The Simanjiro Conservation Easement is a novel

payment for ecosystem services Payments for ecosystem services (PES), also known as payments for environmental services (or benefits), are incentives offered to farmers or landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide some sort of ecological service. They have been ...

scheme in the Simanjiro Plains of

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, an important wet-season grazing area between

Tarangire National Park Tarangire National Park is a national park in Tanzania's Manyara Region. The name of the park originates from the Tarangire River that crosses the park. The Tarangire River is the primary source of fresh water for wild animals in the Tarangire ...

and

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

. This contractual agreement between individual villages and a consortium of tourism vendors obligates local residents to forgo agricultural activities in some areas in return for annual cash payments of 5 million Tanzanian shillings (US$3000 or €2300 as of January 2013) per village. It is significant because it is among the first payment for

ecosystem service Ecosystem services are the various benefits that humans derive from ecosystems. The interconnected living and non-living components of the natural environment offer benefits such as pollination of crops, clean air and water, decomposition of wast ...

s (PES) projects to exclude the involvement of government conservation agencies. Expanding crop production had come in conflict with wildlife for some time, leading the regional government to try to restrict cultivation in the plains. The scheme started with Terrat in 2004 and 2005. The village of Sukuro joined later.

Notes

References

* * * Protected areas of Tanzania Geography of Manyara Region Tarangire River Protected areas established in 2008 2005 establishments in Tanzania {{Africa-protected-area-stub