Marc Baker Safaris

• 1: Home
• 2: Safaris
  • 2.1: Northern Tanzania
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• 3: Under Canvas
  • 3.1: Permanent camps
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• 4: Safari Planning
  • 4.1: What to bring
• 5: Ethical Operations
• 6: Contact Marc
• 7: Environmental Consultant
  • 7.1: Publications
  • 7.2: Baker 2008
  • 7.3: Baker 2007
  • 7.4: Baker 2005-1
  • 7.5: Baker 2005-2
  • 7.6: Baker 2004
  • 7.7: Baker 2002-1
  • 7.8: Baker 2002-2
  • 7.9: Baker 2001-1
  • 7.10: Baker 2001-2
  • 7.11: Baker 2000

Baker & Anderson 2007

An Assessment of the viability to conduct tourism in the Moyovosi – Malagarasi Ramsar Site, Phase 1.

A Report to the Tanzanian Wildlife Division.

The objective of this assignment was to look at the possibility of creating a viable community based tourism facility in the Malagarasi- Moyowozi Ramsar Site (MMRS). The area concerned covers 32,500 km², with the main areas currently protected and utilized as Game Reserves (GR’s) and Game Controlled Areas (GCA’s) or open areas. The main Game Reserves are Moyowosi, Kigozi and Ugalla which are under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife Division. There are also large areas of Forest Reserve which mainly fall within Game Controlled Areas.

[The National Forest Policy (1998) states that formal sectoral coordination between forestry and the wildlife division should be promoted, particularly in relation to where Forest Reserves overlap GCA’s and Game Reserves.]

Wildlife related activities within these expanses are again under the direct control of the Wildlife Division through the concessions that they have granted to various commercial hunting companies. To the South East and North West of Ugalla Game Reserve there are large areas of Forest reserves which fall under this description, while a small area within the MMRS is village land, mostly around the northern and eastern boundaries of Lake Nyamagoma.

The viability study was divided into four separate phases, each with their own distinct activity schedules (listed below; they follow the original Terms of Reference supplied by SIMMORS, see Appendix II: TOR). The first and most urgent of these phases was to carry out a reconnaissance exercise with the aim of looking at areas within village land that incorporate the Ugalla and Moyowosi lower river basins, Lake Segara ecosystem and the large undisturbed areas of Brachystegia and riparian forest.

The focus of the Destination Reconnaissance exercise was to consider good sites for wildlife tourist visits and look at how community participation can be incorporated into high quality tourism in village areas, and how these communities can benefit from tourism in the area, both financially and through on site capacity training.

The second phase of the viability study will be to consider the results of this report and to subsequently carry out marketing through our existing Retail and Travel Agent network. In the third phase a group of tourists will be taken to the location and will ‘test’ the location in a real world “tourism” situation. Working directly with communities we will be able to train members of the local community in some aspects of tourism with the intention of creating a facility in the area on a more permanent basis. The final phase of the viability study will entail the production of a report and recommendations working paper for future planning purposes.