By Deus Ngowi
RESIDENTS and authorities living in wildlife corridors countrywide should ensure they protect the
game and allow life to continue in their coexistence without any interruption.That was said here recently by National Land Use Planning Commission (NLUPC) Director, Dr Stephen Nindi, at an online Breakfast Debate on Biodiversity Conservation, adding protection of the corridors should be based on wise Village Land Use Plans, which provide guidance on how an area should be managed in relation to other land uses.
He said that establishment of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) provides good opportunity, whose experience with establishment becomes mixed with challenges, and make them more attractive to be addressed.
Dr Nindi, while at an online Breakfast Debate on Biodiversity Conservation, further said creation of Village Forest Reserves could be the alternative option, because it is less complicated in management.
However, he noted that in a research he carried out with Mr Guy Debonnet from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it was found that other instruments like easements could also be promising, while land use and tenure questions in different corridors and documented lessons learned could give a helping hand on how to address the issues.
The online meeting was organized and held by the Journalist Environment Association of Tanzania (JET) in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
In 2009, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI) published the first ground-breaking study on wildlife corridors in Tanzania and made the first assessment of the status of wildlife corridors and demonstrated the urgency to secure them.
"Maintaining this connectivity is one of the important objectives for biodiversity conservation in Tanzania and the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 of 2009 as it provides an avenue for establishing wildlife corridors, but also dispersal areas, buffer zones and migratory routes," the duo said.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism has since been supported in its efforts to develop regulations of the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 for the wildlife corridors, dispersal areas, buffer zones and migratory routes.
Current status of some corridors remains unclear and while there are different initiatives underway to secure some corridors, they remain dispersed and not sufficiently coordinated.
The study advocated for a stronger involvement of the protected area authorities in the initiatives.
The window of opportunity to secure the remaining corridors is closing fast and costs to secure them will increase with time as they are progressively settled and their habitats increasingly converted for agriculture or grazing.
Land conversion, mainly for agriculture and settlements is the main threat to the integrity of the remaining corridors.
Pressure from pastoralists with livestock has increased significantly since 2009, the expert said.
But also, the poaching crisis of the last 10 years significantly impacted their viability, but since the Fifth Phase Government came to power almost five years ago, poaching has remained in very few areas due to authorities flexing their muscles to tackle the problem.
There had also been a challenge that existing and proposed development initiatives often failed to take into account the need to secure wildlife corridors.
"Most remaining wildlife corridors are largely situated on village land, making community participation, therefore very important in efforts to secure them. Local authorities can be important facilitators in this process. It is crucial to ensure that communities will derive direct or indirect benefits for their efforts to maintain wildlife corridors," said Dr Nindi.
Recommendations on how land use and tenure issues in corridors can be best addressed as crucial tenure rights and fully respected in the process of establishing wildlife corridors.
In this case, there is potential to make use of already existing legal frameworks including the Village Land Act, the Land Use Planning Act, the Forestry Act, the Water Resources Act and the Environmental Management Act.
Dr Nindi and Mr Debonnet further advised that land use planning is the most important tool available to address.
His list also included tenure conflicts in potential wildlife corridors; a landscape perspective is needed; Village Forest Reserves are good and flexible tool to secure corridors while providing benefits to local communities.
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