Protecting a Fragile River Ecosystem (6-minute Video)
The Malagarasi River cuts through one of Tanzania's lesser-known safari concessions, the Uvinza Open Area. This film documents the hard work that has gone into rehabilitating it.
Most of the area is floodplain. Seasonal water dictates wildlife movement, where poachers operate, and where patrols can reach.
When the safari operator, Game Frontiers of Tanzania, took over the concession, roughly 90% of it had been encroached upon by illegitimate occupiers. Illegal farmers, commercial fishermen, meat-poachers with muzzle loaders and dogs, and illegal timber cutters worked the area freely.
The first concrete result was closing 200 kilometers of river to commercial fishing with the backing of the national and local governments.
That single decision took pressure off crocodile and hippo populations, protected the habitat from continued degradation and allowed other wildlife populations to thrive.
Recovery at this scale is slow, and this video shows what that looks like on the ground.
