Consequences of Climate Change and Variability in Managing Selous-Niassa Transfrontier Conservation Area

Abstract

Climate is changing and that the changes are largely due to increased levels of carbon emissions into the atmosphere caused by changes of land uses as a result of anthropogenic activities. Considering the impacts of climate change insisted the need for new conservation areas to fill connectivity gap between protected areas (PAs) or transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) through habitat corridors so as to enable species migration with their climatic niche. The study aimed at examining the consequences of climate change and variability in managing TFCAs using Selous Niassa TFCA as a case study. Specifically, the study intended to; examine access to land and land tenure, socio-economic activities resulted from climate change and variability, and property damage and human life caused by wild animals in the study area. Data were collected using questionnaire survey, key informants interviews, focus group discussions, direct observation and secondary materials. Collected data were contently and statistically analysed. Results shows that 86.7% of respondents claimed that land allocated for settlement, agriculture and livestock keeping is not enough as result of human-wildlife conflict. However, shifting cultivation; encroachment for fuelwood, logging, and mining; settlements in migratory routes; and wildfires are some of socio economic activities resulted from climate change and variability. The encroaching activities are accelerated by socio-economic factors which are positively statistically significant includes sex (b=0.153, p<0.05), years spent in a village (b=0.161, p<0.05), and size of land owned (b=0.484, p<0.05). Furthermore, compensations from property damage and human life caused by wild animals are realistically immensurable. The study concludes that, the management of the study area is unsustainable and the need for inclusion of the area into connected PAs ecosystem of the Selous-Niassa TFCA or formulation of sustainable participatory management strategies of the area.