Conserving the Wildlife of Tanzania

Demonstrating our commitment to species conservation through sustainable development and habitat protection

Chimpanzees, the closest species to human beings, are sadly facing extinction. Tanzania is home to 2,200 chimpanzees with Western Tanzania containing over 90 percent of the population. The Tanzanian population of chimpanzees is facing increasing threats of endangerment as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation from illegal logging, settlement expansion, and conversion of habitat for economic/agricultural purposes. Chimpanzees in the region are also directly at risk from nearby human communities through disease transmission and human-wildlife conflict. Underlying these threats, rapidly growing human populations in Western Tanzania are depleting natural resources and expanding upon unsustainable land-use practices. These issues, paired with the limited capacity of local government to effectively manage natural resources, have limited the growth of positive conservation outcomes.

To address this pressing matter, USAID launched a five-year project (November 2018–June 2023) designed to protect the country’s chimpanzee populations. RTI, with Pathfinder International, helped the Jane Goodall Institute implement the Landscape Conservation in Western Tanzania program to empower local communities to lead and sustain the conservation effort. The program conducted a variety of activities in communities that have a significant role in creating conditions that enable or disable threats to chimpanzees. Such program activities included land use planning, improvement of access to reproductive health and family planning resources, monitoring for conservation and development targets, and the growth of community-based environmental education.

With years of experience in the region, RTI played a key advising role in the program by providing technical assistance and support intended to build the capacity of local government. Through our support, local governments improved their natural resource management (NRM) skills and communities were able to diversify the base of economic opportunities to promote more sustainable livelihoods.

To assist local government to increase their capacity, RTI conducted a political economy assessment. The assessment analyzed the complex underlying dynamics among local stakeholders and institutions that significantly impact NRM. 

RTI also advised and supported entrepreneurs with developing investment promotion and business and marketing plans. To inform this support, we conducted a value chain analysis in June 2019 to expand market opportunities so that community members who rely on more traditional means of acquiring an income will have more options to live sustainably and decrease their impact on the endangered chimpanzee population in the region.

Our work on the LCWT program follows other programs in the region that focus on protecting endangered species. This includes the USAID Tuhifadhi Maliasili Activity which works to address threats that hinder animal movement and biodiversity conservation in Tanzania, and the USAID Promoting Tanzania’s Environment, Conservation, and Tourism program which safeguarded the diverse and treasured wildlife of Tanzania by improving policies, combating wildlife crime, and training journalists.