Communicating with Communities

Conservation is as much an issue about people and their attitudes as it is about wildlife. Residents’ perceptions of Wildlife Management Areas is thus vitally important to success, yet many people are unsure of the exact roles of their local body. This can undermine community participation, as residents with low expectations see it as not worth their time, while those with impossibly high expectations see their organization as ineffectual. To rectify this, Honeyguide uses several mediums of communication, such as films and posters, to clarify the goals of Wildlife Management Areas as well as explain the services which they already provide. These instances also offer chances to receive feedback from communities, giving leadership a better idea of how to meet their constituents’ wants and needs.

Mobile Cinema

Honeyguide’s use of film to inform communities about Wildlife Management Areas’ purpose and responsibilities is an innovation which has proven highly effective. There are several advantages to using films over other means of communication: they target a broad audience, without discriminating against illiteracy, which varies greatly between generations; using the same film across different villages of a Wildlife Management Area ensures consistent and direct messaging; and residents have shown they want to come watch, since each film showcases local people and issues that they care about. They also do a good job of eliciting feedback from viewers. Previous films in Enduimet prompted community members to voice their concern over human-wildlife conflict, a catalyst for Honeyguide establishing a new program area.

The Team that Brings you the Movies

Our Mobile Cinema Unit works in conjunction with the leaders of Wildlife Management Areas to produce films that are unique to each project area, highlighting local challenges, measures being taken to combat them, and benefits that local conservation brings. In former project site Enduimet, Honeyguide ran an 18-month tour of screenings and educational events, reaching an audience of 27,000. The film team also—in partnership with Tanzania People & Wildlife and the Kilimanjaro Film Institute and funded through the USAID East Africa PREPARED Project—produced a training film on human-wildlife conflict prevention. A trailer for a new movie about Randilen, to be shown there throughout 2020, can be view above.

Communications News

March for Elephants on Nyerere Day

October 17th, 2014|Comments Off on March for Elephants on Nyerere Day

On a misty cool morning, among hundreds of supporters, Honeyguide Foundation celebrated Nyerere Day by joining the Elephant March through Arusha. The peaceful protest called for an end to the international trade in ivory and