The Ngorongoro Conservation Area
(NCA) is a UNESCO World Heritage
Site located 180 km
(110 mi) west of Aruchain the Crater Highlands area of
Tanzania Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic
caldera within the area,
is recognized by one private organization as one of the Seven
Natural Wonders of Africa. The conservation area is
administered by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, an arm
of the Tanzanian government, and its boundaries follow the boundary
of the Ngorongoro Division of the Arusha
Region. It has been
reported in 2009 that the government authority has proposed a
reduction of the population of the conservation area from 65,000 to
25,000. There are plans being considered for 14 more luxury tourist
hotels, so people can access "the unparalleled beauty of one of the
world's most unchanged wildlife sanctuaries".
The entire district of Ngorongoro is in effect a
protected area, with 59% of the land comprising the Conservation
Area and the remaining 41% constituting Loliondo and Sale game
controlled areas managed under the Wildlife Conservation Act of
1974. This means in effect that other land uses such as pastoralism
and agriculture are at the mercy of conservation, and because of
the tough controls over the conservation area, other land uses are
forced to compete for what lies within the game controlled
areas.
The official website of the Ngorongoro
Conservation Area asserts that in the Conservation Area
“pastoralism, conservation and tourism co-exist in a
carefully managed harmony”5. This may be what was
intended when the Conservation Area was established by the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area Ordinance, which enjoins the Authority
to, among other things, “safeguard and
promote the interests of Masai citizens of the United Republic
engaged in cattle ranching and dairy industry within the
Conservation Area” But it is not what is
actually happening on the ground. Instead, the interface between
conservation and pastoralism both within the conservation area and
in the greater Ngorongoro district tends to be the basis of
conflict.
Within the conservation area, the law recognizes
multiple land use. Farming has been banned since 1975 and there are
serious continuing efforts to control the number of people and
livestock within the area. Outside the conservation area and within
the game controlled areas, the people of Ngorongoro engage in
livestock keeping and farming, even though this is increasingly
done in competition with conservation related
businesses.
