Impact Assessment of Local Community Involvement in Conservation of Tourism Attraction in Uganda A Case Study Of Mabira Forest

ABSTRACT

This study carried out an investigation on the impact of community involvement in the conservation of tourist attractions in Uganda's case study of Mabira Forest. The objectives of the study were to; To assess the major indigenous practices used by the local community around Mabira forest in conserving the tourist attractions, to identify local Communities' activities that degrade natural resources, and to assess the benefits communities get from conserving the natural resources in Mabira Forest. They employed a descriptive correlation study design which involved both qualitative and quantitative approaches. With regards to this method, a structured questionnaire which was based on simple and understandable questions was used. The study was carried out on a sample of 80 respondents selected using the Solves Sampling formula. The findings showed that responses from the respondents suggested that the communities around Mabira Forest were greatly in the conservation of natural resources. The local people around Mabira wish to take part actively in the decision-making process and wish to have a voice when decisions are made. The findings showed that community participation in tourism attractions management is on practices though in a small scale where people practice afforestation, Natural tree regeneration among others. The research concluded that local people wish to play a role in the conservation decision-making process. The findings have suggested that while local people recognize and acknowledge the need to involve conservation professionals and experts when making decisions about conservation measures, they themselves wish to be involved in the decision-making process. The study is based on the findings from table 9 and figure 8 on pages 30 and 31 that established that there are issues like lack -of incentives, Corruption, shortage of qualified staff, lack of training and information flow on tourist attractions pn;·e~tion which needs to be addressed for the effective involvement of local people in the conservation of natural resources. Therefore the study recommended that government, as well as forest management officials, need to strengthen the strategies to positively respond to these challenges hindering full tourist attra~tion conservation.