Are Tanzanian National Parks affected by the water crisis? Findings and ecohydrology solutions

Abstract

Abstract Availability of water for wildlife in some of the national parks in Tanzania has been hampered by several factors including the effect of climate change. Anthropogenic factors have also a stake of contribution with this regard to this due to the fact that, most of the water catchments are outside the national parks. In order to ensure the survival of the national parks, TANAPA, which is a Parastatal Organization mandated to manage the National Parks, has taken proactive initiatives and actions to tackle the water crisis in its National Parks, principally the Serengeti, Tarangire, Ruaha, Katavi, Rubondo, Saadani, Arusha and Kilimanjaro National Parks. These initiatives and actions have followed the ecohydrology guidelines for water management and they varied from Park to Park according to the local conditions. There are limits to what TANAPA can achieve by itself to save its National Parks from the water crisis, because TANAPA has no control on activities outside the Parks. For those water issues TANAPA has communicated its findings and recommendations to the government and stakeholders, and the resolution, or otherwise, of these issues requires state governance as well as in some cases cooperation between the East African countries.