Drivers of local communities’ behavioural intentions to conserve the hooded vulture in the W Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, West Africa

Despite numerous community-based conservation initiatives aimed at protecting biodiversity, progress often remains limited due to an incomplete understanding of the factors shaping local communities’ engagement in conservation. We extended the Theory of Planned Behaviour by explicitly incorporating species-specific knowledge to better capture the social and psychological influences shaping communities’ willingness to conserve the critically endangered hooded vulture ( Necrosyrtes monachus ) around the W Transboundary Biosphere Reserve in Benin, West Africa. We analysed survey data from 439 respondents using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Our findings revealed that communities possessed substantial knowledge of hooded vultures, including threats and conservation status, and generally acknowledged the importance of their conservation. Attitudes were mixed, combining both positive and negative perceptions. Most respondents (99.5%) expressed intentions to conserve vultures, with high reported willingness to abandon poaching (84.5%) and engage in advocacy or awareness-raising (~90%). In contrast, far fewer were willing to cease belief-based use (37.1%) or reduce habitat-related practices (1.6%). Socioeconomic status positively influenced knowledge and attitudes, but had no significant effect on social norms and was negatively associated with perceived behavioural control. Conservation behaviour varied with socioeconomic status, increasing with education but declining with income, among farmers and herders, and among younger respondents. Conservation behaviour was predicted by perceived behavioural control, knowledge and social norms. Attitudes did not exert a significant direct effect on behaviour, while attitude × knowledge interaction positively influenced communities’ behavioural intention. This study advances understanding of conservation behaviour in human-dominated landscapes and highlights that effective vulture conservation must move beyond awareness-raising to address structural socioeconomic constraints and strengthen perceived behavioural control, particularly among norm-sensitive and resource-dependent groups.