Managing the Balance: Ecological Pressures and Heritage Resources in Rungwe District, Southern Highlands of Tanzania

Makarius Peter Itambu

doi:10.4236/gep.2016.43007

Abstract

Rungwe district in Mbeya region is amongst the many areas in Tanzania which until recently have remained terra incognita in terms of ecological and archaeological research. Systematic archaeological investigations, based on heritage management and conservation have not been undertaken. In due regard, we decided to carry out the first systematic survey, documentation and recording of the heritage resources of this district. Our investigations emphasized public participation in the management and conservation of heritage resources with the involvement of local people the central focus. We were also motivated by the desire to launch community outreach programmes and establish the “Cultural-Ecological Research and Scientific Information Centre” in Masoko-Kisiba Ward. There were several meetings with the local people and the village officials to discuss plans. It was decided that the establishment of the deemed scientific and information centre would abide with the existing conservation laws in order to effectively address the strategies for protection, conservation and management of both natural and cultural heritage resources.

Highlights

This paper emanates from an archaeological reconnaissance conducted in Rungwe district in Mbeya region
Itambu are primarily interested in natural resources, and there are little or no scientific interpretations about the effects of climate change on the cultural ecology and heritage resources of the region
Ethnographic Inquiries on Traditional Iron Smelting at Kilasi Survey and ethnographic evidence collected from the local people indicated the practicability of iron smelting technology even before advent of German colonialism in Mbeya region (Mzee Mwangere pers. comm 2011) We interviewed an old man aged between 92 - 97 years, born in approximately 1918 at Kilasi village (He was told by his parents that he was born the time when Germans left the country by the end of World War II; and he said that: “There was a ‘traditional iron smelting technology’ in this village before colonialism in Tanzania, and I was a smelter having inherited the technology from my grandfather, not even from my father” (Mzee Tufwene Mwangere: Saturday, December 10th, 2011)

Summary

Introduction

This paper emanates from an archaeological reconnaissance conducted in Rungwe district in Mbeya region. This district is endowed with spectacular innumerable natural and cultural heritage assets that span from the Holocene to the Historical period. Itambu are primarily interested in natural resources, and there are little or no scientific interpretations about the effects of climate change on the cultural ecology and heritage resources of the region. Because of these thematic biases, there is a real in need to conduct archaeological surveys in Rungwe district that will explore\heritage assets. The landscape further East becomes tremendously harsh and mountainous but suitable for some agricultural activities [3]-[5]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion