Evaluation of law enforcement 737
result of patrol staff concentrating their operations in areas where there was a high probability of encountering illegal activity, especially in the Special-use Zone. Although patrol staff effort was greatest in 2010 there was a lower encounter rate of illegal activities compared to the highest encounter rates in 2009. Poachers may have adjusted their behaviour (Montgomery & Blalock, 2010) or ceased to operate upon noticing the increase in regular patrols, decreasing the like- lihood of illegal activities being detected. During 2011–2017, when patrol staff performance stabilized (Fig. 2), the detec- tion of illegal activities remained low (Fig. 4). This could be attributed to patrol staff learning and gaining experience in adapting their patrol strategies to achieve patrol objectives, as suggested by the Park manager (J. Osei-Mensah, pers. comm., 2018). Another possible explanation is that poachers changed their behaviour, leading to a decrease in the rate of detection by patrols even in high-risk areas (as reported by Abbot & Mace, 1999), and/or changed their poaching techniques. The most frequently recorded illegal activity in Kogyae
was the use of snares, as in other protected areas in Ghana (Wiafe, 2018) and elsewhere (Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, Uganda: Critchlow et al., 2015; Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: Hurt & Ravn, 2000; Nyahongo et al., 2005; Holmern et al., 2007). As the use of snares is silent, poachers using them are less likely to be detected than poachers using firearms, and placing more snares maxi- mizes the probability of hunting success. Animals found dead during patrols had mostly been caught in snares, simi- lar to reports from other countries (e.g. Zambia: Becker et al., 2013), or died of infections from injuries suffered as a result of trying to escape from snares. The apparent preference for snares by poachers in Kogyae suggests that snaring may lead to a lower arrest rate because the time spent hunting is reduced (Table 1). This change in poach- ing method from firearms to snares was indicated by the changes in the encounter rates of poachers observed, which was notably high in 2008 and 2009 (Fig. 5). After 2009, a decline was observed in the direct encounters and in the numbers of poacher camps found in the Reserve, gunshots heard, and firearms confiscated. ‘Car- tridges found’ was included as a new category of illegal activity in Kogyae in 2013 but was not frequently encoun- tered by patrol teams. The weak relationship between the encounters with il-
legal activities and the number of people in the district where Kogyae is located contrasts with the general findings of increasing pressures on ecosystems coupled with increas- ing population (e.g. Veldhuis et al., 2019). The weakness of this relationship in Kogyae might be a consequence of the implementation of regular and active patrols specifically in the Reserve, because many inhabitants of the local commu- nities, upon noticing these patrols, avoided entry into the Reserve (J. Osei-Mensah, pers. comm., 2018). However,
data on encounters of illegal activities are directly related to the killing of animals, whereas other human activities, such as conversion of habitat for agricultural purposes or grazing of livestock within the Reserve, were not covered in the ranger-based patrol monitoring system. Including these aspects as illegal activities could render themonitoring and evaluation both difficult and controversial as agricul- tural land use is part of the livelihoods of people inhabiting the Special-use Zone. Considering that the majority of the population is involved in agricultural production, the effects of these activities on wildlife and their habitats throughout the Reserve require further study. Long-term assessment of law enforcement in protected
areas provides stakeholders with information on patrol staff performance over time and on illegal activities related to wildlife. Our findings indicate that patrol staff performance in Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve was partly dependent on logis- tical support, such as the provisionofGPS units, tents,motor- bikes, bicycles and other equipment. It means that patrol staff performance depends on the budget allocated by the govern- ment to protected areas or on external funding to support conservation. Improvements inprovisionofequipmentwould serve not only as an incentive for working in uncomfortable conditions but would also help rangers to feel their work is valued. To improve law enforcement and conservation in Kogyae, we also recommend training for rangers in the use of monitoring tools based on spatial information and the implementation of lawenforcement allocationmethods that allow prediction of illegal activities and targeting of conservation priorities. Spatial crimemapping approaches such as theManagement Information SysTem(MIST, 2021) and the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART, 2021) have proven to be effective in resource-limited set- tings (e.g. Critchlow et al., 2017), but this approach has not been used in Kogyae. These spatio-temporal ap- proaches, which link the occupancy of large mammals to habitats and to human-related factors, would enable decision-makers to act more efficiently for successful conservation.
Acknowledgements The study was supported by the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, project CIGA 20185007. We thank the Wildlife Division of Ghana for granting permission for this study, and the rangers in Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve, including at the headquarters, for their support.
Author contributions Conceptualization, design: JOA, MOA; data collection, analysis, interpretation: all authors; writing, revision: JOA, MOA, PH.
Conflicts of interest None.
Ethical standards Research approval and permits were granted by the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission of Ghana (permit number WD/A.30/VOL. 11/28). This research abided by the Oryx guidelines on ethical standards.
Oryx, 2021, 55(5), 732–738 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605320000228
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