The researchers described the Serengeti as "a rare and iconic example of an ecosystem driven by a large mammal migration". That annual north-to-south trek involves about 1.5 million animals, including wildebeest and zebra.
As the animals travel, they dump vast quantities of urine and dung across the land, fertilizing plant growth, while the trampling of hooves also prevents bush from over-growing the grassland.
An impact assessment compiled for the government confirmed the expected impact on migration, adding that the decline of wildebeest and zebra would have a knock-on effect on predators such as lions and cheetahs. These are among the animals that tourists come to see.
Scientists also warned that the road could bring invasive plant species or unfamiliar diseases into the park, a World Heritage Site.
Last year, the World Heritage Committee expressed its "utmost concern" about the "potentially irreversible damage" that the highway could bring. Environmental campaigners have welcomed the government's decision, with the organization Serengeti Watch saying: "A battle has been won".
However, they warned that the region faces a number of other threats, including roads around the park and poaching.
Written by; Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News
Posted by; Deodatus Kiriba-YET 2011
HUMAN WILDLIFE CONFLICTS IN TANZANIA
Wildlife as a Tanzanians Natural Heritage is managed for its values and for its sustainable utilization. This management linked to conservation and species protection Agenda aims at benefiting the Nation and its people as well as the Wildlife itself. Like other countries Tanzania has established Protected Area systems for Natural Resource conservation. These are National Parks, Game Reserves, Ngorongoro Conservation area Authority, Controlled Areas and other categories of land that can be considered protected areas which are the Corridors, Migratory routes and Dispersal areas.
When a Natural Area is protected its is the vegetation and the Wildlife which are protected and managed and then to add on that, it is the human induced threats to the protected areas which brew conflicts and conflicting demands between human and Wildlife.
The Fauna of Tanzania and particularly its ungulate component has evolved to a variety and multitude both in terms of species and of great members related to the diversity of habitats on this country.Until quite recently there Wild Animals roamed freely over large tracts of land with their natural Habitats relatively unaffected by human activities.
However with the expansion of population and its human activities particularly extensive land clearance for Agriculture and settlements and livestock grazing the used to be Traditional Wildlife Habitats become harder to find now. Several forms of ungulates, as well as other animals have become threatened, endangered or even extinct particularly in those areas where mans impact has been especially severe for example the Greater Kudu and Black Rhino have become locally extinct in Moshi District.
The following discussion deals with the issues most often cited as Human Wildlife Conflict in the Country;Wildlife Control Services and Species Protection Initially Colonial powers regarded Wildlife as a threat to human development. Elephants, Hippopotamus, Elands and the Buffaloes were viewed as crop raiders and other Wildlife species viewed as competitors to livestock. In 1921 the British Government established the Game Reserves and Game controlled Areas, enforce the Trophy and subsistence Hunting operations and for control of crops raiders and protecting people from dangerous Game.
Caution
Viewing and subjecting Wildlife species like the Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious) Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) Eland (Taurotragus oryx) Lion (Panthera leo) Hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) and the Crocodiles (Crocodylus specie) to heavy Game control on crop raiding and livestock predation may result in heavy poaching, wildlife trafficking and smuggling of species on the expense of controlling problem animals.
The rapid growth of Human populations and their permanent as well as activities have compressed the traditional provide adequate year round supply of food, water and shelter for the wild animals.
The unchecked agricultural and settlement expansions together with the livestock grazing pressures have encroached into the protected areas and clashed with the Wildlife Habitats.
Widespread poaching and organized smuggling of Wildlife resources have occurred inside and on the adjacent of protected areas causing threats to the long-term viability of some animal species.
Sources of the current Human Wildlife conflicts could be attributed to several factors discussed here with some common consequences. On the absence of adequate land use plan traditional Wildlife Habitats have been encroached and compressed by the expansion of Human populations with his activities of extensive land clearance for Agriculture and settlements and for livestock grazing. Natural populations of Wildlife species can not function well in isolated pockets.
Written by;Mary Ngazi
PROPOSED SERENGETI HIGHWAY, THE ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO?
Recently as we know, the government of Tanzania has approved a major commercial highway across Serengeti National Park in the direct path of the park's world-famous wildlife migration routes.
Despite pressure from global NGOs, Wildlife conservation bodies, development partners and donors it seems the government has remained stubborn and keep on defending the undefendable and is keen to go ahead with this controversial project.
There is no doubt that infrastructure is needed to help connect farmers to markets, to link communities and encourage commerce and trade in the country. Looking only at the map, the proposed road through northern Serengeti seems to make sense, as it is the shortest line between existing population centers surrounding Serengeti. But we sincerely believe that the road will have disastrous effects on the entire ecosystem.
The northern parts of the Serengeti and the adjacent Masai Mara are critical for the Wildebeest and Zebra migration during the dry season, as it is the only permanent year-round water source for these herds.
Roads are known to be catastrophic for wildlife. The experiment has been done again and again all over the world: we know among the problems: roads allow the easy spread of invasive plant species, as car tires often carry their seeds.
Roads also allow the rapid spread of animal diseases, and lead to an increase in poaching, building and other human activities.
There is an alternative that could better fulfil the development and economic goals for this area. This alternative is to bypass the Serengeti around the south by building a tarmac connection from Karatu to join the existing Shinyanga - Musoma Road. This alternative road system has been surveyed by the government already and would serve five times as many people as the planned Northern road and fulfil the same needs for linking major regional centres and will also cost less to build.
It would also be easier, since the landscape there is flatter; and it would not affect the animal migrations. The northern road has been vigorously rejected on environmental grounds before. More importantly, this second option would simultaneously preserve the iconic beauty of the Serengeti National Park. We are hopeful that a solution such as this can be found to satisfy all parties.
With a large percentage of its land area protected, Tanzania is one of the world leaders in biodiversity conservation. Future generations will not ask what the technological advances of our time were but who saved the majestic wild places that make our planet so special. Serengeti, a World Heritage Site, the epitome for wilderness, and biodiversity, an ecological and economical success should not be scarified for short-term infrastructure projects when reasonable alternatives exist.
Tanzania is well known in the world for its protection of priceless natural areas. This long legacy of protection has served Tanzania well. It is an intangible asset of the country that is difficult to measure. A commercial highway through the Serengeti affects both the world perception of Tanzania and also a set of values and a conservation ethic held by the people and government.
Let's all hope that the government will act wisely and pray that the highway never comes to be! The Serengeti is one of the most magnificent landforms on earth! We should all mobilize as many resources as possible to prevent this from happening.
Written by; Thabit Jacob
WHEN WILL WMAs DELIVER TO THE COMMUNITIES?
“We conserve nature because we live in it, because it is our life, it is the life of our cattle. The conservationists [referring to NCAA] do it because it gives them employment, because they get money from the white men [tourists]. For them, if the white man does not bring money, it is the end of the story.
For us, even if the white man does not bring money we will still preserve the environment. We did it before the white men came. We do because it is our lives; it is the life of our ancestors and our unborn children”. This was a statement made by one of Maasai elders when he was being interviewed by the researcher as it reads in Olenasha W. et al 2001 report. This shows the sincerity of indigenous in natural resources conservation. Perhaps if this philosophy was used in conservation we could never have a need to think of firearms in conservation, establishment of WMAs or introduction of YETs programme because we could not have the environmental and natural resource problems we have today.
However from colonial era to date such philosophy has been treated as enemy of environment and conservation and firearms are viewed as the only tool of conservation. Under such viewpoint, Maasai were evicted from Serengeti ecosystem in 1950’s to Ngorongoro by British colonialists.
Maasai have never settled up to date. The recent atrocious eviction by the fourth government regime, from Loliondo is evidence. To show that such brutal colonial mechanism can never control the problems of wildlife conservation the elder interviewed added. “Where are all the Rhinos we used to have around? They have disappeared. Your Black government keeps telling us that they are the ones who know how to conserve. They have dismissed our traditional systems. I can only say the day will come when all of us will be forced out and nothing of the remaining Rhinos will be left, not even their bones for one to see”. The report reads.
The introduction of Community Based Wildlife Management (CBWM) in the so called Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) was thought as an alternative means of conservation that could reconcile the firearm mechanisms with the communities. About 25 WMAs have been and are being established in Tanzania now.
The philosophy here is that WMAs will make communities benefit directly from wildlife and that they will become wildlife lovers! That the people who have been evicted from their native habitats, people whose houses have been and are still being bunt by cruel governments to allow wildlife conservation and people whose relative, children livestock and crops are being destroyed by wildlife will now join with their ‘enemies’ to sing the song of conservation. Perhaps it is a good approach. But is it realistic? Is the government truly heartfelt on it or it is another ‘changa la macho’ to the marginalized communities.
'WONDER OF NATURE'
As the animals travel, they dump vast quantities of urine and dung across the land, fertilizing plant growth, while the trampling of hooves also prevents bush from over-growing the grassland.
An impact assessment compiled for the government confirmed the expected impact on migration, adding that the decline of wildebeest and zebra would have a knock-on effect on predators such as lions and cheetahs. These are among the animals that tourists come to see.
Scientists also warned that the road could bring invasive plant species or unfamiliar diseases into the park, a World Heritage Site.
Last year, the World Heritage Committee expressed its "utmost concern" about the "potentially irreversible damage" that the highway could bring. Environmental campaigners have welcomed the government's decision, with the organization Serengeti Watch saying: "A battle has been won".
However, they warned that the region faces a number of other threats, including roads around the park and poaching.
Written by; Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News
Posted by; Deodatus Kiriba-YET 2011
SERENGETI ROAD SCRAPPED OVER WILDLIFE CONCERNS
The Tanzanian government planned a two-lane highway across the park to connect Lake Victoria with coastal ports. But studies showed it could seriously affect animals such as wildebeest and zebra, whose migration is regarded as among the wonders of the natural world.
The government confirmed the road across the park will remain gravel.
The bat-eared fox is another Serengeti resident, and depends on wildebeest for much of its food.
In a letter sent to the World Heritage Centre in Paris, the Department of Natural Resources and Tourism says the 50km (30-mile) section of road across the park will "continue to be managed mainly for tourism and administrative purposes, as it is now".
The government is considering an alternative route for a major trade highway that would run to the south of the park.
This would avoid areas of high conservation value, and - although a longer route - would bring the opportunities afforded by a modern transport link to more people.
Last year, a group of scientists warned that the proposed road across the park could bring the number of wildebeest in the park, estimated at about 1.3 million, down to 300,000.
Collisions between animals and traffic would be unavoidable, they said.
And with a corridor on either side of the road taken out of the hands of the park authorities and given to the highways agency, fencing would almost certainly result, blocking movement of the herds.
If wildlife were damaged, they warned, that could also affect the local economy, in which tourism plays a major role.
Written by; Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News
Posted by; Deodatus Kiriba-YET 2011
IMAGINE THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN WILDLIFE WITHOUT CONSERVATION
Just imagine you wake up one day and no single wildlife specie is anywhere to be seen. All national parks have become bare lands with no single wildlife. No tourist is therefore coming to this country. All tourists’ hotels, lodges, tour safari companies, have all stopped down. No such employments anymore. Everything in the tourism industry has gone. No wildlife. No national parks. The percentage of gross domestic product that used to come from tourism is no longer flowing. Tourism and the rich biodiversity we used to be proud of have become history and our country is no longer a tourist destination. How does click into your mind?
Since time immemorial the largest wild mammals both (carnivores and herbivores) have marked the unique ecosystem of the East African Maasai Steppe. This is the vast reserve of acacias and baobabs that confines the Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks in northern Tanzania. The largest predators – the lions, leopards, cheetahs, and the wild dogs have inhabited the area and add value to the rich African biodiversity which has contributed to the economy at macro and micro level. But the bad news is all these are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Major reasons for this disappearance have been human-wildlife conflict and the loss of habitat. A report by one conservation foundation had revealed that the human wildlife conflict in northern Tanzania Maasai Steppe Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks has led to the killing of over 85 lions among 200 that inhabits the area in just two years 2004 – 2006.
The human wildlife conflicts have been perpetuated by the rapid population growth particularly in the northern circuit of protected areas, the two mentioned national parks. Establishment of protected areas has been a common approach employed by the government in responding to the problems jeopardizing the well being of wildlife. But as studies have shown, this is no longer a reliable alternative. Protected areas are first of all too small to accommodate the the population of predators. As a result the predators have to go beyond boarders in search for food and in doing so they end up feed on livestock, where the community revenge by killing them.
Fueled by rapid population growth, human migrations into the wildlife habitat in search for arable land and grazeland have been so high over the recent years. The move has for a larger extent destabilized the natural ecosystem that dominated the Maasai Steppe. This can be verified by increased incidences of poaching, overgrazing and human-wildlife conflict.
While the wildlife and the habitat degradation in this important predators site is happening, reports says that the tourism sector has been contributing to the GDP about 13%, the money amounting to US Dollars 1.3 per year. Why then the communities around the protected areas do not feel the privilege of having the wildlife? Or why shouldn't they be on the frontline to take care of this fragile ecosystem that earns the country that much money? Something must be wrong somewhere – more likely with the institutional framework.
Finding the solution on the diminishing wildlife, particularly the carnivores are no simple task. Embarking on intensive conservation while at the same time take into consideration the needs of the local community around are a challenging experience. Behind this problem there are a lot of socio-economic as well as political issues that need to be incorporated before laying a conservation strategy.
The community is the foremost important stakeholder in this battle. Unless this category realizes the potential of wildlife and the habitats, they may offer very little or no cooperation at the the time of implementing the conservation strategies. Frequent incidences of game guards killed by community members is an example of the little cooperation that has graduated into enemity between the two sides – communities and protected areas' authorities.
Currently there are scientists working harder in the bushes to gather information through researches so as come up with strategies that will minimize the problem of diminishing wildlife and degradation of their habitat. More young people are also choosing conservation as a carrier. Efforts to curb the problem are everywhere, but there is a long way to go at least to rescue the rich African biodiversity that has existed for ages. The duty is for everyone. What are you doing?
Written by;
Innocent Kisanga – YET 2011
INITIATIVE TO SAVE THE SERENGETI
The ongoing debate on the construction of the Serengeti highway may result our country into great risk of loosing one of its important world heritage sites. There is a great need for the Government of Tanzania to put extra efforts to rescue the Serengeti from losing her unique biodiversity. This can be achieved through taking alternative plans and initiate views from different stakeholders on taking alternative routes for the construction of the highway.
Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST) in collaboration with Lawyer's Environmental Action Team (LEAT) conducted research on the proposed Serengeti road from Mto wa mbu - Lake Natron shores - Loliondo and Waso of Ngorongoro District to Mugumu in Serengeti District. The aim of the research was to get people’s views on the proposed road and building the base of conducting future awareness workshops.
The general result of the research was that, many people would support road construction regardless of the negative impacts on Serengeti National Park. Ordinary people want to see the road passing near their settlements. Little attention is given to the welfare of the Serengeti as a National Park. There are however indications that people are willing to learn about conservation of nature and the interrelationship with their livelihoods as they were happy with awareness workshops and invited more similar workshops in the future.
This is an opportunity for the environmental media NGOs such as EMNeT, LEAT, WCST and JET to promote community outreach and awareness raising services around the areas where the proposed road is expected to pass. Also to develop more environmental sensitization campaigns with the community around proposed road.
Alternatively study can be undertaken on how to link the districts north of the Serengeti (especially Loliondo) to the existing road network without crossing the Serengeti National Park. The project can also be easily implemented through requesting of financial support from development agencies for implementation of Serengeti alternative routes.
Written by;
Glory Lyimo-YET 2011
WHO IS KILLING THE WILDLIFE IN LOLIONDO?
The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Ezekiel Maige, has warned the tribal leaders that unless a way is found to conserve the forests then he will have no choice but to order the eviction of people from a number of Maasai villages. Their leaders reject the claims and highlight the fact that Maasai community lands are among the most diverse for wildlife in Africa. This is not the first time that the Maasai have been threatened with eviction. But the question still remains, who is killing the wildlife in Loliondo?
The leaders of the Maasai believe that their traditional way of living fits in well with the local environment. They believe that they have a culture that will best preserve the region and its wildlife. This is because the maasai clans are named according to the animals and hence every maasai clan has a type of animal its taking care of. That is not all, the maasai do not eat wild animals since it’s against their traditions a maasai who by any chance eats a wild animal cannot get milk from any other maasai. According to Kooya Timan a resident of Loliondo the maasai’s way of life have not only preserved the wildlife in the area but have also being environmental friendly.
The residents of Loliondo believe that the real driving force behind the evictions was commercial hunting and conservation of hunting lands. Loliondo is fast gaining a reputation as the killing fields of Loliondo because of the numbers of wildlife that are killed during the weeks that hunting is allowed. Hunters descend on the area once the hunting season starts. The game season coincides with the mass migrations of the animals each year. Thousands of wildebeest and antelope are targeted as they undertake their annual journey back to Kenya. Management techniques used by the hunting companies include the use of fire walls to corral game into an area to make for an easy kill. The fires prevent animals from crossing the border on their normal migration paths and keep the animals within the hunting concessions.
Local residents also claim that hunting companies also build dams to make waterholes that encourage animals to congregate together. In addition to the hunting they encourages these prey animals to congregate in order to attract the big cats. These are either hunted or caught and shipped back to their nations for zoos and private collections. Hunting parties also disregard Tanzanian hunting laws – which are not enforced by any of the officials. The laws only allow for old male animals to be hunted those past their reproductive stage, in the real world though any animal is for hunt. Ages, sex, pregnant or nursing are not a barrier to being targeted and killed on these hunts.
Even after a trip to Loliondo, the question still remains unanswered as to who is killing the wildlife in Loliondo, is it the Maasai through their way of life or the investors through the hunting companies? This is a question that need to be answered since, it’s time we protect the wildlife, it’s time we save our environment, together we can!
Written by;
Kokushubila Kabanza-YET2011
