Abstract:
Conflicts over natural resources are the important recurring features in conservation areas
worldwide. These conflicts are inevitable due to multiple, and very often incompatible interests
held by various actors and competition among the actors and different land uses. Community wildlife conflicts around the world are basically conflicts about exclusion or inclusion of
wildlife into a particular landscape as is the case of Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA).
This case study research design used eight focus group discussions (FGDs) data collection
approach to local communities, in-depth interviews (IDIs) to 18 key informants among
Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority staff and desk review of existing documents on
conflict management in the study area. The three main identified sources of conflict in NCA
on the side of indigenous communities included land utilization because of denial of the rights
of indigenous Maasai to cultivate and use land for grazing cattle in the conservation area. The
other source of conflict was inadequate cooperation among indigenous Maasai and NCAA
management. The third one was human-wildlife interface. On the side of NCAA staff, apart
from land utilization, unequal access in resource utilization was prominent together with
benefit-sharing conflicts. The use of force to resolve conflicts was seen as a catalyst creation of
more conflicts than a resolution to existing conflict on natural resource utilization in NCA. This
is aggravated further by poor participatory approaches to conflict management. Also, poor
knowledge on the legal status of the NCAA among indigenous communities was further a
stumbling block to conflict resolution on natural resource utilization in the NCA. The success
of mitigation efforts regarding human-wildlife conflicts lies on the ability of wildlife managers
to address the causes of the conflicts and to both evaluate and implement appropriate solutions
in the short and long-term. This study assessed the approaches used in resolution of human wildlife conflicts in NCA
