Site level Assessment of Governance and Equity (SAGE) in Makame and Burunge Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) located in the Northern part of Tanzania
Summary
Fundamental to a sustainable conservation area is good governance, ensuring that leadership is effective, can hold management accountable and that benefits are shared equitably.
The project focused on assessing the quality of governance for two Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) namely Makame and Burunge located in the Northern part of Tanzania using the SAGE methodology. SAGE uses a stakeholder-led self-assessment process to assess the quality of governance and equity using a framework of ten principles of effective and equitable governance. Key actors in the WMA attended the workshop.Their insightful discussions provided the WMA leadership with rich recommendations on where to put more effort in order to improve governance and equity.
The recommendations that came out of the workshop were incorporated into the long-term plans for both WMAs to improve their governance and equity as well as inform Honeyguide on priorities in designing WMA governance capacity building programs.
Classifications
Region
Scale of implementation
Ecosystem
Theme
Challenges
Sustainable development goals
Challenges
Fundamental to a sustainable conservation area is good governance, making sure that the leadership is effective, can hold the management accountable and ensuring that benefits - ecological, social and economic - are shared equitably.
With the SAGE assessment, communities were able to provide their powerful comments and feedback about their own governance weaknesses. The general highlighted ones are: poor involvement of key stakeholders in WMA planning (eg. Investors), poor communication between WMA and community members, poor separation of governance and management functions and poor representation of local community leaders.
Beneficiaries
- Local communities (men, women, youth and children)
- Authorized Association (AA) and the WMA board
- Village leaders
- Investors
- Different partners working in the same area
- Government officials.
- Management of the respective WMAs
Building blocks
How do the building blocks interact?
For the effective assessment of governance for both WMAs, good preparation was required whereby site profiling was done which highlighted the key actors, governance type, key threats to conservation of the WMA resulting from the activities of people, key rights of local people, existing governance structures etc. All the information gathered enabled the assessment to be tailored to the local environment where the WMA operates.
This was followed by a stakeholder analysis whereby with the cooperation from WMA management and the government officials, key WMA stakeholders were identified and invited to the workshop followed by introductory training to facilitators and key actors.
The actual SAGE assessment took two days whereby different actor groups were brought together to discuss the ten different aspects of the governance and equity of their WMA and choose the response that most closely aligns with their opinion. The SAGE assessment results from different actor groups were shared and discussed openly.
Based on the SAGE assessment results, recommendations for actions to improve governance and equity of the WMA were provided by key stakeholders and an action plan was prepared to allow following up.
Interaction Gallery
Impacts
At both SAGE assessments conducted in Makame and Burunge WMA, participants reported that the activity provided them a safe space and platform to talk about their governance issues that they would not otherwise address in any other meeting
In Makame WMA, representatives of local traditional leaders are included in quarterly WMA planning meetings and women are included in decision making processes - something that was not done prior to the SAGE exercise.
There is better separation of governance and management functions in Burunge WMA after a lengthy discussion about the different roles of the two major WMA bodies. This was identified as an issue during SAGE and a follow up training with Honeyguide was conducted to clarify different roles and responsibilities.
There is better and more frequent communications from the WMA to its stakeholders especially the private sector stakeholders and communities, the two groups that were found mostly uninformed about what was going on with the WMAs.
Recommendations from SAGE were used to feed into WMA work plans as well as informing Honeyguide (an NGO) on areas of priority in designing WMA governance capacity building programs
Honeyguide has continued to engage with IIED’s SAGE development team to contribute to the improvement of SAGE methodology and questionnaire with lessons from the WMA pilots
Story
“This has been the most powerful discussion we have ever had since the establishment of our WMA” said Supuk Olekao, currently serving as Makame WMA manager who has seen the WMA since its establishment twelve years ago
In Tanzania, Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) are community-owned protected areas that are managed by communities. They often form buffer zones around conservation areas, and communities manage and use the land, natural resources, and wildlife to support their livelihoods
Benefits to communities vary depending on a community’s specific resources and needs. In Makame and Burunge for example, carbon offset, hunting blocks and wildlife tourism revenues, respectively, fund schools, hospitals and provide other social benefits to communities. At the same time pastoralist communities in Makame WMA benefit from grazing rights. The WMAs ensure the areas are protected from charcoal burning, encroachment and poaching, among other
At Honeyguide, our goal is to demonstrate successfully-run, locally led conservation initiatives, using WMAs as the main model of CBNRM in Tanzania. To do this we need capable and inclusive institutional management and governance at WMA level. SAGE has given us a perfect approach to spark governance discussions in WMAs
Insightful debate like discussions during SAGE led to targeted governance improvements, resulting in impactful changes in WMA practices: In Makame WMA, representatives of local traditional leaders are now included in WMA planning meetings, there is better separation of governance and management functions in Burunge WMA ,there is better, more frequent communications from the WMA to its stakeholders especially the private sector stakeholders and communities in Burunge WMA and Honeyguide has continued to engage with IIED’s SAGE development team to contribute to the improvement of the SAGE methodology and questionnaire with lessons from the WMA pilots
Honeyguide believes that supporting cohesive and equitable governance and management of WMAs will lead towards social, ecological and economic sustainability. The SAGE tool offers an opportunity to pause and reflect on the direction and purpose of the WMA and adjust course to meet these broader goals. In so doing, the tool leverages communities’ knowledge and interests for outcomes that are equitable and sustainable for them and the lands they protect.
‘Communities are eager to continue working with Honeyguide to see their work through’ said maasai elder Makame WMA
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