In recent years, community-based conservation approaches have gained popularity as essential tools for enhancing biodiversity conservation while improving community livelihoods. These approaches emphasize the vital role of communities in preserving and sustainably managing natural resources. However, their contribution to strengthening community capacity for conservation and development remains underexplored. This study applies the Community Capital Framework (CCF) to examine how Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), a community-based conservation initiative in Tanzania, enhance community capacity for conservation and development. Using a multiple case study design, data were collected randomly from selected respondents in two WMAs: Ikona (northern Tanzania) and MBOMIPA (southern Tanzania). Qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated through household surveys and key informant interviews, and analyzed using expert-driven and data-driven techniques (Betti & Verma double-weighting scheme) to generate weights of each community capital. Results indicate that natural and financial capitals are the most important for enhancing community capacity for conservation and development. No significant differences were found between the two WMAs in the contribution of community capital overall. However, the development of financial capital in Ikona WMA has stimulated improvements in physical capital, which in turn have strengthened human capital and supported the development of political, cultural, and social capital. In contrast, MBOMIPA WMA has invested less in financial capital, limiting development of physical capital and subsequent progress in human, political, cultural, and social capitals. The overall Community Capacity Index shows contributions ranging from low (natural and cultural capitals) to moderate (social, physical, human, political, and financial capitals) across WMAs. These findings suggest that WMAs have moderately enhanced community capacity for conservation and development. This study recommends that WMAs invest more evenly across all capitals to significantly strengthen community capacity for conservation and development.
| [1] |
Adams, W. M., and J. Hutton. 2007. “People, Parks and Poverty: Political Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation.” Conservation and society 5, no. 2: 147–183.
|
| [2] |
Ahmad, M. S., and N. B. Abu Talib. 2015. “Empowering Local Communities: Decentralization, Empowerment and Community Driven Development.” Quality & Quantity 49, no. 2: 827–838.
|
| [3] |
Alperin, P. 2009. “MN and Van Kerm. mdepriv-Synthetic Indicators of Multiple Deprivation.” Luxembourg: EPS/INSTEAD, Differdange.
|
| [4] |
Azad, M. J., and B. Pritchard. 2022. “Financial Capital as a Shaper of Households’ Adaptive Capabilities to Flood Risk in Northern Bangladesh.” Ecological Economics 195: 107381.
|
| [5] |
Bennett, J., T. Marandure, H.-J. Hawkins, et al. 2023. “A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Ecosystem Trade-Offs and Synergies, in Communal Rangeland Systems.” Ecosystem Services 61: 101533.
|
| [6] |
Berkes, F. 2004. “Rethinking Community-Based Conservation.” Conservation Biology 18, no. 3: 621–630.
|
| [7] |
Blomley, T., and S. Iddi (2009). Participatory Forest Management in Tanzania: 1993-2009: Lessons Learned and Experiences to Date.
|
| [8] |
Booysen, F. 2002. “An Overview and Evaluation of Composite Indices of Development.” Social Indicators Research 59, no. 2: 115–151.
|
| [9] |
Bottrill, M. C., and R. L. Pressey. 2012. “The Effectiveness and Evaluation of Conservation Planning.” Conservation Letters 5, no. 6: 407–420.
|
| [10] |
de Araujo Lima Constantino, P., H. S. A. Carlos, and E. E. Ramalho, et al. 2012. “Empowering Local People Through Community-Based Resource Monitoring: A Comparison of Brazil and Namibia.” Ecology and Society 17, no. 4: 1–14.
|
| [11] |
Emery, M., and C. Flora. 2006. “Spiraling-Up: Mapping Community Transformation With Community Capitals Framework.” Community Development 37, no. 1: 19–35.
|
| [12] |
Flora, C. B., M. Emery, S. Fey, and C. Bregendahl. 2005. “ Community Capitals: A Tool for Evaluating Strategic Interventions and Projects.” Ames, IA: North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. Retrieved on February, 27, 2007.
|
| [13] |
Flora, C. B., J. Flora, and S. Fey. 2004. Rural Communities: Legacies and Change. Westview Press.
|
| [14] |
Galvin, K. A., T. A. Beeton, and M. W. Luizza. 2018. “African Community-Based Conservation.” Ecology and Society 23, no. 3: art39.
|
| [15] |
Gibbon, M., R. Labonte, and G. Laverack. 2002. “Evaluating Community Capacity.” Health & Social Care in the Community 10, no. 6: 485–491.
|
| [16] |
Gil-Rivas, V., and R. P. Kilmer. 2016. “Building Community Capacity and Fostering Disaster Resilience.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 72, no. 12: 1318–1332.
|
| [17] |
Grossman, M. 1972. “on the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health.” Journal of Political Economy 80, no. 2: 223–255.
|
| [18] |
Gutierrez-Montes, I., M. Emery, and E. Fernandez-Baca. 2009. “The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach and the Community Capitals Framework: The Importance of System-Level Approaches to Community Change Efforts.” Community Development 40, no. 2: 106–113.
|
| [19] |
Heffernan, A. 2016. “Community-Based Natural Resource Management: Strengths and Weaknesses for Sustainable Development and Resource Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
|
| [20] |
Huang, L., C. Liao, X. Guo, Y. Liu, and X. Liu. 2023. “Analysis of the Impact of Livelihood Capital on Livelihood Strategies of Leased-In Farmland Households: A Case Study of Jiangxi Province, China.” Sustainability 15, no. 13: 10245.
|
| [21] |
Kapos, V., A. Balmford, R. Aveling, et al. 2008. “Calibrating Conservation: New Tools for Measuring Success.” Conservation Letters 1, no. 4: 155–164.
|
| [22] |
Kaswamila, A. 2012. “An Analysis of the Contribution of Community Wildlife Management Areas on Livelihood in Tanzania.” Sustainable Natural Resources Management 10: 32987.
|
| [23] |
Kegamba, J. J., K. K. Sangha, P. Wurm, and S. T. Garnett. 2022. “A Review of Conservation-Related Benefit-Sharing Mechanisms in Tanzania.” Global Ecology and Conservation 33: e01955.
|
| [24] |
Kicheleri, R. P., T. Treue, G. C. Kajembe, F. M. Mombo, and M. R. Nielsen. 2018. "Power Struggles in the Management of Wildlife Resources: The Case of Burunge Wildlife Management Area, Tanzania." Wildlife Management-Failures, Successes and Prospects.
|
| [25] |
Kimaro, M. H., and C. Hughes. 2025. “Conditions of Conflict: Exploring Pastoralist Resettlement In Relation to African Lion Conservation.” Society & Natural Resources 38, no. 4: 352–373.
|
| [26] |
Kline, C., N. McGehee, and J. Delconte. 2019. “Built Capital as a Catalyst for Community-Based Tourism.” Journal of Travel Research 58, no. 6: 899–915.
|
| [27] |
Lietz, C. A., and L. E. Zayas. 2010. “Evaluating Qualitative Research for Social Work Practitioners.” Advances in Social Work 11, no. 2: 188–202.
|
| [28] |
Löning, L. 2018. Economic Growth, Biodiversity Conservation, and the Formation of Human Capital in a Developing Country: The Case of Guatemala. Peter Lang International Academic Publishers.
|
| [29] |
Mappatoba, M., and R. Birner. 2004. Co-management of Protected Areas: The Case of Community Agreements on Conservation in the Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Cuvillier Verlag.
|
| [30] |
Mazziotta, M., and A. Pareto. 2017. “ Synthesis of Indicators: The Composite Indicators Approach.” In Complexity in Society: From Indicators Construction to Their Synthesis, 159–191. Springer.
|
| [31] |
McNeil, M. L., and M. J. Woolcock. 2004. Capacity Enhancement for Social Development: Building on Local Context and Process. World Bank Institute Washington.
|
| [32] |
Moore, C. C., T. P. Holmes, and K. P. Bell. 2011. “An Attribute-Based Approach to Contingent Valuation of Forest Protection Programs.” Journal of Forest Economics 17, no. 1: 35–52.
|
| [33] |
Moser, C., and G. Kalton. 2017. “ Question Wording.” In Research Design, 140–155. Routledge.
|
| [34] |
Mountjoy, N. J. 2014. Community-Based Natural Resource Management: Group Capacity, Resource Management Planning and Assessing Success. Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
|
| [35] |
Mumaw, L. M., C. Maller, and S. Bekessy. 2019. “Assessing and Strengthening Community Capacity Building in Urban Biodiversity Conservation Programs.” Cities and the Environment 12, no. 2: 4.
|
| [36] |
Narayan-Parker, D. 2002. Empowerment and Poverty Reduction: A Sourcebook. World Bank Publications.
|
| [37] |
Nelson, F., and A. Agrawal. 2008. “Patronage or Participation? Community-Based Natural Resource Management Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Development and Change 39, no. 4: 557–585.
|
| [38] |
Nelson, F., R. Nshala, and W. Rodgers. 2007. “The Evolution and Reform of Tanzanian Wildlife Management.” Conservation and Society 5, no. 2: 232–261.
|
| [39] |
Niehof, A. 2004. “The Significance of Diversification for Rural Livelihood Systems.” Food Policy 29, no. 4: 321–338.
|
| [40] |
Ostrom, E. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press.
|
| [41] |
Palomo, I. 2017. “Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Services in High Mountain Areas: A Literature Review.” Mountain Research and Development 37, no. 2: 179–187.
|
| [42] |
Pigg, K., S. P. Gasteyer, K. E. Martin, K. Keating, and G. P. Apaliyah. 2013. “The Community Capitals Framework: An Empirical Examination of Internal Relationships.” Community Development 44, no. 4: 492–502.
|
| [43] |
Putnam, R., I. Light, X. de Souza Briggs, et al. 2004. “Using Social Capital to Help Integrate Planning Theory, Research, and Practice: Preface.” Journal of the American Planning Association 70, no. 2: 142–192.
|
| [44] |
Raymond, C. M., and J. Cleary. 2013. “A Tool and Process That Facilitate Community Capacity Building and Social Learning for Natural Resource Management.” Ecology and Society 18, no. 1: art25.
|
| [45] |
Reinert, H., and T. A. Benjaminsen. 2015. “Conceptualising Resilience in Norwegian Sámi Reindeer Pastoralism.” Resilience 3, no. 2: 95–112.
|
| [46] |
Salzman, J., G. Bennett, N. Carroll, A. Goldstein, and M. Jenkins. 2018. “The Global Status and Trends of Payments for Ecosystem Services.” Nature Sustainability 1, no. 3: 136–144.
|
| [47] |
Seixas, C. S., and B. Davy. 2008. “Self-Organization in Integrated Conservation and Development Initiatives.” International Journal of the Commons 2, no. 1: 99–125.
|
| [48] |
Sen, A. 1999. “Health in Development.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 77, no. 8: 619–623.
|
| [49] |
Songorwa, A. N., T. Bührs, and K. F. Hughey. 2000. “Community-Based Wildlife Management in Africa: A Critical Assessment of the Literature.” Natural Resources Journal 1: 603–643.
|
| [50] |
Ssenku, J. E., S. A. Okurut, A. Namuli, et al. 2022. “Medicinal Plant Use, Conservation, and the Associated Traditional Knowledge in Rural Communities in Eastern Uganda.” Tropical Medicine and Health 50, no. 1: 39.
|
| [51] |
Stone, L. S., and T. M. Stone. 2011. “Community-Based Tourism Enterprises: Challenges and Prospects for Community Participation; Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust, Botswana.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism 19, no. 1: 97–114.
|
| [52] |
Stone, M. T., and G. P. Nyaupane. 2018. “Protected Areas, Wildlife-Based Community Tourism and Community Livelihoods Dynamics: Spiraling Up and Down of Community Capitals.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism 26, no. 2: 307–324.
|
| [53] |
Talmage, C. A., M. M. Mars, B. J. Hains, K. D. Hains, and B. K. Ashdown. 2024. “Pushing Against a Future Dark Side for Community Development: An Editorial Call to Action.” Community Development 55, no. 3: 310–324.
|
| [54] |
Torkayesh, A. E., F. Ecer, D. Pamucar, and Ç. Karamaşa. 2021. “Comparative Assessment of Social Sustainability Performance: Integrated Data-Driven Weighting System and CoCoSo Model.” Sustainable Cities and Society 71: 102975.
|
| [55] |
Weizman, R., C. A. Talmage, B. Allgood, and C. Barylak. 2023. “Reconciling Culture and Conservation of Wildlife: Field Insights Regarding Sustainable Community Development Projects and Stakeholder Well-Being.” Sustainable Development 31, no. 1: 223–236.
|
| [56] |
Wilfred, P. 2010. “Towards Sustainable Wildlife Management Areas in Tanzania.” Tropical Conservation Science 3, no. 1: 103–116.
|
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
2025 The Author(s). Integrative Conservation published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG).
PDF
