In Tanzania, illegal hunting of both resident and migratory wildlife is a significant problem for the management of Serengeti National Park. Poaching has already reduced populations of resident wildlife, whilst over-harvesting of the migratory herbivores may ultimately threaten the integrity of the Serengeti ecosystem. Reduced wildlife populations may in turn undermine local livelihoods that depend partly on this resource. This project examined illegal hunting from the twin perspectives of conservation and the livelihoods of people surrounding the protected area. The research aimed to improve understanding of factors related to or responsible for the promotion of game meat hunting as a viable livelihood activity.
Income Poverty:
Illegal hunting of wildlife in the Serengeti was closely linked to income related poverty. Arrested hunters came from the poorest sections of communities in a wide area adjacent to the park and had access to fewer resources than non-hunters. Participatory research indicated that hunting was closely identified with the poorest people and this was quantified by household surveys. Wildlife were primarily hunted for economic reasons – to generate cash through the sale of dried meat – rather than in response to a direct need for meat. A majority (75% or more) of arrested hunters indicated that they were hunting for cash or trade. The need to pay taxes, village development contributions or levies (including education) and the purchase of clothing were identified as the most important factors, and were responsible for 79% of the need to generate cash.
Food:
Food in the form of dried meat derived from the park through illegal hunting formed an important contribution to rural livelihoods. Participatory research and questionnaire surveys identified local perceptions of hunters' motivations and showed that hunting was widely viewed as a source of both cash and food during difficult times by the poorest members of the community. Hunting was also seen as a strategy for coping with problems such as stock theft, or loss through disease. Rather than the food value per se, the results clearly indicated that it is the ability to sell the dried meat and to subsequently use the cash proceeds for other goods and services that is the most important contribution of wildlife to rural livelihoods.
Hunting:
Hunting represents a viable and relatively profitable means of generating a cash income. Spatially oriented cost-benefit models showed that a day's hunting was capable of producing an average profit equivalent to over 100 days of a normal villager's potential earnings though employment and that benefits from hunting exceeded its costs over the greater part of the protected area. Based on recorded household consumption, the value of wildlife meat consumed in the area covered by the sample village surveys was estimated to be Tsh 642 million, or US$ 800,000 per annum. Additional meat is traded outside this area, including trade to urban areas and a cross-border trade to Kenya. Initial estimates of the volume of this additional trade bring the estimated total value of the illegal hunting of meat from Serengeti to Tsh. 793 million or US$ 987,000 per annum.
Migratory herbivores constitute over 60% of all wildlife killed by hunters. The majority are wildebeest, which form the bulk of the larger herbivores within the Serengeti ecosystem. Due to seasonal migrations, these species have a de facto closed season during those months when the population moves to the Serengeti Plains – where hunting does not occur. This period corresponds with the breeding season. The heaviest mortality occurs naturally during the dry season and it is during this period that the migratory wildebeest and zebra are accessible to hunters. Current indications are that illegal hunting of these species has not had a significant impact on population numbers, although the level of hunting offtake at which such impacts might occur are currently uncertain.
In strong contrast, the smaller populations of non-migratory, or resident herbivore species occupy the Serengeti woodlands throughout the year, and in these areas are accessible to hunters at all times. A decline in populations of resident herbivores was significantly linked to levels of illegal hunting. Species that provide greater potential benefit to hunters, such as buffalo, and/or those that occur closer to the western boundaries of the protected areas have suffered the most severe declines – with some areas now having zero to very low densities of resident wildlife species. Hunters are travelling greater distances to reach remaining populations. Despite these declines, hunting remains a profitable activity due to migratory species.
Development Strategies:
Results from this research strongly suggest that development strategies designed to address rural poverty and rural income diversification have the potential to provide a key contribution both to sustainable conservation and to rural livelihoods.
Such integrated conservation and development initiatives must be specifically designed and targeted to provide tangible and direct benefits to the poorest members of the community. Without such benefit, illegal hunting of wildlife coupled with the sale of game meat to generate cash will continue to provide vital a means of support for the poorest households. If benefits from development and conservation interventions focus solely on the provision of public goods, such as education and health clinic construction, then this is unlikely to reduce hunting that is driven by a need for cash.
Current levels of hunting are unsustainable in terms of the non-migratory wildlife species and unless hunting pressure is reduced through the development of alternative livelihood support mechanisms, the most likely scenario is one of a decreasing resource base and increasing rural poverty. |
