Global Ecology and Conservation (Dec 2021)
Assessment of conservation challenges in and around Gibe Sheleko National Park, southwestern Ethiopia
Abstract
Most of Ethiopia’s National Parks are affected by anthropogenic factors. The objective of this study was to assess the major wildlife threatening factors of Gibe Sheleko National Park (GSNP) through semi-structured questionnaire, focus groups discussion and observation. The survey was carried out from December, 2018 to August, 2020. A total of 281 randomly selected household heads from eight Kebeles and 15 Park management staff were interviewed. The identified threats include: overgrazing, expansion of human settlement and agricultural practices, fuelwood collection, source of food (bushmeat, fishes and wild honey) collection, invasive vegetation species, human induced fire, human-wildlife conflict and source of house construction materials. The majority (71.17%) of the respondents used the Park as means of grazing land followed by sources of fuelwood (48.26%). Crop raiding is a serious problem in the study area as stated by 84.46% of the respondents. Identified crop raiders include: olive baboon, vervet monkey, warthog, bushpig, porcupine, hippopotamus and antelope species. About 78.14% of the respondents stated that guarding was the most common type of crop raiders’ protection method. The majority (55.26%) of the respondents had positive attitudes towards conservation of the Park. Significant variation was observed in the types of natural resource utilization, types of human-wildlife conflict, trends of crop damage, population status of crop raiders, methods used to protect crop raiders and their attitudes towards GSNP conservation (P < 0.05). In general, GSNP is exposed to multiple conservation challenges. Therefore, for the sustainability of the Park, cooperation among different stakeholders is essential.
