Proving that
Communities and wildlife
Can thrive together
At Scale
Our Impact
We aim to guide 10+ Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) toward long-term sustainability.
These areas support 113 villages with more than 1 million people, and protect 2.3 million hectares of natural habitat.
Our vision is a Tanzania where communities and wildlife thrive together for generations. By proving what is possible in the WMAs we support, we show that community-led conservation restores ecosystems, strengthens livelihoods, and offers a powerful, future-ready investment for Tanzania’s natural landscapes and other regions with similar challenges.
What we have achieved todate: Results that direct us
Over the past 10 years, Honeyguide has experienced both successes and challenges. We believe that all our effort and investment have helped us design and implement an effective community-led conservation model, with clear metrics showing that our work is making a real, measurable difference.
Enterprise and Financial Viability
Community-Led Conservation (CLC) areas have demonstrated significant economic growth and established a strong path toward financial self-sustainability, collectively targeting a high annual revenue goal
980%
● ● ●
Revenue Growth
Makame WMA achieved 980% revenue growth (2017–2021), while Randilen WMA increased revenue by 45% pre-pandemic.
$9M
● ● ●
Economic Goal
Community-Led Conservation areas generate ~$9 million USD annually, with a target of $700,000 USD per WMA per year.
Protection
Effective, community-driven strategies are yielding exceptional results in reducing poaching and fostering successful human-wildlife coexistence at a significantly lower cost than traditional methods.
With an intelligence led approach, and where the community rangers perform tasks that help their community such as acting as first responders to incidents, human-wildlife conflict; these rangers are seen as an asset to their society.
94%
● ● ●
Poaching Reduction
Makame WMA achieved a 94% reduction in poaching while operating at $23/km²/year
0
● ● ●
Poaching Incidents
Randilen WMA has reported zero poaching incidents in recent years.
79%
● ● ●
Community Trust
79% of community members from a WMA in Northern Tanzania feel positively about community wildlife rangers
Human-Wildlife Conflict
The Human–Wildlife Conflict (HWC) program focuses on practical, low-cost, and community-owned solutions to reduce crop damage and livestock loss. Led by a dedicated innovation team, the program develops and scales tools such as chili crackers, flashlights, and the Noise Ball. By embedding these tools into local governance and training over 450 community members, the program protects livelihoods and supports long-term coexistence between people and wildlife.
90%
● ● ●
HWC Reduction
Community-led toolkits reduced crop damage by 90% across 35 villages.
98%
● ● ●
Effective Tool
The Noisy Ball (A new HWC tool) is 98% effective at turning elephants away from crops.
Social Impact
Honeyguide’s social impact model is grounded in a simple principle: conservation succeeds when it delivers real, measurable value to the people who live with wildlife. Rather than treating communities as beneficiaries, Honeyguide works with them as rights-holders, decision-makers, and long-term custodians of natural resources. Our social impact program includes strategies that focus around health, water, education and HWC.
Health in Makame WMA
20
● ● ●
Health Workers
Introduced and linked to Makame WMA clinics.
4,028
● ● ●
People Reached
Mobile clinics expanded access to essential health services.
465
● ● ●
Family Planning
Referrals recorded within three months.
Education in Makame WMA
5,639
● ● ●
Textbooks Distributed
Across five schools to support quality learning.
20
● ● ●
Intern Teachers
Recruited to strengthen teaching capacity.
61
● ● ●
Teachers Trained
Workshops enhanced learner-centered teaching.
Randilen WMA has transformed community attitudes toward conservation, with 93.5% of residents seeing it as a success.
Built on trust and inclusion, 87.6% of the community trust WMA authorities.
Source: Conservation in Common: Managing Wildlife and Sustaining Community on the Maasai Steppe by Justin Raycraft
Governance & Management Capacity
Strong and tailored governance structures, supported by customized tools and training, have resulted in high levels of community trust and inclusion in decision-making within the Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs).
30
● ● ●
Customized Tools
We developed over 30 customized management tools that complete the ma&t program
11
● ● ●
Training Programs Developed
We have designed 11 tailored governance training for WMA leaders to enable them to hold management accountable.
”The management toolbox has helped me lead more confidently and make sure this WMA delivers real benefits to our community.”
Meshurie Melembuki
Randilen Manager
93.5%
● ● ●
Community Trust
Communities view Randilen WMA as successful and trust WMA authorities.
90%
● ● ●
Decision Inclusion
Community members in Makame WMA feel included in decision-making.
Our Intended Impact: Scaling a Proven Model
Honeyguide has demonstrated that community conservation areas can become financially resilient, socially valuable, and ecologically secure. With two WMAs in Northern Tanzania already self-sustaining and strong foundations laid across the country, we are now focused on scaling this proven model to at least ten other areas in Tanzania and beyond
The Scale Strategy
21
● ● ●
WMAs Strengthened
Improved self-management and stakeholder engagement.
1M
● ● ●
People Impacted
Livelihoods improved through investment in health, water, and education.
3.5M ha
● ● ●
Land Protected
Critical wildlife corridors across three ecosystems.
Our approach is defined by two major pathways;
Supporting many more Doers at Scale by sharing our playbook with Tanzanian NGOs and local partners to replicate Honeyguide’s methods across additional WMAs, while also exploring how the model can strengthen other community-led conservation systems beyond the WMA framework..
Expanding Payers at Scale by transitioning financing from early philanthropy to community-generated income from tourism, carbon, and nature credits.
Together these pathways create WMAs that operate independently of Honeyguide and remain strong long after external funding declines.
High-value Replication
Prioritizing the Ruvuma Landscape in Southern Tanzania, an eight thousand square kilometer area with five WMAs and strong carbon potential. With consistent professional management, good governance, and strategic protection in place before 2028, the landscape can unlock more than two million dollars in annual revenue to anchor conservation, pay village dividends, and fully fund WMA operations without donor reliance.
Social Impact
Our commitment to social value goes beyond revenue distribution. We are shaping a partnership model where charitable organizations collaborate with WMAs to improve education, health, and livelihoods.. When WMAs co-inventribute their own funds into these efforts—it creates a stronger, more balanced partnership model for development partners working in these areas.
Challenging the frontier
Not all landscapes have immediate tourism or carbon potential. We are intentionally building models for more politically sensitive or economically constrained WMAs where community values, cultural heritage, and national priorities drive conservation. These frontier areas are essential to protect now, before ecological and social pressures make recovery more costly
