THE Burunge Wildlife Management Authority (WMA) is mulling over plans of establishing community based tourism with a view of improving people’s livelihoods in the area.
Briefing Journalists’ Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET) members here recently, Burunge WMA Secretary Benson Mwaise suggested that there was huge potential in the product, as the authority strives to strike the right balance between conservation and people’s livelihoods.
“This is a low-hanging fruit which is yet to fully utilised, we are optimistic that the initiative will transform people’s lives economically,” he said.
Mr Mwaise said the WMA was planning to register groups that have express willingness in capitalising in community-based tourism.
According to the Burunge WMA Secretary, if enhanced and promoted, culture-based tourism has the potential to influence people’s livelihoods through the income generated from tourism activities and employment.
“This in turn contributes to the preservation of cultural heritage sites and hence sustainability,” he said.
Mr Mwaise singled out the traditional dances at Sangaiwe village as a potential area worth utilizing in the quest of realizing community based tourism.
The JET members were on a weeklong fact finding mission at Kwakuchinja Wildlife Corridor through a five- year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Tuhifadhi Maliasili Project.
Among other things, the project seeks to build institutional capacity of public and private stakeholders through providing local- and national-level technical support to organizations implementing the mandate for proper oversight of wildlife movement corridors.
The project also facilitates partnerships that identify shared goals in managing wildlife movement.
It also increases private sector engagement in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management through creating incentives for the private sector to invest in conservation and improve the livelihood of communities and improving the policy, regulatory, and enabling environments for biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.
Located in Babati District, the Burunge WMA is very close to both Tarangire and Manyara National Parks.