Empowering Communities Manyara Area Tanzania

Africa Bridge Launches Pilot Program in Tarangire–Manyara Wildlife
Corridor to Conserve Wildlife by Empowering Local Communities
Partnership with Manyara Ranch Management Trust aims to reduce extreme
poverty and strengthen conservation across one of Tanzania’s most vital wildlife
corridors.

TARANGIRE–MANYARA WILDLIFE CORRIDOR, TANZANIA February 2026— Africa
Bridge today announced the launch of a new pilot initiative in Tanzania’s
Tarangire–Manyara Wildlife Corridor designed to protect wildlife by helping local
communities move out of extreme poverty.

Working in partnership with the Manyara Ranch Management Trust (MRMT), the
program will guide 12 villages through a proven five-year pathway that strengthens
household income, improves food security, and empowers communities to become
long-term stewards of the land and wildlife around them.

Across Africa, wildlife conservation and economic opportunity are deeply linked. Wildlife
populations on the continent have declined by 76 percent over the past 50 years, while
nearly 70 percent of Africans are under age 30 and youth unemployment in some
regions reaches 58 percent. At the same time, 90 percent of people living in extreme
poverty—defined as surviving on less than $2 per day—live in Sub-Saharan Africa,
most of them in rural communities.

“Conservation cannot succeed unless the people who live alongside wildlife have the
opportunity to prosper,” said Barry Childs, Founder of Africa Bridge. “When families
have stable incomes, food security, and the ability to save and invest, they become the
strongest protectors of wildlife and the land they share.”
The Tarangire–Manyara Wildlife Corridor connects two of Tanzania’s most important
ecosystems and serves as a critical migration route for elephants, wildebeest, zebra,
and other iconic species. More than 50,000 people live in the surrounding ecosystem,
many in conditions of extreme poverty. When families struggle to survive, pressures
such as land clearing and wildlife poaching can increase not out of neglect, but
necessity.

Africa Bridge’s approach focuses on changing that dynamic. Through the pilot program,
communities will form agricultural cooperatives, women-led savings groups, and local
social service committees that support vulnerable children and strengthen community resilence.

Links:

• Africa Bridge Website

We have been working closely with Manyara Ranch Management Trust to create the following information:

Over the last 50 years, the average size of wildlife populations has declined by 76% in Africa. Northern Tanzania, home to Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and one of the few remaining wildlife corridors in Africa – the Tarangire-Manyara Wildlife Corridor - is in dire need of protection.

The long-term sustainability of wildlife and wildlands is not possible without the wellbeing of neighboring communities. The challenge in the Tarangire-Manyara Wildlife Corridor is that the residents of the 22 villages live in extreme poverty, adding pressure to impinge on the wildlands for pasture and poaching of wildlife. The goal of this pilot to empower these communities to protect their wildlife, creating a sustainable model for conservation.

Our vision: A vibrant corridor where communities, wildlife and wildlands thrive.

Our mission: Partnering with corridor communities on a 5-year path to prosperity.

How: Over the past 25 years Africa Bridge has developed a 5-year path to prosperity in 37 villages in Tanzania, impacting the lives of 10,000 vulnerable children and 70,000 community members. The model’s economic foundation are agricultural co-ops that self-fund their own expansion.

Anticipated Timeline:

• Phase 1-2025: Project planning, and fundraising
• Phase II-2026: Implementing 5-year Path to Prosperity in the 5 villages of Esilalei Ward
• Phase III-2027: Implementing 5-year Path to Prosperity in 17 additional villages
• Phase IV-2028: Planning for implementing this model in other regions of Africa

Observations of impact of the 5-year Path to Prosperity:

• Transformation of the lives of most vulnerable children with improved access to education, healthcare, nutrition and housing
• Improved incomes leading to mindsets of entrepreneurism and growth
• More women participating in the economy and assuming leadership roles
• Children and youth supported by united communities
• Community-wide adoption of responsibility for program outcomes
• The self-funding of coop expansion leads an ongoing expansion of program impacts