The newly-appointed Board of Trustees for the Marine Parks and Reserves Tanzania has been challenged to ensure it finds better ways of promoting eco-tourism to enable the country boost revenue from the area.
Livestock Development and Fisheries Minister Titus Kamani made the challenge in Dar es Salaam at the weekend when he officially launched the seventh board of trustees for Marine Parks and Reserves Tanzania.
Dr Kamani advised the board to emulate what Seychelles has been doing in investing in eco-tourism in its marine parks and reserves. Eco-tourism contributes to about 65 per cent of Seychelles economy, said Dr Kamani.
Marine Parks and Reserves have not been used effectively in contributing to the national economy. Investing in eco-tourism and promoting the areas would greatly have positive impacts to our economy, noted the minister.
According to the minister, the government is in process to amend the Marine parks and Reserves Act, No 29 of 1994, which provide for the establishment, management and monitoring of marine parks and reserves, to enable the establishment of authority that will manage resources in marine parks and reserves. We are in process to amend the act and currently the process is at the Cabinet level, Dr Kamani told the board members.
He was optimistic that the amendments will transform the current institution into a fully authority that will not only manage marine parks and reserves but also expand its jurisdiction to cover and manage resources found in fresh waters, which include inland water bodies such as lakes, rivers and wetland areas.
There is a need to expand the institute from managing resources in marine waters to cover a wide area in fresh waters, he noted. Some three Marine Parks and 15 Marine Reserves have been established in various areas in the country since the establishment of Marine Parks and Reserves Tanzania about 20 years ago. Dr Kamani urged the new board to embrace participatory approach in conservation of Marine Parks and Reserves is vital for sustainable development of the areas.
Involving communities surrounding Marine Parks and Reserves in conserving the environment should be the best way to make the resources found within the areas sustainable, said Dr Kamani, adding that the institute should strive to educate villagers surrounding the parks and reserves on the importance of environment conservation.
Dr Kamani said fighting illegal fishing and illegal harvesting of resources in the marine parks and reserves should be given a high priority as the activities threaten the very existence of various marine species. According to him, a multisectoral task force team has been formed specifically to combat illegal fishing and illegal harvesting of resources in the parks and reserves.
2015 Daily News | The National Newspaper