affecting people’s attitudes towards conservation areas in this social-political-ecological context.