Towards improved benefit sharing: approaches and processes for assessing and reflecting on the societal impact of biodiversity conservation

Abstract

Protected areas (PAs) must be relevant to broader society to be sustainable. Relevance (meaning and value) is based on vested interest grown through conservation-related benefit accrual that outweighs costs. The full suite of societal impacts of PAs is largely unknown, and there is no framework that accounts simultaneously for positive and negative impacts, both tangible and intangible. This limits the degree to which PA managers can understand (in order to adapt and improve) and report on their real value to society. This study develops a framework that (1) includes both ecosystem services and dis-services provided by protected areas, (2) provides a tool for reporting on benefit sharing to manage trade-offs, and (3) uses two case studies to test framework assumptions of the impact on human wellbeing and biodiversity conservation. The case studies assessed the social and economic impact of (a) resource harvesting (Mopane worm - Imbrasia belina) and (b) conservation-based employment through an Environmental Monitor (EM) programme, both in the context of the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa. The framework demonstrates the skewed nature of costs and benefits, highlighting that most beneficiaries are not those incurring the majority of the costs. Many local residents receive few benefits and incur significant costs. The Mopane worm case recorded both tangible and intangible benefits and costs associated with resource harvesting, highlighting new learning experiences and the creation of new social connections and relationships formed during project participation, as highly valued benefits. Respondents perceived their relationship with the park to be positive and expressed hope for building on this in the future. The EM study recorded both positive (cash, improved health, shelter, improved self-esteem, personal image) and negative (financial and opportunity costs, jealousies) impacts on multiple dimensions of wellbeing, noting significantly more positive impacts than negative at an individual, family and community scale. The EM study results suggest that conservation-based employees could play a role as conservation ambassadors outside of the workplace. This was attributed to the unique programme approach that focuses on learning opportunities, and suggests this has direct implications for conservation success globally as wildlife crime increases. The PhD study concludes that measuring both positive and negative impacts of benefit sharing projects and programmes on the multiple dimensions of human wellbeing is important, experiences that facilitate learning are seen as beneficial by participants and that the social capital built through meeting new people can have mutually beneficial outcomes both for conservation staff, neighbouring communities and conservation. The study developed and tested a framework that provides new insights into processes and approaches leading to more effective benefit sharing, relevant to conservation areas around the globe that aim to implement benefit sharing projects and programmes that contribute positively to human wellbeing while also having positive impacts on conservation