Paper short abstract:

Land use change, evolving aspirations and changes in social institutions among Maasai pastoralists are posing opportunities and challenges to wildlife conservation and development in the Tarangire-Simanjiro Ecosystem in Northern Tanzania,

Paper long abstract:

Tarangire National Park (TNP) is considered central to what is referred to as the Tarangire-Simanjiro Ecosystem in Northern Tanzania, and is considered globally important for biodiversity conservation, and is ranked second to the Serengeti for its high concentration of migratory mammals in East Africa. It also represents the highest density of elephants per sq km of any protected area in Tanzania. TNP is considered a dry season park with wildlife migrating out of the park during the wet season and returning to the park as the dry season progresses. Although considered as a critically important area for wildlife, about 85 % of the Tarangire-Simanjiro ecosystem consists of village and private lands without any protected status. This creates a distinctive problem for wildlife conservation due to the extensive migration of wildlife, in particular zebra and wildebeest, which migrate 60 to 80 kilometers into the Simanjiro plains during the wet season. For approximately six months out of the year, Maasai pastoralists share the nutrient rich grasslands with the migratory wildlife, but as the dry season sets in the wildlife return to the park while the Maasai and their livestock remain in the Simanjiro plains. In this paper I summarize 16 years of research, conducted by myself and colleagues, among Maasai pastoral people and discuss how the adoption and expansion of cultivation is converting rangeland to cultivated land; how changes in social institutions have resulted in constraints to the movement of people and livestock; and how aspirations of what is considered a “good life” by Maasai men and women of different generations poses both challenges and opportunities for the conservation of wildlife and the development of pastoral peoples.