Abstract:
Abstract
Aside conservation of biodiversity through the establishment of park, the socio-cultural and economic impacts of parks on the lives of the communities neighbor to the park an inevitable. This thesis realized the social, the cultural and the economic impacts of the Maze National Park on the local communities neighboring to the park. It investigated the impacts of park on the occupations of the community, the changes on the forest products being benefited, the impacts of the park on the religious belief and practices of the community, the relationship between the park staff and the local community and it explored the outlooks of the local community towards the park through benefiting qualitative methods of focused group discussion, key informant interview, case study, observation and quantitative method (Survey).
The establishment of the Maze national park was adversely affecting the local communities. The local community has been facing destruction of crops and killing of domestic animals because of hostility act of wild animals. Besides, it was also troubling the local community in reducing the size of farming land of the farmers by displacing the framers from the farming land for the park area. It also contributed in decreasing of the quantities of the forest products being benefited in volume and number of beneficiaries. Moreover, non- physical displacement through restriction from free access of resources from the park enabled the local community to move long distance to collect grass, farm tools and firewood.
Further, the socio-cultural aspects like sacred and historical sites of the indigenous community were omitted when the demarcation of the park was undertaking which against the indigenous peoples’ freedom, their rights to property, as well as deprived of most of their fundamental human rights and freedoms. The Shuka Kore/The Big Tree of Scarifies /, the Bilbo Tsebala /the Bilbo Hot Water Spring/of indigenous peoples religious institutions and the Olla-kela/War defensing caves/ historical places attached to the Bodinanta clan have been transferred to the park area without consensus, discussion and participation in the side of the local community. Further, there were restrictions without the worrying of the socio-cultural importance of the socio-cultural institutions for the indigenous peoples that severely affected the religious affiliation of the followers. Besides, firing of the park by park administrator exposed the social-cultural assets for damage. These impacts contributed frequent conflict between the park and the local community as a result, the inhabiting community developed destructive attitude towards the park
