The Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania is proclaimed a site of global biodiversity significance. The economic value of wildlife in Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks is substantial and growing. Maintaining the health of these parks is important to Tanzania’s overall tourism industry and macroeconomic health. A considerable proportion of Tarangire’s wildlife leaves the park for approximately six months a year, migrating onto village lands under the jurisdiction of local communities. Of particular importance are grazing and calving areas in the Simanjiro Plains. Conservation of the ecosystem’s migratory wildlife populations largely depends on maintaining these habitats on communally owned lands. However, populations of most large mammal species have declined by over fifty percent in the last decade. The progressive conversion of pastoral rangelands to agriculture is believed to be a major contributing factor to this decline. Community-based conservation (CBC) interventions in the Tarangire ecosystem aim to increase the combined economic returns from wildlife and pastoral livestock production in order to reduce incentives for non-wildlife compatible agricultural land-use change. Increased State investment in CBC, continued growth in photographic and hunting tourism revenues, and large infusions of funding from international conservation organisations suggest that substantial potential exists for CBC to play a significant role in poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation. This thesis examines the fortunes of CBC in the Tarangire ecosystem. It uses a household survey conducted in a village earning substantial wildlife tourism revenues to show that wildlife benefits are concentrated in the hands of the elite, and have limited livelihood or conservation impacts. By documenting the root causes of local resistance to conservation, this thesis explains the failures of new conservation strategies in Tanzania.

This study set out to investigate habitat fragmentation and its implications for wildlife conservation. It focused on Emboreet Ward in the Arusha region of Tanzania, which is in close proximity to the Tarangire National Park. This area, traditionally occupied by the Maasai pastoralists, has undergone several changes, not least of which are changes in the local livelihoods in response to a need for cash and deterioration of state support for animal health care. Dominating these changes is a shift in livelihood strategies from pastoralism to a mix of pastoralism and cropping. Increasingly, land is being cultivated and agricultural opportunities are changing lifestyles, livelihoods and habitat integrity for wildlife. Fragmentation of habitats outside the national park has serious implications for the future of pastoralism and conservation, especially since some species of wildlife migrate seasonally between this park and the adjoining plains. It also has significance for the Maasai whose approach to domestic livestock management is deeply rooted in a culture that does not comfortably accord with the market economy. The study adopted a case study approach, was mainly qualitative, and relied on both primary and secondary data sources. Interviews played a critical part in sourcing primary data from the respondents. Documentary analysis was critical to gathering secondary data. The study shows the future of Tarangire National Park to be intricately woven into the complex and dynamic interaction between the changing economy, the responses of the Maasai whose culture separates them from the market economy, migrants into the area, and the government agencies whose intentions appear to be neither clearly expressed nor interpreted. The study concludes that empowerment lies at the heart of the envisaged change. This is shown to be a necessity for all stakeholders operating within a proposed integrating structure. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

<p>Tanzania is famous for it’s beautiful nature and rich wildlife. Proud of it’s natural heritage, Tanzania has dedicated over 20% of it’s territory as protected areas to shield the wildlife from human interference. But the wildlife is regarded as a menace by the local communities that lives close to the impressive national parks. At the same time, the increasing human population threatens the survival of the large migratory species in the parks by blocking vital dispersal areas.</p><p>This essay describes the human/wildlife conflict around Tarangire National Park and focuses on communities close to park borders. The intention is to examine if a buffer zone could solve the conflict in this area. By studying the political ecology of wildlife conservation in Tanzania, from local to global scale and through a historical perspective, it is concluded that the poor state-society relation as experienced in local communities is a crucial factor for the diminishing wildlife.</p>

It is widely recognized that human-wildlife conflicts can reduce farmers’ support for long-term species conservation. The subject of human-elephant conflicts is highly relevant in villages around Babati District in North Central Tanzania because of the closeness to Tarangire National Park. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine local farmers’ attitudes toward elephants and the attitudes’ effects on conservation efforts. Primary data was collected through a qualitative approach of semi-structured interviews with twelve farmers in four villages around Babati, with Wildlife Officer Nashon Macokesha at Babati District Council and with Allan Carlson, Nature Conservation Expert at WWF. A thematic analysis was done to make comparisons between the answers from farmers, Macokesha and Carlson. The Theory of Planned Behavior and the Value-Belief-Norm theory were also used to analyze the underlying factors of the farmers’ attitudes.   The results of this study show that around half of the farmers have positive attitudes toward elephants, while the other half think negatively of them. Elephants were identified as the most problematic species and crop-raiding as the most problematic type of human-elephant conflict. The problems that farmers experience do to crop-raiding and other types of human-elephant conflicts include the direct effects of lost livelihood and income and indirect effects like health impacts and security issues. The result also indicates that factors affecting farmers’ attitudes toward elephants include: 1) the proportion of available land affected by elephants, 2) the closeness of farmers’ fields to Tarangire National Park, 3) the lack of compensation, 4) the ability to affect the decision-making concerning the human-elephant conflicts and 5) the information about and knowledge of elephants and their importance. The underlying cause of the human-elephant conflicts is identified to be the spatial overlap of the two species. To prevent human-elephant encounters in the first place, thereby reducing the risk of human-elephants conflicts, better land use planning can be used to avoid settlement and cultivation close to protected areas. Buffer zones can be established around national parks and reserves to reduce the overlap between humans and wildlife. Mitigation through preventive and deterrent methods like lighting fires, making noises, using chili-dung or chili-grease to scare elephants off farmers’ fields can also be used. Another alternative is to switch from growing high-risk crops that elephants prefer to crops like chili or sesame which rarely gets eaten by elephants. / Att konflikter mellan människor och djurliv kan minska bönders stöd för artbevarande åtgärder är välkänt bland forskare. Konflikter mellan människor och elefanter är vitt förekommande i byar i Babati-distriktet i norra Tanzania på grund av närheten till nationalparken Tarangire. Syftet med denna studie är därför att undersöka bönders attityder till elefanter och attitydernas effekter för bevarandeåtgärder. Primärdata samlades in genom ett kvalitativt upplägg med semistrukturerade intervjuer med tolv bönder i fyra byar i Babati, med Wildlife Officer Nashon Macokesha på Babati District Council samt med Allan Carlson, naturvårdsexpert på WWF. En tematisk analys utfördes för att jämföra svaren mellan bönderna, Macokesha och Carlson och the Theory of Planned Behavior samt the Value-Belief-Norm theory användes för att analysera de underliggande orsakerna bakom böndernas attityder.   Resultatet från denna studie visar att ungefär hälften av bönderna har positiva attityder till elefanter, medan den andra hälften har negativa åsikter om dem. Elefanter identifierades som den mest problematiska arten för bönderna och förstörandet av grödor som den mest problematiska typen av konflikt mellan människor och elefanter. Problemen som bönderna upplever till följd av dessa konflikter inkluderar direkta effekter som förlorad inkomst och försämrade försörjningsmöjligheter, men också indirekta effekter som hälso- och säkerhetsproblem. Faktorer som enligt resultaten i denna studie kan påverka böndernas attityder till elefanter innefattar: 1) andelen tillgänglig mark som påverkas av elefanter, 2) närheten från böndernas mark till nationalparken Tarangire, 3) bristen på kompensation, 4) möjligheten att påverka beslutsprocessen gällande konflikten mellan människor och elefanter samt 5) information och kunskap om elefanter och deras betydelse. Den underliggande orsaken till konflikterna mellan människor och elefanter identifieras vara överlappet i användnings­områden mellan de båda arterna. För att förhindra möten mellan människor och elefanter, och därmed minska risken för konflikter, behövs bättre markanvändningsplanering så att bosättning och jordbruk undviks i närheten av skyddade områden. Buffertzoner kan också anläggas runt nationalparker och reservat för att minska överlappet mellan människor och djur. Avskräckande åtgärder, som att tända eldar, göra oväsen, tända chilibriketter eller sätta upp chili-rep, för att hålla elefanter borta från böndernas åkrar kan också användas. Ett annat alternativ är att bönderna byter från att odla högriskgrödor som elefanter föredrar till att odla grödor som chili eller sesam, vilka sällan eller aldrig äts av elefanter.

One of the biggest challenges with today's conservation strategy has been the increase in human-wildlife conflicts in rural areas. Different strategies in conservation have been presented, such as mainstream conservation and convivial conservation, both with the same goal but different approaches when it comes to economic, social and environmental aspects. Conservation of species and mitigation of human-wildlife conflicts are complex, both in practice and in theory. This makes the subject important to study in order to improve conservation models which in turn improve livelihoods, attitudes and surroundings for villagers affected by the conflicts. In this paper, the authors performed interviews with representatives of two administrations working with conservation of elephants as well as interviews with villagers living in wildlife management areas (WMA), specifically Burunge Wildlife Management Area (BWMA) in Manyara region, Tanzania. This paper aims to examine villagers’ perception of the BWMA and if the wildlife management areas fulfil their purpose and live up to their expectations as well as examine the potential perks and risks for villagers that live near wildlife areas. The overall perception was that the villagers were satisfied with the BWMA and the organization seemed to be successful in fulfilling their purpose regarding conservation. The risks of living near wildlife areas does seem to surpass the perks, both when looking from an economic perspective and overall safety, which makes the solutions to the conflicts a subject of great importance. / En av de största utmaningarna med dagens bevarandestrategier har varit ökningen av konflikter mellan människor och vilda djur. De olika strategierna som presenterats inom bevarande, som mainstream conservation och convivial conservation, har samma mål men olika tillvägagångssätt när det kommer till ekonomiska, sociala och miljömässiga aspekter. Att bevara arter och mildra konflikterna mellan människor och vilda djur är komplext, både i praktiken och i teorin. Detta gör det till ett ämne värt att studera vidare för att förbättra modeller för bevarande, vilket i sin tur ämnar stärka områden som: försörjning, attityder och omgivningen för bybor som drabbats av dessa konflikter. I denna artikel genomförde författarna intervjuer med representanter från två administrationer som arbetar med bevarandet av elefanter samt intervjuer med bybor som bor nära viltförvaltningsområden, närmare bestämt Burunge Wildlife Management Area (BWMA) i Babati-distriktet, Tanzania. Den här artikeln syftar till att undersöka bybors uppfattning om BWMA och huruvida viltförvaltningsområden uppfyller sitt syfte och lever upp till dess förväntningar samt att undersöka de potentiella förmånerna och riskerna för bybor som bor nära dessa områden. Den övergripande uppfattningen var att majoriteten av byborna var nöjda med BWMA och att organisationen verkade ha lyckats med att uppfylla sitt syfte gällande bevarande. Riskerna med att bo nära viltområden tycks överträffa fördelarna, både från ett ekonomiskt- och trygghetsperspektiv vilket motiverar att lösningarna på konflikterna prioriteras.

Based on field and archival research, Becoming Wilderness analyses the fluid constructs of game preservation and their affect within networks and landscapes to the west of Tarangire National Park, Northern Tanzania from the late 19th Century until the present. The initial query of this thesis is how and why Tarangire comes to be separated as different from its surrounding (on the map and within policy) and what this has entailed for what is ‘within’ and ‘outside’. This thesis is written to add to the understanding of how ‘one of Tanzania’s most spectacular wilderness areas’ was created, in order to problematize and deepen the understanding of the factual people/park conflicts and entanglements existing there today. Through a topological investigation, it shows Tarangire’s transformation from peripheral to central and the simultaneous transformation of peopled landscapes from central to borderlands. Based on interviews, focus groups and archival research the thesis firstly investigates the transformation of peopled landscapes to the west of Tarangire National Park. Secondly it analyses the alternations in the tsetse geography that has previously been claimed to be the root cause behind the creation of the park, pointing to the fluid and relational character of tsetse landscapes. Thirdly, this thesis queries the notion of an ‘imposition of wilderness’ and suggests that vast tracts of Tanzania’s protected areas have in fact gradually become wilderness within heterogeneous networks, rooting themselves in ways that are far more tricky to oppose than had they suddenly been imposed. As such it seeks to contribute to the understanding of the root causes of conservation vs. people conflicts existing today. / People Land and Time in Africa (PLATINA)

Tanzania is famous for it’s beautiful nature and rich wildlife. Proud of it’s natural heritage, Tanzania has dedicated over 20% of it’s territory as protected areas to shield the wildlife from human interference. But the wildlife is regarded as a menace by the local communities that lives close to the impressive national parks. At the same time, the increasing human population threatens the survival of the large migratory species in the parks by blocking vital dispersal areas. This essay describes the human/wildlife conflict around Tarangire National Park and focuses on communities close to park borders. The intention is to examine if a buffer zone could solve the conflict in this area. By studying the political ecology of wildlife conservation in Tanzania, from local to global scale and through a historical perspective, it is concluded that the poor state-society relation as experienced in local communities is a crucial factor for the diminishing wildlife.