Resources use and conservation attitudes of local people in the Western Terai landscape, Nepal

Authors

Nabin Baral, Florida International University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Major/Program

Environmental Studies

First Advisor's Name

Joel T. Heinen

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Mahadev G. Bhat

Third Advisor's Name

David B. Bray

Date of Defense

7-13-2005

Abstract

Two protected areas: Royal Bardia National Park (RBNP) and Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (RSWR) in the Western Terai, Nepal, are under threats due to present political turmoil, uncontrolled immigration, inefficient land reform policies and unsustainable resource use. I did a stratified random questionnaire survey of 234 households to determine how resource use patterns and problems influence conservation attitudes. Chi-square, Student's t, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, and multiple regression were used. There was spatio-temporal variability in resource use patterns and dependency. People were collecting eight and seven types of resources in RBNP and RSWR, respectively. However, people in RBNP were more dependent on resources than RSWR. In both areas, the problem of firewood is serious. The mean attitude score of RBNP (8.4 ± 1.44) was significantly higher than the score of RSWR (7.7 ± 1.66; t = 3.24, p = 0.0007). Conservation attitude was determined by variables such as participation in trainings, wildlife damage, and satisfaction towards user groups.

Identifier

FI14050425

Recommended Citation

Baral, Nabin, "Resources use and conservation attitudes of local people in the Western Terai landscape, Nepal" (2005). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1387.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1387