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Katavi-Rukwa Conservation and Development Programme (KRCD) |
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Project Area The Katavi National Park has been doubled in size to 4500 sq.km. in 1997 and in the same year the adjacent Rukwa Game Reserve (4100 sq.km.) has been  newly gazetted. Together with its buffer zone the conservation area covers now about 10,000 sq.km. It is situated in Mpanda District in Rukwa Region in the west of Tanzania close to the Lake Tanganyika. About 60% of the district's area of 47.527 sq.km. is under natural resources management in form of forest reserves, game reserves and a national park. The national park contains the seasonal lakes Katavi and Chada and the floodplains of Kavu River in the Great Rift Valley. It ascends to its eastern escarpment showing a high diversity of landscapes, wildlife and vegetation. The game reserve extends from the eastern escarpment to the hilly central plateau and includes the northern part of Lake Rukwa.Background The protected areas are an important part of the conservation network in western Tanzania which includes Ruaha-Rungwa, Ugalla and Moyowosi-Kigosi. The population number of the district is still low (256,487 in 1988). But with a growth rate of 5.3% the pressure on natural resources is increasing. In the past the villagers had unlimited access to the abundant natural resources. Therefore awareness of the dangers of exploitation and the importance of biodiversity is missing. Now, surrounded by forest reserves and other portected areas, but without legal access to them, the villagers face disadvantages like crop damage, threats to life by wild animals and limitations for shifting cultivation. Consequently negative attitudes towards conservation developed among them. Without support from agricultural extension and support services destructive cultivation methods are still applied (shifting cultivation), esp. with the officially promoted cash crops like tobacco. The influx of pastoralists from Tabora and Shinyanga with large herds of cattle brought up additional problems for conservation and partly also for the indigenous population. Objectives The objectives of the programme are the conservation of biodiversity and natural resources in Katavi-Rukwa, by enabling the people in the buffer zone to derive sustainable benefits from the ecosystem. To contribute to the achievement of the objectives, Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), the Wildlife Division and the local communities will have to manage the resources in the Katavi-Rukwa conservation complex sustainably. Approach  The programme combines the improvement of management and infrastructure of the protected areas and the supply of equipment with measures to enable the local communities to participate in the management of natural resources and to benefit from them. Sustainable utilisation is being used as means of conservation. The assistance to the management of the conservation complex includes the development of a model for practical co-operation between TANAPA and the Wildlife Division in the co-management of eco-systems, for which they have a common mandate.In the buffer zones the local communities are invited to participate in Community Based Conservation (CBC). This is one of the points of gravity of the new Wildlife Policy of Tanzania. Self-help promotion and strengthening of village administration are further measures in this context. Activities 1. Assistance to the protected areas:
2. Buffer zone development:
Partners  The Katavi-Rukwa Conservation and Development Programme is implemented by the Wildlife Division and TANAPA. In cooperation with them the district authorities are involved in the implementation and administration of CBC. There is one GTZ advisor attached to the project, who will also co-ordinate the German Bank for Reconstruction and Development (KfW) component of this technical and financial co-operation project. A workshop advisor under local contract is foreseen as well during the first project phase. For the establishment of infrastructure, a consultant is financed by KfW.
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