If Conservation
Does not
Improve Lives
It will not last
The Challenge
Over 60% of Tanzania’s wildlife lives on community land.
The survival of these large ecosystems depends on communities trusting that coexisting with wildlife brings real, lasting value and sustains their livelihoods.
To secure that future, we must change the narrative, communities can and should lead conservation. With the right training, resources, and support, they can manage these areas effectively and run their own operations for lasting impact.
Horizons
Looking ahead to a future where people and wildlife thrive together.
Our vision is clear:
Community leadership is the only sustainable path to conservation on lands outside national parks.
However, this future is currently blocked by systemic failures. We must first dismantle the deep-rooted issues that prevent communities from realizing the full value of their resources. Below are the critical barriers Honeyguide is focused on overcoming to fundamentally change the way conservation works in Tanzania.
THE OUTDATED CONSERVATION NARRATIVE
The Problem
Prevailing Perception
The belief that local communities lack the capacity to manage their own natural resources, coupled with slow policy change and regulations that are often misaligned with local realities. This systemic lack of trust and support creates a cyclical challenge: WMAs cannot demonstrate success without initial support, but lack the support to achieve it.
Our Focus
Changing the Narrative
We work to influence policymakers, the private sector, and conservation leaders to shift trust and investment toward local, community-based solutions. We aim to break down systemic barriers and advocate for policies that empower effective local governance.
Weak Governance and Management in Community Conserved Areas (CCAs)
The Problem
Failing Institutions
Many Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in Tanzania suffer from weak governance and poor management, with local leaders lacking the necessary systems, tools, and authority. Currently, fewer than 7 out of 21 active WMAs are professionally managed and financially sustainable.
High Costs of Wildlife Protection
The Problem
Inefficient Models
Traditional conservation relies on models with unsustainably high protection costs, sometimes exceeding 60% of a WMA’s total operating budget or up to $800 per square kilometer annually. This system often neglects the far more effective, local intelligence—the “community eye.”
Lack of Sustainable Funding and Enterprise Development
The Problem
Lack of Self-Reliance
Most WMAs lack the basic financial operations needed to generate sufficient income, making it difficult for them to operate as self-reliant social enterprises. This results in a crippling dependency on “huge injections of capital” and external donors, making conservation efforts vulnerable and unsustainable in the long term.
In many areas where we work, elephants destroy up to 70% of farmers’ crops annually. We’re relentlessly investing in solutions that protect both people’s livelihoods and their harvests.
Escalating Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC)
The Problem
Eroding Support
As conservation efforts succeed and wildlife populations recover—particularly elephants—Human-Wildlife Conflict escalates. Elephant raids on crops lead to significant economic losses for communities, which quickly erode their support and willingness to protect wildlife.
Inequitable Benefit Distribution
The Problem
Missing Incentives
A major breakdown in the conservation structure is that communities often do not receive genuine value or adequate financial returns. Little of the income generated by WMAs flows back to the people who bear the cost of coexisting with wildlife, severely diminishing their incentive to protect it.
WMAs were created as conservation areas without the systems needed to operate as real businesses; Honeyguide is fixing that by building them into viable, long-term social enterprises
Policy and Systemic Barriers
The Problem
The Cyclical Challenge
Conservation efforts are hampered by slow policy change, regulations not aligned with local realities, and a lack of consistent institutional support. WMAs face a cyclical dilemma: they need to demonstrate success to gain support, but lack the fundamental support to achieve that success in the first place.
Our Focus
Advocacy for Empowerment
Our “Changing the Narrative” goal is strategically aimed at influencing policymakers, private sector leaders, and key institutions. We work to drive policy reform and secure the consistent stakeholder support necessary for community-based approaches to thrive.
Inaccessible Conservation Finance
The Problem
Funding Is Not Reaching the Grassroots
Communities struggle to attract the reliable capital required for long-term sustainability as the global conservation finance system is geared toward larger, less constrained entities, creating institutional barriers for local groups. This reality is reflected by the global statistic that Indigenous Peoples and local community (IPLC) organizations receive less than 1% of all climate funding.
