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PERCEPTION ON DRIVERS OF HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT USING THE PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES PATH MODEL ING APPROACH
Description
Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) continues to escalate across Ghana’s ecological transition zones as expanding agriculture, habitat modification, and climate variability intensify encounters between communities and wildlife. Despite growing research on HWC in Ghana, limited attention has been given to how interacting ecological, socioeconomic, cultural, political, and climatic factors jointly shape conflict outcomes and conservation effectiveness. This study examined the multidimensional drivers of HWC within the Digya–Kogyae Wildlife Corridor (DKWC), a critical ecological link between Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve and Digya National Park. Data from 399 respondents across eleven corridor communities were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Path Modelling (PLS-PM) to assess the influence of five latent driver constructs on conflict incidence. Cultural Drivers emerged as the most influential, exerting a positive and significant effect on HWC by shaping local perceptions, tolerance levels, and retaliatory responses toward wildlife. Climatic Drivers also showed a significant negative effect, indicating that climate-induced shifts in resource availability and wildlife movement influence conflict dynamics. Environmental, Socio-economic, and Developmental–Political Drivers exhibited negative but non-significant effects, suggesting that improvements in governance, livelihoods, and habitat management may reduce conflict but require stronger institutional and community engagement. Overall, the findings highlight that HWC in the DKWC results from complex socio-ecological interactions rather than single determinants. The study underscores the importance of integrated, culturally informed mitigation strategies that strengthen governance, support climate adaptation, promote livelihood diversification, and enhance long-term coexistence and conservation outcomes within wildlife corridors.
Keywords: Human–wildlife conflict; wildlife corridors; socio-ecological drivers; community perceptions; conservation governance