The Effect of Human-Wild Life Conflicts on Community Development among People in Wanging'ombe District in Tanzania

Abstract

The government and local authorities works to mitigate conflicts among human and wild animals; however, communities living adjacent to protected areas continue to face human wild life conflicts related challenges such as limited access to essential services. The extent to which human-wild life conflicts affect community development is less clear in Tanzanian context. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of human-wild life conflicts on community development in Wanging'ombe District in Tanzania. It has three specific objectives: to assess the socio-economic effect of human-wildlife conflicts on communities’ development; to examine the perceptions of communities towards wildlife national reserves on communities’ development; and to evaluate the existing interventions aimed at mitigating human-wildlife conflicts. The theory adopted to guide this study was optimal escape theory. This study employed the mixed research approach, in which both quantitative and qualitative approaches were adhered to. The sample size was 140 respondents 14 key-informants whereas simple random and purposive sampling technique were used to select participants respectively. It used the document review, household survey and in-depth interviews as data collection methods. The quantitative data were analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for qualitative data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. From the study results it was revealed that the socio economic effect of human-wildlife conflicts on communities’ development included; financial losses, limited local agricultural productivity, crop damage, livestock predation, limited ability of communities to develop of alternative livelihood opportunities and socio-economic hardships in their community. The perceptions of communities towards wildlife national reserves on communities’ development in Wanging'ombe district denoted positive perception due to perceived benefits of the wildlife national reserve and negative perception due to increased human-wildlife conflicts in the community. The existing interventions aimed at mitigating human-wildlife conflicts, involved; community-based initiatives (such as community patrols and early warning systems) as well as reserve authority-based initiatives (such as fencing and trenching). It concluded that, human-wild life conflicts in Wanging’ombe District hindered people’s community development. Since the existing interventions for deterring human-wild life conflicts were ineffective to safeguard the socio-economic livelihoods from wild-animals freeing from Kipengere Game Reserve into surrounding communities. It is recommended that the Kipengere Game Reserve management authority should work in tandem with community members by integrating the community-based initiatives and reserve-based initiatives to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.