World Wide Fund for Nature President awards Wildlife Management Areas

By Staff Writer

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has awarded a total of 19 community-based Wildlife Management Areas in Tanzania with special accolades for their dedicated conservation efforts.

“We have realized that, community-based conservation has greater impact in environment and wildlife protection in line with ensuring that ordinary people, at grassroots level benefit from natural resources,” said the WWF International President Dr Yolanda Kakabadse.

Dr Kakabadse who is also a trustee of the Ford Foundation and former Minister of Environment in the government of Ecuador, was speaking during the awarding ceremony held at the Mwada Village in Babati Rural District of Manyara Region where the Burunge Wildlife Management Area, straddling Vilima-Vitatu and Lake Manyara operates.

The Director of African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) Mr John Salehe said Wildlife Management Areas are the best mechanism in ensuring community benefits from wildlife management and conservation adding that the AWF has supported establishments of WMAs in Burunge, Randilen, Enduimet, Makame, Natron and Yaeda-Chini all found in Northern zone.

Mr George Wambura, the Executive Secretary for the AAs Consortium an umbrella organization for all Authorised Associations (AAs) that manage Wildlife Management Areas in Tanzania,  revealed that WMAs currently cover 20,390 square kilometres of the country mapping 146 villages with participation of 400,000 people.

‘’About 75 percent of wildlife poaching and illegal harvesting of timber are being prevented through active participation of the WMAs thus the awards from WWF have come at the right time and place,” stated Mr Wambura adding that Wildlife Management Areas now serve as buffer zones separating protected areas and residential as well as commercial zones in the country, assuring reinforced security for wildlife.

The WMAs that received WWF awards include Randiline of Monduli District, Kisangule, Kimbanda and Mbarangándu of Namtumbo District, Ikona of Serengeti, Ngarambe-Tapika of Rufiji, Makame (Kiteto) and Makao in Meatu.

Others are Ukutu (Morogoro) Tunduru (Tunduru) Ipole (Sikonge), Iluma (Ifakara), Pawaga-Idodi (Iringa), Burunge (Babati), Liwale (Liwale), Chingoli (Tunduru) and Uyumbu in Urambo District. The WWF President in Tanzania, Mr Bell’Aube Houinato said these Wildlife Management Areas need more support than they are currently receiving.

WWF is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation and environmental projects.

The group's mission is "to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.