The CE method is an application of Lancaster's theory of value (Tudela &

Leos, 2017), associated with the theory of random utility with deterministic
rules (Colombo, Bush, & Hanley, 2014; Van, Thi, & Hoang, 2017), which
enables estimations of the implicit importance of the attributes of a good
from the last choice of participants. To this end, the interviewees were
presented with four choice alternatives (status quo alternative, A, B, and C)
referring to the state of the environmental good, and were asked to choose
their preferred alternative (Tudela & Leos, 2017; Palhazi, Kessels, Goos, &
Sorensen, 2016)

Your research questions focus on willingness to pay (WTP), participation,

livelihood impacts, and challenges related to the Borena Saynt Werehimeno
National Park. This helps narrow down the search for relevant literature.
Here's a refined approach to finding the best research, tailored to your
specific questions:

I. Willingness to Pay (WTP) for Conservation:

Keywords: "contingent valuation," "willingness to pay," "protected
area," "national park," "Ethiopia," "community attitudes,"
"conservation," "payment for ecosystem services," "choice
modeling," "benefit valuation," "discrete choice experiment."

II. Community Participation in Conservation:

 Keywords: "community participation," "stakeholder engagement,"

"protected area management," "conservation," "Ethiopia," "local
communities," "participation levels," "co-management," "CBNRM
(Community-Based Natural Resource Management)."

III. Livelihood Impacts of Conservation:

 Keywords: "livelihood impacts," "protected areas," "conservation," "Ethiopia," "local

communities," "income," "food security," "poverty," "resource access," "human-wildlife
conflict," "sustainable livelihoods," "vulnerability," "resilience."
IV. Challenges and Responsive Measures:

 Keywords: "challenges," "protected area management," "conservation," "Ethiopia,"

"local communities," "human-wildlife conflict," "resource scarcity," "governance,"
"community perceptions," "adaptive management," "conflict resolution."

Economic Valuation and Livelihood Impacts of Ecotourism Resource Conservation

Practices: The Case of Borena Sayint Worehimeno National Park, North-Central Ethiopia
1.3 Research question
Therefore, given these limitations in methodologies, data types, and location-specific studies this
dissertation aims to fill this lacuna and addresses five key research questions:
 How much are households’ willingness to pay for the improvements of Borena Sayint
Werehimeno National Park ecotourism resource conservation practices?
 What are the determinants of households’ willing to pay for ecotourism resource
conservation practices in the park?
 Is there preferences heterogeneity among local residents for ecotourism resource
conservation program design in the park?
 What are the factors affect local communities’ participation and involvement in ecotourism
resource conservation practices in the park?
 What are the impacts of ecotourism resource conservation on the local community livelihood
around the park?
 What are the challenges and responsive measures proposing by local communities to improve
the management of conservation practices in the study areas?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
1.4.1 General Objective
The general objective of the study is to assess rural households' willingness to pay for ecotourism
resource conservation program and its impact on local livelihoods: A Case Study of Borena
Saynt Werehimeno National Park, North-central, Ethiopia.
1.4.2 Specific Objectives
The specific objectives of this study are

 To estimate a household’s willingness to pay for improvements of Borena Saynt

Werehimeno National Park ecotourism resource conservation practices
 To identify the determinants of households’ willingness to pay for ecotourism resource
conservation practices in Borena Saynt Werehimeno National Park
 To assess the factors influencing local communities’ participation in ecotourism resource
conservation practices at Borena SayntWerehimeno National Park,
 To analyse the impact of ecotourism resource conservation on the local community
livelihood around the park.
 To assess the challenges and responsive measures proposing by local communities to
improve the effectiveness of conservation practices in the study areas.
 PART - TWO
Estimate households' willingness to pay for improvements of conservation practices in
Borena SayintWerehimeno National Park.
Identify the factors influencing households' willingness to pay for conservation of the park.
Examine preference heterogeneity among local residents for conservation program design
attributes
Investigate factors affecting local community involvement in conservation practices.
Assess the impact of conservation practices on the livelihoods of surrounding communities.
1. Estimate Households' WTP: Assess households' willingness to pay for enhanced ecosystem
services conservation in Borena Saynt Werehimeno National Park and identify the factors
influencing this willingness.

2. Analyze Community Participation: Examine the factors affecting local communities'

involvement in conservation practices, focusing on their perceptions and attitudes toward the
management of Borena Saynt Werehimeno National Park.

3. Evaluate Impact on Livelihoods: Assess how community participation in protected area

management influences local livelihoods.

For this specific study, our target groups are the three districts of south wollo zone
(Borena ,Sayint and MahaleSayint districts). Purposive sampling technique is employing to
select the sample kebeles from the selecting districts based on the recommendation of the park
officials by considering the level interaction, distance and dependency on the national park.
Kebele means the smallest governmental administrative unit of the district in the study area.
Eight kebeles, out of the selecting districts (Chirkose, Anferfra, Jelesa, Degahawi, Degadibi,
Abu, janaberu and Mskabea) from Borena, 3 kebele (Samyie, Kotet, and Wejed) from Mehal
Saynt and 1 kebele (Beja-Chilaga) from Saynt district are selecting to collect data of the
research. Simple random sampling technique wills also using to select the respondent
households. The sample size of the respondents is 5% of the total households from each selecting
kebele. Based on this, 152 sample households are selecting for household’s survey from the total
lists of households in twelve kebeles (Table 1).

Table 1 Sample households from selected kebele

District Sample Village Total Sample Sampled
kebeles Households Proportion (%) households (n)
Borena Jelesa, 4399 14.29 55
Anferfra 5536 17.92 69
Degahawi
Dega-Dibi
Janiberu
Miskabe
Libanos
Chirkose
Abu
Mehal-Saynt Kotet,
Wozedi,
Samagn
Saynt - Beja-chilaga 5536
Adjebar
Total 6 11 13
Source: (CSA, 2007) and Calculated result on base of study sample.
Data collection techniques
Data collection will be conducting starting from January 2015 to March 2025. Data are
collecting using household survey, key informant interview, field observation, and focused group
discussion (FGD). These are the most important data collection method to measure attitude or
outlook and perception of local communities for many scientific studies.
I. Household survey
The sample respondents from the selecting households are selecting by using simple random
sampling, which is conducting by giving codes to the whole households and using lottery method
that gives equal chance for all households to be selecting. After completion of selecting sample
respondents the questionnaire is distributing.
Different age groups, educational background, distance from the park, and source of income are
including in the questionnaire. Questionnaires are translating to Amharic language. Before
performing the interview, half day training is giving for data collectors on how they can collect
valuable data for the research. A clear explanation about the objective of the study is giving for
the interviewee in order to minimize underestimation and overestimation of the research as well
as to build trust among the respondents.
II. Focus group discussion
The FGD will be using as a complementary for household survey (i.e. questionnaires).
The information will be collecting on how local communities perceive wildlife, existence of
national park, how they access and use the national park (grass, water and forest), the co-existence of
wildlife and communities and as a whole how both local communities and wildlife benefit from the
national park [23]. One FGD will be conducting in each selected sample kebele. The group size in each
focus group discussion will be varying from 10 to15 people including moderator [26].
One FGD will be conducting on each selecting kebele. In each FGD two community leaders, four elders
of villages, two experts from the park, one from culture and tourism office of each district, and one from
government administrators were selected and discussed on changes, problems, historical perspective and
the effects of the park establishment on their well-being. FGD participants will be selecting based on their
age, knowledge about the area and duration of residency in the study area [13]. Community
leaders and local translators participating for better achievement of discussion. Information will be
collecting from group discussion summarize using a text analysis method.
III. Key informant interview
This form of interviews is less strictly formulating questionnaires that can provide the participants with a
more relaxing atmosphere to express their thought. In selecting key informants, the first step is to identify
the relevant groups from which they can be drawing. The second step in this process is to select a few
informants from each group. The common practice is to consult several well orienting persons in order to
prepare a list of the possible informants. The list is large enough to include substitutes in case some
informants are not available. During the interviews, key informants tend to suggest names of other
persons who, in their opinion, are excellent key informants.
IV. Field observation
For the sake of getting adequate and relevant information about the perception and attitude of local
communities, observation on what people are doing on their daily activities for their livelihoods, an
overview of their living environment, and interaction local communities with the park will be conducting.
Moreover, observations of what people have and don’t have, and who does exploration of what local
people do, when and for how much, are assess for identification of major reasons for conflict.
Data analysis
All the collected data will be analyzing using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software
version 26. Data will be coding and interpreting to make it simple for SPSS analysis. Descriptive
statistics will be using to describe respondents’ socio-economic information, major determinant factors
for perception and attitude of the local communities in the study area. Inferential statistics particularly
chi-square of test will use in defining relationships between variables considered to draw relevant
conclusions about the population and describe the relationship of different variable with the
attitude and perceptions of the local communities about conservation value of GSNP.
Sampling design and method of data collection
The design of the study is a mixed study design taking a relevant number of sample sizes from
the study population. 8,290 individuals in 1,190 households living in 35 village clusters of 13
peasant associations (PAs) at the forest margin of the adjoining districts are taking as the study
population (CSA, 2008) (Figure 1). Snowball sampling of 100 elders living at the ‘Tikurden’ and
‘Guassa’ interfaces of the two districts are making to collect primary qualitative data on
descriptions of cultural and historical spots with potential for ecotourism value. A semi-
structured interview schedule is using to retrieve individual informants’ recitations, and this is
later confirming through focus group discussion. Each of the features is spotting, visually
observing and readings of coordinate pairs of each spot take using GPS Garmin 60. Pictures of
relevant spots are taking using an Olympus Master 2 camera. Secondary data fetching from the
CSA and EMA will be using to estimate the study population and locate the sampling village
clusters on the map of the national park and adjacent localities.
Method of Data Analysis

Data will be collecting through various methods will be analyzing by using both descriptive
statistics and inferential model, to draw meaningful inferences about the problem using through
semi structure techniques. Descriptive statistical analysis: depending on the available data at
hand, data will be coding, and subjecting to analysis using descriptive statistics tools, such as the
mean, standard deviation, percentage, frequency of occurrence, and Chi-square and Independent
Sample T Tests. These tools are uses to categorize and present quantitative data collecting
through the structured interview schedule. In fact, these made possible for the comparison and
contrasting different categories of the sample units with respect to their desiring characteristics
through SPSS version 20 software.
Binary Logistic Regression Model will be using to identify variables determining participation
and Non participation Behavior of small holder farmers. And models estimation of the
econometric model, multicollinearity test for both continuous and dummy/categorical variables
will be conducting to check possible associations among independent variables (Gujarati,
2004).A statistical package SPSS version 20 will be employing to compute the variables values
Therefore, in this study a binary logistic regression model is using to analyze the demographics
and socio-economic characteristics factors influencing farmer’s decision to participants for
PAM, in Borena saynt werehimeno national park north central Ethiopia.

The logistic distribution function for analyzing willing to participate or not participate will be
defining as:

1
PBIB = ………………………………………………..(1)
1+ e−z

Where PBIB is the probability of being willing to cooperate for the iPth P user and Z BIB is a
function of m explanatory variables ( X BIB), and expressing as:

Z BIB= β BO B + βB1BXB1B + βB2BXB2B + ---- + βBmBXBmB .................…...... (2)

Where β BO B is the intercept and β Bi B are the slope parameters in the model. The slope tells
how the log-odds in favor of being willing to cooperate for PAM change as independent
Variables change. Since the conditional distribution of the outcome variable follows a binomial
distribution with a probability given by the conditional mean PBIB , interpretation of the
coefficient will be understandable if the logistic model can be rewritten in terms of the odds and
log of the odds, (Gujarati, 2004). The odds to be used will be defining as the ratio of the
probability that a forest user will cooperate ( PBIB ) to the probability that he/she will not (1- PBIB ).

The binary logistic model Responses to a question in relation to choice of being participate or not
participate, such as whether park resource user wants to be a participant of PAM or not can be
'yes' or 'no'. This is a typical case of dichotomous variable. A variety of statistical models will be
using to establish a relationship between factors and user's willingness to participate to manage
park resources. Binary Logistic Regression Model will be using to identify variables determining
decision making behavior of park users. And the empirical estimation of the econometric model,
multicollinearity test for both continuous and dummy/categorical variables will be conducting to
check possible associations among independent variables. The two measures are often suggesting
testing the existence of multicollinearity.

These are Variance Inflation Factor for association among the continuous variables and
contingency coefficients for dummy/categorized variables. VIF shows how the variance of an
estimator is inflated by the presence of multicollinearity (Gujarati, 2004).A statistical package
SPSS version 20 will be employing to compute the VIF values. As a rule of thumb, if the VIF of
a variable exceeds 10, there is multicollinearity. To avoid serious problems of multicollinearity,
it is quite essential to omit the variable with value 10 and more from the logit analysis (Gujarati,
2004) These are Variance Inflation Factor for association among the continuous variables and
contingency coefficients for dummy/categorized variables (Gujarati, 2004).Moreover, it is easy
to interpret and it is a reasonable procedure even if some of the assumptions underlying it are not
met in the data (see Annex table 4.1).

Contingency coefficients, which measure the association between dummy/categorical variables,

will be computed. The values of contingency coefficients ranges between 0 and 1, with zero
indicating no association between the variables and the values close to 1, indicating a high
degree of association. Based on the correlation coefficient results, as it is showing in Table 4.2
there is no serious problem of association among the dummy/categorical explanatory variables.

Different goodness of-fit tests are also the other procedure, which are conducting to measure
how the model adequately fits the data (see annex Table 4.1). As can be seen in (Table 5), as a
first measure the likelihood ratio statistics exceeds the chi-square critical value at less than 1%
probability level. As a second measure, the value of Pearson chi-square test shows the overall
goodness of fit of the model at less than 5% probability level. Another measure of goodness of fit
of the model is based on a scheme that classifies the predicted value of events as one if the
estimated probability of an event is equal or greater than 0.5 and 0 otherwise. From all sample
respondents, 86.9 are correctly predicting into participants and non- participants categories by
the model.

Binary Logistic regression has got advantage over others in the analysis of dichotomous outcome
variables. There are two primary reasons for choosing the logistic distribution. These are 1) from
a mechanical point of view, it is an extremely flexible and easily used function, and 2) it lends
itself to a meaningful interpretation. Therefore, in this study a binary logistic regression model
will be using to analyze the factors influencing farmer’s decision to participate or not
participate on PAM, in the study area. Socio-economic status of the people is one of the barriers
which limit local people’s participation in participatory protected area management. In this
study, it is revealing that socio-economic characteristics of the park user group members under
participatory protected area management scheme affect the community participation. This
section presents the profile of the sample respondents with regard to the Annual income, duration
of the residence, forest dependent, Landholding size, Livestock holding size, distance of home
and market from the forest, and perception of the respondents in the study area.

Description of Variables and Respective Hypothesis

Dependent variable
Participation is the dependent variable of this study. Participation is operationalizing as the
involvement of a community in PAM.
In Dependent variable: The description of variables using in this study is presenting below with
their respective hypotheses. Demographic and socio-economic factors determining a supportive
participation toward participation and Non participation to national park conservation system. In
this study we hypothesize that respondents‟ participation of a given dimension of management is
influencing by membership to social groups sex, Age, family size, level of education, duration of
residence, total land holding, Annual income, Distance of forest to market, Distance of forest to
home, livestock ownership, forest dependent, perception of forest benefits from forest resources.
Description of Variables and Respective Hypothesis

Age Refer to age of the household head in years. The age between 28-38 years individuals
realize that it is their responsibility to contribute to community activities whilst running their
households according to the survey and they actively participate in forest conservation through
community participation.

Sex Refers to the sex of the household head, and it is a continuous variable. Female-headed
households benefit less from community forests; in addition, women suffer more in the absence
of rules for equitable distribution of benefits. Therefore, this variable will be hypothesizing that
women headed households show high participants than their male. B/se equally sharing
responsibilities in participation of women and men in PAM.
Family size Refers to the number of members who are currently living within the family and this
variable is continuous. It is an indicator for availability of labor providing that the majority of the
family members are within the age range of active labor force. Availability of labor in the
household is one of the important resources in collective forest management. Based on this
assumption, this variable is hypothesizing to have positive relationship with collective forest
management.

Education this variable represents the years of the household 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12. The study
assumes that forest users who have relatively high levels of education are more likely to form
groups for collective forest management positively because they understand the danger of
ecological and social crises of forest destruction. Therefore relatively educating households show
better participation for collective forest management

Annual income this refers to annual farm income obtained from sale of forest products and it is
continuous variable. An economic variable like income is important when households have to
make a fair contribution to community activities. Thus, expecting hypothesis was when the
household income increases the individual tendency to participate in collective action increases
participate positively to PFM activities.

Landholding Refers to the area of land the household owned and it is measuring in ha. It is a
continuous variable. Thus, expecting hypothesis testing will be people with large landholding
decrease the probability of individuals‟ trusting behavior in the community. Thus, it will be
expecting that Landholding of the household has negative with the participation of collective
forest management.

Livestock holding size refers the highest number of livestock owning by the households and it is
measuring in number. Respondents who have high amount of Livestock and feed resources have
a negative impact on participation in forest management activities will increase the intensity of
participation, the probability of participation in participatory forest management.

Distance of home from forest was measured by the time spent to reach the forest and it is
continuous variable. For those who are far away from the forest, it may be difficult to equally
participate with those who are inside the forest in forest protection; hence, respondents who
travel for an hours to reach the forest may decide not to participate. Thus, it will be expecting
hypothesis that respondents far from the forest would have no interested to participate in PFM.
Distance from market will be measuring by the walking time from the nearby markets. Market
integration is important for raising rural income and forest values. Distance can affect negative
collective action on forest management activities.

Perception of the community will be measuring by the level of understanding of the

community about the major activities in formation of PFM. The perceptions of the community
towards PFM positively affect collective action to participate to forest management activities.

Duration of residence in the locality this refers to the household's duration of stay in the village
and it is continuous variable. New settlers to a region may simply learn and accept the rules of
the established group, and their cultural differences do not affect their participation in governing
a forest. On the other hand, new settlers are frequently highly disruptive to the sustenance of a
self-governing enterprise. The difference in the skills and knowledge of different kinds of users
frequently prevents them from arriving at agreements about how to allocate harvesting quotas
over time. Thus, it will be expecting that that duration of stay in the locality positively for PFM.

Forest dependence Most of the users of timber and non-timber forest products engaging in
different livelihood would be depend on forest activities to change their livelihoods of the
household. The expecting hypothesis that respondents with high forest dependence had negative
attitudes towards managing the forest via participatory approach..
Theory of Planned Behavior
The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is now the most extensively used social-psychological
model [38]. It is particularly well suited to explain environmental behavioral intentions [39].
This theoretical model originated from the field of social psychology, and it is based on the
concepts of beliefs, attitudes, norms, perceptions, and behavior [40]. TPB provides a sound
foundation for predicting behavioral intentions by measuring the underlying determinants of the
associating behavior: attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control [41].
An attitude towards a behavior will be a positive or negative evaluation of the performance of the
behavior [40]. Subjective norm is the person’s perception of what others think of a particular
behavior [40, 42]. It is a function of normative beliefs and the motivation to comply with what a
person considering to be important or influential (e.g., village elder, family member, group
leader) thinks is appropriate behavior [43]. For example, according to TPB, a person would be
more likely to support a PA if he or she believes that his or her family or leaders would also
support it, although such a perception may not reflect what others actually think. Perceived
behavioral control (PBC) recognizes that one’s positive attitudes do not necessarily lead to action
[40, 42]. It is a measure of the perceptions of their abilities to perform a given behavior [44].
PBC explains that a person’s positive attitudes and intentions can be effectively hindered by
psychological barriers that may be formed by the perceived absence of skills, knowledge,
autonomy, or material items required to perform a behavior [43]. All three constructs combined
explain the behavioral intention, which is the closest determinant of the actual behavior [40].
The model has been widely accepted in social sciences and validated by many studies in various
contexts (see [44–46]). Its application to PAs has been centered primarily on explaining the pro-
environmental behavior of visitors (e.g., [47]). Very few studies applied the model or its parts to
investigate local residents’ conservation behavior and support for PAs. St John et al. [43] carried
out a review study on conservation behavior and found that attitude alone is an unreliable
predictor for behavior, and theories of planned behavior and reasoned actions are more
appropriate. Infield and Namara [48] concluded that attitudes towards a park and a wildlife
conservation program were significantly more positive in communities that benefited from
development assistance than in those who did not. They also found that the attitudes and
behavior of the communities did not improve even after seven years of the program. Dolisca et
al. [49] found that attitudes toward the environment and perceived behavioral control
significantly influenced forest conservation behavior, whereas the influence of subjective norms
was insignificant. They concluded that conservation behavior was greatly influenced by
organizational, structural, and environmental characteristics of the villages. Ward et al. [50]
explored perceived barriers (cost and benefits) to and drivers of community participation in PA
governance in Madagascar. Their results suggest that focusing on attitudes could encourage
participation, as it was found to be limited by perceived high costs attributed to
miscommunication and lack of knowledge about the benefits. Finally, Castilho et al. [51]
addressed local residents’ practices of hunting and deforestation in three PAs and their buffer
zones in the Southern Bahian Atlantic Forest (Brazil). They found that a combination of
demographic factors, values held for protected areas, and location influencing the attitudes,
descriptive norms, and perceiving behavioral control of respondents. In all these cases the TPB
will be proving to be effective in explaining the behavior of the local people.
Attitude is understood to be the major antecedent of people’s behavior in relation to natural
resources management or conservation. Thus, most studies employ items on selecting attitudinal
issues that are presenting as open- or close-ended questions asking peoples’ evaluation of issues
in positive/negative or affective (like/dislike) scales However, the theory of reasoned action
(TRA) states that behavior is determining by the intention to perform the behavior [16]. A
person’s intention is in turn a function of his attitude toward performing the behavior and of his
subjective norm. It follows thus that a single act is predictable from the attitude toward that act
provided that there is a high correlation between intention and behavior. Besides for a reliable
prediction of behavior from attitude, the two must correspond in terms of four important
elements— the action, the target, context, and time. Therefore, items or statements to elicit
attitude and intention have to be well specifying and identical in terms of these four elements.
Therefore, theory of planned behavior is expecting to provide a fuller explanation and precise
prediction of behavior. Methods of assessing people’s attitudes and behavior are well
documenting in the social science literature. Generally, the manner in which local people use
park resources and react to national park rules determines their social behavior and attitudes
towards the national park [17-20]. According to Gross there is a relationship between one’s
attitude and behavior. Therefore, it may be possible to predict his/her behavior. But attitudes can
only be using to predict behavior when appropriate measurement techniques will be used. In this
study, it is felt that in order to predict whether local communities living adjacent to BSWNP will
participate in a protected area management program, their use of national park resources and
attitudes towards protected area management practices need to know.
This study will be adopting the social exchange theory (SET) to understand factors that influence
community participation in protected area conservation (Mutanga et al., 2015). SET is defined as
“a general sociological theory concerned with understanding the exchange of resources between
individuals and groups in an interaction situation” (Ap, 1992, p. 668). Social exchange theorists
argue that people develop attitudes toward other people and things based on expected costs and
benefits attained from participating (Bagherian et al., 2009). Activities where benefits are
accrued tend to be viewed positively, while those with negative outcomes tend to be viewed
negatively (Bagherian et al., 2009). People will choose to participate where they derive the most
benefits and shun those where more costs are anticipating or realizing. SET involves a subjective
cost-benefit analysis made by individuals on whether to engage in an interaction compared to
other alternatives (Nunkoo, 2016). Costs are judged in terms of possible activities or suitable
options relinquished by the participant’s involved (Cook. et al., 2013). SET advances equity,
where benefits and costs are equal, an equitable relationship exists (Bagherian et al., 2009).
Applying SET, it is hypothesizing that farmer who derives positive benefits from protected area
conservation and whose damages are compensating adequately will have positive attitudes.
Conversely, those who do not derive benefits from protected area conservation and those crops
or other damages are not adequately compensating will have negative attitudes. SET argues that
protected area management and conservation initiatives in place should improve local people’s
livelihoods and reduce costs incurring for locals to be supportive. This is especially important for
countries such as Ethiopia where Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs)
such as CBNRM will be adopting to ensure communities economically benefit from the
conservation of national park in a ‘win-win’ situation.
People living close to protected area resources bear substantial costs for conservation. When
benefits outweigh costs, it becomes fruitful to engage in such activities (Zuze, 2009). In Ethiopia,
CBNRM advances the involvement and local participation of rural communities in the
management and use of resources within and adjacent to protected areas (Mogomotsi, 2019).
Since the inception of CBNRM in Ethiopia, communities participate through their community-
based organizations (CBOs) to sell wildlife hunting quotas obtaining from the DWNP to “a
licensed hunting company and leasing the non-consumptive (i.e., photographic tourism) rights to
a commercial operator who would then become the joint venture partner” (Boggs, 2000, p. 7).
CBOs are community trusts assigned the duty of managing resources and revenue for a
community (Stone &Nyaupane, 2014). CBNRM assumes that local communities will use natural
resources sustainably when they have user rights and derive benefit from them. It postulates that
this leads to poverty reductions and improvements in livelihoods and attitudes toward natural
resource conservation. An underlying assumption of CBNRM is that environmental degradation
aggravate by poverty will be reducing (Lepper & Goebel, 2010).
Although CBNRM alludes to the devolution of power over natural resources to communities,
government agencies (e.g., DWNP, Department of Tourism (DoT), Botswana Tourism
Organization (BTO)) retain decision-making powers on issues such as hunting quotas (Stone,
2015). CBRNM emphasizes rural development (Sebele, 2010), which has led to the focus on
people rather than conservation of natural resources. CBNRM and other variants (e.g.,
CAMPFIRE) remain significant to rural development and natural resource management and
conservation. SET is using here to illuminate why households have positive and/or negative
attitudes toward conservation and management of protected areas based on their lived
experiences with protected areas
Attitude is defining as a human psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a
particular entity, called an attitude object, with some degree of favor or disfavor (Ajzen&
Fishbein, 1980). Perceptions, or beliefs, are the associations that people establish between the
attitude object and the characteristics they attribute to the object that inform their attitude
(Ajzen& Fishbein, 1980). It is thus necessary to gain a better understanding of the local
residents’ attitudinal opposition towards PAs and why they have developing such attitudes
(Adams et al. 2003; Røskaft et al. 2007). The concept of attitudes varies among disciplines
(Røskaft et al. 2007). In this study, attitude refers to a human psychological behaviour express by
evaluating the PA, with favour or disfavour, based on the “Theory of Reasoned Action” (Ajzen
1980). This theory embraces a set of three elements: 1) feeling (e.g., like or dislike of PA), 2)
belief (i.e., cognition or thought about the PA and its conservation), and 3) action or behaviour
(e.g., participation in PA conservation). Allendorf(2007) said that beliefs are associations people
establish between PAs and various attributes. An individual’s perception about PAs is his or her
belief or recognition that derives from his or her personal experiences or interaction with PAs
(Allendorf et al. 2006; Htun et al. 2012). Regardless of conceptual differences, attitudes and
perceptions appear closely relating to each other; perception is likely to be one of the emotional
components that determine attitudes. This research will seek local residents’ general attitudes
comprising all three elements mentioned above.
What is community participation?
The available literature indicates that there is no single definition of the term participation
because every individual, organization and various government policies defined based on their
own values, culture and contexts (FAO, 2003). Participation in development is a highly contested
term with no finite meaning (Zocher, 2010). He further argued that currently participation
becomes as one of the “catchwords” of contemporary development dissertation. Many scholars
defined participation in different ways among these Edward and Mejos (2007), defined
Participation is an inclusive and a positive relation between persons which encourage working
together and allows the person to get experience from others. They further explained that it is
important to understand the significance of participation as fundamental human right which
promotes the other rights. According article 27(1) of the Universal Declaration of Hum Rights
“everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the
arts and share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”
The concept of participation emerged between 1960s and 1970s after the critics of most
development projects unable to achieve their intended objective because of lack of community
participation (Isager et al., 2004). According to them, though most development projects directly
and indirectly affect the lives of the people, too many projects were designed, and implemented
without active involvement of the people; since then participation become imperative word of
development and every development project encompasses ″participatory approach‶.
Moreover, Participation in development perspective is all communities, organizations, stake
holders and responsible bodies are involving in and have a stake in decision making related to
development activities that will affect them in the short and long period. While the outcome of
genuine participation is effective and sustainable for all development projects in general and
national park resources conservation project in particular
Community participation and environmental conservation

The theory of community participation is developed from the concept of community

development put forward by American sociologist Farrington (Hubley, 1990; Paul, 1987). He
emphasizes that community development is a process of promoting the economic development
and social progress of communities through residents’ active participation and giving full play to
their creativity. Since then, the theory of community participation has been promoted and
advocated by the United Nations as a concept of development (Schaefer and Moos, 1993). In
recent years, with the continuous development of the theory of community participation, it
applies not only to the participation of residents in community management but also to
education, urban planning, tourism development, ecological protection and other fields (Bennett
and Dearden, 2014; Caroline et al.; Fikret, 2009; Hubley, 1990; Lee, 2013)

Community participation is an important predicator of success in the management of protected

areas (Wibowo et al., 2018). Residents, as co-managers and beneficiaries of the environment,
have the right to engage in dialogue with the government; they are no longer defined as resource-
constrained users, thus reducing their resistance or even opposition to protected areas.
Community participation could offer a more reasonable method of managing protected areas, as
 it provides opportunities to reduce local costs or provide benefits via negotiation, promote
environmental awareness, increase regulatory compliance, improve wellbeing, and transform
negative environmental attitudes and behaviours (Adeleke and Nzama, 2013; Bennett and
Dearden, 2014; Caroline et al.; Fikret, 2009; Wibowo et al., 2018). Compared with other types
of management, it can also maximize locals’ social-economic benefits and achieve
environmental conservation goals if protected areas also help to empower the community,
eliminate inequalities, provide livelihood benefits, and respect cultural values (Oldekop et al.,
2016). Generally, community participation can create sustainable natural resource use by
safeguarding residents’ economic interests, respecting local cultural practices, and enhancing
community awareness of natural resource conservation to achieve the ultimate goal of
biodiversity and ecological conservation (Wibowo et al., 2018). In addition, Chen’s (2017)
empirical study proved that community participation directly affects residents’ PEB in
ecotourism communities. Furthermore, community participation also has an indirect effect on
PEB through environmental attitudes. Thus, the following hypothesis was proposed:
H1. Community participation affects residents’ PEB in protected areas.
Table1: Total number of household and sample size across the study area
District Sample Village Total Sample Sampled
kebeles Households ( N 0 ¿ Proportion (%) households (n 0
)
Borena Jelesa, 4399 14.29 55
Anferfra 5536 17.92 69
Degahawi
Dega-Dibi
Janiberu
Miskabe
Libanos
Chirkose
Abu
Mehal-Saynt Kotet,
Wozedi,
 Samagn
Saynt - Beja-chilaga 5536
Adjebar
6 11 13

Data collection
From six Districts, 13 villages will be selecting purposely, and 732 households are interviewing.
To address the study issue, both qualitative and quantitative data will be collecting. Focus
Groups Discussion (FGD) and Key Informant (KI) interview are also using to strengthen the
result. The minimum sample size require, for a very large population (N>10,000) is determining
by using sample size determination formula (7)
nN 0
n 0=
N
Where:
n = total sample size
P = prevalence rate for the population (0.5)
d= margin/precision of sampling error tolerated
Z = z statistic for a level of confidence
Therefore, the sample estimate at 95% of confidence interval (CI) and prevalence value of
(P=0.5) at a precision (d) of 0.036 for the total size of 10,461 households in a sample frame
provided a sample size of 732 households. Finally, in order to determine the sample size of
households for each representative village the total sample sizes of the study will be allocating
for each representative Villages.
n=¿ ¿
Where:
n o= sample size for a single Village
n = total sample size for the study
N o= number of households in a single Village
N= total size of households across the Village
After determined the sample size in every Village, sampling fraction method will be appling to
select those representative respondents from the list. The sampling fraction method which is
symbolizing by K, the samples is draw from the total number of households in a single Village
N0
on the basis of the sampling fraction ( K th households) that is equal to .
n0
Participatory management
Natural resource management has been traditionally carried out using top-down approaches, in
which a governmental agency of a public administration takes decisions without consultation
(Prell et al., 2007). This often means that decision-makers are distant from policy sites and do
not possess a deep knowledge of local needs (Barrio and Loureiro, 2010). Top-down approaches
are deemed to have failed because they are insensitive to local inhabitants and stakeholders
(Maier et al., 2014; Kellert et al., 2000; Williams, 2014). Imposing decisions may generate
conflicts, in particular when there are competing resource uses, and jeopardize cooperation
(Gritten et al., 2013; Kiš, 2010). In contrast, participation-based models of management have
been proposed. ‘Adaptive management’, ‘ecosystem management’ and ‘co-management’ are
terms frequently used to indicate decision-making shared with stakeholders (Armitage et al.,
2010; Doubleday, 2005; Jentoft, 1989). While the benefits of community-based forms of
management are well-recognized in the literature (Collins, 1997; Ostrom, 2000, 1999; Saarikoski
et al., 2010), empirical applications are still limited (Baird et al., 2018; Huvila, 2008). The
theoretical reasons to support participatory management are: (1) local communities and resource
users have an experience-based knowledge to face management challenges and (2) participation
increase democracy, legitimacy of the decisions and compliance with the legislation (Kangas et
al., 2010; Songorwa, 1999; Usher et al., 2000). Tourists often show heterogeneous preferences
for park and land management (Birol et al., 2006; Mäntymaa et al., 2018), therefore local
knowledge and a deep contact with tourists is important to identify the most efficient solutions
(Mueller et al., 2017). A close link between local knowledge and ecotourism planning has been
highlighted by Zong et al. (2017), who found that interaction with local cultures is an important
component of tourists' experience.
2.2. The theory of planned behavior
TPB originates from the theory of reasoned action proposed by Fishbein and Ajzen, which
assumes that much of the human behaviour depends on human; will to carry out the behaviour
(Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). TPB represents a ‘reasoned action’
approach to consumer behaviour, assuming that intentions and behaviour are dependent on
attitudinal, normative and control beliefs that individual holds in regard of the behaviour, as
shown in Fig. 1.
The underlying idea of the TPB is that behaviours are affected by individuals' attitudes (A, i.e.
whether the behaviour is considered positively or negative), social norms (SN, i.e. social
pressure perceived by the individual to engage in a certain behaviour), perceived behavioural
control (PBC, i.e. easiness or difficulty in performing the behaviour) and behavioural intentions
(BI, i.e. individual's promptness to perform a given behaviour). The theory was subsequently
updated with the inclusion of moral norms, which represents the moral satisfaction to carry out a
specific behaviour, for example financially contribute for environmental conservation (Ajzen,
1991a,b).
Within the field of stated preference valuation the interest towards TPB is growing and the
appropriateness of the TPB over competing theories, e.g., the Value-belief-norm Theory (Stern et
al., 1999) has been proven for the explanation of environmentally friendly behaviour (e.g.,
Kaiser and Scheuthle, 2003; López-Mosquera and Sánchez, 2012). The majority of these studies
consider WTP linked to behavioural intentions (Bernath and Roschewitz, 2008). Some
components of TPB have been proved to be correlated with stated WTP for non-market goods
and services (Ajzen and Driver, 1992; Bernath and Roschewitz, 2008; Meyerhoff, 2013).
Combining TPB in DCE frameworks has been used before (Mokwena and Zuidgeestb, 2017;
Nocella et al., 2012; Osburg et al., 2016) but in different policy context and with different
modelling approach. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that used TPB indicators
in a HMXL model.
Concept of biodiversity
Biodiversity may be described in terms of genes, species, and ecosystems, corresponding to three
fundamental and hierarchically related levels of biological organization (Preace, et al., 2014)

Biodiversity reflects the hierarchy of increasing levels of organization and complexity in

ecological systems at different levels i.e., genes, individuals, populations, species, communities,
ecosystems and biomes. It is communities of living organisms interacting with the abiotic
environment that comprise, and characterize, ecosystems. Ecosystems are varied both in size
and, arguably, complexity, and may be nested one within another (Bharker et al., 2010).

Biological diversity, abbreviated to biodiversity, refers to the variety of life forms at all levels of
organization, from the molecular to the landscape level. It can be described as the totality of
genes, species, and ecosystems within a region. The wealth of life on earth today is the product
of hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary history. Over the course of time, human cultures
have emerged and adapted to local environments, discovering, using, and altering their biotic
resources. Many areas that now seem “natural” bear the marks of millennia of human habitation,
crop cultivation, resource harvesting, and waste production. The domestication and breeding of
local varieties of crops and livestock have further affected biodiversity (Dale, 2014).

For convenience, biodiversity can be divided into three hierarchical categories: genes, species,
and ecosystems. Genetic diversity refers to the variation of genes within species, species
diversity is the variety of species within a region, and ecosystem diversity is communities and
ecosystems, their number and distribution (Ibid). Biodiversity underpins the essential goods and
services that ecosystems provide and has value for current uses, possible future uses (option
values), and intrinsic worth (UNEP, 2010).
Perception and attitude towards Protected Area Management
The successful conservation of protected area is dependent upon the attitudes of the local people
who are inherently connected with the protected areas and through their active participation in
protected area management. Previous benefits and values can affect the conservation attitudes
and perception of the local people towards protected area conservation and management (Gadd
2005; Kidegheshoet al., 2007).Thus, negative or positive attitudes and perception of local people
towards PAM will likely affect their contribution and participation in the conservation and
management of protected areas (Tesfaye 2011; Tesfayeet al., 2012; Amehaet al., 2014; Sirajet
al., 2016).
The perception of farmers towards participation in PAM viewed from the angles of perceived
benefits and participation obtained from the protected area. Protected area conservation and their
effects, perceived from PAM approach, were the rules and regulation and perceived
responsibility of community in the area as a whole for sustainable management of protected area
in the area. According to the key informants the rules and regulations, external support delivered
from organizations and incentives given enable the households in protected area conservation
practices. In line this Girma and Zegeye, (2017) their result shows households (who was
participant of PAM) perception towards PFM approach to improves the livelihood of farmers.
Thus, most participants consider PAM as a vital activity for people and for the protected areas.
The result coincides with the study conducted by Tadesse and Abay, (2013) who indicate
positive perception of households has a better influence on the level of participation in forest
management at Alamata forest in Tigray region of Ethiopia. Similarly, the study conducted by
Arowosoge, (2015) indicates that the perception of the community have a perceived positive
relationship with the participation of communities in forest conservation in Ethiopia (Tesfayeet
al., 2012).
The research unit of analysis is the household and the BSWNP is purposively selected because of
presence of protected area dependent villages, the fact that limited research had been done and
kebeles situated adjacent to the protected area land for national park. There are 34kebeles in six
Woredas which is bordering the BSWNP. Among 34 kebeles three kebeles Wabo, Bondeo-
magela and Geci, were selected using a simple random sampling. From 940 total house hold live
in three kebeles are120 sample respondents randomly drawn from sampling frame using simple
random sampling based on probability sampling proportional to size (Table 1).Stratified random
sampling was used to select the number of household heads per kebeles. Generally 83 male and
37 female are selected. Among 120despondences79participants and 41 are Non participants.
Among79 participants 49male and 30 are female respondents and among 41 Non participants30
male and 7 females‟ despondences were selected. The sample size of the households to be taken
was calculated using the formula (Cochran, 1977)
INTRODUCTION

Protected areas are crucial for conserving global biodiversity, preventing species loss and
stemming the extinction crisis. They are also cornerstones for sustainable development and
conservation strategies1. Protected areas serve to protect major ecosystem services essential to
human being. These ecosystem services include regulation of climate, disturbance (e.g., storm
protection, flood control), hydrological flow and pest populations, erosion control, sewage
purification, pollination of crops, habitat for wildlife, source of raw materials (e.g., fossil fuels
and timber) and recreation (e.g., ecotourism and outdoor recreation) cultural (e.g., aesthetic and
educational value)2,3. Aside from their environmental and cultural benefits, protected areas can
also generate significant economic resources through the tourism and pharmaceutical industries.

Currently, about 12.0% of the global land area is under some form of protection4. There are
more than 100,000 separate protected areas, with more added daily4. However, as the human
population grows and the demands on natural resources increase, effective management of
protected areas becomes a challenging task. In addition, the wildlife of the park may damage
local people’s crops as well as predate their livestock. Thus, in the vicinity of parks, humans and
managers can arise conflicts that result in negative consequences for both human communities
and biodiversity conservations5,6. When the interaction becomes negative, it creates one of the
greatest threats to biodiversity conservation in protected areas. The conflict between wildlife and
local people can also shape people’s attitudes toward protected areas7-10.

Ethiopia has a diverse set of ecosystems ranging from humid forest, afro alpine and wetland
types to the desert of the Danakil Depression. The country also possesses great geographical
diversity with high and rugged mountains, flat-topped plateaus and deep gorges and valleys and
plains. These diverse sets of geographical regions harbor different varieties of animal and plants
and remarkably contain distinctive endemic species11,12.

Ethiopia has a wide variety of protected areas (i.e., 27 national parks, two wildlife sanctuaries,
six wildlife reserves, 25 controlled hunting areas, five biosphere reserves and eight community
conservation areas) that have a crucial role in the conservation of wildlife13. The number of
protected areas is still increasing in Ethiopia. However, most of these protected areas are under
high pressure due to anthropogenic pressures like the expansion of human settlements,
agricultural encroachment, livestock grazing, timber production, firewood collection and
others13,14. As the human population grows (currently, there are over 120 million people in
Ethiopia, 78% in rural areas) the demands on natural resources both within and adjacent to
protected areas with high biodiversity value will increase, threatening their future existences. In
addition, due to poor management systems and low capacity for managing them, almost all of
these protected areas are vulnerable to human impacts.

Borena Sayint National Park (BSNP) is one of the newly established national parks in Ethiopia.
It is one of the most important protected areas for the conservation of biodiversity in the North
Central Ethiopia highlands. The park comprises ecosystems from Afro montane to Afroalpine
types. This makes the park unique in terms of plant and animal composition and diversity.
However, BSNP is highly vulnerable due to the impacts of local people from the surrounding
areas. The park is surrounded by dense human settlements and intense agricultural activities. The
narrow width vs. long length shape/strip of the park also contributed to being impacted by local
people. In addition to crop damage and livestock predation by wildlife, resource restriction from
the park may affect local people’s attitudes towards the conservation activities of the region.
Therefore, information on the attitudes and perceptions of local farmers living in the adjacent
and vicinity of parks is crucial to identifying and reforming conservation management strategies
and plans to protect the biodiversity of the area15,16. The attitudes and feelings of people
concerning protected area development and management affect their behavior and understanding
this is critically important in conservation planning and decision-making processes. Only a few
studies have been conducted on attitudes and perceptions of local farmers regarding the protected
areas in Ethiopia and for that matter, such view of people towards parks is poorly documented in
the country. In particular, there has been no systematic study on the attitudes and perceptions of
local people towards the BSNP and the conservation of its wildlife in the Northern Central
highlands of Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the attitudes and perceptions of the
local community towards BSNP and its wildlife to devise effective conservation management
and mitigation strategies in the region. This study also helps to address problems that evoke
negative attitudes to improve local people’s relationships with the park and reduce their
antipathy toward wildlife conservation.