Why local people do not support conservation: Community perceptions of marine protected area livelihood impacts, governance and management in Thailand

TLDR

Conservation success depends on local support, which is shaped by community perceptions of the social, economic, cultural, and political impacts of marine protected areas and their governance. This study examines Andaman Coast communities’ perceptions of how MPAs affect livelihood resources and outcomes, and evaluates MPA governance and management. The study covers 17 National Marine Parks located near rural, resource‑dependent communities on Thailand’s Andaman Coast. Participants reported that NMPs had limited to negative effects on fisheries and agriculture, negligible tourism benefits, and generally negative governance perceptions, with conflicting views on conservation outcomes, highlighting the need for policy improvements to better align NMPs with community livelihoods and conservation goals.

Abstract

Conservation success is often predicated on local support for conservation which is strongly influenced by perceptions of the impacts that are experienced by local communities and opinions of management and governance. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are effective conservation and fisheries management tools that can also have a broad array of positive and negative social, economic, cultural, and political impacts on local communities. Drawing on results from a mixed-methods study of communities on the Andaman Coast of Thailand, this paper explores perceptions of MPA impacts on community livelihood resources (assets) and outcomes as well as MPA governance and management. The area includes 17 National Marine Parks (NMPs) that are situated near rural communities that are highly dependent on coastal resources. Interview participants perceived NMPs to have limited to negative impacts on fisheries and agricultural livelihoods and negligible benefits for tourism livelihoods. Perceived impacts on livelihoods were felt to result from NMPs undermining access to or lacking support for development of cultural, social, political, financial, natural, human, physical, and political capital assets. Conflicting views emerged on whether NMPs resulted in negative or positive marine or terrestrial conservation outcomes. Perceptions of NMP governance and management processes were generally negative. These results point to some necessary policy improvements and actions to ameliorate: the relationship between the NMP and communities, NMP management and governance processes, and socio-economic and conservation outcomes.