Climate Change Stories: Challenges, Action & Hope on Tanzania’s Frontlines
Climate change stories offer a close-up look at the local impacts of an urgent global issue, offering multiple perspectives based on a wide range of experiences on the ground.
While climate change effects are felt worldwide, the most vulnerable places are already bearing the brunt of impacts like unpredictable weather and rainfall patterns. Rural communities, dependent on agriculture and pastoralism, face heightened vulnerability due to the substantial role that natural resources play in their economic well-being and cultures.
Of course, human lives and livelihoods aren’t the only things at risk. In northern Tanzania, 92% of available wildlife habitat consists of areas where people and wildlife interact. The combination of changes in land use and limited access to food and water places significant stress on both animals and humans, leading to an increased potential for conflicts to arise.
In this short, three-part video series from African People & Wildlife storyteller Emily Paul, listen to firsthand accounts from those directly affected by climate change in Tanzania and explore how we’re working alongside communities to mitigate climate change to protect biodiversity while uplifting rural people.
Part 1: Climate Change Stories: On the Frontline in Tanzania
Farmers and livestock herders living outside the protected lands of Tarangire National Park share their experiences living with climate change, highlighting competition for nutritious livestock forage as well as problems like human-wildlife conflict and deforestation. As droughts become more frequent and severe, wildlife encroachment on farmland intensifies, leading to livelihood losses and increased tensions.
Part 2: Tackling Tanzania’s Climate Change Threats
The climate struggles faced by rural places highlight the need for urgent, community-driven action. Our holistic approach at African People & Wildlife emphasizes knowledge exchange and collaborative problem-solving, as described by APW staff and our African Women in Conservation mentees.
Part 3: Climate-Smart Rangeland Management in Tanzania
Healthy rangelands are critical for grazing livestock and wildlife – but climate change can lead to degradation through the spread of less nutritious plant species in addition to bush encroachment and soil erosion. See how APW’s rangeland program works hand-in-hand with local people to find win-win solutions, like removing invasive plants and restoring degraded habitat to secure livelihoods and create a more resilient landscape.
Individual stories like these allow everyone to witness the transformative efforts that are needed and already underway. Through the resilience and determination of local communities, combined with programs like our Sustainable Rangelands Initiative, there is hope that collective action can make a positive difference for people and wildlife.
Share this post and the YouTube video playlist with your friends, family, colleagues, and social media network to spread awareness and amplify the voices of those affected by climate change in Tanzania and beyond.
Additional Climate Change Stories & Resources
- Living Climate Change in Africa podcast from BBC Media Action with ICPAC
- “What is climate change? A really simple guide” from BBC News
- “How climate change is affecting Africa” from Yale Climate Connections
- “5 ways countries can adapt to the climate crisis” from UN Environment Programme