Over several years, local monitoring at Elutoto Emarti revealed a pasture under strain from heavy use. This 219-acre grazing area in Baraka village, set within the wider Tarangire-Manyara landscape, showed patches of bare earth and thinning grasses. For local livestock owners, this pasture is a key resource, and it also forms part of a shared landscape where wildlife move and graze.
Seeing Change Through Monitoring
Through regular monitoring, Community Savanna Monitors helped the Baraka Village Grazing Committee see how the land was changing season by season. By 2023, the evidence pointed to the need for a more hands-on approach.
As El Niño rains approached, African People & Wildlife and Community Savanna Monitors recommended resting the pasture and reseeding it with native grasses. The Village Grazing Committee closed Elutoto Emarti to livestock, and community members joined with the Pastoral Women’s Council to clear shrubs and scatter native grass seed across the land.
Recovery and Resilience
With the rains, native grasses began to return. By 2024, the changes were clear: more green cover, less bare ground, and the first signs of recovery taking hold.
The real test arrived when livestock returned and another dry spell put fresh pressure on the recovering pasture.
By 2025, monitoring showed that much of the progress remained. Grass stood taller, bare patches had shrunk, and vegetation cover was stronger. Local pastoralists continued to view the pasture favorably. Fixed-point photographs taken over several years tell the same story, capturing the slow shift from bare ground and shrubs to a healthier carpet of native grasses.
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Looking to the Future
Fixed-point photographs have documented Elutoto Emarti’s recovery since 2020, giving local leaders the chance to track change across many seasons, not just after a single good year of rain. The data show that grass height rebounded during the 2025 rains, even after grazing and dry spells, suggesting the pasture is regaining its resilience.
The efforts in Baraka are part of a broader, community-driven movement to restore and manage rangelands. Across African People & Wildlife’s landscapes, 62 Community Savanna Monitors help coordinate grazing management over nearly 800,000 acres.
Long-term monitoring gives communities the tools to spot problems early, measure the impact of restoration, and adapt as grazing pressure and rainfall shift. At Elutoto Emarti, the ongoing challenge is to see whether this recovery can endure through future grazing seasons and the uncertainties of a changing climate.
