Densities of mammals in partially protected areas: the Katavi ecosystem of western Tanzania

Abstract

Summary 0[ In Africa the majority of conservation areas sanction some sort of human activities within their borders but few of them are part of community!based conservation schemes[ The e}ectiveness of these state!owned\ partially protected areas in conserving mammalian fauna is largely unknown[ 1[ Large and medium!sized mammal densities in three di}erent sorts of partially protected area were compared to mammal densities in an adjacent national park in western Tanzania by driving 1842 km of strip transects over a 03!month period[ 2[ In a Game Controlled Area that permitted temporary settlement\ cattle grazing and tourist big game hunting\ mammal diversity and mammal densities were relatively high[ In a Forest Reserve that permitted limited hardwood extraction and resident hunting\ most large species were absent[ In a third\ Open Area that allowed settlement\ cattle grazing\ _rewood collection and beekeeping activities\ mammal diversity and densities were again low but some large ungulates still used the area seasonally[ 3[ The chief factors responsible for lowered mammal densities outside the Park were illegal hunting\ especially in close proximity to town\ and to a lesser extent\ resident hunting quotas that were too high[ 4[ These data suggest that state!owned conservation areas permitting human activities within their borders cannot be relied upon as a means of conserving large and middle! sized mammals in Africa[ 5[ Two methods are being employed to ameliorate this problem in Africa] excluding people from conservation areas while upgrading ground protection e}ort\ and initiation of community!based conservation schemes[ As yet\ however\ very few quan! titative data are available to evaluate the e.cacy of these methods in enhancing mammal populations[ Key!words] human impact\ mammal densities\ miombo woodland\ multiple!use areas\ national park[ Journal of Applied Ecology "0888# 25\ 194Ð106

What are the environmental impacts of property rights regimes in forests, fisheries and rangelands?

“…When compared with private and community regimes, the state was reported as performing better in 9 studies [35,37,38], while private and community regimes were reported as outperforming the state in 12 studies [35,37,[39][40][41][42]. Four studies compared state performance with another state regime [43]. Here state-controlled national park and game controlled area were reported as performing better than forest reserve and open access regimes.…”

Factors Affecting Bushmeat Consumption in the Katavi-Rukwa Ecosystem of Tanzania

“…Finally, ethnicity is strongly associated with bushmeat consumption in parts of Rio Muni [23]. To refine our understanding of household correlates of bushmeat consumption in western Tanzania where bushmeat activities are prevalent [7,10] we chose the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem where declines in mammal populations are in evidence [24][25][26][27]. We focused on Mpimbwe Division in particular, a rapidly growing area occupied by several ethnic groups and for which there is solid ethnographic background [28][29][30].…”

Does illegal hunting affect density and behaviour of African grassland birds? A case study on ostrich (Struthio camelus)

“…Although protected areas are recognised as a key element in conservation, studies show that partially protected areas (IUCN category B IV) do not protect biodiversity as well as strictly protected areas (Caro et al 1998;Caro 1999;Pelkey et al 2000;Setsaas et al 2007). Nevertheless, partially protected areas compose a significant part of the protected area network in Southern Africa (WRI 2005).…”