DIFFERING LOCAL ATTITUDES TOWARD CONSERVATION POLICY: A CASE STUDY OF MAGO NATIONAL PARK, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Communities are now the focal point of conservationist thinking. In this paper I present a recent cooperative attitude of a community toward wildlife conservation in southwestern Ethiopia. Moreover, attempts are made to analyze the historical relationships between the community and the park authority. No severe conflicts arose between the park authority and the villagers until the 1990s. The relationships could have worsened considerably when hunting in the Mago National Park intensified after the regime change in 1991. However, it was also at this point that the villagers began to reduce their direct use of the natural resources in the park. Then, relationships of both sides have taken a new turn. New form of leadership in the community is now able to deal effectively with the conservation issues.