Drivers of Human-Wildlife Conflict in Eastern Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

Mohamed, Mwazani (2023) Drivers of Human-Wildlife Conflict in Eastern Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

Human-Wildlife Conflict is a global phenomenon. The general objective of this study was to investigate the drivers of human-wildlife conflict in the Eastern part of Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA). Specifically, the study set out to examine the eastern NCA community members’ perceptions of wildlife, determine the causes of human-wildlife conflicts and establish the measures local people use to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. This primarily quantitative study used a descriptive research design to accomplish the study and simple random sampling to select 100 respondents for participation in the questionnaire survey. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) were used for data analysis and presentation. The study found even though the respondents generally perceive positively to wildlife, the incidence of human wildlife conflicts (HWC) had increased in recent years to a large extent in the study villages. The respondents identified wildlife-related problems to include crop damage, livestock depredation, human harassment and properties damage. The causes of HWC emerged to be uncontrolled wildlife, poaching, lack of compensation, increase in population particularly urbanisation, illiteracy and poverty, farming and lack of game park fencing. Measures local people to mitigate against human-wildlife conflicts were found to include building livestock enclosures, educating the communities and creating awareness, resettle people living near protected area, afforestation, and local community members looking after wildlife for a symbiotic relationship. The study concludes that there is a need to consolidate mitigation measures that will foster the co-existence of both the villages in the outlining areas and the wildlife. Keywords: Human Wildlife Conflict, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Wildlife

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