• Consultation period: over 300 meetings are held to build consensus for restoration and management of the corridor. These include focus group discussions in the corridor villages with women, elders, youth, influencers; meetings at every level of Government, from Village Governments and Village Assemblies, through Ward, Division, District and Regional; Government forums, up to Ministerial level; discussions with multiple other local stakeholders including agricultural groups, private sector actors, civil society groups. 

 

• Multiple corridor options are presented and discussed, based on long-term data of existing elephant routes, remaining habitat, and hotspots of crop losses and other human-wildlife conflict. By the end of 2020, consensus in the villages is forming on the selected route and dimensions of the corridor.

 

• Modules on human-wildlife coexistence, corridors, and elephants, are added to local school education programs.

 

• Mitigation methods to rescue crop loss caused by elephants include beehive fences. A total of 6 farmer groups are involved in beekeeping.We trial smelly repellent fencing as a mitigation method to deter elephants from farmland. 

• Restoration of the Corridor is approved in village meetings, and by-laws approved. The boundaries of the Corridor are mapped out by the District Lands Department, in collaboration with the Village leaders and farmers. 

 

• The Kilombero District-led process of land valuation for compensation of plots in the corridor begins. 

 

• Inauguration of the Nyerere-Udzungwa Wildlife Corridor Corridor Management Committee by the Regional Commissioner of Morogoro; the Committee is chaired by the District Commissioner with members from all corridor communities, and meets regularly. 

 

• Construction of Tanzania’s first elephant underpass begins.

 

• We begin trialing solar-powered strobe light fences as an elephant deterrent. 

• First basic demarcation fence showing the corridor boundaries is installed, using recycled plastic poles.

 

• First round of compensation for farm plots is completed. All payee households (payee and spouse) receive financial training, and Village Savings and Loans Associations are formed comprising compensated households.

 

• STEP signs a Kilombero Valley HEC Response Framework Agreement with TANAPA to support local communities by protecting their farms from elephants. Under this agreement, to help create and support a dedicated HEC Response Unit, STEP rehabilitates a TANAPA vehicle and continues to supply fuel, HEC toolkits, and ranger allowances.

 

• The Kilombero District-led process second phase of land valuation for compensation of plots in the corridor begins.

 

• A total of nine VSLA groups are formed in the greater corridor area reaching a total of 251 people (60% women). Members received financial training to help them better manage household finances. Many used their compensation from the corridor project to invest in improving their livelihoods, such as building homes or expanding their farms.

 

• We trial combining metal strips with solar-powered strobe lights fencing to deter elephants from farmland. 

• Construction of electric fencing along the corridor begins.

 

• 19 Village Game Scouts are recruited from the three corridor villages are recruited, equipped and trained at Likuyu-Sekamaganga College.

 

• The second round of compensation for farmers is completed.

 

• Voluntary “Conservation Agreements” scheme begins with the three corridor villages, resulting in annual payments of 10 million Tanzanian shillings to each of the villages.

 

• On 30th June 2023, the NUWC received the first field visit of the recently inaugurated interministerial National Wildlife Corridor Committee, who observed and commended progress towards the corridor restoration, as an example for other corridors around the country. Members planted trees in the corridor and at the end of the visit, the Chair of the Committee, Director of Wildlife from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr. Fortunata Msoffe, declared the Government’s intention to make the NUWC the first designated Wildlife Corridor in Tanzania under the Wildlife Corridor Regulations of 2018.

 

• The’ Joint Land Use Agreement of the wildlife corridor was signed by the three villages of Kanyenja, Sole, and Mang’ula A, and approved bylaws to manage the wildlife corridors

 

• Deployment of a camera trap grid in the corridor for monitoring wildlife.

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• Following additional training from STEP (Human Rights, Code of Conduct, First Aid, Data Collection, Educational Role), the Village Game Scouts begin patrolling and protecting the Corridor, adhering to the by-laws of the corridor villages.

 

• VGS received safety training from K.E.E.P, which equipped them with the confidence and essential skills to safely handle encounters with dangerous wild animals during their daily patrols

 

• Landscaping of the underpass and adjacent elephant paths is finally completed, following many delays due to extended flooding.

 

• Habitat restoration within the corridor, led by our partner Reforest Africa and combining tree planting with natural assisted regeneration, is begun.

 

• Biodiversity monitoring detects 26 large and medium mammal species the corridor area, and increased use of the corridor by elephants. 

 

• A new on-site corridor educational and discussion program for local community groups is introduced, led by STEP staff and the corridor scouts.

 

• Number of VSLAs in the corridor villages and adjacent area reaches 22, reaching 569 members (62% women)

• 4th April 2025: Nyerere-Udzungwa Wildlife Corridor is formally designated.

 

• The story has not ended, and while the officially designated status makes the corridor more secure, threats such as incompatible developments in the area persist. There is still much work to do, together with the corridor communities, to ensure a functional and thriving corridor that can bring lasting benefits to the people living alongside it. STEP is committed to this long-term support to the Nyerere-Udzungwa Wildlife Corridor, and we hope that it will be a source of inspiration for restoration of other corridors around Tanzania and beyond.