Schneider, R, Muntifering, J and Sullivan, S (2025) 'Community-based conservation surveillance: an ethnographic analysis of the drivers and obstacles of local reporting on rhino and plains game poaching in Namibia.' Biological Conservation, 311. e111396.
Preview |
Text
17309.pdf - Published Version CC BY 4.0. Download (3MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Conservation surveillance, or the monitoring of people for conservation purposes, is a core component of coercive conservation governance. Over the last decade, in response to the social injustice attributed to top-down applications of surveillance technologies associated with militarised conservation, policies have increasingly prescribed an integration of local populations into conservation law enforcement. The problem with ‘inclusive’ or ‘community-based’ forms of conservation surveillance is that little is empirically known about reporting behaviours within rural communities. While reporting rates tend to be low, practitioners have limited understanding of how to engage local people. This knowledge gap significantly undermines conservation's capacity to integrate local people into conservation surveillance and enhance community-based interventions for combating illegal-hunting and illegal wildlife trade (IWT). Drawing on fieldwork among communities in north-west Namibia, where local people are recruited as informants of conservation authorities, we contribute a deeper, qualitative understanding of what motivates local people to report or withhold information on illegal-hunting of rhino and plains game. We show that communal area residents primarily report because they feel morally compelled to do so and/or because they seek to bolster their claims to status, privilege and entitlement. They fail to report due to the pervasiveness of communal disciplinary power, including locally-divergent social rules and sanctions. In contrast to dominant perceptions among policymakers and practitioners, our analysis demonstrates that incentive-based informant networks and reward systems have limited effectiveness, while carrying high risks. Our analysis supports five recommendations for integrating local people into conservation surveillance in more locally acceptable and sustainable ways.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | rhino poaching and illegal wildlife trade (IWT), conservation surveillance, militarised conservation, community-based conservation, reporting behaviours, inclusive anti-poaching, Namibia |
| Divisions: | School of Writing, Publishing and the Humanities |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Sep 2025 17:28 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Sep 2025 17:28 |
| ISSN: | 0006-3207 |
| URN: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/17309 |
 |
Request a change to this item or report an issue |
 |
Update item (repository staff only) |
Tools
Tools
