Our Vision

To become the leading model in promoting nature conservation and livelihood improvement through sustainable natural resources management practices in Tanzania.

Our Mission

To promote nature conservation and improve community livelihoods through environment conservation, conservation education, community-based conservation initiatives, ecotourism, economic development and cultural activities.

LCMO NEWS

October 2023: Read our third quarter newsletter: July - September newsletter.

October 2023: The International Tree Foundation team from Kenya visits LCMO.

October 2023: The Wild Survivors team from Arusha visits LCMO

September 2023: Jonathan and Emmanuel attended the African Community Conservation Forum in Naivasha Kenya.

July 2023: Belinda Mligo attended the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the US.

June 2023: Three interns join LCMO to add effort to the ongoing field activities.

May 2023: LCMO visits Lion Landscapes in Iringa for an exchange program supported by the Lion Recovery Fund.

March-April 2023: Honeyguide Foundation visits Mpimbwe to train LCMO on SAGE, MA&T, and SMART. More details on our quarterly report.

March 2023: Quarterly newsletter is out: January - March 2023

November 2022: Quarterly newsletter is out: June - September News 2022

October 2022: LCMO conducts a mega anti-encroachment campaign in 18 villages of Nsimbo DC.

July - August 2022: Emmanuel participated in the Alumni Enrichment Institute of the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the US.

July 2022: Jonathan Participated in the APAC Conference in Rwanda.

June 2022: Two volunteering positions, please apply before July 1, 2022

April 2022: Read our quarterly newsletter (January - March 2022)

January 2022: LCMO SECOND HALF SEMI-ANNUAL NEWSLETTER 2021 - READ IT HERE

November 2021: Jonathan and Emmanuel were selected for the African Conservation Leadership Network

October 2021: LCMO partners with Maliasili - Read more here

August 2021: LCMO SEMI ANNUAL NEWSLETTER 2021: DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY HERE

June 2021: LCMO through WASIMA trains 65 Village Game Scouts and Lion Conservation Ambassadors in Sikonge, Tabora Region

LCMO NEWSLETTER IS OUT: DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY HERE

May 2021: LCMO welcomes new conservation leaders. Full post is on our blog.

February 2021: WASIMA conducts a zonal workshop with conservation stakeholders from western Tanzania to discuss and share inputs to develop a lion conservation strategy.

January 2021: Call for Essay Competition for Graduate and Secondary School Students! Open the link for more information

September 2020: WASIMA condua,cts Human Lion Interaction survey in villages bordering protected areas of Katavi, Rukwa, and Tabora region.

August 2020: LCMO facilitated chicken farming training for the LCMO Chicken beneficiaries and other farmers in Kibaoni and Usevya. We have also donated chicken to the second beneficiaries

August 2020: LCMO conducts first park trip with people from Chamalendi, Kibaoni, and Usevya

July 2020: Read our 2020 semi-annual newsletter

January 2019: Read our 2019 annual newsletter

December 2019: LCMO forms partnership with Africa Conservation Centre (ACC)-US. The two parties agreed to form The Landscape and Conservation Mentors Organization Fund to collect grants and donations to promote human-wildlife Co-existence in western Tanzania. Please feel free to support us in maximizingtax-deductible conservation impacts in the landscape by giving tax deductible donations to LCMO can now be securely processed through PayPal by the African Conservation Centre US, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

November 2019: Read out our July-September quarterly newsletter

August 2019: 40 prominent livestock keepers from the Mpimbwe division visited Katavi National Park and held a dialogue with the park authority on ways to address ongoing conflicts over land resourcevillages use.

July 2019: 30 people from Kibaoni and Usevya village received basic training on rearing native chicken.

July 2019: Nomad Trust supported a free eye clinic in Mpimbwe between 9- 10 July where a total of 385 patients attended. 204 patients were attended on the first day and 181 on the second day. Services that were provided include; free eye exams, free eye drops, glasses, and minor eye procedures. We would like to thank Nomad Trust for bringing this crucial service to the people of Mpimbwe.

July 2019: Nomad Trust and Maternity Africa supported fistula education and free fistula treatment to communities around Katavi National Park and Mpimbwe Wildlife Management Area.

July 2019: Read out our VIMA Environmental Education Activity Guide Booklet (Mwongozo wa Elimu ya Mazingira katika Shule za Upili na Msingi)

June 2019: 45 women from Ikuba, Kashishi, and Itula villages bordering Katavi National Park and Mpimbwe Wildlife Management Area visit Katavi National Park.

May 2019: 180 pupils supported with uniforms and books through the Student Support Program. Thank you Brevard Zoo for supporting this crucial program in Mpimbwe.

April 2019: The Expedition Earth team from Nat Geo visited Mpimbwe and spent over 9 hours with stop illegal lion-killing campaign team and the Sukuma community in the south of Katavi National Park. Highlights of their visit are on our social media platforms.

March 2019: Jonathan joins Conservation Scientist, and presents a talk to a student Conference for Conservation Scientists (SCCS) at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 

February 2019: Jonathan presents the Stop Lion Killing campaign to an audience of students and media professionals from National Geographic partners and Fox Networks Group in the In UK.

LCMO ANNUAL NEWSLETTER 2018

November 2018, Jonathan received the Early Career grant from NGS for the Stop Illegal Lion Killing campaign in Western Tanzania.

17th November 2018, The Mpimbwe policemen, community policemen, conduitand traditional policemen (Sungusungu leaders) visited Katavi National Park.

November 2018, Utku Kuran from Turkey joined LCMO as a volunteer. He assisted us in activities such as photography and school outreach. It was a pleasure having him.

November 2018, WASIMA facilitated two more villages to approve by-laws to ban illegal lion hunting and lion dancing practices in Ikulwe and Kabunde villages, in Mpimbwe.

3rd November 2018, winners of the litter picking competition during World Cleanup Day visited Katavi National Park.

27th October 2018, Students from Mbede and Usevya Secondary SchoolIn visited Katavi National Park

October 2018, the VIMA project expanded its outreach activities to Mbede village.

19th - 21st October 2018, LCMO together with Nomad Trust Tanzania facilitated compost training in Usevya, Kagera, and Sitalike. The training was conducted by Jeff and Rita from The Guardian Project.

5th -7th October 2018, LCMO together with Nomad Trust Tanzania organized a two-day beekeeping training in Kibaoni. The training was conducted by David Camara from Follow The Honey Tanzania.

October 2018, Tumia nyuki adhibit tembo wanaovamia mash ambaIn

October 2018, two teachers from Usevya Secondary School and Kakuni Primary School were trained on how to manage and run the library. The training took one month.

1st October 2018, Emmanuel Stephen joined LCMO as the new VIMA project manager.

5th July 2018, different stakeholders met in Usevya to discuss on Loebach-Miller project and tourism potential in the village.

LCMO received $4000 from Sacramento Zoo in 2017 to support the A Day in the Park project and school students.

Brevard Zoo Conservation Fund confirms to support LCMO in 2018. The funds will support a day in the park and pupils in Mpimbwe.

LCMO receives field items (2 GPS, 1 Camera, and a DVD player) grant from IDEAL WILD.  

Our team member Hans Cosmas Ngoteya has been selected to take part in the first class of the National Geographic Leadership and Development program (Read more)

We are very excited to receive a new recruitment in our team! Congratulations Jonathan Lucas Kwiyega on your new babyIn.

On 1st – 6th November our team member Hans Cosmas Ngoteya visited Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT) in Kenya for a study tour to learn new conservation strategies that can be adapted back in LCMO.

September 2017 LCMO received a total of 3170$ from our partner Nomad Tanzania to support our education projects.

In November 2017, Jonathan conducted an assessment to explore the possibilities for expansion of the WASIMA model in other areas adjacent to reserves in western Tanzania. In villages around the Ugalla ecosystem, lion killings and lion dancing are still there. About 300 cattle were predated by lions just in 2016. Within the first 6 days of our survey, 7 cattle were killed by lions. People happily award lion avengers. Almost every livestock enclosure is protected throughout the night. People call for help but receive the least help to minimize livestock losses. We guess the presence of underground lion killings. There are very few and far-based game rangers to rescue lions at risk and the frequency of lion occurrences is said to have increased in recent years than it was in the past. 

WASIMA team is now expanding operations from Mpimbwe, south of Katavi National Park (4471 km2) to other areas adjacent to reserves. Read more

A short video of a day in the park with youth on April, 29/2017 see it here. 

Watch an introduction video about the VIMA project on the VIMA program page.

20th - 22nd, April 2017: Hans attended a Conservation Optimism summit in London UK, and held a session about Conservation news clips, A session to encourage conservationists to create short video clips of their studies instead of relying on publication articles to share their results and findings. 

11th, April 2017: Jonathan Meets Tanzania’s Former Prime Minister Hon. Mizengo Pinda to discuss LCMO progress in western Tanzania. During the meeting, Hon. Pinda was grateful for conservation work in western Tanzania. He encouraged LCMO to continue to address poaching, bushfires, overstocking, and lack of alternative energy sources in western Tanzania which altogether are detrimental to nature’s health. He recommended the introduction of biogas systems installation to livestock-keeping households in Mpimbwe to help minimize over-dependence on wood fuel energy which is the leading cause of high deforestation and encroachment of reserved habitats. In connection to that, Hon. Pinda who is also the key LCMO Guardian and Advisor, also insisted that LCMO and other conservation stakeholders join forces to promote both wildlife and cultural conservation which are key tourist attractions in Mpimbwe, the district in the south of Katavi National Park, Luafi and Mlele game reserves.

27th March 2017: 'Stop -illegal lion killings. Are we succeeding? WASIMA has finally
managed to evaluate the Stop Illegal Lion Killing project in
Mpimbwe. We appreciate the contribution made by Experiment .com backers:
https://experiment.com/projects/stopping-illegal-lion-killing-are-we-succeeding.

18th March 2017:  VIMA hosted an Outreach Environmental event at Usevya Village, an event that brought together more than 500 youths from the seven schools reached by the project, and attracted more than 1000 community members. An event aimed at youth to educate other community members about environment conservation through different talents e.g. Ngoma dance, singing, Comedy, and drama. etc...! visit our Facebook page for photo updates. This wouldn't be possible without the help of our supporters http://www.lcmo.or.tz/our-supporters/

January 2017: Jonathan and Hans attended a workshop for the IUCN integrated planning project in Sumbawanga.

December 2016: Hans was awarded a Rufford small grant of 5000 GBP for the VIMA project.

December 2016: Jonathan visits Inyonga to investigate the expansion of WASIMA in partnership with ADAP.

November 2016: Successful Experiment.com campaign, raised $3000 for the evaluation of WASIMA effectiveness in Mpimbwe.

October 2016: Jonathan was invited as the guest of Honor at Mbede Secondary School.

September 2016: Hans was awarded a Biodiversity Fellowship with the Interdisciplinary Center for Conservation Science (ICCS) Team at Oxford University.

September 2016: Jonathan receives second bridge funds from UC Davis.

August 2016: Jonathan’s pilot visit to Uvinza-Kigoma and Kaliua-Tabora to explore possibilities for extension.

July 2016: Project Manager Jonathan receives bridge funds from UC Davis.

July 2016: Hans and Jonathan attend a strategy meeting with Tim and Monique in Arusha.

May 2016: WASIMA Project Manager invited to Katavi National Park General Management Plan review.

February 2016: LCMO registered to combine forces of WASIMA and VIMA, and expand operations.

January 2016: Jonathan and Hans attend Pathways Kenya 2016 training workshop scholarship.

October 2015: Jonathan was invited to the Tanzania National Environment Policy Review Workshop in Mbeya.

January 2015: Jonathan and Hans attended the workshop for the IUCN integrated planning project in Sumbawanga.

May 2015: Jonathan extends the WASIMA campaign to 20 villages with BCI funding.

May 2015: The VIMA project received an additional fund from National Geographic for USD 5000. And VIMA Project Manager Hans Cosmas Ngoteya was awarded a National Geographic Young Explorer title.

December 2015: Successful Experiment.com campaign, raised USD 5000 for WASIMA car.

January 2015: We have received funding from TUSK TRUST for the VIMA project a total of USD 20,000.

January 2015: The UYEC project name changed to Vijana na Mazingira (VIMA).

November 2014: We have received funding from TUSK TRUST that will assist in running costs of Youth Center activities up to 30th September 2015.

October 2014: Welcome to Hans Cosmas Ngoteya – Project Manager for Usevya Youth and Education Center (UYEC).

May 2014 – April 2015: Project Manager Bwasama Silvester extended the WASIMA campaign to 14 villages with BCI funding.

2014: Publication of Fitzherbert et al (2014). From Avengers to Hunters. Biological Conservation 174: 84-92, with support of WildCRU (Oxford).

August 2013: The Raleigh Tanzania team visits Usevya for three weeks to work on fuel-efficient stoves.

August 2013: Welcome Wildlife Conservation Society, in support of the Mpimbwe Wildlife Management Area (WMA).

July 2013: In partnership with the Nomad Trust, Raleigh Tanzania is working on a rocket stove project, in Usevya near the Katavi National Park. Rocket stoves are a type of clean and efficient stove using wood burnt in a high-temperature combustion chamber built out of bricks and insulated with mud and ash. These stoves require less fuel, which means fewer trees are chopped down and are safer for children to be around, compared to the old ‘three-stone’ stoves. Each stove costs about 2000 Tzs, just over $1, for 20 bricks, and the family provides the cow dung, ash, water, and sand. That is all that’s needed to build the stoves that positively impact a family's everyday life, as well as reduce deforestation.

June 2013 – March 2014: Project Manager Simone Beccaria expanded the WASIMA campaign to 8 villages with BCI funding.

October 2012: Genda et al. published an account of the founding of WASIMA in Kakuona.

2012: Project Manager Emily Fitzherbert initiated the WASIMA campaign, developed training materials, and established park visits with BCI funding.

23 October 2012: The 22 Dell laptops, donated by California State University Fullerton, are currently undergoing setup for Windows XP. This is one step closer before the laptops depart from California and arrive at the new Usevya Youth Center in Mpimbwe. 

9 July 2012: The Prime Minister’s Office generously agrees to sponsor the shipping costs to bring 22 Dell laptop computers to the new Usevya Youth Center in Mpimbwe.

5 June 2012: 22 Dell laptop computers have been donated through California State University, Fullerton’s Mpimbwe Project Philanthropic Foundation. The gift was arranged by CSU Fullerton’s Women and Gender Studies Program as part of their new “Sister Cities” project–a project that allows CSU Fullerton students to learn about Tanzania and support the Mpimbwe community in their efforts toward economic development. These generous donations will make it possible for the community to have its very first solar-powered computer lab, connecting Mpimbwe to the Internet and the world.

25 May 2012: First use of the coaster, for an educational tour for village and Sungusungu leaders on 25 May, once the rains had subsided.

1 May 2012: The coaster for the Day in the Park project arrived in Mpimbwe.

2012: Collaborating with Usevya Development Society (UDESO) to Initiation and construction of Usevya Youth and Education Center (UYEC).

August 2011: Founding workshop attended by Regional, District, local, and traditional community representatives.

2011: Peter Genda and Emily Fitzherbert founded the WASIMA campaign after Emily’s research with Omari Kwilasa showed strong resentment among Sukuma against lion dancers requesting rewards for lions hunted in the national park.

WASIMA

WASIMA aims to develop a culture of strong local environmental stewardship by harnessing the power of traditional policing institutions in halting illegal lion killings, linking environmental education, local development and environmental conservation.

VIMA

VIMA is a capacity-building project that provides conservation education and livelihood-focused interventions to youth aged 12-35 in villages located in a remote rural region south of Katavi National Park, in western Tanzania.