In interviews few households admitted to illicit forest use,
although some described how they had recently stopped
collecting wood, mining, or hunting in the Park and buffer
zone. Such claims are hard to assess on their own but a
general sense of decreased forest use is shared by the RDB.
This gains further credence from the increased frequency
of community meetings since the start of the project to
promote the importance of conservation, and the increased
intensity of monitoring. Although interviews suggested that
arrests were uncommon, there were frequent reports of
poachers or collectors of forest products being reprimanded.
The project has stimulated a wide range of community
members to be involved in reporting or disrupting illicit
activities, which appears to have increased deterrence.