Land use by people living around protected areas: the case of lake Manyara national park

Abstract

The paper discusses socio-economic trends of human activities around Lake Manyara, a declared world heritage site. It reveals the resulting conflicts in land use between crop cultivation, pastoralism, and conservation, all of which are important. Information gathered from satellite imagery and aerial photographs of the area between the 960' s and the 1980' s is used to show changes in land use that favour crop cultivation at the expense of wildlife conservation and livestock development. Three development scenarios are discussed and a middle-way strategy that is consistent with the concept and practice of sustainable development is suggested. The paper calls for the idea of an integrated management plan for Lake Manyara Basin to be taken beyond the applied research stage into actual policy and implementation by relevant institutions such as the Regional Administration in Arusha, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and the Environment Division of Vice-Presidents Office in collaboration with partners such as the African Wildlife Foundation (A WF), IUCN and the Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB).