Sustainable development of protected areas I

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The aim of the FC module is to sustainably protect and manage the natural resources of selected protected areas (including the Serengeti, Mahale and Katavi national parks) and selected village use zones in the neighboring districts (including those bordering the national parks and the Katavi-Mahale wildlife corridor) and to create resource-neutral employment opportunities for the neighboring population. The module thus contributes to achieving the overarching development cooperation program objective. Investments in the protected areas are intended to increase the effectiveness of protected area management, which in turn helps to ensure the integrity of the Serengeti, Katavi and Mahale national parks. Measures outside the parks help to ensure that not only the protected areas but also the ecosystems as a whole are effectively protected and that existing wildlife corridors are kept open. At the same time, the population is offered resource-saving income opportunities, so that on the one hand rural development is promoted and on the other hand the pressure on the ecosystems is reduced. Component 1 of the module deepens the German-Tanzanian cooperation in the Serengeti ecosystem and expands the existing activities in the area of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) to the three other districts (i.e. Bariadi, Tarime and Bunda) that directly border the Serengeti NP. Component 2 of the module supports two additional protected areas and the wildlife corridor between them, which are considered a biodiversity hotspot and a Global 200 Ecoregion as part of the eastern Afromontane region/Albertine Rift. 50% of all African bird species and 40% of all mammal species can be found in this region. Overall, the Albertine Rift has the highest number of threatened and endemic vertebrate species on the entire African continent. The module helps to preserve this ecosystem and its diversity. By protecting the wildlife corridor, the genetic exchange of different species can be ensured and thus the adaptability of the ecosystem to changes in climate change can be maintained. At the same time, as part of the so-called Western Circuit, the parks have so far only been developed for tourism to a limited extent. By increasing the attractiveness, there is an opportunity to contribute to the diversification of the tourist-relevant areas of Tanzania and thus to reduce the high tourist pressure in the Northern Circuit, which also includes the Serengeti National Park.