Tanzania National Parks
THE ARUSHA MANIFESTO
Over fifty years ago the first President of the United Republic of Tanzania, the late Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, recognized the integral part wildlife plays in this country. In September 1961 at a symposium on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, he gave a speech that laid the foundation for conservation in post-independent Tanzania. The extract of that speech has become known as the Arusha Manifesto.
“The survival of our wildlife is a matter of grave concern to all of us in Africa. These wild creatures amid the wild places theyinhabit are not only important as a source of wonder and inspiration but are an integral part of our natural resources and our future livelihood and well being.
In accepting the trusteeship of our wildlife, we solemnly declare that we will do everything in our power to make sure that our children’s grandchildren will be able to enjoy this rich and precious inheritance.
The conservation of wildlife and wild places calls for specialist knowledge, trained manpower, and money and we look to other nations to co-operate with us in this important task – the success or failure of which not only affects the continent of Africa butthe rest of the world as well.”
ESTABLISHMENT
The Tanganyika National Parks Ordinance CAP [412] of 1959 established the organization now known as Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), and Serengeti became the first National Park. Currently TANAPA is governed by the National Parks Ordinance Chapter 282 of the 2002 revised edition of the Laws of the United Republic of Tanzania. Conservation in Tanzania is governed by the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1974, which allows the Government to establish protected areas and outlines how these are to be organized and managed. National Parks represent the highest level of resource protection that can be provided. By 2014, TANAPA had grown to 16 national parks, covering approximately 57,024 square kilometres as follows:
| S/N | Name | Area (km2) |
| 1. | Ruaha National Park | 20,300 |
| 2. | Serengeti National Park | 14,763 |
| 3. | Katavi National Park | 4,471 |
| 4. | Mkomazi National Park | 3,245 |
| 5. | Mikumi National Park | 3,230 |
| 6. | Tarangire National Park | 2,600 |
| 7. | Udzungwa Mountains National Park | 1,900 |
| 8. | Kilimanjaro National Park | 1,668 |
| 9. | Mahale Mountains National Park | 1,618 |
| 10. | Saadani National Park | 1,100 |
| 11. | Arusha National Park | 552 |
| 12. | Rubondo Island National Park | 457 |
| 13. | Kitulo National Park | 413 |
| 14. | Lake Manyara National Park | 648 |
| 15. | Gombe National Park | 56 |
| 16. | Saanane National Park | 2.8 |
| TOTAL | 57,023.8 |
Conservation of eco-systems and tourism development in all areas designated as national parks is the core business of the organisation.
Nature-based or wildlife tourism is the main source of income that is ploughed back for management, regulation and fulfilment of all organisational mandates in the national parks.
Principal activities
The primary role of Tanzania National Parks is conservation. The 16 national parks, many of which form the core of a much larger protected ecosystem, have been set aside to preserve the country’s rich natural heritage and to provide secure breeding grounds where its fauna and flora can thrive, safe from the conflicting interests of a growing human population.
TANAPA is particularly charged with functions of:
- Protection of natural resources, park facilities and tourists visiting the parks;
- Park management and development;
- Ecological and wildlife health monitoring;
- Tourism development ; and
- Community involvement in conservation efforts.
VISION Sustainable Conservation and Tourism Excellence
MISSION Sustainable Conservation for Development
MANDATE
To manage and regulate the use of areas designated as National Parks by such means and measures to preserve the country’s heritage, encompassing natural and cultural resources, both tangible and intangible resource values, including the fauna and flora, wildlife habitat, natural processes, wilderness quality and scenery therein and to provide for human benefit and enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for future generations.
REGISTERED OFFICE & ORGANIZATION HEADQUARTERS
Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere Conservation Centre, Burka Estate, Dodoma Road, P.O. Box 3134, Arusha. Telephone: +255 27 2503471/2501930 Fax: +255 27 2508216 Email: [email protected] [email protected] Website:www.tanzaniaparks.com
PARENT MINISTRY
Ministry of Natural Resources & Tourism, P.O. Box 9372, Dar es Salaam. Tel: +255 22 2864230 +255 22 2861870 / 74 Fax: +255 22 2864234 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mnrt.go.tz
AUDITORS
CONTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL Office of the Controller and Auditor General, The National Audit Office, Samora/Ohio Street, P.O. Box 9080, Dar es Salaam. Telephone: +255 22 211 5157 Facsimile: +255 22 211 7527 Email: [email protected] Website: www.nao.go.tz
BANKERS
CRDB (T) Ltd National Bank of Commerce Ltd National Microfinance Bank Ltd Exim Bank (T) Ltd
Governing Instruments
Being a parastatal organization, TANAPA is governed by a number of instruments including the National Parks Act, Chapter 282 of the 2002 (Revised Edition) and the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 of 2009. Others are the National Policies for National Parks in Tanzania (reviewed in 2013), the five year Corporate Strategic Plan (CSP), parks’ specific General Management Plans (GMPs), the Development and Lease Agreement Procedures (DALP), as well as other relevant national laws and policies.
Protection of Park Resources, Facilities and Visitors
It is the responsibility of TANAPA to ensure security and safety of visitors, park inhabitants, wildlife and park infrastructures. Although security is the responsibility of every park inhabitant, the Organization has rangers who are directly responsible for this. To ensure that rangers are equipped with the right skills to execute their duties, different kinds of training are conducted and equipment procured to ease their tasks. Training focuses on wildlife protection, strategic field patrol methods, intelligence gathering operations and use of modern intelligence and security equipment.
Ecosystem Health Monitoring and Management
The national parks are endowed with rich and diverse habitats and ecosystems which support diverse wildlife populations. Regular monitoring of these systems is done in order to have an early warning of future scenarios. Weather parameters are monitored in all the parks throughout the year. Wildlife censuses are carried out in the parks regularly to establish population sizes, trends and distribution. Regular environmental audits are conducted for visitors’ facilities and recommendations suggested to rectify the anomalies observedl All development projects undertaken in the parks are subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies. Wildlife health in all the national parks is closely monitored. Inventory, mapping and eradication of invasive exotic species is conducted in affected parks. Early burning is conducted to mitigate the impact of dry season hot fires and to preserve forage for herbivores for the dry season. This is achieved through the mosaic of burned and unburned patches created by the early burning fires. Wildlife related research in the national parks is encouraged in collaboration with the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI).
Community Support and Conservation Education
Different approaches are adopted to provide conservation education to various conservation stakeholders. The Organization extends financial support to 577 villages bordering national parks for implementation of community development projects through the program of Support for Community Initiated Projects (SCIP). These projects focus on education, health, transportation and water supply. The organization is conducting a feasibility study to adopt a TANAPA Income Generating Projects (TIGPs) as a complement to SCIP where Community Conservation Banks (COCOBA) and Village Community Banks (VICOBA) will be introduced. The aim is to effectively contribute to poverty alleviation for the communities living around the national parks, while gaining their support for conservation.
Contribution to Conservation Collaborators
The Organization appreciates the role played by sister institutions in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and others in helping it to achieve its mandate. In reciprocation of the good spirit and efforts, TANAPA extends required support to such institutions as the College of African of Wildlife Management, Mweka, Pasiansi Wildlife Training College, TAWIRI and Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB).
Tourism Development and Promotion
The Organization continues to embrace tourism as its main source of revenue for its operations. For that reason, TANAPA continues to ensure that more tourism products and activities are developed and promoted to diversify the tourism experience in the parks. Analysis indicates that newly developed tourist attractions have a significant annual average growth in popularity, park value and visitor experience and hence visitor satisfaction.
As one of the marketing strategies the Organization in collaboration with other stakeholders continues to aggressively promote the country’s tourist attractions both locally and internationally.
In order to promote domestic tourism, TANAPA continues to build affordable accommodation facilities in the parks and encourages the private sector to invest in the provision of logistic services targeting the local market.
Improvement of tourist facilities in the parks and their surroundings is emphasized too.
Tourism Performance
Average annual growth of tourist numbers for the past five years i.e. from 2008/2009 to 2012/2013 was 55,712 which is 8.1 %. Annual revenue growth for the same period was TZS 12.11 billion, which is 10.9 %. This has been made possible through efforts made by the Organization to market the unique attractions the country is endowed within its national parks as well as ever improving customer services offered by TANAPA employees and other stakeholders in the hospitality industry.
In 2012/2013, the number of tourists recorded in our National Parks was 901,892, of which 537,675 were foreign tourists and 364,217 were locals.
Likewise, revenue generated was TZS 124.806 billion in the year 2012/2013 which is an increase of 0.04% compared to the previous year’s revenue which was TZS 124.758 billion. As it has been in many past years, Kilimanjaro and Serengeti National Parks continue to generate a surplus while Arusha, Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks generated revenue sufficient to break even. Efforts are being made to ensure that Arusha, Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks generate surplus revenue and the “dependant” national parks (the remaining eleven parks) at least break even and thus get away from dependency syndrome.
Victor R. Ketanss