Understanding Local Community, Tourism and Conflict Nexus in National Parks Governance in Ethiopia: Case Study of the Awash National Park
| dc.contributor.advisor | Mulugeta Fiseha (PhD) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Fikirte Adugna | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-03-05T07:44:12Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-03-05T07:44:12Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020-08 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study aimed at examining whether or to what degree the Ethiopian government national park governance policy facilitates or debilitates local communities’ involvement to conserve the biodiversity of their surroundings and benefits the tourism industry. The study adopted a qualitative approach with particular methods such as semi-structured interviews with critical informants and Focus Group Discussion with different actors including local communities. Moreover, data was collected from secondary sources written about Awash National Park (ANP) that include reports, the General Management Plan of ANP among others. The data collected were then transcribed, translated, and analyzed using content analysis method. The result subsequently shows that the national park governance policy that has been used in ANP, Fortress/conservationist, or Community-Based Conservation (CBC) approach, could not give due attention to the local community. Local communities’ have not been empowered to manage the NP even though officials wrongly claim that community based conservation approach is practiced in ANP. Thus, the ANP governance policy, which has been introduced since the reign of Emperor Hayle Selassie, has never met the twin target of natural resource conservation and benefiting the local community from tourism to date. It has, instead, become a source of conflict. Even though the CBC approach supports the local community participation to running the ANP theoretically, it failed to actualize this in to practice. This research has come up with a proposal for national park development where communities are an integral part of the national park protection and, at the same time, beneficiaries form the national park through park-based benefits and various tourism development activities. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/4449 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | |
| dc.title | Understanding Local Community, Tourism and Conflict Nexus in National Parks Governance in Ethiopia: Case Study of the Awash National Park | |
| dc.type | Thesis |