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Enhancing the understanding of human-wildlife conflict: Making an impact with Kilombero communities

Dr Susannah Sallu & Dr Margherita Lala

Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, Faculty of Environment

Dr Trevor Jones & Josephine Smit

Southern Tanzania Elephant Program (STEP)

University of Stirling

Responsive Mode

The project will generate social and ecological impact by promoting evidence-based interventions in elephant-human interaction in Kilombero Valley in Tanzania. Leeds University, as part of the AGRISYS project, has been working in the area to investigate, through nine participatory workshops, smallholder framers’ knowledge, aspirations, and perceptions of the future in relation to the transformation they wish to see in the valley and the current challenges they are facing. Crucial information on communities’ perception of elephants was captured in these workshops from farmers’ perspective that can inform corridor planning from a social scientific perspective. The project is therefore very well placed to maximise impact by (1) engaging a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which operates in the research area with project outputs, also reinforcing the research team’s network with local actors communication strategy, (2) improving communication among stakeholders, namely smallholder farmers and civil society, and (3) using research findings from the workshops conducted with smallholder farmers to inform Southern Tanzania Elephant Program (STEP) community engagement and communication strategy.

Perspectives of smallholder farmers - those whose livelihoods are dependent on the landscape and contribute to shape it – are key in a context where both conservation and agricultural growth corridor planning play a major role.

Knowledge exchange, both between practitioners and academics, and amongst different stakeholders plays a key role in taking crucial decisions that affect landscapes experiencing competing land and resource use demands. Such knowledge sharing is especially relevant in the Northern Kilombero Valley of Tanzania. This is a landscape undergoing rapid agricultural transformation driven by the planned expansion of sugarcane cultivation, despite being a globally important landscape for biodiversity conservation. The area is also home to an important wildlife corridor which connects the Udzungwa Mountains National Park with Magombera Forest Nature Reserve and Nyerere National Park. Efforts to restore this corridor are being implemented by the Tanzanian Government with support from the non-governmental organization Southern Tanzania Elephant Program (STEP) and a range of other partners. Stakeholders’ engagement – and especially community engagement and participation – are essential to human-wildlife coexistence interventions in the valley and can foster a just transformation, which promotes both social and environmental impact.

As part of a BBSRC funded project that studied potential for ‘integrated forest-agricultural landscapes to enhance multiple livelihood benefits to and from agriculture’, the University of Leeds investigated smallholder farmers’ perceptions, knowledge, and aspirations for the future in relation to the changes that will characterize this landscape. Human-wildlife interaction emerged strongly as one of the themes that are currently more relevant to smallholder farmers. With support from Leeds Social Sciences Institute (LSSI) and funding from the ESRC Impact Accelerator Account (IAA), data from nine participatory workshops with farmers is being re-analysed and will be disseminated to support STEP in their management of future community engagement, communication strategies, and livelihood improvement. The sharing of research findings will lead to a workshop in which STEP staff will reflect on current and future practices vis-à-vis smallholders’ perceptions, as presented in the research. This IAA project also aims to build a new partnership and co-design further collaboration.

If you want to get in touch, please contact Dr. Susannah Sallu (s.sallu@leeds.ac.uk) or Dr. Margherita Lala (earmlal@leeds.ac.uk)