The Mkomazi Project,
Tanzania

Remote and inaccessible, Mkomazi was established as a Game Reserve in 1951. By 1988, the Mkomazi Game Reserve was in a dire state of neglect and on the verge of ecological disaster – heavy overgrazing, burning, indiscriminate hunting and poaching had degraded the land and reduced the abundant wildlife to near extinction. This included the loss of all resident black rhino and virtually all the elephant. What remained was pursued by sport hunters of doubtful integrity. The Government of Tanzania decided to re-examine its status and stop the decline by initiating a rehabilitation programme. The Mkomazi Project became a National Priority Project. In 1989, the Government invited Tony Fitzjohn, the Field Director of the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust, the Tony Fitzjohn George Adamson African Wildlife Preservation Trust and Wildlife Preservation Trust in Tanzania, to join with them on the rehabilitation programme. It was a daunting task.

The considerable costs of this project and the expertise needed exceeded the resources available to the Wildlife Division of the Government of Tanzania, so outside funding and help was provided by the international trusts who were in turn funded by supporters. The Trusts’ support was channeled by way of Wildlife Preservation Trust Fund, the local Trust.

The Mkomazi Project was a multi-disciplinary approach encompassing the following:

a) Rehabilitation of the Mkomazi Game Reserve to National Park status, including thirty years of infrastructural development and continuous support to the management of the park

b) Endangered species programmes for: 

     (i) Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli)

     (ii) African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)

c) Outreach programmes in the villages surrounding the national park, focusing primarily on education