The potentials of traditional African cultural practices in mitigating overexploitation of wildlife species and habitat loss: experience of Tanzania

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dc.contributor.authorKideghesho, Jafari R
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-18T10:32:58Z
dc.date.available2022-05-18T10:32:58Z
dc.date.issued2009-01
dc.description.abstractBoth colonial and post-colonial conservation policies ignored the potential role of traditional African cultural practices in contributing to conservation goals. Recently, there has been a growing global interest in these practices, although recognition in official conservation policies is still minimal in many countries. This global interest is enthused by the reality that although the use of wild species and their habitats remains the foundation for human survival all over the world, there is a huge risk of losing these species. Factors such as rapid human population increase, inadequate local support for conservation policies, limited strategies for survival among local communities and inadequate capacity of the government to fund law enforcement operations against illegal activities subject the species and habitats to unsustainable use. Traditional cultural practices, among other strategies, have promising potential to enhance sustainable resource use and conservation and, therefore, realize the desire for ecological and social sustainability. Using examples and data drawn from different parts of Tanzania, this paper attempts to uncover some of these potentials on which policy-makers and conservationists can capitalize to augment conservation work. The paper begins by reviewing the ecological impacts of two major conservation problems facing Tanzania – species overexploitation and habitat loss. Then the possible advantages of traditional cultural practices (compared to conventional conservation strategies) are outlined. The traditional practices are presented as more cost-effective, more socially acceptable and having minimal risk of failure. Furthermore, the idea of reviving these practices coincides with the philosophy of co-management approaches, which advocate sharing of power, rights and responsibilities between the state and local resource users. This is based on the idea that local communities constitute voices ‘from the ground’ that should be heard. In showing the efficacy of traditional African cultural practices, the paper specifically focuses on four elements: traditional institutions, taboos, sacred sites and totemic species.en_US
dc.identifier.issn1745-1604
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/4163
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherTaylor Francisen_US
dc.subjecttraditional African cultural practicesen_US
dc.subjecttraditional institutionsen_US
dc.subjecttaboosen_US
dc.subjectsacred sitesen_US
dc.subjecttotemic speciesen_US
dc.subjectwildlifeen_US
dc.subjectconservationen_US
dc.subjectspecies overexploitationen_US
dc.subjecthabitat lossen_US
dc.subjectTanzaniaen_US
dc.titleThe potentials of traditional African cultural practices in mitigating overexploitation of wildlife species and habitat loss: experience of Tanzaniaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.urlhttp://www.informaworld.comen_US

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