Village game scouts and a community elder walking towards an elephant herd in a Wildlife Management Area

Communities at the Heart* of* Conservation.

CWMAC is the umbrella organisation for all Authorised Associations that manage Wildlife Management Areas in Tanzania — the collective voice of the communities who live closest to the land, and who protect it.

Why we exist

21 Wildlife Management Areas 5 Operational zones Established 2010 Scroll

Why we exist

We believe communities are the heart of conservation.

We exist to champion community-led conservation in Tanzania. Across the country, communities living near protected areas have come together to create Wildlife Management Areas — a bold approach that places local people at the centre of managing and protecting wildlife and natural resources.

We exist to support these communities. We amplify their voices, strengthen their capacity, and advocate for the policies and partnerships they need to thrive. By doing so, we help ensure that conservation is not only sustainable but also a source of opportunity, dignity and development for the people who live closest to the land.

At our core, we're here to build a future where people and wildlife coexist and flourish together.

Sunrise over miombo woodland inside a Wildlife Management Area — Miombo woodland at first light — land held and managed by member communities

What we do

Three levers that make WMAs work.

We advise, support and facilitate capacity building for the Authorised Associations that manage Tanzania's Wildlife Management Areas.

Community members and a scout reviewing a land-use map together

Effective Governance

We strengthen WMAs' governance and management to unlock their full potential for wildlife and nature conservation and community benefits.

CWMAC members at a national policy event with government representatives

Policy & Advocacy

We advocate for policies that enable WMAs to thrive, maximising their impact on conservation and delivering lasting benefits to local communities.

Tourism lodge set within a community Wildlife Management Area

Investment & Partnerships

We work to improve the financial sustainability of WMAs, building an attractive investment environment within WMAs and establishing alternative revenue sources.

How we work

Unifying community WMAs.

Community-led conservation needs to be investment friendly. That takes good policy, sound governance and management inside the conservation areas, and a clear framework of investment opportunity.

We work across five practices — each one a lever the consortium can pull on behalf of every member association.

01 Policy Advocacy
Establishing effective policies and regulatory systems for successful community-owned and run WMAs in Tanzania.
02 Capacity Building
Training, custom tools and capital investment to strengthen governance, financial development and technological capability.
03 Communication & Networking
Multi-stakeholder communication that builds cohesion across government, NGOs, WMAs, their communities and the public.
04 Monitoring & Learning
Tracking performance and holding WMA data centrally, so planning, decision-making and advocacy rest on evidence.
05 Enterprise & Community Development
Wildlife and non-wildlife enterprise — tourism, carbon trade, beekeeping — that returns income to member communities.

Where we work

Map of Tanzania showing national parks, game reserves and Wildlife Management Areas

21Member WMAs

A Wildlife Management Area is village land, managed by the villages themselves.

The WMA model emerged from Tanzania's reform process in the 1990s. It devolves responsibility for wildlife to the village level, so communities can manage — and fully benefit from — the wildlife on their own land. A single WMA can span several villages, each home to roughly 500 to 3,000 people.

Our members are organised into five operational zones.

- Burunge
- Enduimet
- Ikona
- Makao
- Makame
- Randilen
- Chingoli
- Kimbanda
- Kisungule
- Mbaran'gandu
- Nalika
- Liwale
- Juhiwangumwa
- Ngarambe-Tapika
- Illuma
- Ukutu
- Ipole
- Uyumba
- Mbomipa
- Waga
- Umemaruwa

Our impact

Conservation held in common hands.

Every figure below belongs to the member associations — the villages, scouts and boards who carry this work. The consortium exists to make their numbers add up to something larger than the sum.

0⁺

Members of communities benefiting from community work

0⁺

Square kilometres covered across all WMAs

^US$0M⁺

Raised as funds to support WMAs since 2010

Community elders meeting under a tree inside a Wildlife Management Area

"Our unity is giving us more confidence, knowledge, new experience and more importantly the power of a unified voice. CWMAC stands for this."

Said Rashid MasudiChairperson, CWMAC

2024 — 2028

Our strategy

A collective commitment.

The CWMAC Strategic Plan 2024–2028 sets out how the consortium will foster the growth and sustainability of Wildlife Management Areas in Tanzania — and how members hold each other to it.