Land use Activities in Protected Areas and its Implications for Conservation: A Case Study of Maswa Game Reserve

Senyael, Ayo Seth (2015) Land use Activities in Protected Areas and its Implications for Conservation: A Case Study of Maswa Game Reserve. Masters thesis, The Open University Of Tanzania.

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Abstract

Uncontrolled land uses near wildlife conservation areas present a greater challenge to biodiversity and reduce the size of protected areas something which will limit their ability to conserve biodiversity in this century. The present study was conducted in Maswa game reserve with the aim of studying land use practices/activities in protected areas using the reserve as a case study. Implications to conservation and the interactions between the local and the reserve were also explored. The objectives of the study were to: identify the land use systems around Maswa game reserve; assess the conservation impact of land use activities around Maswa game reserve and to determine the measures that can address the conservation problem. The study used interviews and questionnaires as data collection procedures and 93 respondents from 3 villages around Maswa game reserve answered the questionnaires. Twenty people were interviewed and these were people working in Maswa game reserve and local leaders. The questionnaire was analyzed using SPSS and interviews through three thematic approaches which included: - types of land use around Maswa game reserve, effects of the identified land use activities and possible solutions to the effects. The findings shows that, land use activities practiced near Maswa game reserve includes crop cultivation; livestock grazing; charcoal burning; hunting and lodging. The results show that land uses activities in the area has adverse effects to Maswa Game Reserve, such effects includes causing desertification; overgrazing; loss of habitat and destruction of ecosystem; land degradation/soil erosion; spread of zoonotic diseases; deter movement of wild animals; human wildlife conflict and poaching.

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