An assessment of environmental conservation and community participation processes in the Big 5 Hlabisa Local Municipality
type: CreativeWork
description: Environmental conservation practices, processes, and strategies are an active area of scholarly research. This is the context within which this study assessed environmental conservation and community participation processes in the Big 5 Hlabisa Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The objectives of the study were to: a) examine the environmental conservation practices and community participation processes adopted by the communities in the Big 5 Hlabisa Local Municipality; b) examine the factors influencing community members‘ participation in environmental conservation in the study area, c) analyse the benefits of community members‘ participation in environmental conservation processes in the study area and d) explore community members‘ perception of land ownership and how this influences the environmental conservation processes. A mixed-methods approach was followed to achieve these objectives involving quantitative and qualitative approaches. It utilised questionnaire surveys and later involved interviews with selected research respondents. Qualitative data was analysed following a thematic approach while quantitative was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings of this thesis indicate that residents were knowledgeable about the value of participating in environmental conservation, and their motivation for involvement emanated from the zeal to protect natural heritage and the progression of indigenous knowledge on conservation and were conversant with the monitoring of wildlife and plant conservation. Their perceptions of benefits showed mixed feelings; mostly on the scarcity of alternative sustainable livelihoods provided to augment forest/land resources acquired for conservation, and the issues of combating invasive plant species (water hyacinth) and seasonal flooding due to climate change. They indicated patriarchy as a factor in disfranchising women in socio-economic activities around the protected areas. Their appare…
abstract: Environmental conservation practices, processes, and strategies are an active area of scholarly research. This is the context within which this study assessed environmental conservation and community participation processes in the Big 5 Hlabisa Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The objectives of the study were to: a) examine the environmental conservation practices and community participation processes adopted by the communities in the Big 5 Hlabisa Local Municipality; b) examine the factors influencing community members‘ participation in environmental conservation in the study area, c) analyse the benefits of community members‘ participation in environmental conservation processes in the study area and d) explore community members‘ perception of land ownership and how this influences the environmental conservation processes. A mixed-methods approach was followed to achieve these objectives involving quantitative and qualitative approaches. It utilised questionnaire surveys and later involved interviews with selected research respondents. Qualitative data was analysed following a thematic approach while quantitative was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings of this thesis indicate that residents were knowledgeable about the value of participating in environmental conservation, and their motivation for involvement emanated from the zeal to protect natural heritage and the progression of indigenous knowledge on conservation and were conversant with the monitoring of wildlife and plant conservation. Their perceptions of benefits showed mixed feelings; mostly on the scarcity of alternative sustainable livelihoods provided to augment forest/land resources acquired for conservation, and the issues of combating invasive plant species (water hyacinth) and seasonal flooding due to climate change. They indicated patriarchy as a factor in disfranchising women in socio-economic activities around the protected areas. Their appare…
author: Akpagu, Chukwudi Francis
license: https://uzspace.unizulu.ac.za/bitstreams/67c1e1af-580c-462e-92e8-ac4eebbceaa8/download
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:17:15Z
provider: University of Zululand
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Zululand