Browsing by Author "Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt"

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    Data Descriptor: A quasiexperimental study of impacts of Tanzania’s wildlife management areas on rural livelihoods and wealth
    (Springer Nature, 2018) Bluwstein, Jevgeniy; Homewood, Katherine; Lund, Jens Friis; Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt; Burgess, Neil; Msuha, Maurus; Olila, Joseph; Sankeni, Sironka Stephen; Millia, Supuku Kiroiya; Laizer, Hudson; Elisante, Filemon; Keane, Aidan
    Since the 2000s, Tanzania’s natural resource management policy has emphasised Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), designed to promote wildlife and biodiversity conservation, poverty alleviation and rural development. We carried out a quasi-experimental impact evaluation of social impacts of WMAs, collecting data from 24 villages participating in 6 different WMAs across two geographical regions, and 18 statistically matched control villages. Across these 42 villages, we collected participatory wealth ranking data for 13,578 households. Using this as our sampling frame, we conducted questionnaire surveys with a stratified sample of 1,924 household heads and 945 household heads’ wives. All data were collected in 2014/15, with a subset of questions devoted to respondents’ recall on conditions that existed in 2007, when first WMAs became operational. Questions addressed household demographics, land and livestock assets, resource use, income-generating activities and portfolios, participation in natural resource management decision-making, benefits and costs of conservation. Datasets permit research on livelihood and wealth trajectories, and social impacts, costs and benefits of conservation interventions in the context of community-based natural resource management.
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    Household reliance on environmental income in the western Serengeti ecosystem,Tanzania
    (Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2019) Kyando, Moses Titus; Nyahongo, Julius William; Røskaft, Eivin; Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt
    Pressures on protected areas (PAs) in Tanzania are increasing through the extractive use by surrounding communities. Understanding how environmental reliance varies in relation to distance from PAs and in relation to household’s socio-economic characteristics is important for PAs management and decision of poverty alleviation strategies. This study therefore aimed to quantifying the reliance on cash environmental income as a share in total household income over a gradient of distance from PA boundaries in Western Serengeti and evaluates how it is influenced by socio-economic characteristics. Data was collected through a semi-structured questionnaire of 150 households, randomly selected in three villages. Results indicate that environmental cash-income varies from 21.3% to 45.2% of the total annual cash-income, representing on average 37.8% of the total annual cash-income of all households surveyed. Households closest to the boundary of Serengeti National Park (SNP) are relatively more reliant on environmental income than those located relatively far. Environmental cash-income reliance is associated with household socio-economic factors including distance from SNP boundary, household wealth rank and absolute income from off-farm activities. The main sources of environmental cash-income are fuel-wood, construction materials and wild foods. Reducing environmental reliance requires promotion of off-farm activities, improved wood fuel stoves electricity and alternative sources of fuels.
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    The importance of bushmeat in household income as a function of distance from protected areas in the western Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania
    (Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2019) Manyama, Flora Felix; Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt; Røskaft, Eivin; Nyahongo, Julius William
    Bushmeat hunting is widespread in villages adjacent to protected areas in Western Serengeti. However, little information is available about the role of bushmeat income in the household economy as a function of distance from the protected area boundary, preventing the formulation of informed policy for regulating this illegal trade. This study was conducted in three villages in Western Serengeti at distances of 3 (closest), 27 (intermediate) and 58km (furthest) from the boundary of Serengeti National Park to assess the contribution of bushmeat to household income. The sample consists of 246 households of which 96 hunted or traded bushmeat, identified using snowball sampling through the aid of local informers. The average income earned from bushmeat was significantly higher for bushmeat traders than hunters. The contribution of bushmeat to household income was significantly higher in Robanda the village closest to the protected area boundary compared to Rwamkoma and Kowak, the more distant villages. A Heckman sample-selection model reveals that household participation in hunting and trading bushmeat was negatively associated with distance to the protected area boundary and with the household head being female. Household reliance on bushmeat income was negatively associated with age and gender of the household head and distance to the protected area boundary. Hence, efforts to reduce involvement in hunting, and trading bushmeat should target male-headed households close to the protected area boundary.
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    School children as informants about bushmeat consumption in Western Serengeti, Tanzania
    (Academic Journals, 2019) Manyama, Flora Felix; Nyahongo, Julius William; Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt; Røskaft, Eivin
    Bushmeat contributes to household food security in Western Serengeti, particularly for low-income families who are unable to afford more expensive meat sources. However, as the human population grows, bushmeat demand is increasingly unsustainable. Formulating effective policies to reduce illegal bushmeat hunting in Serengeti National Park (SNP), requires information about the contribution of bushmeat to household meat protein consumption as it varies along a gradient of distance from protected areas and between seasons, which can be difficult to obtain from adults due to the illegal nature of hunting. Data on bushmeat consumption frequencies were collected from 127 class four pupils and compared to that of 150 adults. Data were obtained through interviews conducted in both the dry and wet seasons in October 2017 and April 2018, respectively, in three villages selected based on distance from the boundary of SNP (near, intermediate and far away). Mean reported bushmeat consumption frequencies by both schoolchildren and adults differed significantly between villages declining with distance from SNP. Bushmeat consumption frequencies reported by both groups were significantly higher during the dry season (66%) compared to the wet season (34%). Adults on average reported significantly lower bushmeat consumption frequencies than schoolchildren in both seasons. The results suggest that children are less constrained by the illegal nature of bushmeat hunting and therefore may provide more accurate information about the importance of bushmeat in household consumption than adults. Results also reveal that bushmeat contributes considerably to household meat consumption in villages close to the SNP but not further away. This study provides valuable insights for targeting policies to reduce illegal bushmeat hunting, including through promoting substitute protein sources.
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    The threat of COVID-19 to the conservation of Tanzanian national parks
    (Elsevier, 2023) Ranke, Peter Sjolte; Kessy, Beatrice Modest; Mbise, Franco Peniel; Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt; Arukwe, Augustine; Røskaft, Eivin
    In many low-income countries, the conservation of natural resources in protected areas relies on tourism revenue. However, tourist numbers in Africa were severely reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, thus, putting the conservation of these important protected areas at risk. We use records from gate passings at national parks across Tanzania to demonstrate the immediate and severe impact on tourist numbers and revenues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions, and whether international and local (East African) tourists were affected equally. We discuss mechanisms that may reduce future negative impacts of sudden loss of revenue from international tourism, such as increasing the revenue portfolio and thereby decrease the dependency on revenues from international tourists. More important, we encourage local governments, national park authorities, and the world community to further develop and initiate external funding options to reduce the dependency on income from international nature-based tourism to preserve national parks and biodiversity. An additional long-term goal for ensuring sustained conservation would be to increase benefits to local communities adjacent to national parks, encouraging local involvement and thereby reducing the dependence on external funding in the future.