People, protected areas and ecosystem services: a qualitative and quantitative analysis of local people’s perception and preferences in Côte d’Ivoire

The long-term integrity of protected areas (PAs), and hence the maintenance of related ecosystem services (ES), are dependenton the support of local people. In the present study, local people’s perceptions of ecosystem services from PAs and factors thatgovern local preferences for PAs are assessed. Fourteen study villages were randomly selected from three different protectedforest areas and one control site along the southern coast of Côte d’Ivoire. Data was collected through a mixed-methodapproach, including qualitative semi-structured interviews and a household survey based on hypothetical choice scenarios.Local people’s perceptions of ecosystem service provision was decrypted through qualitative content analysis, while therelation between people’s preferences and potential factors that affect preferences were analyzed through multinomial models.This study shows that rural villagers do perceive a number of different ecosystem services as benefits from PAs in Côted’Ivoire. The results based on quantitative data also suggest that local preferences for PAs and related ecosystem services aredriven by PAs’ management rules, age, and people’s dependence on natural resources