Lessons about parks and poverty from a decade of forest loss and economic growth around Kibale National Park, Uganda
Open accessAbstract
We use field data linked to satellite image analysis to examine the relationship between biodiversity loss, deforestation, and poverty around Kibale National Park (KNP) in western Uganda, 1996–2006. Over this decade, KNP generally maintained forest cover, tree species, and primate populations, whereas neighboring communal forest patches were reduced by half and showed substantial declines in tree species and primate populations. However, a bad decade for forest outside the park proved a prosperous one for most local residents. Panel data for 252 households show substantial improvement in welfare indicators (e.g., safer water, more durable roof material), with the greatest increases found among those with highest initial assets. A combination of regression analysis and matching estimators shows that although the poor tend to be located on the park perimeter, proximity to the park has no measureable effect on growth of productive assets. The risk for land loss among the poor was inversely correlated with proximity to the park, initial farm size, and decline in adjacent communal forests. We conclude the current disproportionate presence of poor households at the edge of the park does not signal that the park is a poverty trap. Rather, Kibale appears to provide protection against desperation sales and farm loss among those most vulnerable.
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Previous studies suggest that both the rate of land-use change and the growth of human populations can be fastest near protected area boundaries.
“Previous studies suggest that both the rate of landuse change and the growth of human populations can be fastest near protected area boundaries ( 13 -16 ), which accelerate the rate of edge degradation through increased livestock production, crop cultivation, and extraction of natural resources such as charcoal and bushmeat.”
From Cross-boundary human impacts compromise the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem (2019) · cites this paper as [14]
The Abstract reports rapid population growth near Kibale’s edge and deforestation beyond its boundaries. The Results (Forest Use and Cover Change) document substantial loss of nearby communal forest patches, but do not show that population growth or land-use change was fastest near the boundary compared with areas farther away. They also report significantly slower deforestation in forests inside the park at its edge than in the communal patches. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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- Authors
- Naughton-Treves, L., Alix-Garcia, J., & Chapman, C. A.
- Affiliations
- Department of Geography, and
- Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706;
- Wildlife Conservation Society (US)
- ORCID
- Chapman, Colin A.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2011-08-22
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- 34
- Pages
- 13919-13924
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3161567
- OpenAlex
- W2036551813
- Cited by
- 174
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 12.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Land Rights and Reforms
- Keywords
- Kibale National Park, protected areas, poverty, deforestation, forest loss, biodiversity loss, primate population, communal forests, household welfare, economic growth, land loss, poverty trap, asset accumulation, primate conservation
- MeSH terms
- Conservation of Natural Resources, Family Characteristics, Geography, Poverty, Time Factors, Trees, Uganda, Ecosystem
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