Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
some large predators in Loliondo equivalent to those inside the park (Maddox,
2002).
With some of the best wildlife and scenery of any locale in the country,
Loliondo is a highly desirable tourism destination and was one of the areas
included in the original community-based tourism ventures established starting in
1991. However, shortly thereafter the entire Loliondo area was allocated as a
hunting concession to a member of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates,
in an arrangement that prompted considerable national and international contro-
versy and local resistance (Honey, 1999). 8 The tension between village level
contracts with tour operators, and centrally allocated hunting concessions,
presented a physical and jurisdictional conflict which has dominated community-
based tourism in northern Tanzania for the past decade (Masara, 2000; Nshala,
2002; Nelson, 2004).
In Loliondo, the hunting concession has provided a constant source of
conflict among parties, but this has not been enough to stem a substantial rise in
community-based tourism investments in the area. Most of these new initiatives
followed the model of high end operators contracting with village councils for
access to areas used for camping and walking, without any permanent structures.
But one much more substantial investment agreement, financially and in terms of
infrastructure, was forged between Ololosokwan village and Conservation
Corporation Africa (CCA). 9
Ololosokwan is located in the north-western corner of Loliondo, adjacent to
the Kenyan border and the Maasai Mara, as well as Klein's Gate, an entry-point
to Serengeti National Park. In 1996 CCA purchased a 10,000ha piece of land
which the village had sold to another investor a few years before. The circum-
stances surrounding the initial land sale were highly disputed, however, and the
source of on-going legal wrangling between the village and the investor, a case
which CCA subsequently inherited following their acquisition of the property. To
end these disputes, in 1999 the village and CCA agreed to a contract which paid
the community an annual land rent - starting at $1 per acre and increasing at 5
per cent annually - in addition to bed-night levies of around $3 per client per
night (Nelson and Ole Makko, 2005). By 2003, the village was the top-earning
community in the country, in terms of tourism revenues, capturing about $55,000
in annual income in addition to various employment and side benefits.This trans-
formed the village council's ability to improve service provision to its constituency
of about 3000-4000 people without relying on external government or donor
funds, as the annual village budget leaped from about $2500 in 1995-1997 to
over $50,000 in 2001-2003 (Nelson and Ole Makko, 2005). The community
invested in educational facilities, individual bursaries for secondary and university
students from the village, health facilities and individual medical expenses, a
nursery school and a re-constructed village office.
Ololosokwan has not only become Tanzania's most successful example of
community-based tourism in terms of generating revenue through a private joint
venture, but also highlights the importance of strong local governance and
accountability.The village's tourism income arose in the first place largely because
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