Concomitant nexus assessment between the environment and health of wildlife in Hwange urban green spaces

ABSTRACT

Urban green spaces (UGS) mitigate negative impacts of urban living and provide positive effects on citizens’ mood, health and well-being. The net effect of UGS on wildlife health and human welfare remains understudied in urban zones proximal to wildlife rich areas. This study assessed the concomitant relationship between the environment and health of wildlife in Hwange Town in Zimbabwe through a questionnaire survey from June—December 2022. This study aimed to: i) assess the local perceptions on the link between urban ecology and urban ecosystems relative to wildlife health, ii) determine the local perceptions on the changes in the areal extent of green spaces, and iii) examine local perceptions towards green spaces and human-wildlife conflict in Hwange Town. Locals indicated that agricultural activities, urbanisation, mining and poaching were destroying and polluting the natural habitat. Increased magnitude, impact and frequency of wildlife-human conflicts signals increasing depletion of green spaces and expansion of urbanisation into wildlife habitats. There was no statistically significant correlation (r = 0.088; p = 0.172) in the local perceptions on the relation between ecosystem and well-being of wildlife. The urban ecosystem mosaic complex is unpredictable, heterogenous and evolving with human activities imploring a need for optimisation of human-activities and wildlife wellbeing. However, without financial and infrastructural support local communities are unable to conserve wildlife. We suggest community-based wildlife protection programmes integrating citizen science data (local ecological knowledge) using existing information communication platforms as alternative options to sustain wildlife conservation in urban green spaces in wildlife rich developing towns.

KEYWORDS:

• humanwildlife conflicts
• citizen science
• fringe communities
• urban green spaces
• Hwange Town

1. Introduction

The urban greenspace (UGS) concept is topical because of its relevance to wildlife conservation, climate change adaptation and sustainable healthy lifestyles of urban dwellers (Cameron et al., 2020). Biodiversity loss requires formulation of new concepts for ecological restoration and rehabilitation in cities (Aronson et al., 2017; Ziter, 2016). Ecology in the city focusses on the physical environment as isolated patches (Xie et al., 2023) often excluding the interactive effects of UGS, humans and wildlife. Two aspects underpin urban ecological studies: i) ecology in the cities and ii) ecology of urban ecosystem mosaic complex (Aronson et al., 2017). The paradigmatic contrast is methodological in its implications as ecology in the city focus on isolated patch areas and the ecology of the city includes broader spatial scales, many patch types and large distances (Beninde et al., 2015).

Hwange Town is located near Hwange National Park, the largest wildlife reserve in Zimbabwe, and predominant livelihoods include wildlife tourism and mining (Hwange Rural District Council, 2022). In Hwange Town buildings, streets, and green spaces combine to form a complex habitat mosaic in an urban setting. The green spaces, e.g. highly managed parkland to natural habitat remnants, as well as linear features like rivers, roadways, and railway tracks, represent potential habitats and migration corridors for wildlife. However, Hwange Town has been expanding with more settlements created to cater for economic migrants searching for employment in the mining, power generation and wildlife sectors in recent years (Hwange Rural District Council, 2022). This urban encroachment has resulted in the destruction of green spaces leading to increased magnitude and frequency and impacts of human-wildlife conflicts (HWC) which threatens livelihoods and biodiversity in Hwange. This necessitates for assessment of the extent of urban encroachment and destruction of wildlife patches e.g. wildlife migration routes, bird perches and small game burrows and hollows in order to identify hotspots, and mitigation flashpoints, of humanwildlife conflicts in Hwange (Guerbois et al., 2013; Sandifer et al., 2015).

Further, there is a need to assess local perceptions towards wildlife patches, and on urban encroachment into wildlife protected areas as anthropogenic activities corroborates with human perspectives and livelihoods in urban ecosystems (Cameron et al., 2020; Cilliers et al., 2013). This study aimed to: i) assess the locals’ perceptions on the link between urban ecology and urban ecosystems relative to wildlife health, ii) determine the locals’ perceptions on the changes in the areal extent of green spaces, and iii) examine locals’ perceptions towards green spaces and HWC in Hwange Town. The key hypotheses were: i) there were no significant differences in locals’ perceptions on the link between urban ecology and urban ecosystems relative to wildlife, ii) there was no significant differences in the locals’ perceptions in the changes in areal extent of green spaces, and iii) the locals’ perceptions do not differ significantly towards the relation between green spaces and HWC in Hwange Town.

2. Study area and methods

The arid Hwange District (Figure 1) located in Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe has an estimated human population of 135 000 (52% females and 48% males) (Hwange Rural District Council, 2022; ZIMSTAT, 2013). It has 20 wards (5 in Hwange Urban, 2 periurban, 13 rural), and encompasses Hwange National Park. Hwange Urban wards have an estimated human population of 19 876 accommodated in 245 lowdensity, 383 mediumdensity, and 1006 highdensity housing units respectively (Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe, 2022). Applying the sample calculation methods by Kindle (2017) and Van Dessel (2019) 385 residents were interviewed with 58, 90 and 237 respondents randomly drawn from low, medium and high density suburbs respectively.

Figure 1. Map showing location of Hwange District. The dark and grey areas indicate the protected areas Hwange National Park and Sikumi Forest. Note that the grey circles in the map represent houses in the named areas.

2.1. Data collection and analysis

The study focused on the perceptions and views of residents in Hwange urban and excluded visitors or temporary residents of the area (those who had stayed in the area for less than six months). We contacted using the telephone and cell phone urban (low, medium and high density suburb) dwellers registered in the official resident list of the Hwange Rural District Council. Stand sizes less than 300 m², are considered to be high density, those between say 400–700 m² are considered as medium and all sizes beyond 700 m² are low density in Hwange Rural District. An observational descriptive cross-sectional ecological mixed methods design or stratified random sampling was used to collect and analyse data (Akhtar, 2016). Two types of data were collected: qualitative data using interview guides and structured statistical data using structured questionnaires (Appendix 1 and 2). We administered the survey through faceface and electronic interviews. Qualitative data were analysed using coded thematic context methods in Nvivo. Quantitative data were analysed using nonparametric inferential statistics i.e Chi square and Spearman Rank (p < 0.05 significance level) to test for significance of relations of independent variables (ecology) and dependent variables (well-being of wildlife) and on the perceptions of residents towards urbanisation and HWC in SPSS.

In this study for the demography part the main hypothesis being tested was that there was no significant difference in the gender, age, education qualifications and work experience and or period of stay in Hwange Town which are the grouping or independent variables (Section A in Appendix 1). The different binary (for gender) and continous categories (on an interval scale for age and period of residence in Hwange Town) and the nominal scale for the highest education variable were the dependent variables. For the Section B i.e. the link of urban ecology and urban ecosystem with the health of wildlife in Hwange Town and peripheral areas in the questionnaire in Appendix 1 the main specific questions were the independent variable with the locals’ responses on a Likert Scale as indicated the dependent variables. The specific independent variables were: The environment in Hwange is changing due to human activities, rivers are drying up at an alarming rate due to urbanisation, destruction of habitat, destruction of food source and poaching or hunting, and the last question was an open ended question asking for other responses. The next successive questions were that have you ever had some information or training on protection/conservation of wildlife, and? (Appendix 1). The questions in this section were analysed using the Chi square test (p < 0.05) and the Likert Scale scores as the contrasted variables in the contingency tables across the respondents interviewed. For the Section C on perceptions of locals there were specific questions detailed below (Appendix 1). Have there been any ways of protecting wildlife in Hwange? If yes what are the ways? What do you think can be done to protect wildlife in your area? What role does the Hwange National Park play in the conservation of wildlife? What area some of the harmful activities that destroy the ecological system and pose as a health hazard to wildlife? Are there people that still poach in the Hwange National Park? If the above answer is yes, what has the management of the National Park done to punish these poachers?

The Chi square test was used to test for the significance of difference in the locals’ perceptions on the specific questions detailed above with the Likert Scale scores as the dependent variables across the number of respondents. The Spearman Rank (p < 0.05 significance level) test was used to test for significance of relations of independent variables (ecology) and dependent variables (well-being of wildlife) on their with the Likert Scale scores as the locals’ perceptions. Thematic qualitative analyses were done on the openended questions for each section.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Response rate and demographic analysis of the Hwange Town residents

From an administered 385 questionnaires, 243 fullyfilled questionnaires were returned following a hierarchical pattern: low density (75.9%)> medium density (64.4%) > high density suburbs (59.5%). Residents from low density suburbs were the keenest to contribute to the discussion of urbanisation on wildlife, human-wildlife conflict and relationships. Nonetheless, there was no significant difference (X², p > 0.05) in the gender of respondents, with a significant difference (X², p < 0.05) in the educational qualifications of different gender. Most (97.9%) respondents had lived for at least six years in Hwange Town.

3.2. Interlinking urban ecology and ecosystem with wildlife health in Hwange Town

At least 64% of the respondents perceived that human activities affect the environment and cited that urbanisation is causing drying up of rivers and destroying wildlife habitats and food sources. At least 71% (53% who agreed and 18% who strongly agreed) of the respondents indicated that the encroachment of human habitat into the green spaces in Hwange Town is destroying habitats for the wildlife. There was no significant (X², p > 0.05) difference in the locals’ perceptions towards humans as drivers of environment destruction in Hwange Town. Maes et al. (2016) indicated that wildlife encapsulated urban ecosystems are unique and structurally more complex than uninterrupted wildlife ecosystems due to a high degree of heterogeneity and dynamic spatial structures and human activities’ encroachment onto natural habitats leading to complex and evolving human-wildlife interactions. This observation dovetails with the locals’ perceptions which indicated that Hwange Town as a wildlife encapsulated urban ecosystem will inevitably record incidences of HWC.

58% of the respondents indicated that poaching and hunting is depopulating and affecting the well-being of wildlife as fit and healthy animals are prime poaching targets leaving genetically inferior weak and less lucrative species. There was no significant difference (X², p > 0.05) in locals’ perceptions towards the effects of urbanisation driven poaching. There was no statistically significant correlation (r = 0.088; p = 0.172) in the locals’ perceptions on the relation between maintaining a viable ecosystem and improved health of wildlife. Dandy et al. (2011) indicated that the link between environmental dynamics with well-being of wildlife is complex and less understood. The concept of wildlife health is broad, however, locals in Hwange perceive that wildlife health is not significantly linked to environmental dynamics.

3.3. Local perceptions on the areal extent of green spaces in Hwange Town

The main key informants indicated that urban encroachment has destroyed green spaces and spurred HWC. One respondent indicated that, ‘Green space area is being reduced by urbanization. Human life losses and injuries have increased due to increase in human settlements at the edge of protected areas which is perceived as a major threat to conservation of biodiversity’. The key informants indicated that ‘The current status of human wildlife conflict in Hwange is affecting humans mostly. Frequent droughts are re-igniting human wildlife conflict in Hwange as wild animals are straying encroaching into human habitats. To note, 311 animal attacks, mainly elephants, lions, buffalo, on people were recorded in 2019 up from 195 in 2018. The attacks have been blamed on devastating droughts in Hwange which has seen hungry animals breaking out of game reserves raiding human settlements in search of food and water’. Green spaces that acted as buffer zones between HNP and human settlement are perceived to be dwindling as wildlife encroaches into human settlement and vice versa. Combining urban green spaces and human activities forms a more complex habitat mosaic matrix which is dynamic and heterogenous (Cilliers et al., 2013).

3.3.1. Perceived effectiveness of conservation measures for wildlife in Hwange

65% of respondents indicated that not all of Hwange Town community is actively involved in wildlife conservation. Respondents cited the influential role of CAMPFIRE (Communal Area Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) which was abandoned in 2003 when the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) withdrew its support resulting in disengagement of the community and uncontrolled hunting behaviour by tourists who contributed nothing to the welfare of the community. Consequently, communities are adopting initiatives to: ban any hunting done without involvement of locals in the future, use volunteer organisations to restore wildlife diversity in UGS, reinforce physical security through repairing the fence around HNP, and implore authorities to impose stricter fines for poachers. Education and training of local communities were suggested to improve the human-wildlife relations. Respondents said, ‘By educating people living with the wildlife the importance of every species and by giving them benefits accrued from wildlife species. It is important to make use of volunteer organizations to restore native forest, grassland and coastal ecosystems by planting native species’.

Residents stated that compensation frameworks put in place after 2003 have been dissatisfactory due to lack of transparency. One respondent stated that: ‘Even in some areas where compensation has achieved some success, they have failed to meet people expectations, due to low compensation rates and procedural barriers’. ‘People have not benefited from the wildlife in their areas because of corruption. However, little funds are being channelled to the community by the Hwange Town Council whilst the rest is used to buy luxurious vehicles for the council’. Respondents believe that a community-driven wildlife management programme integrating local communities as signatories and custodians of wildlife protection schemes may ameliorate degradation of UGS and enhance biodiversity conservation in Hwange Town. Integrating locals in wildlife protection schemes entails proper institutional and operational frameworks and effective communication platforms for information dissemination, awareness and training (Gandiwa et al., 2013; Mbereko et al., 2018). However, a sizeable portion (62%) of respondents indicated that they have not received proper training and information on wildlife conservation. This implores wildlife agencies and urban authorities to use and strengthen existing communication platforms e.g. print media and community radios to raise awareness of the impacts of reducing UGS on human and wildlife health in Hwange Town.

4. Conclusion and conservation implications

The blurring of wildlife and human activities as the buffer zones are being reduced between the two is resulting in increased magnitude, impact and frequency of human-wildlife conflict in Hwange Town. Destruction of the areal extent of the green spaces in Hwange is spurring the conflict with more damage occurring on human life—injuries and even fatalities. This study demonstrates that urban ecosystems are unpredictable due to its heterogeneity and evolutionary nature with evolving human activities. Efforts must be made to ensure to increase the perceptual linkage between ecosystem integrity and wildlife well-being among local communities. Despite the need to protect wildlife, lack of legal and institutional custodianship, guardianship and stewardship mandates in tandem with inadequate financial and infrastructural support renders community driven wildlife management ineffective in shared conservation landscapes. Efforts to balance off human activities and wildlife well-being have to involve communities. There is a need to involve all stakeholders in UGS planning and management in areas proximal to wildlife protected zones. Understanding the complex urban green space mosaic habitats entails detrending multimodal and multifactorial interactive and iterative dynamics in local perceptions towards socioeconomic, environmental, physical structures and institutional drivers.

Ethical clearance

The ethical clearance for this research was obtained from the Hwange Rural District Council under which the study area falls in.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

We have deposited the raw results in SPSS format as the Supplementary Data for the study.

Appendix 1:

Questionnaire used for the study

Date……………….

My name is Martha Jena and I am carrying out dissertation research focusing on URBAN ECOLOGY AND URBAN ECOSYSTEMS: UNDERSTANDING THE LINKS TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH OF THE WILDLIFE: A CASE OF HWANGE. I am requesting you to complete the questioner anonymously in the space provided. You may take about 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire and are assured that the data collect from these questionnaires shall be used in absolute confidence and for academic purposes only. Your effort will be greatly appreciated.

SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS

May you please fill in information by way of marking or ticking ⊠ the boxes that best reflects your personal information.

Table

1. Gender

Male □

Female □

Table

2. Age group

20–25 years □

26–30 years □

31–35 years □

36 years and above □

Table

3. Highest education qualifications

certificate and below □

Diploma □

Degree □

Masters □

Doctorate □

Table

4. Work experience and or years staying in Hwange

0–5 years □

6–10 years □

11–15 years □

15 years and above □

SECTION B:

LINK OF URBAN ECOLOGY AND URBAN ECOSYSTEM WITH THE HEALTH OF WILDLIFE IN HWANGE TOWN AND PERIPHERAL AREAS

Table

May you please mark or tick ⊠ the box that best represent your level of agreement (strongly agree (SA) = 1, Agree (A) = 2, Neutral (N) = 3, Disagree (D) =4, and Strongly disagree (SD) = 5) with the following statements
Statement	SD 5	D 4	N 3	A 2	SA 1
The environment in Hwange is changing due to human activities.	□	□	□	□	□
Rivers are drying up at an alarming rate due to urbanisation.	□	□	□	□	□
Destruction of habitat	□	□	□	□	□
Destruction of food source	□	□	□	□	□
Poaching or hunting	□	□	□	□	□

Table

5. Have you ever had some information or training on protection/conservation of wildlife?

Yes □

No □

Table

6. Have you ever had some information or training on protection/conservation of wildlife?

At school □

Radio/newspaper □

Radio/newspaper □

Government department (specify) □

NGO □

Researchers □

Others (Specify) □

SECTION C: PERCEPTIONS OF LOCALS

Table

7. Have there been any ways of protecting wildlife in Hwange?

Yes □

No □

8. If yes what are the ways?

9. What do you think can be done to protect wildlife in your area?

10. What role does the Hwange National Park play in the conservation of wildlife?

11. What area some of the harmful activities that destroy the ecological system and pose as a health hazard to wildlife?

Table

12. Are there people that still poach in the Hwange National Park?

Yes □

No □

13. If the above answer is yes, what has the management of the National Park done to punish these poachers?

Appendix 2:

Interview guide for Hwange locals

1. What is the current status of human wildlife conflict and how wildlife induced injuries and loss of human life is manifesting in Hwange Town?

2. How is human wildlife conflict managed?

3. What are the perspectives about current human wildlife conflict?

4. What is the discourse on compensation frameworks and justification thereof in literature?

5. What is the basis and justification of the current compensation framework in Hwange Town? Campfire, compensation of people affected.

6. What are the experiences with the compensation framework?

7. What are the challenges and successes encountered in managing the current compensation framework?

8. What recommendations can be made on the present framework, on its status and place going forward and any demands to enhance responsiveness, effectiveness and promote wildlife conservation efforts.

9. What are the general comments on human wildlife conflict, compensation of injuries and loss of human life?