First Enhancing Our Heritage Assessment at Ngorongoro Conservation Area
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2010-2011 First Enhancing our Heritage Assessment at Ngorongoro Conservation Area i Compiled by: Krissie Clark and Wayne Lotter of the PAMS Foundation, Dr Victor Runyoro, Hillary Mushi, Robert Mande, Henry Sweddy and Donatus Gadiye of Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), and Sue Stolton (Equilibrium Research) Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the Chief Conservator, Mr. Amiyo Amiyo, Dr Justice Muumba, NCAA, UNESCO and all Workshop Participants Photographs by: Krissie Clark & Wayne Lotter i Table of Contents Introduction to the project area, Ngorongoro Conservation Area ........................................................................................................ 1 Project Background ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1 The Project Workbook and Tool Kits............................................................................................................................................... 2 How the Project was carried out .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Compilation of EoH Project Report...................................................................................................................................................... 6 Tools completed during the NCA assessment .................................................................................................................................... 7 Tool 1a: Identifying major site values and objectives ...................................................................................................................... 7 Tool 1b: Documenting management objectives and their relationship to site values .................................................................... 10 Tool 2: Identifying Threats ............................................................................................................................................................ 13 Tool 3: Engagement of Stakeholders ............................................................................................................................................ 25 Tool 4: Review of National Policy Context .................................................................................................................................... 31 Tool 5a: Management Planning Information Sheet ....................................................................................................................... 35 Tool 5b: Adequacy of Primary Planning Document ...................................................................................................................... 36 Tool 6: Design Assessment .......................................................................................................................................................... 42 Tool 7a: Assessment of Management Needs and Inputs for Staff ................................................................................................ 47 Tool 7b: Assessment of Management Needs and Inputs for Budget ............................................................................................ 50 Tool 8a: Assessment of Management Processes ......................................................................................................................... 52 Tool 8b: Assessment of Management Processes - Summary ...................................................................................................... 60 Tool 9: Assessment of Management Plan Implementation ........................................................................................................... 62 Tool 11a: Monitoring management outcomes ............................................................................................................................... 65 Tool 11b: Assessment of Outcomes of Management ................................................................................................................... 69 Tool 12: Review of Management Effectiveness Assessment Results ........................................................................................... 72 Appendix 1 – EoH Stakeholder Workshop participants ..................................................................................................................... 75 ii Introduction to the project area, Ngorongoro Conservation Area The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) covers some 8,292 square kilometres. It is situated in the Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region, of the United Republic of Tanzania. The conservation area was established in 1959 as a multiple land use area that was designed to promote the conservation of wildlife and other natural resources, the interests of NCA indigenous residents, and tourism. This is an unique protected area in the whole of Africa. The NCA is bordered on the south and south-east by the Lake Eyasi Escarpment and the agricultural communities of Karatu, Oldeani (Oltiyani in Maa) and Mbulumbulu. Loliondo Game Controlled Area borders NCA to the north, the Sale Plains and Lake Natron basin border the area on the north-east, Serengeti National Park borders it on the north and north-west, and to the west is Maswa Game Reserve. Among the unique features of the NCA is the Ngorongoro Crater, the floor of which covers an area of about 250 square kilometres. The Ngorongoro Crater is internationally renowned for its rich wildlife and spectacular scenery. It supports high densities of wildlife throughout the year; including one of the very few remaining populations of black rhinoceros in the country. The NCA together with Serengeti National Park and other conservation areas of the Serengeti ecosystem supports the greatest concentration of wildlife left on the earth. The short grass plains of the NCA are the wet season grazing grounds for the majority of the Serengeti’s migratory herds, numbering approximately 1.5 million wildebeest, 470,000 gazelles, and 260,000 zebra (TAWIRI, 2003). The NCA also includes the Northern Highland Forest Reserve (NHFR), which is a vital water catchment area, providing water for the NCA and to the adjacent subsistence and commercial agricultural communities of Oldeani and Karatu. The catchment area is also believed to be an important recharge area for springs supporting the ground water forests in Lake Manyara National Park. In addition to its catchment value, the highland forest of the NCA provides an important habitat for game, including black rhinoceros, elephant and buffalo and is also a refuge for grazing by pastoralists during critical drought. Two of the most important archaeological and palaeontological sites in the world; the Oldupai Gorge and the Alaitole Footprints Site at Ngarusi are found within the NCA. The conservation area contains many other palaeontological and archaeological sites and the potential for further discoveries is regarded as being high. Furthermore, the NCA is inhabited by about 60,000 people, including NCA indigenous and non-indigenous residents (URT, 2003), together with their herds of cattle, donkeys and flocks of sheep and goats. The NCA, which currently is comprised of 16 formally registered villages, has been the traditional homeland of the Maasai for nearly three centuries. There is evidence to suggest that pastoralism in one or other form has existed in the area for more than two thousand years (Homewood and Rodgers, 1991). The area is also a refuge for pastoralists from other areas during times of drought. Due to these facts, UNESCO accorded the NCA World Heritage Site status in 1979 and International Biosphere Reserve status in 1981. Its features attract many visitors, which have enabled the area to become one of the most visited tourist destinations in Tanzania and the world. Project Background Natural World Heritage sites, as with all protected areas, face many challenges which threaten their integrity. Unless addressed, these challenges can erode the outstanding universal values for which they were inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites. Those responsible for the conservation and management of World Heritage properties have the complex task of anticipating and dealing with these challenges, most often in an environment of limited financial and organizational capacity. Under these circumstances, it is incumbent upon them to invest their efforts in the most critical areas, ensuring that available resources are applied to their maximum effectiveness. A toolkit, namely “Enhancing our Heritage”, was thus developed by UNESCO for assessing the management effectiveness of World Heritage Sites. The toolkit consists of 12 different tools and assesses all aspects of protected area management. The goals of Enhancing our Heritage (EoH) are to: Contribute to adaptive management; Develop a consistent approach to management of the state of conservation and management effectiveness of World Heritage sites; and Inform World Heritage monitoring and reporting processes. 1 The implementation of EoH is supported by UNESCO and endorsed by the IUCN. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is one of the first World Heritage sites to voluntarily implement EoH in East and Southern Africa. The Project Workbook and Tool Kits The EoH Toolkit contains twelve practical tools, each designed to help those responsible for managing World Heritage (WH) sites piece together the elements of a comprehensive