期刊名称：International Journal of Development and Sustainability
印刷版ISSN：2186-8662
出版年度：2014
卷号：3
期号：6
页码：1287-1302
出版社：International Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS)
摘要：Although the establishment of national parks aims to protect biodiversity, several factors, including poaching, severely hinder this goal. This studyaims to assess the extent of poaching around a national park and understand the community's reliance on wildlife for wealth generation. A total of 264 interviews were conducted to households in six communities around Carara National Park between June and November of 2009. Interviews inquired about interactions with wildlife, sale of wildlife, opinions and observed hunting activities. Although the number of families that hunt is relatively small, these families can still have significant impacts on wildlife populations with poaching occurring for both subsistence and market-oriented reasons. In total for the sixspecies evaluated, we estimated 5,208 animals being hunted/extracted on an annual basis; a number substantially higher to the 31 animals seized by park officials during the 2004-2008 period. Furthermore,the estimated annual commercial value of hunting/extracting was approximately sixfold to the resources invested by the park into wildlife protection. Thus, with low-income communities surrounding the park, the incentives for poaching are evident; however, the potential economic impact to the park and the communities in terms of tourism revenues should warrant attention to this situation.
关键词：economic valuation; illegal hunting; national parks; poaching; tourism
