The role of incentive mechanisms in wildlife management: A case study of Moyowosi Game Reserve and Serengeti National park, Tanzania

This study aims to determine the efforts devoted in managing wildlife in national parks and game reserves in Tanzania. Specifically, the study focused on evaluating the population and poaching trends of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in these protected areas that follow under two different management regimes. Furthermore the study identified sources of market failure and suggested economic incentive mechanisms that will improve conservation status of wildlife in Tanzania. Data from secondary sources were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test in comparing the rate of population increases and poaching per annum for the two protected areas. The results showed that Serengeti National park has a significant higher rate of population increase of 15% than Moyowosi game reserve that has 9% only. Furthermore the study revealed that, Moyowosi game reserve has a significant high rate of poaching than Serengeti National park. Finally, due to having two different bodies that manage these protected areas, government market failure was identified in Moyowosi game reserve than Serengeti national park. Therefore the study suggests some incentives mechanisms that will help to improve the conservation status of African elephants in Moyowosi game reserve. These are decentralizing management of wildlife revenues to the specific game reserve that will increase benefit sharing schemes, review of wildlife hunting policy to make sure that concession hunting blocks are only given to the companies that abide with all three main aspects of being actively involved in anti poaching, community development, wildlife research and monitoring.