Attitudinal studies are increasingly being adopted as tools for evaluating public understanding, acceptance and the impact of conservation interventions. The findings of these studies have been useful in guiding the policy interventions. Many factors affect conservation attitudes positively or negatively. The factors inspiring positive attitudes are likely to enhance the conservation objectives while those inducing negative attitudes may detrimentally undermine these objectives. The magnitude of the resultant effects of each particular factor is determined by the historical, political, ecological, socio-cultural and economic conditions and this may call for different management interventions. In this study we examined how conservation attitudes in western Serengeti are shaped by the following factors: level of conflicts with protected areas; wildlife imposed constraints (inadequate pasture, water, diseases, loss of livestock during migration, theft and depredation); participation in the community based project; and socio-demographic factors (age, education level, wealth, immigration, gender and household size). The results indicated that the level of conflicts, participation in the community based project, inadequate pasture, lack of water, diseases, wealth and education were important in shaping peoples' attitudes. However, in a stepwise linear regression analysis, 59% of the variation in peoples' attitudes was explained by three variables i.e., conflict level with protected areas, lack of water and participation in the community based project. In addition to these variables, level of education also contributed in explaining 51% of the variation in people's attitude regarding the status of the game reserves. Five variables (lack of water, level of education, inadequate pasture, participation in the 2006 community based project and diseases) explained 12% of the variation in people's attitude towards Serengeti National Park. The paper discusses the implications for conservation of these results and recommends some measures to realise effective conservation of wildlife resources.

This paper seeks to show how the traditional societies in western Serengeti have coexisted and continue to coexist with wildlife. It also recognizes the relevancy of this coexistence in furthering contemporary conservation eVorts although there are practical constraints to putting this into practice. The following questions are examined: (1) How did/do traditional societies in Serengeti interact with their nature? (2) Which traditional management institutions governed/govern interaction between people and wildlife species, resources and ecosystems and, how do they operate? (3) Which factors were (or are) responsible for erosion of traditional management institutions? (4) What can the traditional practices oVer to contemporary conservation eVorts and what are the limitations? The paper identiWes four ways in which traditional institutions and practices can contribute to current conservation eVorts: regulating the overexploitation of resources; complementing the current incentives aiming at diVusing prevailing conXicts between conservation authorities and communities; minimising the costs of law enforcement and; complementing the modern scientiWc knowledge in monitoring and responding to ecosystem processes and functions. The practical constraints likely to limit adoption of these practices are presented as: methodological complications of acquiring indigenous knowledge; prevailing historical conXicts; human population growth; poverty and lack of appreciation among the conservation planners and managers. In conclusion the need to address the current constraints in order to achieve eVective taping of the existing potentials is emphasized.

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Both colonial and post-colonial conservation policies ignored the potential role of traditional African cultural practices in contributing to conservation goals. Recently, there has been a growing global interest in these practices, although recognition in official conservation policies is still minimal in many countries. This global interest is enthused by the reality that although the use of wild species and their habitats remains the foundation for human survival all over the world, there is a huge risk of losing these species. Factors such as rapid human population increase, inadequate local support for conservation policies, limited strategies for survival among local communities and inadequate capacity of the government to fund law enforcement operations against illegal activities subject the species and habitats to unsustainable use. Traditional cultural practices, among other strategies, have promising potential to enhance sustainable resource use and conservation and, therefore, realize the desire for ecological and social sustainability. Using examples and data drawn from different parts of Tanzania, this paper attempts to uncover some of these potentials on which policy-makers and conservationists can capitalize to augment conservation work. The paper begins by reviewing the ecological impacts of two major conservation problems facing Tanzania -species overexploitation and habitat loss. Then the possible advantages of traditional cultural practices (compared to conventional conservation strategies) are outlined. The traditional practices are presented as more cost-effective, more socially acceptable and having minimal risk of failure. Furthermore, the idea of reviving these practices coincides with the philosophy of co-management approaches, which advocate sharing of power, rights and responsibilities between the state and local resource users. This is based on the idea that local communities constitute voices 'from the ground' that should be heard.In showing the efficacy of traditional African cultural practices, the paper specifically focuses on four elements: traditional institutions, taboos, sacred sites and totemic species.