Biological Conservation and Human Ecology: Conflict or Compatibility Between Wildlife and Pastoralists in Sub-Saharan Africa

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This project involves the multidisciplinary research of anthropologists and ecologists in a conservation park in Tanzania, Africa. The central question of the project is whether subsistence pastoralists can coexist with large African mammals in a conservation park. The question of compatibility between pastoralists and wildlife in Africa, or indeed between humans and other species in any part of the world, has major implications for the future of global biological diversity and how we go about the business of biological conservation. If we assume incompatibility, this obligates us to continue to use the "park" model of conservation, where people are excluded from exploiting those areas set aside for biodiversity preservation. If we assume compatibility, a "regional conservation model" may be adopted which incorporates both environmental conservation and maintenance of biological diversity as well as providing opportunities for human development and welfare. The project will investigate these issues by measuring human land use and biological conservation in three different land-use regimes in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. Specific studies will include land use patterns; human nutrition, economy, and demography; livestock nutritional ecology, production and demography; wildlife diversity, density and habitat use patterns; and vegetation and habitat mapping. This research should contribute valuable knowledge to inform policy makers on strategies of biodiversity conservation.