Conservation and Development: Justice, Inequality, and Attitudes around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Conservation efforts around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, while promoting distributional justice through targeted benefits, may inadvertently increase local economic inequality. The study found that direct benefits from conservation and development projects, such as compensation for park-related damages, are limited in coverage and thus fail to significantly impact overall development. However, indirect benefits—such as improved transportation, health, education, and security—affect a broader population. These contrasting outcomes highlight the complex interplay between conservation goals and local development, suggesting that the human geography of national parks plays a crucial role in shaping these dynamics. Improved local attitudes toward the park appear to result from a combination of factors rather than any single initiative.

Tumusiime, D. M., & Sjaastad, E. (2013). Conservation and Development: Justice, Inequality, and Attitudes around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The Journal of Development Studies, 50(2), 204–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2013.841886