Evaluating social drivers of biodiversity conservation in protected areas: Benefits, costs, trust, and directional vulnerability in Nepal

Protected areas (PA) are crucial for in-situ conservation of native biodiversity. However, with growing human-wildlife conflict in the fringe-areas of PAs in most developing countries, securing local support for conservation has remained a persistent challenge in conservation governance. To better understand the social dynamics of conservation governance, this study employed a survey of 2,121 households residing in the buffer zones of six protected areas spanning global biodiversity hotspots in Nepal and employed structural equation modeling approach to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of wildlife tolerance, perceived costs, tangible and intangible benefits of living near protected areas, and trust in conservation institutions on public attitudes toward protected areas.Results show that positive attitudes of local people toward protected areas are strongly mediated by wildlife tolerance, which itself is shaped positively by intangible benefits and trust in conservation institutions, but negatively by directional vulnerability expressed as human-to-wildlife impacts. This pattern underscores the importance of investing in strategies that mitigate damages from and conflicts with wildlife, as such conflicts diminish tolerance and, in turn, public support for protected areas. The analysis further reveals contrasting effects of tangible versus intangible benefits, as well as opposing forms of directional vulnerability (i.e., wildlife-to-human versus human-to-wildlife) on attitudes toward protected areas. Tangible benefits, while valued, did not exhibit the same consistent positive influence on tolerance or attitudes as intangible benefits, such as cultural and ecosystem services. Meanwhile, perceptions of vulnerability in both directions demonstrated that attitudes are shaped not solely by material costs but by broader relational dynamics between people and wildlife.This presentation will demonstrate how local communities understand the benefits, costs, and directional vulnerabilities associated with protected areas established for biodiversity protection. It will also discuss the implications of these perceptions for conservation governance, highlighting the need to strengthen trust, enhance tolerance, and mitigate costs and vulnerabilities to improve the long-term effectiveness of protected area management and biodiversity conservation.