Download Ex Ante Assessment of Community-based Wildlife Management: A

Ex Ante Assessment of Community-based Wildlife Management: A Case Study from Nepal
Duncan Knowler, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 1S6, tel. 604/291-3421, fax 604/291-4968, [email protected]
[CONTACT AUTHOR]
Jesse Wood, International Financial Institutions, Multilateral Programmes Branch, Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), Ottawa, Canada, tel. 819/997-2546, fax 819/953-5348,
[email protected]
Community-based approaches to biodiversity conservation ensure a share of the benefits accrue to local
communities, thereby providing an incentive for local interest in conservation. Since the characteristics of
individual communities and particular wildlife species vary, the attractiveness of community-based wildlife
management (CBWM) to individual communities varies as well. Initial efforts to promote CBWM did not
always take these fundamental considerations into account and, as a result, early efforts to promote CBWM
experienced mixed success. This paper examines the case of the Himalayan musk deer (Moschos
chrysogaster), an evolutionarily primitive deer-like species indigenous to the Himalayan Mountains that is
listed as endangered under the CITES convention. While habitat loss is a factor, poachers who kill adult
male deer and then extract the valuable musk pod constitute the principle threat. Under CBWM, local
communities would protect and exploit a sub-population of musk deer using a live capture technique to
harvest musk. Drawing on household survey data from Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal, the
willingness of community members to participate in CBWM was modeled using a random utility model
(RUM) approach. The model uses the likely financial payments that would be available and the social
capital and socio-economic characteristics of the households to predict willingness to participate in the
scheme. The study’s main finding is that communities may be interested in participating in CBWM but this
interest cannot be assumed, even if financial rewards are significant. Providing adequate incentives to
overcome the opportunity costs of participation, especially for community leaders, is essential.