to support the conservation of habitat connectivity in the Ruaha-Katavi landscape

The Association for the Development of Protected Areas (ADAP) is the recipient of a sub-award from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to support the development and modernization of the beekeeping sector and to implement an ecological monitoring with camera traps as part of the Ruaha-Katavi Landscape Program (RKLP).

The WCS’ Ruaha-Katavi Landscape Program, launched in 2013, aimed to contribute to the conservation of one of East Africa’s last remaining mega-ecosystems, the Ruaha-Katavi landscape in Central-Western Tanzania. This ecosystem is home to some 20,000 elephants, the largest population in Tanzania and East Africa. This ecosystem is also home to some of the most endangered and vulnerable species on the continent, such as large carnivores like the wild dogs, lions and one of the largest metapopulations of giraffes. In addition, within the same area there is a large human population whose livelihood depends largely on the use of natural resources. With ongoing funding from USAID and the U.S. State Department, complemented by private funding, the project has expanded beyond the parks and game reserves to village lands that represent key wildlife corridors in this landscape.

Since 2018, ADAP has been developing a program of community-based forest management in the Rungwa area to support local conservation initiatives in 8 villages. ADAP and WCS have been working closely with the governmental agencies in charge of wildlife (Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority) and forests (Tanzania Forest Services Agency) as well with the local governments at both District and village levels. Following ongoing exchanges and in recognition of the complementarity of the projects implemented by the two organizations, WCS granted a sub-award to ADAP to implement activities which support rural communities involved in the management of the critical wildlife connectivity on village lands, specifically in the districts of Sikonge and Itigi. The first objective is to modernize the beekeeping sector; the grant complements ADAP’s budgets supporting modern beekeeping through the provision of technical training and equipment to 600 beekeepers in the 5 villages involved in the management of this area of important wildlife connectivity. The second objective is to set up and carry out a systematic ecological monitoring of wildlife with camera traps in conjunction with village game scouts. This monitoring will make it possible to collect valuable information on medium and large mammal fauna, particularly of nocturnal and small species which normally are rarely detected in the aerial counts carried out by WCS.

The sixteen-month agreement was signed on 1 October 2020, and the first activities have already begun with the training in camera trapping.