Viability of Community-Based Payments for Ecosystem Services in Conflict Resolution: Insights from Villages Adjacent to Mkungunero Game Reserve, Tanzania

Arguably, protected areas have long been the most effective and widespread measure for conserving nature and are recognised as a cornerstone for biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, conflicts between the authorities of protected areas and communities adjacent to them in developing countries are persistent, mostly due to restrictions on access to ecosystem resources. Yet, there is a paucity of knowledge on the innovative strategies that could address this common conservation challenge. In recent years, however, community-based payments for ecosystem services (CB-PES) have emerged as one of the potential strategies for mitigating these conflicts. Using a case study approach and qualitative data collection methods, namely focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, along with document review and guided by political ecology theory, this study assessed the potentiality of CB-PES in resolving conflicts between conservation authorities and communities adjacent to the Mkungunero Game Reserve (MGR).Through these approaches, communities’ perceptions were solicited and analysed using thematic analysis techniques. The results showed that, despite the ‘usefulness’ of CB-PES in involving communities in decision making and its potential for a sustainable benefit-sharing mechanism, it may not be the best tool for conflict resolution in the MGR. This is attributed to several factors, including an unpleasant historical background, socio-economic effects stemming from the community’s loss of property and lives caused by persisting conflicts between the MGR authority and communities and fear to lose their identity. It is therefore, noted that CB-PES is a context-specific solution towards conflict resolution because its success depends on the nature of the conflict and the local community perception.