Enhancing local governance to help communities and wildlife thrive in northern Tanzania

Makame Wildlife Management Area (WMA), in northern Tanzania comprises 3,643 km2 of village land. The area retains significant wildlife populations including a small population of lions. The area has been gazetted as a WMA but currently lacks significant support for the management of this important community conservation area. The LRF has provided a grant to Honey Guide to help them: improve law enforcement and protection in the area; to build the capacity of communities to manage the WMA; and, to build the governance capacity of the WMA. The idea is to build capacity of the community governance and management of the area such that it can become self-sustaining in future (which is a distinct possibility due to the potential to derive revenue through the sale of carbon credits). In late 2019, a second grant of $10,000 was provided to Honey Guide to cover a shortfall in salaries for village game scouts. In 2021 a follow up grant of $80,000 was provided to enable Honey Guide to extend their support for Makame WMA as they work towards achieving self-sufficiency.