CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION
6.8 Concluding remarks
Figure 6.2 indicates various actors in the fonnation of the proposed Integrated Biosphere Management Agency (IBA). These actors have to promote and safeguard the interests for which the biosphere reserve is established. At the national level, four ministries are selected on the basis of their relevance to the establishment of the IBA.
CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Introduction
This chapter draws general conclusions and recommendations from the findings and the discussion. The conclusions that are drawn here reflect the understanding that habitat fragmentation is a complex issue. It is complex because it relates to many interrelated processes that lead to its inception and its continuation. The second part of the chapter recommends various actions that could be useful in establishing an integrated biosphere area as a possible solution to the perceived 'problems' of habitat fragmentation in the Emboreet Ward.
7.2Conclusions This study shows that:
• the emergence of a cash-based economy and a weakening of the subsistence economy based on livestock is driving a the change from pastoralism to agropastoralism.
• habitat is increasingly being fragmented by the dispersed pattern in agriculture development, and this has serious consequences for wildlife movement outside the park;
• local people are diversifying their livelihood strategies by adopting agriculture as the dominant strategy;
• pastoralism is being replaced by agriculture although the former is still an important livelihood strategy;
• evidence from both the fragmented pattern of agricultural development and the weakening of pastoralism indicate that the Tanzania National Parks Benefit Sharing Scheme is ineffective in resolving habitat fragmentation
• notwithstanding the subsistence nature of pastoralism and agriculture, the two are integrated into the livelihoods of the local people in the Emboreet Ward. For the two strategies to benefit local people in terms of raising their living standards, they need
to change from this subsistence type of livelihood towards a livelihood based more on a market-oriented economy. This will assist people to cater for their socio-economic needs, including raising their level of education, which was shown to be very low (Chapter 5), and improving their household well-being;
• wildlife is still far from being integrated into the livelihood strategies of the local people in the Emboreet Ward. While wildlife offers a potential opportunity for raising the standard of living for local people in the Ward, wildlife is still excluded from the traditional livelihood strategies. It needs to be integrated with agriculture and pastoralism. However, integrating wildlife with other livelihood strategies will not be enough in itself. Wildlife needs to be commercialized so that it produces sustainable benefits to the people. Wildlife activities such as tourism can be introduced and promoted for this purpose by diversifying economic activities;
• while a conflict relationship between people and wildlife in the study area is a consequence of the failure to integrate wildlife conservation into the socio-economy of the local people (Making the ends meet), today a much broader and more comprehensive picture of the situation has to be developed. This bigger picture has to be related to people's developmental needs, and
• the concept of focusing on livelihoods as a cross-cutting and interfacing feature in the land use management is exposed. The study shows this to have generic application but illustrates that contemporary approaches grossly underestimate the dimensions of empowerment needed to meaningfully adopt the concept of integrating livelihoods into economies based on changing patterns of resource use.
7.3Recommendations
In devising ways to address the complexity and delicacy of interaction between people and wildlife in the Emboreet Ward, it seems that an urgent and radical change is required.
The following are some of the recommended actions:
• There is a need to develop an integrated management approach that caters for wildlife, pastoralism and agriculture in the Emboreet ward. The approach plan should be to bring direct and long-lasting tangible benefits to the local community, by
integrating livelihood strategies including those usmg wildlife. This should be developed through the establishment of the Emboreet Integrated Biosphere Agency.
Co-operation of local people, organizations, the central government ministries and related authorities and other stakeholders is necessary for the establishment and implementation of the proposed biosphere area and the managing agency. They must co-operate to fmd manageable strategies that are ecologically, economically, politically, socially and scientifically sustainable to both wildlife and local people.
• In order to best implement the integrated management plan in the Emboreet Ward, there is a need to pursue policies that promote the empowerment of both local people and government officials at all levels. The empowerment in this case would entail developing three aspects namely: objective power, subjective power and competence that were discussed in the Development Cube model (Chapter 6). The inclusion of local people in policy and decision-making requires direct communication of their perspectives on the problems and solutions with respect to wildlife, pastoralism and agriculture, as well as other potential areas of livelihood such as tourism development. This should involve acknowledgement by the government and conservation authorities, including Tarangire National Park, that the locals have the capacity and right to manage wildlife resources in a sustainable manner.
• If the competition for grazing and water resources and the driving power behind the seasonal migrations of wildlife are to be fully understood a major research programme would be necessary. A detailed understanding of man/wildlife interactions in the Emboreet Ward is an important prerequisite for long term planning. Further studies need to be carried out to determine the nature and the subsequent trend in the interaction between wildlife and people in the Emboreet Ward. These studies are critical in that they would ultimately give the direction to further planning for the conservation and development needs of the study area. At the moment, the limited research findings that have been produced through various researches in the area, have revealed a tremendous potential for integrating wildlife into other livelihood strategies. A detailed and long term socio-economic and wildlife
related research would surely help determine long-term solutions to the 'problem' of fragmentationinEmboreet Ward.