Nuno,AnaAndrade,Paula Alexandra Costa Marçal Correia eCasaca,Joana Cândido2026-03-312026-03-312026http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/117803Tese de mestrado, Biologia da Conservação, 2026, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasCommunity participation in law enforcement can contribute to more effective and equitable conservation. However, our understanding of what promotes or hinders the implementation of such initiatives in small island developing states (SIDS) is limited. SIDS tend to be highly dependent on natural resources, to suffer from lack of capacity and resources, which makes it interesting to study this topic on islands. Using São Tomé and Príncipe as a case study, we explored the potential contributions of locals to conservation-related law enforcement, by conducting semi-structured interviews with 48 key informants, including natural resource users, NGO staff, beach patrollers, government staff. The interviews followed a framework focused on key dimensions, important for understanding the contributions of local residents to protected area law enforcement, created by Sharkey et al., (2024), such as community involvement in decision-making, supply of external aid, involvement in the enforcement chain, etc. By using hybrid thematic analysis, with both deductive and inductive coding, we show that limited enforcement of conservation rules and regulations (e.g. due to lack of resources, of qualified personnel, etc.) hinders their robustness in the area, even though community participation in activities related to conservation enforcement, which raise environmental awareness, provide alternative sources of income for residents, etc., has either been implemented (e.g. for reducing sea turtle harvest),or is being considered (e.g. potential strategy for new MPAs). Furthermore, the community participation activities suggest that, although with differences between the islands (São Tomé having higher levels of violence, more external aid and extrinsic motivations), residents are involved in decision-making, tend to get external aid for volunteering, are mostly intrinsically motivated and tend to not be formalized, with the participants having favorable views when it comes to the community involvement. Ultimately, we provide recommendations for community participation in conservation enforcement where resources are limited and biodiversity is high.application/pdfengCommunity participationlaw enforcementmarine conservationSão Tomé and Príncipesemi-structured interviewsmaster thesis