THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

The following table summarizes the education levels among the respondents.
Table 6.3 Education of respondents participating in the survey
Education Level Frequency Percentage
Post. Graduate 0 0
Tertiary 6 2.7
Vocational 20 9.13
Secondary 45 20
Primary 127 57
No formal education 22 10
Total 220 100
Source: Field Survey data.
6.2 Local perceptions of biodiversity in Kakamega
In this study, respondents were asked to give a local definition of what biodiversity is. The
question was put in a way that respondents define biodiversity basing on how they locally
perceived Kakamega forest environment. This was assumed to provide a pathway to what
constitutes the most local perceptions of biodiversity. The answers to this question paint up a
picture of how people perceive biodiversity in general and Kakamega forest in particular. The
answers to this question brought out the different local understandings of what biodiversity is.
As a result, there were different definitions and which form the varied perceptions of what the
local understanding of the Kakamega forest biodiversity is. To most of the respondents, the
environment in Kakamega forest was defined as a habitat for rare plants and animals. These
constituted the majority of the responses accounting for 54.79%. Another section of the
respondents defined Kakamega forest environment as an area of great agricultural potential
and this accounted for 30.14% of the total number of respondents in the sample. There were
however, other varied responses from the survey. These included those who defined the
Kakamega forest environment as a sacred forest for the community. These were 13.24%. The
following table provides summary of local perceptions about the Kakamega forest
environment.
Table 6.4 Varying perceptions of local biodiversity in Kakamega
Value Response Frequency Percentage
Hunting ground 2 0,91
Sacred forest for Community 29 13,24
Area of Agriculturall potential 66 30,14
Place of common worship 1 0,46
Habitat for rare plants and animals 120 54,79
Place of common ancestry 2 0,46
Total 220 100
Source: Field Survey data.
130