Empowering Beekeepers to Transform Lives and Reduce Human -Wildlife Conflicts

In the local villages of KIZI and KIBAONI around MPIMBWE WMA, a remarkable initiative took place with the aim of improving the lives of small beekeepers while reducing human-wildlife conflicts and promoting environmental sustainability. The Beekeeping Training Program was more than just a workshop; it was a catalyst for positive change, merging traditional beekeeping practices with modern techniques to enhance both beekeepers’ livelihoods and the harmony between humans and the environment

The training program, organized by dedicated volunteers and experts, aimed to equip local beekeepers with knowledge about modern beekeeping methods. By transitioning to environmentally friendly practices, beekeepers not only will increase the quality and quantity of honey production but also will play a crucial role in maintaining the delicate balance of their ecosystem. The use of sustainable beekeeping practices will minimize disturbances to the environment, ensuring the continuation of crucial pollination processes that benefit the local flora and fauna.

Mr. Emmanuel Stephens from LCMO showing some of projects of LCMO

Interestingly, the connection between beekeeping and reducing human-wildlife conflicts is a fascinating aspect of this initiative. As the beekeepers adopt modern ways of keeping bees, they inadvertently create a natural buffer between their villages and wildlife habitats. The bees’ presence serve as a deterrent to wildlife encroachments, leading to a decrease in confrontations between humans and potentially dangerous animals like lions. This peaceful coexistence not only safeguard lives but also protect these magnificent creatures from unnecessary harm.

Mr. Obadia Magazi continuing with class at Kizi

Through the lens of sustainable beekeeping, we highlights the multi-faceted impact of the Beekeeping Training Program. By improving the livelihoods of small beekeepers, promoting environmentally friendly practices, and fostering a harmonious relationship between humans and wildlife, the initiative exemplifies the positive outcomes that can emerge when communities and nature work hand in hand. The buzzing hives of KIZI and KIBAONI villages are a testament to the potential for change when innovation, education, and compassion converge.

How We Do Conservation Education Outreaches: My Experience in Nsimbo Outreach Campaign

Ms. Belinda shares her insightful experience of our community outreach activity. Towards the end of 2023, she spent three weeks alongside two colleagues in Nsimbo leading an awareness campaign in 18 villages of Nsimbo District Council, north of Katavi National Park. This area is surrounded by numerous conserved areas, ranging from community forest reserves, national forest reserves, game reserves, and national parks which host a significant number of wildlife populations. Nsimbo experiences high incidences of human-wildlife conflict and qualifies to be among our priority areas for conservation education and outreach. Please click this link to read the full article.

Ecological Study Trips with Students

Hello everyone, here is yet another exciting article from one of our committed staff highlighting students’ outdoor learning activities through field visits. It was launched in 2023 with the initial support of Nomad Tanzania but it turned out to be the most liked student activity amongst the youth program. Please open this link to access the article.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM PHASE II: LCMO WELCOMES NEW CONSERVATION LEADERS

Our legacy as an Organization is based on the species existence and sustainability of our wildlife population at ecosystem, landscape, national and global level. Based on that, we launched the internship program to nurture young Tanzanian wildlife conservationists to tackle the increasing biodiversity conservation challenges. However, we have not been limited to only Tanzanians, we have also joined other youths internationally and have been joined by youth from outside Tanzania through our volunteer program to learn and share knowledge and experiences with us. It’s inspiring and encouraging to observe the young and contemporary conservation leaders diving in various field of wildlife conservation; standing to help the primary conservation stakeholders, the local communities to benefit and coexist with wildlife! At this internship phase two, the LCMO team is delighted to welcome Lucia Romward, Azizi Fabian Msese and Belinda Mligo as the LCMO Field Officer Interns between May and August this year, 2021. The three won the WASIMA essay competition on the Appropriate, innovative and practical measures to reduce human-lion conflicts in western Tanzania. We also welcome Happyness Jackson and Irene Philipo as Field Officer Volunteers. Miss Happyness Jackson was born in Mpimbwe south of Katavi but still passionate to wildlife conservation. Since January she has been tirelessly volunteering to help her young brothers and sisters as well as community members during our various field outreaches. The interns and volunteers will be based in Mpimbwe and Sikonge Joining the LCMO field team in Katavi and Tabora, western Tanzania.  

Jonathan L. Kwiyega, Director.

The LCMO team, Irene Philipo, Belinda Miligo, Happyness Jackson, Jonathan Kwiyega, Neema Mwaja, Bahati Hirali (first line left to right) and Azizi Msese and Emmanuel (Back left and right).Photo by Gilya Lino.

Ms Lucia Romward

Miss Lucia Romward holds a B.Sc. in Wildlife Sciences and Conservation from University of Dar es salaam (UDSM) (2020). She conducted research projects on Dynamics of Human- Elephant Conflicts in Villages Surrounding Ruaha National Park as part of her final year of undergraduate studies. Miss Lucia has Joined LCMO to work as Field Officer Intern. At university of Dar es salaam, Lucia was the active Vice Chairperson of UDSM Wildlife Student’s Association from 2019-2020. After graduation, she volunteered at The Lion Landscape, a carnivore conservation organization around Ruaha National Park for over two months after her university graduation. Lucia is active member of Nature Tanzania and Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania. Lucia is ambitious woman, nature lover seeking to grow in wildlife and environmental conservation carrier with the desire of becoming wildlife research and academician as well as influencing community participation in conservation with much focus to children, girls and youth.

Mr. Azizi Fabian Msese                                                  

Mr. Azizi Msese holds a B.Sc. in Forestry, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). He is currently working at LCMO as a Field Officer Intern working on WASIMA campaign, VIMA program and other sister programs after being selected through WASIMA essay competition. Azizi’s passion is to work with a diversity of community and educational status in the remote rural areas around reserves in order to discuss together the negative effects of killing wild animals and deforestation and come up with collective solution that halt both retaliatory and non- retaliatory killing of wild animals and trees conservation for the advantage of present and future generations.

Miss Belinda Mligo

Miss Belinda Mligo, has a bachelor degree in Wildlife Management (2015) and is finalizing her M.Sc. in Public Health and Food Safety from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). She is current working as a field officer at LCMO. She has worked as a research assistant at the Fondation of Pierre Fabre Project at SUA, a project based on promoting proper management of zoonotic diseases in Tanzania and Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund (EAMCEF). She is looking forward to investigate the nature and cause of the neglected zoonotic diseases, improving the knowledge of zoonotic diseases in general to local communities. She hopes to develop her career as the young researcher so she can help in discovering on new trends of diseases to help local communities and the next generation with scientific information for their studies mostly those passionate in conservation biology.

Ms. Irene Philipo

Miss Irene Philipo is volunteering at LCMO as Field Officer. Irene graduated from Sokoine University with Bachelor Degree in Rural Development. She has developed her skills and carrier in Community development, field activities, and research and project management since 2015 through working with Caritas Kigoma as field officer on Women socio-economic Rights (WSER) project. However, The Jane Goodall Institute as Assistant Community Development Officer on Landscape Conservation in Western Tanzania, which aim to protect endangered chimpanzee populations in Gombe Stream National Park, Supporting Biodiversity Conservation both Wildlife and surrounding Communities. She has interest in working with community and her passion lies in environmental conservation through community-based conservation.

Ms. Happyness Jackson

Ms. Happyness joined Landscape and Conservation Mentors Organization as the Field Assistant Officer in January 2020. She holds a BSc in wildlife management and conservation, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). She currently volunteering at LCMO as field assistant officer in Youth and Environment Program; Vijana na Mazingira (VIMA), assisting to coordinate program activities. Ms. Happyness focuses on cultivating environmental conservation awareness among youths in schools and women for the future generation, photography and developing further career in Wildlife conservation.

Miss Happyness with pupils from Mirumba primary school south of Katavi Park during an eco-study tour at Katete Hills (phto by Bahati).                                                                                     

Human Lion Conflicts Loud Speaker Early Warning System (LEWS) in Western Tanzania

One of the greatest challenges possibly facing all conservationists is to harmonize relationship between wildlife and humankind. Balancing acquisition of their needs without harming ourselves and our home environment, the ecosystems. We all know that we cannot live in isolated world for long as the implications are clear: we need to reproduce, feed, refuge, connect, socialize, have safety and perpetuation. The interactions between human and wildlife has exist ever since and must continue. But the growing human and livestock population is increasing demand of food and other needs for human development which altogether is sourced from ecosystems beside us. The over-exploitation of natural resources has led into degraded ecosystems shrinking and reducing quality of our habitats thereby forcing to leave wildlife restricted in protected areas. As the human and livestock population increases, wildlife related crimes and conflicts increases despite polices, laws and regulations and enforcement in place. The question is how then shall we manage to promote species existence? Thousands of species are getting endangered and many have gone into extinct due to rapid growing human population, climate change, science and technology development-mostly the industrialization.  Highest species extinction rate is recorded in developed nations and lowest in least developed nations- thereby increasing due to economic progress related to increasing land uses and demand for industrial raw materials and industrialization itself. In developing countries like Tanzania conservative pastorals like the Sukuma in western Tanzania and Maasai in Ngorongoro are increasing in terms of both human and livestock populations within the ecosystems and the carrying capacity within their landscapes no longer support and withstand the past planned sustainable resource use in present extractions. This means the level of interactions between humans and wildlife is getting higher and various measures to address human wildlife conflicts must urgently be put in place. Like many other nations, Tanzania one of the mega biodiversity countries with highest number of endangered species in the world have established a nation human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategy to promote harmony between human and wildlife in Tanzania.

Upon Halting human-lion interactions in western Tanzania we recently innovated the use of loudspeakers to warn and alert community members in villages where we had recorded many recurring occurrences of lions within communal lands which has been associated with increasing human-lion conflicts. Most villages resided by pastoralists are remotely located, have inadequate road networks, limited social services (school, water, health and security and almost no game ranger post stations). Households are scattered, and people walk a long distance to connect, in search for social services including police and Game rangers assistance which are available at ward and district levels with very limited human resources.  And since there is high interactions between human and wildlife in this miombo ecosystem, both human, lions and other wildlife are at high survival risk from one another, and the human encroachment to reserves for poaching and livestock grazing is inevitably higher; more depredation, predator avenges and zoonotic diseases risks.

Our use of traditional policemen (Sungusungu) in the stop illegal lion killing campaign within village boundaries have been so effective  in village bordering reserves like Mpimbwe, south of Katavi National Park where people illegally graze live stocks  and others deliberately  hunt lions into protected areas for rewards (cattle, shoats and cash) in wanting to get rich. Communities facing least wildlife induced losses are willing to conserve, except the illegal traditional fake lion dancers who pretends to have killed lions in household bomas but in reality they are lion hunters (Fitzherbert, E., et al.,2014). The traditional policing institution has proved effective in halting traditional lion hunting and reduced lion risks by saving about 5 lions annually since WASIMA launch in August 2011; and lion killings have been reduced by 69% in Mpimbwe.   WASIMA expanded operations to other places within Katavi-Ugalla-Rukwa-Mahale and Kigosi ecosystem where our study findings indicated presence of exponential increase of human-lion interactions and tradition lion hunting related with frequent encroachment records  and various forms of traditional human-lion conflicts adaptations like building strong ineffective and temporary (migratory) wooden bomas; livestock enclosures with mini-bomas within to make sure that larger live stocks stay in the peripheral boma layers and the most inner bomas to keep youngest calves and shoats secured from night lion attacks. A guardians shed is also built with campfire for all abled household men to spent every night watching for their live stocks against predators-lions, leopards and hyenas. With all the community efforts; traditional lion dancing has been appraised because almost every household has suffered livestock losses and is willing to reward lion killers; who are regarded as highly respected warrior (community livestock savior) -to promote removal of lions among the Agro-pastoral sukuma communities’ in the landscape. Should the by-laws enforced by the Sungusungu be effective alone? If you ask me this, I will tell you By-laws alone should not be effective where livestock depredation is commonly reported outside protected areas regardless current wildlife conservation laws in place.

In reality lion retaliations may not seize even if consolations were to be made to victims of livestock depredations. Why? We do not console the livestock losers whose losses happen into reserves or within wildlife corridors and dispersal areas. With declining habitats, increasing climate change impacts, negative locals’ perceptions and experiences towards lions, limited game ranger patrols and declining prey base-the African lions are increasingly threatened. And, I think the simple innovative, local and conservation friendly Loudspeaker Early Warning Systems (LEWS) makes a solution to conservation stakeholders connection and to reducing human-lion conflicts in villages regardless the level and type of human-wildlife interactions in place.

Mr. Jonathan during handling over of early warning system at Sitalike village (photo by Bahati)

How does LEWS work to reduce conflicts? The LEWS installations aims to reduce conflicts between wildlife and humans especially lion and elephants. By informing community members of the presence of dangerous and problem animals within the village. The LEWS makes the platform for WASIMA Lion Conservation Ambassadors (LCAs), Village Game Scouts (VGS), Game Rangers, Conservation Wardens and community leaders and members to remotely address, guide, alert or warn, learn, ask questions and educate the village community individuals at their own language about lions, elephant behaviors  and about necessary precautions to take when one encounters such problem animals. Locals are encouraged to walk in groups to and from farms, avoid walking during the night, use touches/ flashlights, inform or report dangerous animals presence on time, for LCAs who take care of the station to submit serious information to responsible District Game Officers, TAWA, and TANAPA for Rangers or to instruct VGS and community of the way forward. Our hope is that, such as care will improve relationship between conservation stakeholders, trust, reduce Human Lion Conflict and promote human wildlife co-existence in beneficiary villages. The LEWS are handled to village governments but overseen by the project to monitor and evaluate the nature and status of human-lion interactions in the village overtime. Community members are allowed to use the LEWS for their own public and private (little cost shared) announcements, bringing the village together. In villages where LEWS is installed, village leaders no longer incur communication costs and neither spend long time to make local meeting invitations; they just make a LEWS call and soon the called are arrive at the areas of events.

Since the LEWS installations in Sitalike,northern part of Katavi National park, 8 incidences have been reported, where 16 lions and 7 elephants were sought in the villages and only one cattle was killed in period between November to February15.  In the other Utimule village buffering Ipole WMA, around Ugalla, 23 incidences of dangerous animals’ presence in the village were reports; 12 lions (most of solitary and in 2) and a 5 buffalo herd were sought; where lions killed 14 cattle, one lion reported dead for the first time via the LEWS. Why many losses? Delayed information dissemination and least lion conservation behaviors awareness levels among community members. Our current effort is to continue to educate the community, raise more VGS and encourage quick response of the Game rangers to minimize probability of multiple livestock depredation by lions’ or avenges provoked by encountered losses per incidences.

Farmers walking to the farm at Sitalike. In areas with highest records of lions attacking human in communal lands we encourage people to walk to and from farms in groups. Photo by Jonathan Kwiyega.

Success Story from Mama Zawadi, a Chiken Beneficiary

Angelina Beda (Mama Zawadi) lives in Kibaoni village in Mpimbwe District Council. She is 38 old and a widow  with 4 children.  Anglina relies on subsistence agriculture to feed her family and also sell surplus to support her kids in school. Agriculture is seasonal in Mpimbwe and on the dry season, the situation is usually tough which forces her to sell vegetables but it has a very small profit that is not enough to meet family needs.

Before joining the poultry project, Angelina struggled so hard to provides for her family.  She has owned chickens for a few years but they were constantly affected by disease so few of her chicks would survive to maturity. Angelina had  aspirations to start poultry production as a business but she was never able to produce for her family to consume at home and for surplus to sell at market.  Rose is delighted to be participating in a  project  which  is  helping her to unleash her dreams to become a successful chicken farmer.

Angelina was lucky to be among the first beneficiaries of the project and she went through training and received 9 chicken and 1 rooster. She was so excited and did her best to raise her poultry. She received the chicken on July and in Mid-August, a common flue broke out which significantly affected her chicken. Some died and other grew so weak. LCMO supported her with medicine worth Tshs 60,000 ($ 27) only reduced and by that time she only had 3 hens and lost 7.

At some point she texted Emmanuel (project supervisor) to come and collect the remaining chicken as she cannot manage anymore but instead, we encouraged and supported her with necessary support and with time, one of the three hens hatched 15 chicks which all grew to maturity. Her stock later increased and sold part to improve the chicken shelter and also to meet her family needs. She is now among the best performing member of the project and her flock has been on an upward trend and she sold some to purchase building blocks and remained with 31 birds. A key new skill is being able to perform diagnosis and she has been vaccinating her own flock and the flocks of other farmers in the community. She mobilizes her neighbors to jointly contribute to vaccine and this has helped them  vaccinate their chicken on time and at an affordable cost. Angelina is hoping to  grow her project and later construct a house enough to accommodate all her children.

umuhimu wa tembo katika mazingira, uchumi na utamaduni

Tembo ni mnyama wa nchi kavu jamii ya mamalia. Ndiye mnyama mkubwa kuliko wote waishio nchi kavu. Kuna aina mbili za tembo duniani, tembo wa bara la Afrika na tembo wa bara la Asia. Kuna spishi mbili za tembo wa Afrika; tembo wa msituni na tembo wa uoto wa savana. Tanzania ina tembo wa savana pekee. Tembo wa msituni hupatikana katika nchi za Afrika ya Kati na Magharibi.

Tembo anakadiriwa kuwa na uzito wa kilo 6600 (tani 6.6) kwa madume na kilo 3300 (tani 3.3) kwa majike. Tembo huishi miaka 60 hadi 70. Tembo hupendelea kula mimea, magome ya miti, matunda,majani na nyasi. Kuna tofauti kati ya tembo dume na tembo jike. Tembo dume huwa na mwili mkubwa uliojengeka, paji la uso huwa na mviringo lakini tembo jike huwa na paji lililochongoka.

Faida za tembo kiuchumi;

Hapa nchini, kwa zaidi ya asilimia 90 ya utalii unategemea wanyamapori. Watalii wengi huja kuwaona wanyama, kuwapiga picha na kuondoka. Wanyamapori wamebeba utalii kwa kiasi kikubwa na utalii umesaidia kukuza uchumi wa nchi hii – Wanyama hawa kupitia utalii wanasaidia kupata fedha za dawa, vitabu mashuleni, wanatujengea barabarana miundo mbinu nyingine na pia wanalipa mishahara kwa watumishi wa umma.

Huchangia patika pato la taifa. Tembo pamoja na wanyamapori wengine wamekua kivutio kikubwa cha utalii hivyo hutusaidia kupata hata fedha za kigeni ambazo husaidia maendeleo ya kiuchumi ya nchi yetu. Mfano sekta ya utalii kwa mwaka 2016 ilichangia 17.5% ya pato la taifa na 25% ya fedha za kigeni.

Chanzo cha ajira. Uwepo wa tembo na wanyama wengine umepelekea watu wengi kuajiriwa katika sekta ya wanyamapori na utalii. Kwa mfano mwaka 2016, watu takriban 600,000 waliajiriwa moja kwa moja katika sekta ya utalii na wengine takriban milioni moja katika ajira mbadala.

Askari wa wanyamapori akiwa na kundi la akina mama kutoka Mpimbwe waliozuru Hifadhi ya Taifa Katavi.

Ni kivutio cha watalii. Tembo ni mnyama ambaye ana mvuto sana kutokana na ukubwa, uzuri wake wa asili na muundo wa jamii na tabia yake. Takwimu za mwaka 2016 zinaonyesha kuwa watalii waliotembelea Tanzania walikua 1.284,279 ambao ni ongezeko la 12.9% ukilinganisha na mwaka 2015 ambao watalii waliofika Tanzania walikua milioni 1,137,182.

Faida Za tembo kitamaduni:

Tembo ni urithi wa Taifa letu. Tembo ana umuhimu sana katika utamaduni wa kiafrika. Kwa mfano, hutokea katika mapambo kama vile hereni, pete na hata michoro ya kwenye mavazi. Pia tembo wana nafasi maalumu katika hadithi za kiafrika. Hivyo tembo, kama wanyama wengine ni urithi wa taifa letu.

Faida za tembo kimazingira.

Tembo ni mnyama tegemeo kwa wanyama wengine na muhimili mkubwa katika mfumo wa ikolojia. Mfano, wakati wa kiangazi tembo hutumia meno yao kuchimba maji ardhini, hii huwawezesha tembo kuishi katika mazingira kame. Maji hayo huwafaidisha wanyama wengine wakubwa na wadogo. Pia wakati wa kiangazi tembo huangusha matawi makubwa ya miti ambayo huwawezesha wanyama wadogo kupata chakula mfano swala, pundamilia na hebivora wengine.

Tembo wakitumia maji katika shimo walilochimba pembezoni mwa mto. Maji haya hutumumiwa na wanyama wengine pia.

Tembo husaidia kusafisha na kutengeneza mazingira ya mbuga. Tembo wasingekuepo, mazingira ya savana yangeonekana tofauti sana. Tembo hula mimea na vichaka vya miti ambapo hufungua misitu na mapori kuwa mbuga wazi kutoa nafasi kwa mimea mengine kuota na njia kwa wanyama wengine.

Tembo husaidia kuongezeka kwa idadi ya mimea. Hii ni kutokana na ulaji wao wa mimea yenye mchanganyiko wa mbegu mbalimbali. Popote wanapoishi huacha kinyesi kilichojaa mbegu. Mbegu hizi huchipua na kuwa nyasi, miti na hata misitu hivyo husaidia kuongezeka kwa mimea na afya ya mazingira kwa ujumla.

Kinyesi cha tembo ni chanzo cha chakula kwa wanyama kama tumbili, ndege na nyani. Pia kuna wadudu hutegemea kinyesi cha tembo kama chakula mfano mende kibyongo (dung beetle). Kinyesi cha tembo pia ni chanzo cha rutuba katika udongo hivyo kuongeza afya ya mazingira.

Pamoja na faida nyingi za tembo, kuna changamoto nyingi zinazomkabili mnyama huyu mfano ujangili na migogoro baina yao na binadamu. Ujangili umeongezeka kutokana na uwepo wa biashara ya meno ya tembo katika masoko ya bara la Asia. Serikali inapaswa kuunga mkono jitihada za kimataifa za kuikakabili biashara hii kwani kuna mataifa tayari wameshaonyesha nia ya kufunga masoko kwa mfano China.

Jukumu la kuzuia ujangili si la serikali pekee. Dhana hii ni potofu kabisa kwani, uzuiaji ujangili kamwe hautafanikiwa kama wananchi na wadau wengine walioko ndani na nje ya nchi yetu wataendelea kubakia watazamaji tu. Ni muhimu kila mwananchi mzalendo wa nchi hii ashiriki kikamilifu katika ulinzi wa nchi na rasilimali zake zote kama katiba ya nchi inavyotuasa.

Elimu kuhusu shoroba za tembo na mienendo ya tembo inafaa kutolewa kwa watu waishio pembezoni mwa maeneo ya hifadhi.  Hii itapunguza shughuli za binadamu katika maeneo hayo hivyo kuepusha migogoro hii.     

Wanyamapori, tembo wakiwemo kama ilivyo kwa viumbe hai, huzaliana. Hivyo, kama tutashirikiana kuwalinda na kuwatumia kiendelevu si miaka mingi tangu sasa watakuwa namba moja katika kuchangia pato la Taifa letu.

Bahati kutoka LCMO akitoa elimu ya uhifadhi katika shule ya Sekondari Usevya

Makala haya yameandaliwa na wanafunzi kutoka shule ya upili Usevya kwa kushirikiana na mradi wa Vijana na Mazingira

LCMO INTERNSHIP PROGRAM PHASE I

We know that the engagement of the local communities in conservation requires their daily consultations, which again requires commitment of professionals to lead and learn from them. While LCMO feels eased of Charles Ndandala’s new chapter, we are at the same time excited to introduce three young conservationists who have joined us at LCMO to share and apply their classical and theoretical experiences and bring forth their passion as well as learn in regard to wildlife conservation practices and program operations for the lasting conservation and community –wildlife coexistence. Ms. Neema Mwaja, Mr. Gilya Lino and Ms. Prisca Luvanga become our first prototype of our newly established internship program intending of raise and develop conservation careers of our fellow young conservationists in Tanzania. We expect them afterward to join our conservation efforts to tackle conservation issues: human-wildlife conflicts, climate change impacts, poaching and habitat loss all which contribute much into the increasing species migration and or loss whose final results being extinction of species. We wish we had enough resources to support more conservation ambitious graduate youths! Our plan is to recruit at least one intern in every three months through this program. We appreciate so much Nomad Tanzania Trust and National Geographic for supporting this program and promise all our supporters that we are committed and we will continue to passionately work hard and engage the locals adjacent our reserves to promote human- wildlife coexistence and improvement community livelihoods for the better present and future world. Dear Neema Mwaja, Gilya Lino and Prisca Luvanga, We are delighted to warmly welcome you at LCMO, in the southern Western Tanzania landscape. With you, the LCMO mission and Vision will be kept alive.

Gilya, Prisca and Neema on the their first conservation education outreach at Mabambasi village, in Mpimbwe held on August 8,2019. Photo by Jonathan Kwiyega.

Ms. Neema Mwaja

I a m Neema Simon Mwaja, a graduate with BSc wildlife management at Sokoine University of Agriculture since 2015! Previously, I have been working with different conservation organizations such as Serengeti National Park including (Ikorongo and Grumeti game reserve, and Maswa game reserve), Ngorongoro conservation area authority, and World wildlife Fund for nature (WWF), and Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund (EAMCEF). This course involves extensive field visit and survey on protected areas as well as extension education to local communities on why they should participate on conservation issues resolution. Currently am working as Interns project officer at LCMO working in villages bordering Katavi National Park, during this project I am interested on improvement process of the conservation service in community livelihoods.

Mr. Gilya Lino

As Volunteer at LCMO, Mr Gilya Lino will assist Program Managers to oversee all indoor and outdoor activities. Gilya holds BSc Wildlife management and MSc. Ecosystem Science and Management from Sokoine university of Agriculture, Morogoro. Nevertheless, he has attended several short courses related to conservation, including Certificate of Climate change online course, at Cornelly University in USA, Certificate of East Africa Ecology and Evolution at Udzungwa and Mikumi National Park. Under Copenhagen University, Training on Social and economic implications of Community based Conservation in Kenya and Tanzania at Nairobi University. Gilya’s passion lies on Livelihoods, biodiversity conservation and climate change

Ms. Prisca Luvanga

Ms Prisca Luvanga is a graduate from Sokoine University of Agriculture pursued BSc in Wildlife Management. With notable achievements from different experiences, she has worked with UNHCR in Kigoma region, Kasulu District at Nyarugusu refugee camp as project officer where she worked to promote environment protection. Ms Prisca has worked as research assistant in Chunya coal mining plantation collecting data on environment assessment to discover what will be the effect on environment when the plantation will be constructed. As an intern, her expectation is to co-work with the LCMO team to convey conservation message as we lead the locals while learning from locals as means to halt the lion killing in villages that are around the protected areas including the strengthening good environment conservation practices among communities around third largest Katavi National Park in Tanzania.