Persistent incidences of poaching and its implications on ecosystem functionality and community livelihoods around QENP: case study: Kihihi subcounty

Abstract

This study on the incidences of persistent poaching and its effects on ecosystem functionality and community livelihoods around QENP was conducted in Bukorwe village Kanungu district. The specific objectives of the study were to:( 1) examine the persistent incidences of poaching and its effects on ecosystem functionality and community livelihoods around QENP, (2) Identify the measures being undertaken to reduce the practice of poaching, 3) examine the effects of poaching on ecosystem functionality and on community livelihoods around QENP and 4) investigate the drivers of persistent poaching around QENP. Data was collected using interviews and questionnaires administered to 80 randomly selected respondents. The finding from the study showed that majority of the respondents were males, peasant farmers dominating the occupational carrier and poverty as the major driver to poaching around QENP, the study concludes that there is still a lot of poaching activities carried out around QENP and is continuously driven by poverty, corruption tendencies, high prices, low and weak management coupled with unawareness about the importance of conserving wildlife. Finally, the study recommends to address the challenge of poverty which is cited as the major driver of poaching within communities around QENP, by providing alternative income generating activities are made available for these communities to earn income from for survival other than go poaching.