Assessing attitudes towards gorilla conservation via employee interviews

Area of Science:

• Conservation Biology
• Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management
• Primate Ecology

Background:

• Effective conservation requires monitoring biological variables and assessing local community attitudes and behaviors.
• Understanding the impact of employment on local perceptions of wildlife and conservation is crucial for strategy development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how employment in conservation projects influences staff attitudes toward gorillas and conservation.
• To determine if employment leads to behavioral changes related to conservation and wildlife interaction.

Main Methods:

• Semistructured interviews were conducted with employees at two field sites: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, and Loango National Park, Gabon.
• The study examined changes in staff perceptions of gorillas, from viewing them as dangerous to seeing them more positively, sometimes as kin.

Main Results:

• Employment generally fostered more positive attitudes towards gorillas and conservation, with economic value being the most cited, alongside intrinsic and existence values.
• Loango staff, unlike Bwindi staff, reported behavioral changes in hunting and bushmeat consumption, linked to local cultural practices.
• Bwindi staff exhibited broader conservation outlooks, potentially due to factors like education, tenure, and less negative wildlife impact.

Conclusions:

• Conservation initiatives should emphasize gorillas' non-dangerous nature (if unprovoked) and human-like traits to foster positive values.
• Economic incentives and mitigation of negative wildlife impacts (e.g., crop raiding) are essential for successful conservation engagement with local communities.