Border Life: The Clash between Wildlife Conservation and Rural Poverty

1. Border Life: The Clash between Wildlife Conservation and Rural Poverty Presentation for the Transboundary Protected Area Research Initiative May 12, 2004 Abbie Harris

2. 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).

3. Rural Poverty Chambers describes five disadvantages that create a integrated web of poverty: • Material Poorness • Physical Weakness • Isolation • Vulnerability • Powerlessness

4. Private Wildlife Conservation • Rising trend in African wildlife conservation • Economic means: photographic tourism hunting tourism international donors private wealth wildlife cropping live capture sales • Difficulty for private conservation in Tanzania

5. Tanzania

6. West Kilimanjaro Region

7. 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

8. 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

9. Primary Research Question How does living next to Ndarakwai Ranch affect the individual households of Miti Mirefu?

10. Methods • Conducted interviews • 72 agricultural farmers • Ndarakwai Ranch owner • Ndarakwai Ranch manager • Local ecologist • Participant Observation • Secondary Literature

11. Disadvantages of Living next to Ndarakwai

12. Varying Amounts Crop Damage

13. Advantages of Living next to Ndarakwai • Short and long term employment • Transportation to hospital and market • Occasional donations

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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