Abstract:
Conservation crimes are posing serious threats to wildlife species and biodiversity of the
Rungwa-Kizigo-Muhesi-Game-Reserves. Devising effective strategies to reduce risks to as
low as reasonably possible of these crimes, calls for adequate information on factors
driving people to commit these crimes. Data for this study were obtained from 315 respondents
in 20 villages and 316 people who were arrested for committing different
conservation crimes in the Rungwa-Kizigo-Muhesi-Game-Reserves. Our results suggest
that arrested respondents were typically young adult males with limited alternative
sources of income and owning virtually no livestock or land. There were heterogeneous
drivers for each type of conservation crime. To address the challenge of conservation
crimes in the Reserve, we recommend, among other strategies, the establishment of
effective conservation education programmes, strengthening law enforcements as a
deterrence method, and development of entrepreneurship skills to enhance employment.
© 2019 Norwegian University of Science & Technology. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
