Border Life: The Clash between Wildlife Conservation and Rural Poverty

Presentation for the Transboundary Protected Area Research Initiative

May 12, 2004

Abbie Harris

Wildlife and poverty in Tanzania

• Tanzania holds diverse flora and fauna and has one of the greatest concentrations of large mammals in the world (Department of Wildlife 1996).

• About 25 percent of the land in Tanzania is protected area (Neumann 1998).

• Tanzania has a GNP of $170 per capita (US dollars) which places the country within the lowest ten GNP’s in the world (World Bank Group 2003).

Rural Poverty

Chambers describes five disadvantages that create a integrated web of poverty:

• Material Poorness

• Physical Weakness

• Isolation

• Vulnerability

• Powerlessness

Private Wildlife Conservation

• Rising trend in African wildlife conservation• Economic means:

photographic tourismhunting tourisminternational donors private wealth wildlife croppinglive capture sales

• Difficulty for private conservation in Tanzania

Tanzania

West Kilimanjaro Region

Miti Mirefu

• Agricultural livelihoods

• Intertropical Convergence Zone creates unpredictable bimodal rainfall

• Presence of wildlife

• Rapid population growth in the area

• Not established as a village

Ndarakwai Ranch

• 10,000 acres of privately leased land area, began in 1995

• Owner established a private anti poaching staff and limited human use in the area

• Revenue from luxury camping, film companies, and scientific researchers

• Increase in wildlife since the introduction of the ranch

Primary Research Question

How does living next to Ndarakwai Ranch affect the individual households of Miti

Mirefu?

Methods

• Conducted interviews– 72 agricultural farmers– Ndarakwai Ranch owner– Ndarakwai Ranch manager – Local ecologist

• Participant Observation

• Secondary Literature

Disadvantages of Living next to Ndarakwai

Reported Human-Wildlife Conflict

0102030405060708090

100

CropDamage

LivestockPredation

LivestockIllness

PropertyDamage

Personalor Family

Injury

Reasons for Human-Wildlife Conflict

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of

Ho

us

eh

old

s

Varying Amounts Crop Damage

Comparison of Crop Destruction of Beans between Households

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

Number Given to Household for data collection

Am

ount

of B

eans

D

estr

oyed

in P

revi

ous

Har

vest

(%) Individual Household

Destruction

Average HouseholdDestruction

Advantages of Living next to Ndarakwai

• Short and long term employment

• Transportation to hospital and market

• Occasional donations

Mutual Coexistence?

• Relationship with Ranch is specific to household

• More disadvantages than advantages for majority of households

• Technical changes: fence building, crop compensation, changing of crop production

• Socio-political changes: economic partnership between community and Ranch, establishment of Wildlife Management Area

Future Research

• Examining crop damage through scientific observation in addition to interviews

• Scrutinizing the existing civil society and research the means to strengthen the community

• Looking at the potential for Wildlife Management Areas to create a better relationship

References

Chambers, R. (1983). Rural development: Putting the last first. Essex, England: Longman House.

Department of Wildlife. (1996). Policy for Wildlife Conservation. Dar Es

Salaam: Tanzania: Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

Neumann, R. (1998). Imposing Wilderness. Berkeley: University of California Press.

World Bank Group. (2003). Gross National Product. Washington DC: The World Bank Group. Retrieved October 3, 2003 from http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/psd/compete.nsf/7349593d593389e88 525648f00641829?OpenView&Start=117