Date of Award

5-1977

Degree Type

Report

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Wildland Resources

Committee Chair(s)

Michael L. Wolfe

Committee

Michael L. Wolfe

Abstract

This report describes the effects of agriculture and pastoralism on wildlife resources in the Sudan. For centuries people in the western and southern Sudan have been earning their living through shifting cultivation and pastoralism. Being one of the agrarian countries of Africa, the Sudan is rapidly undergoing a transition from shifting cultivation to mechanized farming, in order to provide enough food for its rapidly growing human population, and to supply other Arab countries with the surplus. Mechanized farming and water associated development projects have great impact on wildlife resources, ranging from the destruction of wildlife habitat to the isolation of migratory wildlife species from seasonal ranges.

The potential role that wildlife resources can play in the economy of the Sudan, if properly conserved, is emphasized. Wildlife currently serves as one source—although small—of foreign exchange. Wildlife conservation is not the duty of the Wildlife Department alone, but of society as well. In order to achieve this end, I have proposed both long- and short-term programs. The former would mainly be concerned with wildlife educational programs for the public, while the latter would establish a wildlife-based tourism. This would increase the foreign exchange which is very important for a developing country like the Sudan.

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