Serengeti General Management Plan

E. Community Outreach Programme
Warden in charge, who is working on an acting basis. In previous years there was an additional
department member in charge of community education, who took a more strategic role
and provided materials and ideas for the zonal conservation assistants. However, despite
these restrictions, there is much scope for the department to play a strategic role in the coordination
and cooperation of the stakeholders in the ecosystem.
The department already carries out many activities that involve coordinating the outreach
programme with local government, villagers, women’s groups, village game scouts, as well
as NGOs and private stakeholders around the Park. Many of these activities are informal and
at present there is no official forum to coordinate stakeholders involved in community outreach
and CBNRM activities. As the representative of the key player in the ecosystem, the
Outreach Department will take the leading role in the coordination of all these stakeholders,
as outlined in the following management actions:
Action 1.1.1: Enhance the two-way flow of information between park and communities
In order to build trust, respect and support for SENAPA, it is vitally important that regular
communication with stakeholders in local communities occurs both formally and informally.
Indeed, good communication is the basis on which all good relationships are built; simply listening
often goes a long way to mitigating problems. If communication channels are open
and the Park is perceived to be open to complaints, discussion, suggestions and concerns of
the communities; conflict between the Park and communities will be reduced.
This management action will involve the Outreach Department participating in district development
coordination meetings as well as instigating a series of regular meetings; including
an annual stakeholder meeting hosted by SENAPA to discuss community-related issues between
Outreach staff and local communities. SENAPA will also take a lead in coordinating all
the private and NGO stakeholders carrying out outreach activities in the Tanzanian component
of the ecosystem.
To complement these coordination activities, the SENAPA Outreach Department will disseminate
departmental reports and newsletters to local stakeholders as widely as possible
so as to improve surrounding stakeholders’ understanding of Outreach Department objectives
and to provide a more realistic assessment of the resources that are available.
Action 1.1.2: Evaluate the effectiveness of SENAPA outreach activities in collaboration
with community and district representatives
After more than a decade of outreach activities, there is a clear need to assess what impact
these activities are having, for a number of reasons. Firstly, with a limited budget, benefit
sharing is best targeted to communities where it has the most beneficial effect on improving
relations and creating positive conservation outcomes. Secondly, with fears that benefit sharing
may actually attract people to the Park edge, there is an urgent need to confirm or allay
these fears. Knowledge, attitudes and practices surveys were carried out in the 1990’s and
will serve as good baselines for assessing outreach activities. In areas where outreach activities
have not yet reached, baseline surveys will be necessary.
Action 1.1.3: Carry out training on communication and conflict resolution to improve
community liaison skills of rangers and wardens
It is recognised that all rangers and wardens are ambassadors for SENAPA and that all interactions
with local communities (and indeed other stakeholders such as tourists) contribute
to good park-community relations. However, current training of rangers and wardens concen-
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