Does proximity pay? Investigating the costs and benefits of living close to Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

The establishment of Protected areas in Africa has had complex implications for communities living next to them. Historically, these have been contentious and fraught with violence. In Africa, this is most prevalent in countries with colonial histories where native people were relocated from their ancestral lands to elsewhere in an effort to preserve nature and thus biodiversity in that area. Zimbabwe is one such country that was colonised by Cecil John Rhodes during the scramble for Africa in the 18th century. Gonarezhou National Park, established first as a game reserve in 1934, was formed during the colonial era and thus has a complex history with the communities around it. The presence of a national park has always been encouraged as a means of economic development for the communities in that area, and as such, we investigated on what are the actual costs and benefits of living near a protected area. We looked at the delivery and accessibility of basic needs of the community (Malipati), south of Gonarezhou. Whilst there was a clear discontent in the provision of services such as food provision and transportation, there were also positive highlights on the side of accessibility to education and health facilities, which were seen to be higher than the national average. Though there are financial benefits, the issue of wildlife conflict in these areas is the overarching issue the community has with the park.