Abstract
Although more than 40% of Tanzania mainland is managed for nature conservation, protected areas are increasingly becoming isolated because of rapid habitat degradation in the matrix in between. Knowledge on corridors connecting the protected areas is urgently needed. We assessed the area between Saadani National Park and Wami-Mbiki Wildlife Management Area, combining interviews about wildlife occurrences from 20 villages in the area with least-cost landscape modelling with African elephants (Loxodonta africana) as the focal species. The interviews suggested that, in contrast to earlier assumptions, migration of elephants or the presence of one or more independent elephant populations still exists in the unprotected area between Saadani and Wami-Mbiki. A combination of the interview results and multiple least-cost models showed three corridors in the area. The corridor along the Wami river is the most important one, the area between Miono and Mandera was identified as an impeding zone. Management decisions on the wildlife corridors to be protected will require further in-depth research in the three specified corridor zones. Apart from providing insights into elephant movement ecology, the approach may be useful for localizing corridors elsewhere in eastern Africa. Resume Alors que plus de 40% de la superficie de la Tanzanie sont geres dans un but de conservation de la nature, les aires protegees y sont de plus en plus isolees a cause de la degradation rapide des habitats dans la matrice qui les relie. Il faut d'urgence etudier les corridors qui relient entre elles les aires protegees. Nous avons etudie la zone situee entre le PN de Saadani et l'Aire de gestion de la faune sauvage de Wami-Mbiki, combinant des interviews au sujet de la presence de la faune sauvage dans 20 villages de cette zone avec une modelisation a moindre cout du paysage, en utilisant les elephants (Loxodonta africana) comme espece focale. Les interviews ont suggere que, contrairement a des hypotheses precedentes, la migration des elephants existerait encore ou qu'il y aurait encore une ou plusieurs populations independantes presentes dans la partie non protegee comprise entre ces deux aires protegees. Les resultats des interviews et les multiples modeles a moindre cout ont revele l'existence de trois corridors dans la region. Celui qui se trouve le long de la riviere Wami est le plus important, et il apparait que la zone comprise entre Miono et Mandera constituerait une barriere. Les decisions en matiere de gestion des corridors de faune sauvage exigeront d'autres etudes plus approfondies dans les trois corridors identifies. Cette approche ne donnera pas seulement un apercu de l'ecologie des deplacements des elephants, mais elle pourrait aussi etre utile pour localiser d'autres corridors ailleurs en Afrique de l'Est.
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