Man v.s. Wild: An Analysis of Language Used Regarding Human-Wildlife Conflict in the Kibale National Park Community, Western Region, Uganda

If humans are to live sustainably and in harmony with wildlife in the vicinity of Protected Areas, policy makers, and government authorities need to make informed decisions with consideration to the needs of local communities. For this to happen, policy makers must understand the perceptions of local communities and take local perspectives into account. As language is at the root of perception, language was studied in the context of its role in shaping local perceptions of human-wildlife conflict and consequential conflict mitigation strategies. Six communities around the Northern region of Kibale National Park, Uganda, were studied, with sites located in the Mugusu sub-county, Sebitoli Park region, and Kyenjojo district. The main problems that communities around Northern Kibale currently associate with living near the Park and wildlife are crop-raiding, hunger or famine, poverty, death, disease, lack of education, and lack of development. Results additionally indicate that language is being used in these communities to redefine human-human conflict as human-wildlife conflict and to reframe wildlife as a symbol for conflict between human stakeholders. Moreover, community responses indicate that the current mitigation strategies used in the area are not effective and the current rate of conflict is not sustainable. Policymakers must understand the problems facing these local communities to create and implement effective mitigation methods. Further research is needed to supplement this study in additional locations and with the addition of individual interviews along with focus group discussion