Human Induced Threats for Biodiversity Conservation in Maze National Park, SNNPR, Ethiopia

Abstract

Biodiversity loss is the worst crisis that is currently happening in the earth. Humans are thought to be the main cause for global environmental crisis including loss of biological diversity. Protected areas particularly National Parks are considered as the most effective measures for dwindling biodiversity extinction. Moreover, protected areas are the homeland of indigenous people whose means of livelihoods and cultural values are highly depends on the biotic resources. Likewise, local people have enjoyed, interacted with and utilized biological resources of Maze National Park for many years. The case study presented in this paper describes human induced threats to biodiversity conservation in Maze National Park. Likert scale was employed to assess the anthropogenic threats of biodiversities. In addition, binary logistic regression was used to identify the factors that determine the threats. Qualitative analysis was also employed for data collected through discussions. The survey results showed that hunting and unplanned wildfires are the two major human induced threats of biodiversity conservation in the park. In addition, some demographic and socio-economic factors such as family size and access to public health services have statistically a significant implication on the hunting. Thus, appropriate actions like environmental education, family planning and provision of education and health services should be undertaken to reduce current rate of biodiversity loss