INSIGHT: Mbarang’andu area key in wildlife conservation

Namtumbo. “Between 30 and 40 elephants were killed by poachers daily before 2003. Our area has turned into a killing field of elephants,” says Shaziri Adam Malamaye, a Mchomoro villager in Namtumbo District, Ruvuma region.

“Poachers did not did not consider age of the elephants in  killing them. They killed the young and the old. It was indeed a nightmare as the poachers also threatened to kill the villagers,” says Malamaye, whose Mchomoro Village is among the seven villages forming Mbarang’andu Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which is situated south of the Selous Game Reserve established in December 2003.

However, Malamaye and his over 12,000 fellow villagers from Mchomoro, Kitanda, Narubecha, Likuyu-Sekamaganga, Songambele, Kilimasera and Mtela-Wamwahi villages covering 2,314 square kilometres have been relieved after the formation of WMA.

“Ten years down the road we hardly see carcasses of elephants. You can find one or two dead elephants in a week or two,” says Malamaye attributing the decrease to the 10-year-old WMA.

WMAs are community resource management areas located adjacent to or near protected areas. They provide a way for communities to gain economically from managing their wildlife and other natural resources in a sustainable way.

Malamaye notes that the number of elephants adjacent to Selous Game Reserve, which is nearly extinct, is now starting to revive. Selous Game Reserve covers approximately 47,000 square kilometres making it the largest single protected area in Africa.

“Today (August 12, 2014) we have chased away eight elephants that invaded our farms. Ten years ago seeing an elephant in a farm was unthinkable,” says Malamaye.

WMA derives its name from Mbarang’andu River, which flows into Luwegu River. Mbarang’andu WMA is part of the Selous-Niassa Wildlife Corridor bordering Selous Game Reserve in the north and in the south with Mozambique. On the eastern side, WMA is bordering Ludewa and Mbinga districts in Njombe and Ruvuma regions, respectively.

Common animals in the area are elephants, hippopotami, leopards, buffalos, hyenas, zebras, wild pigs, warthogs, hartebeest, wildebeest, sable antelopes, reedbucks, wild dogs, aardvarks, silver backed jackals, pythons, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds.

Two tourist hunting companies of Game Frontiers of Tanzania (GFT) and Tanganyika Wildlife Safari (Tawisa) and a uranium mining company, Mantra Tanzania Limited, operating in Mbarang’andu WMA have formed an association called Friends of Mbarang’andu, which is helping WMA with conservation and corporate social responsibility activities.

On August 10, this year, Friends of Mbarang’andu pledged to assist villagers within the Mbarang’andu WMA with, beekeeping, sponsorship for orphans’ education, the construction of boreholes and anti-poaching activities to the tune of Sh78.5million.

Announcing the financial support after a one-day meeting between members of the Friends of Mbarang’andu and members and leaders of Mbarang’andu WMA, the chairman of the Friends of Mbarang’andu, Mr Mohsin Abdallah, said:

“We as investors are duty bound to team up with communities in conservation, which focuses on sustainable utilisation of wildlife resources.”

Flanked by Tawisa director Helene Pasanisi and Mantra Tanzania Vice-President Galina Molchanova Abdallah, who is also the managing director of Game Frontiers of Tanzania, said out of the Sh78.5million, Sh60 million was for the construction of boreholes and Sh5 million for sponsorship of orphans’ education. Mr Abdallah also doubles as chairman of the Tanzania Professional Hunters Association.

He added that Sh1.5 million was for a beekeeping project, Sh5 million for repair of a police Land cruiser that will be used as a back-up for anti-poaching patrols, Sh5 million for patrols and fuel for the Namtumbo district game office and Sh2.5 million for Mbarang’andu WMA.

Mr Abdallah added that Tawisa and Game Frontiers of Tanzania will also provide Kitanda village Sh5m to enable the village to continue with the construction of a dispensary, a project that has begun to be implemented.

The two tourist hunting firms will also hold talks with the Namtumbo-based Community Based Conservation Training Centre (CBCTC) to see how the centre can be assisted to make it more vibrant. CBCTC trains game rangers.

During the meeting, Mr Abdallah reiterated his promise of contributing Sh100 million to Mbarang’andu WMA for uplifting the livelihoods of farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs.

“The money will be released after the villagers agree on procedures, which will be used to ensure that most of them benefit through small loans,” said Mr Abdallah.

He added: “People have started seeing the benefits of wildlife conservation. We should not waver. Elephants are the most hunted, but this has relatively cooled down.”

The meeting was also attended by Namtumbo District commissioner Abdula Lutavi, a Member of Parliament for Namtumbo on the ticket of Chama Cha Mapinduzi, Mr Vita Kawawa, village chairmen and councillors.

The two leaders thanked the Friends of Mbarang’andu and advised the villagers from seven villages to utilise financial assistance offered to them.

The Friends of Mbarang’andu have contributed to the development of the villages, including a development fund, education for orphans, beekeeping and a hydrological survey worth millions of shillings.

Chairman of Mbarang’andu WMA David Mgalla says the use of wildlife resources in the WMA is limited to tourist hunting, photographic tourism, beekeeping and fishing in accordance with their respective policies, laws and regulations.

Mr Mgalla particularly thanks Game Frontiers of Tanzania for donating a motor vehicle for anti-poaching activities, a tractor, motorcycles and a safe for keeping anti-poaching firearms.

He says Mbarang’andu WMA is also boasting over 160 beehives that are enabling villagers to generate money from sales of honey for improving their welfare, including paying school fees for their children.

“Our aim is to make Mbarang’andu WMA a leading producer of high quality honey in the future,” says Mr Mgalla.

He says in collaboration with Game Frontiers of Tanzania, Mbarang’andu WMA has managed to supply 60 desks to each of the 12 primary schools in villages within the WMA and supplied solar lamps to all secondary schools in Namtumbo District.

“We have also been able to pay fees for 246 students in ward secondary schools and we have also sent eight talented students to a special school in Kigoma Region,” he says, adding that they have also supplied solar lamps to over 60 dispensaries in Namtumbo District.

Mr Mgalla says: “Over the years after forming our WMA we have learned that when we conserve our natural resources such as wildlife, forests and water we will benefit a lot.”

On July 19, this year, Mbarang’andu WMA was among Tanzania’s 19 WMAs, which were awarded by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a global environmental organisation in recognition of their outstanding achievements and commitment in conservation of wildlife resources.

WWF International president Yolanda Kakabadse presented the “WWF Leaders for a Living Planet” award to the 19 WMAs and one Authorised Association Consortium (AAC) in recognition of the preservation of habitats essential for the survival of threatened and endangered species and their significant contribution to sustainable wildlife conservation on village lands in the country. AAC is the apex body for WMAs.

The 19 WMAs serve 146 villages across the country with a population of about 410,000 villagers while 20 other WMAs are awaiting official recognition by the government.

The 19 WMAs, home to iconic species such as elephants, lions, giraffes, hyenas, wildebeest, cheetahs, and wild dogs, currently cover 28,389 square kilometres, equivalent to 3 per cent of Tanzania’s land area, adding to the existing more than 160,000 square kilometres of national wildlife protected areas.

“This event helps to show a larger conservation picture of how we are connected to nature, inspire others and recognises many stakeholders and donors who play key roles in making such actions happen and for mobilising powerful new conservation commitments,” said Ms Kakabadse after presenting the prestigious award at Burunge WMA in Babati District, Manyara Region.

“Without natural resources such as water, trees and soil there is no life for humankind,” added Ms Kakabadse, former Ecuadorian minister for Environment and former president of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from 1996 to 2004.

She said these inspiring examples of environmental leadership demonstrated community responsibility to protect the environment and represented an important contribution to the achievement of both Tanzania’s national biodiversity conservation action plan and WWF’s conservation goals. 

“When added together, these actions make a significant contribution to a truly living planet - for current and future generations,” said Ms Kakabadse.