This paper critically examines the interplay between conservation efforts and local livelihoods within the context of protected areas in Ethiopia. As the country strives to preserve its rich biodiversity, the designation of protected areas has often led to socio-economic tensions, particularly for rural and indigenous communities who rely on these lands for their sustenance. Drawing on empirical studies, policy analysis, and stakeholder perspectives, this study explores the extent to which conservation policies have considered the rights and needs of local populations. It highlights the challenges of forced evictions, restricted access to resources, and the marginalization of traditional land-use practices. The paper further assesses alternative conservation models such as community-based natural resource management and integrated conservation-development projects (ICDPs), evaluating their potential to balance ecological preservation with human development. Recommendations are offered to inform more equitable and sustainable conservation strategies in Ethiopia.

Protected areas, conservation policy, livelihoods, Ethiopia, community-based conservation, biodiversity, socio-economic impacts, indigenous rights, land use

1. Dan Brockington, Rosaleen Duffy, and Jim Igoe. Nature Unbound: Conservation, Capitalism and the Future of Protected Areas. Padstow: Earthscan, 2008.

2. Roderick Neumann. Imposing Wilderness: Struggles over Livelihood and Nature Preservation in Africa. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002.

3. Christopher Clapham. “Afterword.” In Ethnic Federalism: The Ethiopian Experience in Comparative Perspective. Edited by T. Turton. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press, 2006.

4. William Cronon. “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” In Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. Edited by William Cronon. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1996.

5. Carolyn Merchant. “Reinventing Eden: Western Culture as a Recovery Narrative.” In Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. Edited by William Cronon. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1996.

6. Makere Stewart-Harawira. The New Imperial Order: Indigenous Responses to Globalization. Wellington: Huia Publishers, 2005.

7. Bruce Braun. “Buried Epistemologies: The Politics of Nature in (Post) Colonial British Columbia.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 87, no. 1 (1997): 3–31.

8. Arturo Escobar. “After Nature: Steps to an Antiessentialist Political Ecology.” Current Anthropology 40, no. 1 (1999): 1–30.

9. William Adams, and Jon Hutton. “People, Parks and Poverty: Political Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation.” Conservation and Society 5, no. 2 (2007): 147–183.

10. Richard Peet, Paul Robbins, and Michael Watts, eds. Global Political Ecology. London: Routledge, 2011.

11. Paul Robbins. Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction. Sussex: Blackwell Publishers, 2004.

12. Keith Bosak. “Nature, Conflict and Biodiversity Conservation in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.” Conservation and Society 6, no. 3 (2008): 211–224.

13. Firket Berkes. Sacred Ecology. London: Routledge, 2008.

14. Philippe Descola. “Societies of Nature and the Nature of Society.” In Conceptualizing Society. Edited by Adam Kuper. London: Routledge, 1992.

15. Raymond Pierotti, and Daniel Wildcat. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge: The Third Alternative (Commentary).” Ecological Applications 6, no. 5 (2000): 1333–1340.

16. Tim Ingold. The Perception of the Environment. London: Routledge, 2000.

17. Tim Ingold. “Towards a Politics of Dwelling.” Conservation and Society 3, no. 2 (2005): 501–508.

18. Ken Chen. “Environmental Affordance: A Theoretical Framework for Incorporating Some Behavioural Considerations in Residential Evaluation.” Forum 2 (1993): 57–64.

19. Bell Campbell. “Changing Protection Policies and Ethnographies of Environmental Engagement.” Conservation and Society 3, no. 2 (2005): 280–322.

20. Dan Brockington, and Jim Igoe. “Eviction for Conservation: A Global Overview.” Conservation and Society 4, no. 3 (2006): 424–270.

21. Jim Igoe. Conservation and Globalization: A Study of National Parks and Indigenous Communities from East Africa to South Dakota. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2004.

22. David Harmon. “Cultural Diversity, Human Subsistence and the National Park Ideal.” In The Great New Wilderness Debate. Edited by Baird Callicott and Michael Nelson. Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 1998.

23. Zewde Bahru. A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855–1991. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press, 2002.

24. Christopher Clapham. “The Political Framework: Controlling Space in Ethiopia.” In Remapping Ethiopia: Socialism and after. Edited by Wendy James, Donham L. Donald and Kurimoto Eisei. Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2002.

25. Zenawi Meles. “African Development: Dead Ends and New Beginnings.” Unpublished Monograph, University. 2006.

26. Negera Abiyot. “Resettlement and Local Livelihoods in Nechsar National Park, Southern Ethiopia.” Unpublished MPhil Thesis, University of Tromsø, 2009.

27. Teshome Tewasen. “Preserve or Utilize? A Study of Dilemmas Regarding Natural Resources in Nech Sar National Park in Southern Ethiopia.” Unpublished MPhil Thesis, University of Tromsø, 2003.

28. Wanna Dessalegn. “Strategies for Sustainable Management of Biodiversity in the Nech Sar National Park, Southern Ethiopia.” A Research Report Submitted to OSSREA, Addis Ababa. 2004.

29. Berisso Tadesse. “Planning Resettlement in Ethiopia: The Experience of the Guji Oromo of Nech Sar National Park.” In People, Space and the State: Migration, Resettlement and Displacement in Ethiopia. Edited by A. Pankhurst and P. Francois. Addis Ababa: Bole Printing Press, 2004.

30. Timer Girma. “Nech Sar National Park Preliminary Report with Particular Reference to the Threats of Biodiversity in the Park.” Arba Minch, Ethiopia. 2002.

31. Godana Getachew. “Do People and Their Culture Matter in the Conservation of Natural Resources? A Study of Impacts of Conservation Policies in Nech Sar National Park and Yayo Forest in Illubabor Bora Zone.” Unpublished MA Thesis, Addis Ababa University, 2007.

32. Mark Dowie. Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-year Conflict between Global Conservation and Indigenous Peoples. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009.

33. David Turton. “The Mursi and the Elephant Question.” In Conservation and Mobile Indigenous Peoples: Displacement, Forced Settlement and Sustainable Development. Edited by Dawn Chatty and Marcus Colchester. Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2002.

34. David Turton. “The Lower Omo Valley: Three Stories and One Landscape.” In Paper Presented on Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference on Narrating Landscape and Environment, Manchester, UK, 26–28 August 2009.

35. Tobias Hagmann, and Alemmaya Mulugeta. “Pastoral Conflicts and State-building in the Ethiopian Lowlands.” Africa Spectrum 43, no. 1 (2008): 19–37.

36. African Parks Network. “African Parks Foundation Annual Report 2007.” Available online: http://www.african-parks.org/xMedia/PDF/AnnualReport/APN_AnnualReport_2007.pdf (accessed on 20 August 2011).

37. Paul Baxter. “Preface.” In Guji Oromo Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Religious Capabilities in Rituals and Songs. Edited by Van De Loo. Berlin: Deitrich Reimer Verlag, 1991.

38. Regassa Asebe. “Contested Terrains: Conflicts between State and Local Communities over the Management and Utilization of Nech Sar National Park, Southern Ethiopia.” Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 13, no. 5 (2011): 49–65.

39. Meles Zenawi. “Speech by Meles Zenawi during the 13th Annual Pastoralists’ Day Celebrations, Jinka, South Omo, 25 January 2011.” Available online: http://www.mursi.org/pdf/Meles%20Jinka%20speech.pdf (accessed on 20 May 2012).

40. James Scott. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven: Yale University Press USA, 1990.

41. Norman Long. Development Sociology: Actor Perspectives. London: Routledge, 2001.

42. T. Murray Li. “Compromising Power: Development, Culture, and Rule in Indonesia.” Cultural Anthropology 14, no. 3 (1999): 295–322.