The effects of protected areas on the welfare of local communities: the case of Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya

Protected areas (PAs) are an important biodiversity conservation tool although they are often criticized for inadequate socio-economic benefits to local people. However, empirical studies on socio-economic impacts of PAs in developing countries remain scanty. The present study analyzed the effect of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) in Kenya on the household welfare (indicated by levels of income, consumption, and assets) and poverty incidence of the local people using questionnaires survey data gathered from 423 randomly selected households from six administrative units (i.e. wards) around the PA. Results from ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and entropy balancing methods show no statistically significant effects of the PA in improving welfare and reducing poverty gap of PA-adjacent households (living 0-5km from the PA boundary), who instead incur significantly higher crop and livestock losses compared with the distant households (living within 5-25km from PA boundary). A large proportion of households are, nevertheless, positive about the existence of the PA partly due to immaterial services and partly due to potential benefits they expect to obtain out of it in the future. These results suggest that intervention measures are needed to reduce losses caused by MMNR and improve the benefits it provides to local communities. Acknowledgement : This research was funded by a National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grant to Linxiu Zhang (no 31361140360) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) to A.M.O. Oduor (no 2016PE016) and Dagne Mojo (no 2017PC0067). We thank the following persons for help with the conduct of interviews in the local Maa language during the survey: Dominic Leina, Daniel Sabore, Joel Tolian, Daniel Mokita, Musa Mainoya, Joshua Ketuyio, Mathew Sayianka, Saitoti Lemashon and Alex Oloitipitip