It′s like herding monkeys into a conservation enclosure: The formation and establishment of the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Fred Saunders

doi:10.4103/0972-4923.92138

Abstract

This manuscript examines a project that is representative of an emerging trend of new generation Integrated Conservation Development Projects in parts of Africa that combine socio-economic development with an emphasis on local institutional change. These 'local' projects are interlinked with global networks of conservation interests that provide technical expertise and resourcing. In the Jozani-Chawka Bay area, project planners brokered a community governance and benefit sharing agreement that has been lauded as a watershed moment for conservation policy in Zanzibar. Key hurdles for establishing Zanzibar's first national park, the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park, were limiting community access to customary forest resources, farmer-red colobus monkey conflict, and setting up a supportive institutional arrangement. The conflict resolution and institutional strategies adopted by the conservation planners with the aid of international funding provide insights that help explain why the project has been able to maintain a 'fragile' localised compliance with conservation goals at the Jozani-Pete village. This has been achieved despite lingering resentment over red colobus crop damage claims, and perceptions of insignificant conservation related benefits flowing to individuals and communities. This finding raises broader concerns about whether containment strategies to ground fragile project arrangements are conducive to engendering the longer term support of local communities for new generation Integrated Conservation Development Projects.

Highlights

For almost 30 years there has been a concerted effort in conservation policy and practice to enrol local communities in large-scale protected area management
Integrated ConservationDevelopment Project (ICDP) in practice inevitably collide with an enormously divergent range of contingent, interrelated biophysical, moral, cultural, and practical issues that need to be handled if they are to prevail. The focus of these projects was on providing material trade-offs for those in and around buffer zones, in ‘new’ generation ICDPs, institutional dimensions are seen to be important as development opportunities in forging mutually supportive links between delivering local benefits and protecting global values (Shackleton et al 2010)
The role of Jozani Environmental Conservation Association (JECA) was to provide a conduit between the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park (JCBNP) staff6 and the villages and to oversee the work of the nine village management committees

Summary

Introduction

For almost 30 years there has been a concerted effort in conservation policy and practice to enrol local communities in large-scale protected area management. To enact these projects, international conservation advocates and states need workable solutions that satisfy the values and logic. The focus of these projects was on providing material trade-offs for those in and around buffer zones, in ‘new’ generation ICDPs, institutional dimensions are seen to be important as development opportunities in forging mutually supportive links between delivering local benefits and protecting global values (Shackleton et al 2010).

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Discussion

Conclusion