|
|
|
|
|
Community Wildlife Management Advisor |
|
|
|
Start Projects Forestry Sector Policy Niassa Rukwa Publications Tourism Archive Contact
gtz-Home |
|
The project has come to an end in 2005. Project Area The Government Advisor is attached to the Wildlife Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in Dar es Salaam. The project operates countrywide and concentrates on areas, where wildlife and people coexist. 
Discussion of Village Wildlife Programme under the Mango Tree Background and Problems It is widely recognised that the conservation of natural resources including wildlife needs the participation and support of rural communities. In the past these communities did not get legal benefits from wildlife in their areas, so game was not regarded as a resource, and incentives to protect it were lacking. An early effort to introduce Community Wildlife Management in buffer zones around protected areas in Tanzania was the Selous Conservation Programme, a joint initiative by the Tanzanian and German Governments, which started at the end of 1987. Today community involvement in the management of natural resources is increasingly being promoted by a variety of stakeholders and for a variety of reasons. Projects so far have only pilot character. As the law does not yet provide for custodianship over wildlife by the landowner, pilot projects have to be covered by special permits. Using the experience gained in the Selous the Tanzanian Government has given Community Based Conservation (CBC) great importance in its new Wildlife Policy. This will lead to increased involvement of civil society and the private sector in managing and protecting the rich wildlife resources of Tanzania. In order to assist in further developing the concept and incorporating it fully into the work of the Wildlife Division, the Government Advisor from GTZ has been assigned to the Department. Objectives The Wildlife Division is in a position to introduce CBC countrywide. In particular:
Approach The conservation of wildlife is dependent upon complex socio-economic processes and many factors, which are difficult to influence. Whether the benefits of community conservation can in the long run outweigh the  costs of wildlife or alternative economic options of land use remains to be seen. In any case, however, it will be impossible to maintain viable protected areas and wildlife on village land in the future, if utilization rights continue to be withheld and if rural communities are not involved in conservation. In order to be successful, conservation has to be practised 'with' and 'by' the people and not 'against' them.
Consequently, since the late eighties the Government introduces such Community Based Conservation. An administrative unit for CBC is being set up in the Wildlife Division and the German Government has agreed to support it. The unit deals with the countrywide coordination and extension of the programme, including the training of the respective wildlife officers. The main activities of the Government Advisor are: To further develop and adapt the CBC programme, and in particular to
Results The target groups will be empowered to manage the wildlife on their land. As a result it is hoped that rural communities will change their outlook on wildlife and other natural resources and will make wise use of their own environment. Wildlife will have a value so that the local people have an incentive to conserve it. Community Based Conservation tries to provide mechanisms for this. Increased protection of wildlife including endangered species will result from this process of empowerment of rural communities. It is also expected that negative impacts upon protected areas can be reduced and that the decline of wildlife outside protected areas will thus be halted or slowed down. All this will contribute to safeguarding biodiversity in Tanzania. Duration The project started in mid 1998 and has expired in 2005.
|