In collaboration with WWF’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Grant, Tanzania Research and Conservation Organization (TRCO) has implemented a conservation education and community engagement project in northwestern Tanzania. This initiative focuses on villages bordering Burigi-Chato, Ibanda-Kyerwa, and Rumanyika-Karagwe National Parks, as well as the Minziro Nature Forest Reserve, located in Geita and Kagera regions. This includes villages in Chato, Biharamulo, Ngara, Kyerwa, and Misenyi districts, and aims to address critical threats to pangolins including habitat loss, and illegal harvest and trade.
This program has been informed by prior research conducted by TRCO in the area in 2022, which identified these regions as critical pangolin habitats. This work revealed significant challenges facing pangolin survival, including illegal harvest and trade, and habitat change and loss. Moreover, TRCO’s work has identified widespread knowledge gaps among local communities, including lack of awareness about the plight of pangolins, their ecological significance, and best practices for rescuing, handling, releasing, and monitoring these critically endangered species.
In response, TRCO secured funding from WWF’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Grant to deliver targeted training for local government district officers and village leaders. TRCO’s training has started the journey in Tanzania to help raise awareness, build knowledge, and develop the necessary skills and capacities for local people to act as Pangolin Guardians and help save Tanzania’s’ pangolins.
TRCO’s dedication to pangolin conservation calls attention to the urgent need to protect these unique species from threats like illegal harvest and trade, and habitat destruction. If you are interested in supporting TRCO’s pangolin conservation efforts, including putting people at the center of the solution, we invite you to reach out to us and learn how you can support our mission. Together, we can create lasting change for pangolins and their ecosystems.
