Consumptive forest use and spatio-temporal abundance of wildlife in George Mukoya and Muduva Nyangana Community Conservancy in Northern Namibia
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Date
2024
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University of Namibia
Abstract
Forests are important to people because they provide socio-economic and ecological
goods and services such as the use of poles for building materials and income through
selling. Studies have shown that the degradation or loss of forests has a direct impact on
wildlife. In rural areas of Namibia, some forests on communal land are managed by the
local communities to provide socio-economic benefits. If not well managed and the use is
not sustainable (inappropriate use), may undermine the long-term ecological value of
forest resources including wildlife. The Khaudum north complex conservancies (George
Mukoya and Muduva Nyangana) were established in 2005 and community forests were
gazetted in 2010. In the year 2012, the government of Namibia through the Ministry of
Environment Forestry and Tourism integrated the wildlife conservancies and community
forests, with the aim of harmonising the two land uses. Since then there were no studies
to assess the community forest use on wildlife species and their habitat thus the need to
conduct this study.
This study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data. Data on wildlife
species abundance and distributions were collected from conservancies’ event books and
game counts. Interviews were used to gather community perceptions on the consequences
of their livelihood strategies on wildlife. A sample size of 293 respondents was obtained
from the two conservancies. To assess the change in wildlife species abundance, the
regression analysis with yearly wildlife group size as a dependent variable was applied.
The distance from nearby settlements, fire intensity, and vegetation cover change as
continuous independent variables; and conservancy (George Mukoya and Muduva
Nyangana), species category (carnivores and herbivores), land use (multiple use and
wildlife exclusive zones) and season (dry and wet) as categorical variables. Satellite
images were used to analyse vegetation cover change and accumulated fire intensity using
change detection analysis and empirical Bayesian kriging interpolation. Average group
size means, and standard errors were calculated and used to determine the associations
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among variables. Contingency tables were used to analyse respondents’ perceptions of
the influences of livelihood strategies and major socio-economic activities on wildlife.
Generally, results showed a decrease in wildlife numbers in the study area between 2013
and 2017 (P <0.001). This was positively associated with vegetation change (P =0.032)
and species category (P < 0.001), negatively by distance from settlement (P = 0.004) and
land use (P < 0.001), but was not fire intensity (P = 0.714) and locality (conservancy) (P
= 0.170). Carnivore density distribution was evenly spread in relation to distance from
settlements, fire intensity, and vegetation change but was more in a wildlife-exclusive zone
than the multiple-use zone. Herbivore distribution was denser in the wildlife-exclusive
zone, more in areas where vegetation cover was high, and increased with increasing
distance from settlements, but was not influenced by fire intensity. In both conservancies,
the majority of respondents were either dependent on crop production (53%) or a
combination of crop production and livestock (30%), with only 18% depending on other
livelihood strategies. When asked what is the impact of their livelihood strategies on
wildlife and its habitat, 75%, 17%, and 8% of the respondents said there no impact,
impact, or no awareness, respectively. When the community was asked, what is the impact
of the services they get from forestry on wildlife and its habitat, 73% of the respondents
said there was no impact whereas 27% indicated that there was a significant impact. The
study showed that the communities of George Mukoya and Muduva Nyangana are aware
of the conservation issues in their areas and can manage wildlife successfully themselves.
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Wildlife Management and Tourism Studies
Keywords
Muduva Nyangana Community Conservancy, George Mukoya, Northern Namibia, Forest use, Wildlife, University of Namibia, Namibia