Illegal activities and use of park resources are the main challenges facing mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei ) conservation and the protection of their habitats in the East Africa’s Greater Virunga Transboundary Landscape (GVTL). Indigenous residents around GVTL are considered the primary illegal users of park resources. Despite this, there is limited understanding of the current and past perceptions of indigenous residents living in communities adjacent to two GVTL parks; Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. Equally, there is also limited understanding regarding the actual incidences of illegal activities inside both parks. This paper addresses these gaps. Perception data were collected from indigenous residents living adjacent to both parks. Further, Ranger-based Monitoring (RbM) data from both parks were analyzed to determine actual numbers and types of illegal activities over the 9-year period. Interestingly, findings indicated that residents perceived the prevalence of illegal activities to be decreasing across GVTL. To the contrary, RbM findings indicated that the number of actual illegal activities was increasing significantly, particularly in Volcanoes National Park. The discrepancy found between the two perspectives provides for a discussion of the social biases potentially present in these data, and their implications for management. Results also illuminated the subsistence-related nature of most illegal behaviors and suggest that to reduce illegal activities and local dependency on park resources, park management must work with communities and support them in tapping into alternative livelihoods and finding ways to address community household subsistence needs.

中文翻译：

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土著居民对非法使用东非山地大猩猩保护区资源的看法和行为

非法活动和公园资源的使用是山地大猩猩 (Gorilla beringei beringei) 在东非大维龙加跨界景观 (GVTL) 保护和栖息地保护面临的主要挑战。GVTL 周围的土著居民被认为是公园资源的主要非法使用者。尽管如此，人们对居住在两个 GVTL 公园附近社区的土著居民当前和过去的看法了解有限；卢旺达的火山国家公园和乌干达的 Mgahinga 大猩猩国家公园。同样，对两个公园内非法活动的实际发生率也知之甚少。本文解决了这些差距。感知数据是从居住在两个公园附近的土著居民那里收集的。更多，对来自两个公园的游侠监控 (RbM) 数据进行了分析，以确定 9 年期间非法活动的实际数量和类型。有趣的是，调查结果表明，居民认为整个 GVTL 的非法活动流行率正在下降。相反，RbM 调查结果表明，实际非法活动的数量正在显着增加，尤其是在火山国家公园。两种观点之间的差异提供了对这些数据中可能存在的社会偏见及其对管理的影响的讨论。结果还阐明了大多数非法行为与生存相关的性质，并建议减少非法活动和当地对公园资源的依赖，