Sammendrag
Understanding human behaviour, needs, and resource use, is important in designing policies and strategies aimed at promoting wildlife conservation. However, these important keystones are often lacking in existing conservation projects. To understand the human-wildlife interactions on the periphery of protected areas, it is necessary to investigate and evaluate the costs and benefits for the local people of living with wildlife itself, and the management system in the respective area. One important aspect of the human-wildlife interface is the degradation of wildlife habitat due to hunting and land converted to agricultural use. The issue of habitat degradation by human pressure can be explored by investigating the rate of immigration in the villages surrounding protected areas. In this paper, we investigate how wildlife and agricultural activities influence immigration in Serengeti and Bunda districts, situated on the western border of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. During the period of June-August 2001 and October 2001- March 2002, interviews were conducted in about 950 households in Serengeti and Bunda districts. The questionnaires dealt with economic conditions and activities related to human-wildlife interactions, such as household income, damage induced by wildlife to crops and livestock, and hunting activities. Our results show that, despite a comparable hunting effort in both districts, the annual average income from hunting was higher in Bunda than in Serengeti district. Herds of wildlife crossing the Serengeti district during migration allow local people to hunt inside the village area. However, when considering the average distance for annual hunting trips, we found that hunters from Serengeti had to undertake longer trips than those from Bunda. Despite comparable surfaces of cultivated land and number of livestock in both districts, farmers in Bunda district cultivated more plant species, and received a higher income from crops. No difference was found concerning income from livestock. Farmers from the Serengeti district suffered more damages to crops than farmer in Bunda, but no difference was found concerning damage to livestock, indicating that most of the damages were due to migratory ungulates. Immigration of people was much higher in Bunda than in Serengeti district. We conclude that the opportunity for income from agricultural activities and hunting, combined with less damage from wildlife than in Serengeti district, are the main reasons for immigration to Bunda district. The relationships with wildlife and the economy of households are determinant in the local use of resources. These factors should be carefully considered in conservation projects and management policies in the periphery of protected areas.
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