The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania:a model of multiple land use?

One area in the South for which there is considerable information, however, is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) in Tanzania. Established in 1959, the NCA is the only multiple-use area of its kind in East Africa, and provides a valuable example of the impacts of multiple-use policies within a developing country context. Because the NCA is inhabited by Maasai pastoralists, it also provides an indication of the particular effects which multiple-use areas might have on pastoral communities. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the ecology and management of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We then evaluate the conservation and development performance of the NCA, based on the findings of a three-year, international project, known as the Ngorongoro Conservation and Development Project. Lastly, we look at some of the lessons which can be learned from the NCA; in particular, what are the implications of the NCA for the establishment of other multiple-use areas, both within Tanzania and elsewhere in the developing world