Biodiversity Conservation: An Examination on Environmental Conservation Within the Communities of Chongwe District

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine environmental conservation within communities under biodiversity conservation. The general objective of the study was to examine environmental conservation within rural communities. The specific objectives include examining knowledge levels of rural communities on environmental conservation; establishing the effectiveness of strategies used by communities on environmental conservation; ascertaining how government policy engages with the community on environmental conservation and evaluating the effectiveness of mitigation measures on environmental conservation by rural communities. A descriptive case study approach was adopted to match the nature of the topic. The study used open ended questionnaires and guided oral interviews. In this research, the target population was 100 participants of which 60 were community members and 40 were policy makers. A random sampling of respondents was used to pick the respondents. In this study, the sample size of 100 respondents was be targeted using purposive sampling. The main instruments used are questionnaires and personal interviews. The questionnaires comprised closed and open-ended questions. Questionnaires were administered or handed out to the respondents depending on their business operating schedules. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis was done. Quantitative data was used because it was easier to present using tables and qualitative data helped express the data collected. The data collected was analyzed using tables and figures. For the qualitative data, the descriptive method was used, while for quantitative data analysis was done using Microsoft Word and Excel to generate tables and other graphic illustrations. The results showed that 37.5% of participants had a high knowledge level, and an equal percentage of participants exhibited moderate knowledge level. Meanwhile, 25% of the participants had low knowledge level. With regards to how effective the strategies used by communities on environmental conservation, it was found that there is a significant relationship between the conservation strategy used by the communities and their perceived effectiveness. To find out how government engages the community on environmental conservation we first had to find out how many participants were aware of the government policy regarding the topic and it was discovered that 65% of the participants were aware suggesting that a significant portion of the community were informed about the policy. The distribution on how effective the mitigation measures are in environmental conservation reviewed a mixed perception among the participants, with a relatively balanced view between those who see the measures as effective and those who do not. Based on the findings it was recommended that continued engagement of the communities should be maintained. High level government actors must be in attendance of Community meetings to bring about key government decisions.