Trenches like fences make good neighbours: Revenue sharing around Kibale National Park, Uganda

Revenue sharing aims to balance the disadvantages people encounter living next to protected areas while fostering improved conservation behaviours. In Uganda, 20% of protected area entrance fees are shared with local governments to benefit communities adjacent to national parks. The process to distribute funds and implement projects was investigated by interviewing Uganda Wildlife Authority wardens, local government and village residents around Kibale National Park, Uganda. The perceived benefit of revenue sharing by officials and local communities was collected through interviews and a household survey, while the influence of the program on conservation objectives was assessed by measuring illegal resource extraction from the national park adjacent to study villages. It was found that the program is evolving into an effective mechanism for sharing benefits, but that better project management and increased accounting transparency could further improve the program. If the projects specifically dealt with the problem of crop raiding by park-protected animals, then villagers did benefit and lower levels of illegal activity were found inside the park. Generally household perceived benefit was low, however reduced in-park illegal activity was recorded where the village chairperson perceived higher benefit from the program, implying that the village leadership may be influencing the conservation behaviours within the community. Compared with other incentive options such as loss compensation, direct payment, and collaborative management, revenue sharing appears to be an effective and practical choice, given the limited funding available to the wildlife authority to benefit local communities while trying to improve conservation behaviours.