Mkomazi National Park

Mkomazi National Park is an incredible destination located in northeastern Tanzania along the border of Kenya, covering over 3,234 square kilometres of Acacia-Commiphora vegetation. It was initially established as a game reserve in 1951, and in 2006, it was upgraded to a national park. The park consists of two previous game reserves, the Umba Game Reserve and the Mkomazi Game Reserve, both of which are located in the Lushoto and Same districts. However, in government documents, they are referred to as Mkomazi-Umba Game Reserves. Mkomazi is larger than Umba and has a greater diversity of relief and habitat, with a longer shared border with Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park. Mkomazi National Park’s history is one of contest, with the main contenders being government conservation planners and local rural resource users. Limited resource use within the reserve was initially permitted when it was first established, allowing pastoral families from the Parakuyo ethnic group to continue to live there with a few thousand of their cattle, goats, and sheep. The government permitted their residence because they had been in the area for many years and were thought not to threaten the ecological integrity of the reserve. However, the park was soon subject to immigration by other herders, and some of which was resisted by the Parakuyo residents, and some which was facilitated by them. The first few decades of Mkomazi’s history were dominated by rising cattle populations, with around 80,000 cattle counted inside the reserve by the mid-1980s. Many herders were evicted from the reserve in the late 1980s due to the increasing quantities of cattle and the damage they were causing to the environment. Since the evictions, the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust and the Tony Fitzjohn, George Adamson African Wildlife Preservation Trust have been spearheading a campaign to restore the reserve. They have set up fenced sanctuaries for African wild dog and black rhinoceros, and they are restoring the reserve’s infrastructure and supporting local communities with their outreach program. In the present day, Mkomazi is a celebrated success story for conservationists. The reserve has been restored to good health, and its extensive patrolled sanctuary for the black rhinoceros, as well as its African wild dog compounds, have put the reserve on the map, giving it international recognition. Mkomazi National Park is still subject to illegal incursions from pastoralists, particularly in the wet season. However, with the roads regraded, the dams dredged, and the rangers kitted out with good uniforms and radios, anti-poaching patrols are restricting incursions by hunters and pastoralists. The work with schools and support for other local needs strengthens relationships with local communities. A high-end tourist safari company has recently announced plans to set up regular holiday safaris to Mkomazi, which will generate more revenue from it and for it. It is truly a wonderful case of winning back lands for conservation that had been threatened by human interference.