2010

I am Francisca Malembeka from Tanzania. I graduated B.Sc. Wildlife Management at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania June 2007. My project was on Challenges and Opportunities for conserving “Mgulu wa Ndege Catchments Forest Reserve”. This and the area in Morogoro is home to many small mammals.

After graduating in July 2007, I volunteered to work as a Field and Laboratory Research Assistant for the Ruaha Corridors Project. This project is a collaboration of work carried out by Sokoine University of Agriculture and California University, Berkeley USA. We evaluated the connectivity of large mammal populations between Ruaha, Mikumi, and Udzungwa Mountains National Parks of Tanzania.

From May 2008, I work with the Wildlife Division at Burigi, Biharamulo and Kimisi Game Reserves. My responsibilities include planning, managing wetlands, organizing and advising on uuota setting for animals to hunt during the tourist-hunting season, protect wildlife from illegal/unsustainable utilization, solving human-wildlife conflicts, integrating staff with adjacent community during joint venture of conservation activities and offering conservation education to villagers.

This Postgraduate Diploma Course will increase skills and knowledge whilst also exposing me to world leading researchers. It will provide me with the tools to overcome many of challenges facing wildlife conservation in the area I work. I look forward to doing an MSc. and later a DPhil.

Diploma Projects

• An evaluation of wildlife data collected during trail patrols and their value for conservation: a case study of duiker (Cephalophus spp.) data from a Cameroonian rainforest

• Estimating mammal distribution within and in the periphery of wildlife conservation areas in southern Tanzania: a case study of five herbivore species