College of African Wildlife Management

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The College of African Wildlife Management (CAWM) is located near the village of Mweka, Tanzania on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, 14 km north of Moshi town.

Following the independence of Tanzania in 1961, the College of African Wildlife Management was established in 1963 by Bruce Kinloch as a pioneer institution for the training of African wildlife managers. Since this time, the College has been a leader in providing quality wildlife management training in Africa, and has trained over 3,000 wildlife managers from 28 African countries and 18 non-African countries.

The majority of the College's students come from the SADC region, although the College opens its doors to all students with an interest in African wildlife management. A good number of students also come from countries such as Western and Eastern Europe, United States, India, Sri Lanka, Japan and many other countries.

The College has led the field of Wildlife management training for 42 years, receiving a number of awards and accolades including the prestigious UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize and being declared a centre of excellence as a Wildlife Training Institute by the East African Community.

However, a balanced view of the college requires that another side to it be explored too.

The college was founded with stringent academic discipline, its qualifications being justly renowned both within Tanzania and internationally. Good staff and facilities, both academic and sporting, guaranteed a high standard of education and therefore of graduate too.

The college serves two main purposes:

1) To prepare local students for work within the national parks and reserves of Tanzania.

2) To prepare students for work within the safari industries (photographic & hunting) within Tanzania.

Both of these objectives were achieved to a good standard until recent years. However, latterly, the college's academic reputation has become tarnished due to rumours - seemingly well founded - of corruption, and the number of foreign - mainly western - students who have withdrawn themselves from the college. International funding has been withdrawn due to exasperation at incompetent management and inappropriate appointments.

Further, its facilities have been allowed to decay; despite fees being increased, the only infrastructural changes made in recent years have been those paid for by donars. Nevertheless, attendance at CAWM is regarded as a rite of passage for many within Africa who intend a career in wildlife management.

On the bright side, current students have managed to force an improvemnent in the quality of catering at the college... the catering staff now wear bow-ties.