ARUSHA, Tanzania, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania is set to relocate all people who have invaded the wildlife corridors between Lake Manyara and Tarangire national parks, located in northern part of the east African nation.
Raymond Mushi, Babati District Commissioner said on Sunday that the Tanzanian government will soon start removing out all invaders in the areas, which are potential for wildlife migration between the sanctuaries.
"We'll soon start the operation to remove them out of those areas so that those areas continue to perform its ecological role," the official said in an interview.
He described wildlife corridors as important when it comes towards managing wildlife as it allows an exchange of individuals between populations, which may help prevent the negative effects of inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity that often occur within isolated populations.
He cited people who have invaded the key corridors that link between Lake Manyara National Park and Tarangire National Park as Maasai pastoralists, farmers, and illegal fishermen.
"There are some people have gone far to the extent of building houses within the corridors...we're going to demolish all building structures built in those areas and no compensation will be paid," Mushi insisted.
The District Commissioner cited Kwakuchinja corridor between Lake Manyara Biosphere Reserve and Tarangire National Park as one of the highly affected corridors despite its significance to maintaining the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem, recognized for its globally significant biodiversity.
Lucas ole Mukusi, a local conservation expert, described invaders as people who threaten the survival of wildlife sector.
According to him, there are invaders who have set up permanent settlements in the wildlife corridors, something which contributes to poaching and deforestation.
"Wildlife corridors between Tarangire and Lake Manyara national parks are under serious threats to go away. As much as I know, corridors help to facilitate the re-establishment of populations that have been reduced or eliminated due to random events (such as fires or disease). So, putting anything within threatens the development of wildlife sector," the expert said.
He also suggested serious measures be taken to address the challenge before things get out of hands as these wildlife corridors need to remain open throughout the year as they can moderate some of the worst effects of habitat fragmentation, wherein urbanization can split up habitat areas, causing animals to lose both their natural habitat and the ability to move between regions to use all of the resources they need to survive.
According to Mukusi, habitat fragmentation due to human development is an ever-increasing threat to biodiversity, and habitat corridors are a possible mitigation.
