The Socio- Economic Consequences of Elephant Destructions on Communities Adjacent to Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Lihiru,, Agricola Roman (2019) The Socio- Economic Consequences of Elephant Destructions on Communities Adjacent to Ruaha National Park, Tanzania. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

The study aimed at documenting the socio- economic consequences of elephant destructions adjacent to Ruaha National Park. It looked at the effects of elephants on livelihoods in the study area, collected information on the presence of the effects and their magnitude and how local people overcome the problem. In addition, the study assessed the perceptions of the local communities towards elephant conservation in the study area. Social economic consequences of elephants on people’s livelihood were noted to be on the increase. Elephants were increasingly destroying crops, infrastructure, blocking pass ways and sometimes injuring or putting at risk people’s life. The efforts by villagers, and help from MBOMIPA VGS, KDU, Ruaha National Park and some few NGO’s of giving education on how to co-exist with elephants and scaring them were said to be of little help. Crops and infrastructure destruction as well as destructing the environment and water sources continued to be among the most frequent problems. The community around is very much informed on the importance and the need to conserve elephants and the Ruaha National Park and it’s ecosystems as a whole. The main challenge is poverty, for these rural communities which are often hardest hit by the consequences that are having limited livelihood opportunities. The government and the wildlife law enforcement agents including Ruaha National Park and KDU are recommended to react more quickly once issues of problem animals arise. In addition, the government should offer reasonable compensation for the losses resulting from the destructions in time.

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