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The success of biodiversity conservation in African countries depends to a large extend on the cooperation of local communities. This study compared factors that influence attitudes of local communities toward the conservation of the Tarangire National Park (Tarangire NP) in Tanzania and Mole National Park (Mole NP) in Ghana. The purpose was to find out if the predominantly agricultural-communities around the Mole NP in Ghana will differ in park-attitude than the predominantly pastoral-communities around the Tarangire NP in Tanzania. Household survey was used to assess attitudes and focus group discussions used to elicit further information from respondents to complement the survey data. The study surveyed 365 households in 7 villages: 3 villages adjacent to the Tarangire NP and 4 villages adjacent to the Mole NP. There was significant difference between the park-attitudes of residents in communities near the Mole NP and their counterparts in communities near the Tarangire NP. However, respondents in both countries showed slightly positive and negative attitudes toward the parks as ecological entities and as community development agents, respectively. Factors that had significant effects on attitudes include: "knowledge of park rules," "employment in park," "distance between village and park," "household size," "access to non-timber forest products," and "livelihood activity." The findings suggest that any efforts aimed at increasing local community support for any of the two national parks should critically consider livelihoods diversification, population control, and extensive conservation education in neighboring communities.

This study uses sequential aerial photography to identify environmental changes. The interpreted aerial photos constitute a data-bank of past and present land cover/uses.* Substantial changes have been observed in the areas of cultivation, woody cover, and bare ground.An increased 449.9% of the surveyed area has been cleared for cultivation during the last 30 years, while 77.2% of the former woodland has been destroyed during the same period, contributing to a 15.6% increase in grassland. Bare ground increased by 33.1%. Increased cultivation is caused by increase in the population of subsistence farmers and mechanization. Expansion of cultivation and overexploitation of woody resources (fuel-wood and building materials) are the causes of decline in the woody vegetation. As consumption of woody resources exceeds natural regeneration, woody cover is gradually replaced by grasslands.Diminution of the woody vegetation results in shortage of fuel-wood and building materials and consequent misery to the local people. Expansion of cultivation reduces grazing-land, leading to overstocking and overgrazing. Extensive cultivation, based on soil ‘mining’, subjects more and more land to physical and chemical soil degradation, leading in turn to decline in soil fertility and crop yields. Both overgrazing and extensive cultivation accelerate soil erosion in the area, reducing available cropland, while siltation and flooding cause serious damage to property and infrastructure.Lack of effective land-use planning, uncontrolled population growth, and introduction of the Tanzanian village agricultural production system in a semi-arid area, have contributed to the present deplorable state of affairs. In general, the area shows increasing environmental degradation and resource depletion, while very little conservation effort is being made to reverse the trend. These results indicate that a sustainable resource management plan is urgently needed for the area.

SummaryThis paper tries to challenge the compression theory being advanced to explain the ‘elephant problem’ in Lake Manyara National Park. Analysis of data on changes in elephant population and population density, distribution, mortality and growth rate of A. tortilis, as well as rainfall distribution formed the basis for argument. It is argued that although elephants, through debarking, were responsible for the observed mortality of A. tortilis in the park, their impact involves thinning out of the mature closed canopy. This phenomenon is viewed as positive because it encourages A. tortilis regeneration and recruitment, improves shrub browse productivity and reduces the necessity for elephants to further debark A. tortilis. It is further argued that germination and regeneration of A. tortilis in the woodland are controlled by climatic and edaphic factors, and that apart from browsing pressure (mainly by giraffe), growth rate of A. tortilis saplings is fast enough to establish new stands despite the high density of elephants in the park.RésuméCet article essaye de remettre en question la théorie de compression qui est invo‐quee pour expliquer le ‘problime éléphant’ au Parc National du lac Manyara. L'analyse des données sur les changements des populations d'éléphants et la den‐sité de population, la distribution, la mortalité et le taux de croissance d'A. tortilis servait de base à l'argumentation en même temps que la distribution des chutes de pluie. On invoque que, bien que les éléphants, en arrachant les écorces, soient responsable de la mortalitéd'A. tortilis observée dans le parc, leur impact entraîne un éclaircissement de la canopée. Ce phénomêne est considéré comme étant positif parce qu'il encourage la régénérescence et la repousse, améliore la productivité d'arbustes à brouter et réduit le besoin qu'ont les éléphants d'éorcer plus d'A. tortilis. On rajoute encore que la germination et la régénérescence d'A. tortilis en zone arborée sont contrôlées par des facteurs climatiques et édaphiques et que, mise à part la pression du broutage (dû surtout aux girafes), le taux de croissance des jeunes A. tortilis est assez rapide pour reconstituer de nouveaux peuplements malgré la haute densité d'éléphants dans le parc.