The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Perception of Protected Area Governance and Outcomes: Insights from Local Communities and Experts in Kafta-Sheraro National Park, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Studies on the local community’s perceptions of conservation governance and outcomes have not sufficiently used inferential models to demonstrate the influence of socioeconomic variables on participants’ responses. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of socioeconomic factors on parti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hailay Gebreegziabher Hailemicheal, Feyera Senbeta, Tamirat Tefera Negash, Aseffa Seyoum
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Sustainable Environment
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27658511.2025.2498782
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850122920795308032
author Hailay Gebreegziabher Hailemicheal
Feyera Senbeta
Tamirat Tefera Negash
Aseffa Seyoum
author_facet Hailay Gebreegziabher Hailemicheal
Feyera Senbeta
Tamirat Tefera Negash
Aseffa Seyoum
author_sort Hailay Gebreegziabher Hailemicheal
collection DOAJ
description Studies on the local community’s perceptions of conservation governance and outcomes have not sufficiently used inferential models to demonstrate the influence of socioeconomic variables on participants’ responses. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of socioeconomic factors on participant’s perceptions of conservation governance and outcomes of Kafta-Sheraro National Park. A survey was conducted in 2020 to collect data from 384 heads of families. The study employed ordinal logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression. Although most responses were in a higher response category, the findings reveal significant influence of factors such as education level, number of livestock in tropical livestock unit and conflict with conservation rules are the factors that negatively affect individual’s perceptions of many of governance principles and outcome while affiliation to Kunama ethnicity and farm land are factors that positively influence perceptions. The findings indicate that all higher or lower outcome responses do not mean the governance process is good or bad, as some responses are linked with personal feelings and exposure to governance processes and conservation outcomes. Governance principles or governance aspects have a simultaneous and complementary nature; any negligence or mistake by key players, primarily legislative, interpretive, and executive, in carrying out their roles in the governance process paves the way for the protected areas failure to achieve social and environmental objectives. The study recommended integrated efforts across all government levels to ensure effective conservation, emphasizing the need for rule of law, adequate resources, community outreach, and sustainable livelihood activities and further research.
format Article
id doaj-art-4afa888e00db4490aad7d069c71dde2c
institution OA Journals
issn 2765-8511
language English
publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Sustainable Environment
spelling doaj-art-4afa888e00db4490aad7d069c71dde2c2025-08-20T02:34:43ZengTaylor & Francis GroupSustainable Environment2765-85112025-12-0111110.1080/27658511.2025.2498782The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Perception of Protected Area Governance and Outcomes: Insights from Local Communities and Experts in Kafta-Sheraro National Park, Tigray, Northern EthiopiaHailay Gebreegziabher Hailemicheal0Feyera Senbeta1Tamirat Tefera Negash2Aseffa Seyoum3College of Development Studies, Addis-Ababa University, Addis-Ababa, EthiopiaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Gaborone, BotswanaCollege of Development Studies, Addis-Ababa University, Addis-Ababa, EthiopiaCollege of Development Studies, Addis-Ababa University, Addis-Ababa, EthiopiaStudies on the local community’s perceptions of conservation governance and outcomes have not sufficiently used inferential models to demonstrate the influence of socioeconomic variables on participants’ responses. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of socioeconomic factors on participant’s perceptions of conservation governance and outcomes of Kafta-Sheraro National Park. A survey was conducted in 2020 to collect data from 384 heads of families. The study employed ordinal logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression. Although most responses were in a higher response category, the findings reveal significant influence of factors such as education level, number of livestock in tropical livestock unit and conflict with conservation rules are the factors that negatively affect individual’s perceptions of many of governance principles and outcome while affiliation to Kunama ethnicity and farm land are factors that positively influence perceptions. The findings indicate that all higher or lower outcome responses do not mean the governance process is good or bad, as some responses are linked with personal feelings and exposure to governance processes and conservation outcomes. Governance principles or governance aspects have a simultaneous and complementary nature; any negligence or mistake by key players, primarily legislative, interpretive, and executive, in carrying out their roles in the governance process paves the way for the protected areas failure to achieve social and environmental objectives. The study recommended integrated efforts across all government levels to ensure effective conservation, emphasizing the need for rule of law, adequate resources, community outreach, and sustainable livelihood activities and further research.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27658511.2025.2498782Protected areaperceptionconservation governanceconservation outcomegovernance principlesKunama ethnic group
spellingShingle Hailay Gebreegziabher Hailemicheal
Feyera Senbeta
Tamirat Tefera Negash
Aseffa Seyoum
The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Perception of Protected Area Governance and Outcomes: Insights from Local Communities and Experts in Kafta-Sheraro National Park, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
Sustainable Environment
Protected area
perception
conservation governance
conservation outcome
governance principles
Kunama ethnic group
title The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Perception of Protected Area Governance and Outcomes: Insights from Local Communities and Experts in Kafta-Sheraro National Park, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
title_full The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Perception of Protected Area Governance and Outcomes: Insights from Local Communities and Experts in Kafta-Sheraro National Park, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
title_fullStr The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Perception of Protected Area Governance and Outcomes: Insights from Local Communities and Experts in Kafta-Sheraro National Park, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Perception of Protected Area Governance and Outcomes: Insights from Local Communities and Experts in Kafta-Sheraro National Park, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
title_short The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Perception of Protected Area Governance and Outcomes: Insights from Local Communities and Experts in Kafta-Sheraro National Park, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
title_sort influence of socio economic variables on perception of protected area governance and outcomes insights from local communities and experts in kafta sheraro national park tigray northern ethiopia
topic Protected area
perception
conservation governance
conservation outcome
governance principles
Kunama ethnic group
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27658511.2025.2498782
work_keys_str_mv AT hailaygebreegziabherhailemicheal theinfluenceofsocioeconomicvariablesonperceptionofprotectedareagovernanceandoutcomesinsightsfromlocalcommunitiesandexpertsinkaftasheraronationalparktigraynorthernethiopia
AT feyerasenbeta theinfluenceofsocioeconomicvariablesonperceptionofprotectedareagovernanceandoutcomesinsightsfromlocalcommunitiesandexpertsinkaftasheraronationalparktigraynorthernethiopia
AT tamiratteferanegash theinfluenceofsocioeconomicvariablesonperceptionofprotectedareagovernanceandoutcomesinsightsfromlocalcommunitiesandexpertsinkaftasheraronationalparktigraynorthernethiopia
AT aseffaseyoum theinfluenceofsocioeconomicvariablesonperceptionofprotectedareagovernanceandoutcomesinsightsfromlocalcommunitiesandexpertsinkaftasheraronationalparktigraynorthernethiopia
AT hailaygebreegziabherhailemicheal influenceofsocioeconomicvariablesonperceptionofprotectedareagovernanceandoutcomesinsightsfromlocalcommunitiesandexpertsinkaftasheraronationalparktigraynorthernethiopia
AT feyerasenbeta influenceofsocioeconomicvariablesonperceptionofprotectedareagovernanceandoutcomesinsightsfromlocalcommunitiesandexpertsinkaftasheraronationalparktigraynorthernethiopia
AT tamiratteferanegash influenceofsocioeconomicvariablesonperceptionofprotectedareagovernanceandoutcomesinsightsfromlocalcommunitiesandexpertsinkaftasheraronationalparktigraynorthernethiopia
AT aseffaseyoum influenceofsocioeconomicvariablesonperceptionofprotectedareagovernanceandoutcomesinsightsfromlocalcommunitiesandexpertsinkaftasheraronationalparktigraynorthernethiopia