Conservation and livelihoods: where do we strike a balance to sustain the Wetlands in the Kilombero Valley?
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Date
2017-08
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Researchjournali’s
Abstract
Wetlands deliver goods and services important for people’s welfare. In Kilombero valley where this study was conducted the ecosystem provides fertile lands for crop farming and pasture for grazing local breeds livestock. These tradition practices coupled with unsustainable management strategies lead to undervaluation, overutilization and the decay of wetlands. Basing on conservation values perceived by the Kilombero valley local communities that were determined in the other study trough choice experiment and questionnaire survey, this study aims at estimating the total amount which can be collected from peoples’ willingness to pay (WTP) to improve Kilombero wetlands status, specifically conserving flood plain areas currently used for crop production and un controlled livestock grazing. The results revealed that farmers receive higher incomes when they use the flood plain in crop farming and livestock keeping than if there would be conservation restrictions. This implies that if the wetlands will be completely preserved the cost will be too high to be bearable for these communities and there would be big resistance to cooperate. However the attached conservation values indicate the amount they are willing to give up for conserving wetlands that can be collected as the fees for the specified uses of the wetlands for crop farming and grazing. This is important information for the policy makers and conservators since the amount collected through fees can be channelled to finance conservation activities as throughout this paper.
Description
Researchjournali's journal of agriculture, 2017; 4 (7)
Keywords
Wetlands, Willingness-pay, Crop farming, Livestock keeping, Livelihoods, Conservation