Traditional rangeland management can conserve insect pollinators in a semi-arid rangeland, northern Tanzania

Sustaining indigenous Maasai Alalili silvo-pastoral conservation systems for improved community livelihood and biodiversity conservation in East African rangelands

“…Although, the Maasai pastoral communities in northern Tanzania are reported to practice communal ownership of rangelands as the dominant system [18,44], this work suggests the historical evolvement of private Alalili systems that was not documented for many years as supported by recent works [17,18,77,78]. This is further supported by a few surveyed old-aged private Alalili systems reported to historically exist since the past 40 to 70 years as informed by the rapporteur in the focused group discussion; Having an 18% of private Alalili systems, that are very recently established, is regarded as a newly emerging practice over the historical communal ownership of grazing lands by Maasai pastoralists [13,17]. Although, from an opposite community perspective, it is regarded as a crucial restoration initiative whereby the Maasai pastoralists are securing the grazing areas that are likely being changed into protected areas, farmland, and settlements [18,78].…”

“…Alalili is one such traditional conservation system that is practiced by Maasai communities across East Africa to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable pasture management in rangelands [1,[4][5][6]. Having been practiced since the arrival of Maasai communities in East African rangeland around the 18 th century [10][11][12][13][14], Alalili systems are currently regarded as useful traditional rangeland management initiatives [13,[15][16][17]. They are undertaken as alternative measures to alleviate the effects of declined pastoral mobility caused by land-use and land-cover changes (LULCC), population increase, and climate change [5,18,19].…”

“…In addition, these socio-cultural changes and extreme events have accelerated the degradation of rangelands, making biodiversity, livelihoods, and ecosystems more threatened; this has pushed for more proactive measures in response to these pressures including relocating vulnerable pastoral communities in the Ngorongoro district to a much less degraded but more productive rangeland for livestock and settlement [12,43]. Despite the importance of the Maasai Alalili silvo-pastoral conservation and management systems, their little recognition in literature and under-representation in the existing policies and regulatory frameworks might undermine their utility and importance in rangeland management practices, thus, threatening their value and sustainability in resilience management [1,5,17]. Additionally, Alalili practices are in the blink of extinction, as Maasai societies in most areas are in transition with respect to continuous socio-cultural transformation [17,[45][46][47].…”

“…Despite the importance of the Maasai Alalili silvo-pastoral conservation and management systems, their little recognition in literature and under-representation in the existing policies and regulatory frameworks might undermine their utility and importance in rangeland management practices, thus, threatening their value and sustainability in resilience management [1,5,17]. Additionally, Alalili practices are in the blink of extinction, as Maasai societies in most areas are in transition with respect to continuous socio-cultural transformation [17,[45][46][47]. A proven misconnection in the transmission of this traditional heritage from elders to the younger generation, who are gradually shifting to other economic activities in cities such as decorative saloons and security guards, exposes Alalili to encroachment threats [3,5,12].…”

“…They can play important roles in the phase of global changes by promoting resilience in community livelihood and biodiversity conservation which are significant economic dimensions for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. They are useful fodder resources for both livestock and wildlife, potential pollinator conservation areas, climate change mitigation sites through carbon sequestration, and nature-based restoration solutions to degraded ecosystems [ 17 , 20 ]. For instance, similar communal rangeland management systems, alternatively referred to as Maasai Olopololi , have been supportive of restoring the degraded grasslands during the regreening campaign of the Amboseli ecosystems in southern Kenya [ 21 , 22 ].…”