Conservation

Tanzania has remarkably rich and varied ecosystems. The forests of the Eastern Arc mountain range are among the most biodiverse in the whole of Africa and host numerous plant and bird species. The country's inland lakes, particularly Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa are well known for their biodiversity. Lake Tanganyika, for instance, hosts more than 200 different marine species while Lake Nyasa is home to one third of the world's known cichlid species. Tanzania's coast and Indian Ocean islands house pristine coral reefs and a wide range of marine life including a number of rare species. Inland, the vast plains are home to some of the world's largest herds of wildlife.

The Government of Tanzania has formally recognized the value of wildlife to the people and economy of Tanzania since the Arusha Declaration of 1961, when former President Julius Nyerere spoke of the need to protect wildlife. Even before independence, the establishment of the Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and other protected areas showed colonial recognition of the importance of wildlife. In particular the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Selous Game Reserve have been declared UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The Government has set aside a full 25% of the land as protected areas and in recent years has clearly articulated the need to conserve wildlife for future generations. The 1997 National Environmental Policy states:

"Wildlife resources shall be protected and utilized in a sustainable manner on the basis of a careful assessment of natural heritage in flora and fauna fragile ecosystems, sites under pressure and endangered species, with participation of, and benefits to, the local communities."

The Wildlife Policy of 1998 also addressed the human-wildlife crisis by calling for the establishment of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) that provided communities wildlife user rights, such as hunting, and enabled them to benefit economically from use of their land. Through support for the new concept of WMAs, the Government recognized that wildlife conservation without community involvement would not succeed. The theory behind WMAs is that when wildlife has economic value for communities, wildlife conservation can compete with other forms of land use such as agriculture or grazing. WMAs encourage communities to manage wildlife so that they can continue to benefit from the wildlife in the long term.

Tanzania's rich wildlife heritage has attracted many tourists and hunters, who bring the equivalent of billions of shillings in much-needed foreign currency. A great deal of this money is returned to the communities and to the wildlife itself, educating local communities in the importance and techniques of conservation as well as fighting the ongoing war against poaching.