Tanzania is one of the unique destinations on the
African continent that has yet to be discovered by many.
It is a land of many wonders harboring an un-paralleled
diversity of fauna and flora. Kilimanjaro, the highest
permanently snow-capped free standing mountain in
Africa, the exotic Islands of Zanzibar, the finest game
sanctuaries of Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara,
Ngorongoro Crater, Ruaha, Selous and the Marine Park of
Mafia Island are only but a few of the living examples.
The scenery, topography and very friendly people make
Tanzania one of the best places to visit and promise the
best wildlife photographic safaris on the continent.
Tanzania indeed has it all
Tanzania has 14 National Parks, 1 conservation area, 17
game reserves, and several marine parks, a breathtaking
coast and Lake Zone and gently undulating highlands that
are a hiker’s paradise.
NATIONAL PARKS
Tanzanian National parks exist for the primary role of
conservation of the great wealth for present and future
generation. These National Parks include the:
All of
these form the core of a much larger protected ecosystem
that has been set aside to preserve the country’s rich
natural heritage, and to provide secure breeding grounds
where the diverse fauna and flora available can thrive
safe from the ever increasing threat of human
encroachment.
Tanzania has dedicated more than 42,000 square
kilometers more than one third of its territory- a
uniquely high proportion of land to the formal
protection of its wildlife as National Parks and Game
Reserves despite its growing population pressures.
The
existing park system protects a number of
internationally recognized bastions of biodiversity and
world heritage sites thereby redressing the balance of
deforestation, agriculture and urbanization that is
threatening Tanzania’s remaining wilderness. In this,
Tanzania has successfully resisted the temptation to
cash in on the short term gains of mass tourism.
Human
activity is closely monitored and all development
strictly regulated. Building in the parks is kept
unobtrusive and waste disposal is carefully controlled.
Park visitors and facilities are widely distributed to
prevent harassment of animals and to minimize the human
imprint on the environment.
Guardianship of this rich resource is solely reliant on
the goodwill of the park’s neighbors- the indigenous
tribes of the different parts of Tanzania where the
parks are locate
The
Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) is working
hard to ensure that local communities have a sense of
ownership and a vested interest in the future of the
parks by sharing the rewards of conservation and
delivering tangible benefits. A percentage of park
revenues is allotted to assist community development
initiatives such as the construction of schools, health
dispensaries, water schemes and roads. Villagers are
encouraged to develop cultural tourism projects to
cultivate their own cultures and supplement their
incomes.
Tanzania has set a benchmark of its responsibility- to
its citizens, their offspring’s and the world at large-
in the conservation and management of a global resource.
In this, Tanzania remains committed to low impact,
sustainable visitation to protect the environment from
irreversible damage while creating a first class
ecotourism destination.
By
choosing to visit Tanzania either by merely browsing the
net or by actually making a trip to our beautiful land,
you are supporting a developing country’s extraordinary
investment in the future.
Tanzania’s diverse attractions are of course bound by
its people, who take justifiable pride in their deeply
ingrained national mood of tolerance and peacefulness.
Indeed, Tanzania, for all its ethnic diversity, is
practically unique in Africa in having navigated a
succession of modern political hurdles – the
transformation from colonial dependency to independent
nation, from socialist state to free-market economy,
from mono-partyism to fully-fledged democracy - without
ever experiencing sustained civil or ethnic unrest.
Tanzania has also, over the past 20 years, emerged from
comparative obscurity to stand as one of Africa’s most
dynamic and popular travel destinations: a land whose
staggering natural variety is complemented by the innate
hospitality of the people who live there.
How to define the Tanzanian experience? Surprisingly
easy, really. It can be encapsulated in a single word,
one that visitors will hear a dozen times daily, no
matter where they travel in Tanzania, or how they go
about it: the smiling, heartfelt Swahili greeting of “Karibu!”
– Welcome!
