AWF Presents New Housing to Tanzania National Parks

Tarangire National Park has long suffered from a severe staff housing shortage, a shortage so severe, in fact, that in some cases three families live in a single small house. Small detached buildings that were originally constructed as shower rooms and cooking areas have been pressed into service as additional bedrooms, leaving people to bathe and cook outdoors. Both parks have also suffered from a lack of fresh water supplies for park rangers and staff, especially to the remote security posts around the park.

On June 1, AWF answered these needs. Dr. Helen Gichohi, Director of AWF's Heartlands Program, Dr. James Kahurananga, AWF Coordinator for the Maasai Steppe Heartland, and Patrick Bergin, Vice President for African Operations, traveled to Tarangire, where they were received by the entire newly appointed board of the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA).

AWF staff were in Tarangire to hand over to TANAPA ten beautifully constructed new staff houses, as well as a series of completed water projects serving most of the remote ranger stations in the two parks. Says Bergin, "What a pleasure to be a part of this exchange -- the impact on staff morale in the park was overwhelming! The new houses were not only a joy to those lucky families that were chosen to occupy them, but to the families they left behind -- some of whom had been putting up with 'house guests' for two or three years and could finally say good-bye."

AWF's pride in the completion of these staff houses comes not only from the satisfaction of providing a much-needed resource, but also from the recognition of how much AWF staff learned and overcame during the construction itself. "While construction work in any part of the world can be difficult and requires close supervision," explains Bergin, "in the African bush normal problems are compounded many times over. Bags of cement may go 'missing' behind an acacia tree for diversion and pick-up later at night. Proper tools for measuring and testing soil and levels may be lacking, resulting in poorly designed constructs. Often, new buildings are unveiled only to reveal cracks in the walls, doors that don't close squarely and designs that are simply not appropriate for the climate and conditions."

To ensure that the Tarangire staff housing project would avoid these sorts of problems, AWF engaged an Arusha-based firm of American and Dutch architects and construction supervisors. This firm redesigned the standard park housing plans to take into account the climate, usual family structures for people working the parks, and the need for a place for young children to play protected from wild animals. To implement the design, AWF carefully selected construction contractors, supervising them weekly; the result was a project that was completed on schedule and on budget, and a suite of buildings that exude a feeling of quality craftsmanship and finishing.

These nuts and bolts projects play an important role in AWF's commitment to ensure the future of Africa's unique wildlife and wild habitats. In addition to the obvious assistance and support they provide to park staff, housing and water projects like these also have a strong impact on wildlife in the region. Many species of wildlife are amazingly sensitive and attracted to areas where there is a benevolent human presence. It is normal to see elephant, impala, wildebeest, zebra and other wildlife moving in carefree way through the Tarangire staff camp, while they strictly avoid a farming village that is only a kilometer further away. Creating an infrastructure that allows park staff to manage wildlife and wild areas is essential to AWF's work in the African Heartlands.

Further, most of Tarangire and Manyara Parks' ranger stations have only a single vehicle - usually a land rover pick-up truck. Prior to the completion of the water projects, at least twice a week these vehicles had been required to go and collect drinking water for the staff, rather than being used for patrols to protect wildlife. With the water supply issues greatly ameliorated, park staff and their equipment can remain focused on protecting wildlife.