Community based factors affecting community wildlife conservancy in achieving ecotourism, merti sub- county, isiolo county, Kenya
International Journal of Development Research
Community based factors affecting community wildlife conservancy in achieving ecotourism, merti sub- county, isiolo county, Kenya
Received 09th January, 2017; Received in revised form 27th February, 2017; Accepted 24th March, 2017; Published online 30th April, 2017
Copyright©2017, Bett Philemon et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This study focused on the challenges facing community wildlife conservancy in promoting ecotourism in Isiolo County, Kenya. Community based wildlife conservancy has become a popular approach especially in Africa since it has been found to be effective in conservation of wildlife outside protected areas and for ecotourism developments. However, the community based wildlife conservation approach faces a number of challenges undermining its achievement of goals in ecotourism activities. Thus, the study establishes challenged and appropriate remedies to enhance the benefits for the community and the nation as well as sustain the biodiversity for future generation. The objectives of the study were to establish community based factors that affect community wildlife conservancy in achieving ecotourism. This study was guided by two theories; Rational Choice Theory and Social Exchange Theory.. It had a sample size of 120 respondents recruited through stratified random sampling. Data for this study was obtained from both secondary and primary sources. The data from the fieldwork was collected through both interview schedules and focus group discussion. Data collected from the field was analyzed using SPSS and Excel, and presented in percentages, tables, bar graphs, frequency tables and pie charts. This study revealed that ecotourism promotion by community wildlife conservancy was challenged by both community and cultural based factors which can be avoided and eradicated. The study also revealed that, community needs to be informed on the benefits of wildlife conservation and the procedures of compensation in the event of human wildlife conflict this will eliminate issues of revenge attack and wildlife poisoning. The study recommends inclusion of wildlife conservation and ecotourism study in school curriculum.. The study also recommends strong local community and all stakeholders’ participation to eradicate challenges in ecotourism promotion by community wildlife conservancies to earn maximum benefits from the initiative.
