Interview by Andi Cross
Photography by: Adam Moore & Marla Tomorug
Support from: Elewana Collection, Tarangire Treetops, Land & Life Foundation
The Randilen Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located on the eastern border of Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park, serves as a vital buffer zone for one of Africa’s most treasured ecosystems. Spanning 312 square kilometers, Randilen protects critical wildlife corridors and sustains the delicate balance of its surrounding landscape. Its proximity to Tarangire—a park renowned for its massive elephant herds and seasonal migrations—makes Randilen a key link in the northern safari circuit and a cornerstone of eco-tourism. Its success relies heavily on partnerships with operators like Elewana Collection’s Tarangire Treetops lodge, who facilitate a harmonious balance between responsible tourism and community-driven development for the Maasai people who call this land home.
To understand what sits at the center of this raw and wild place, we met with Samuel Ceremony Mole, a leader within the WMA and a voice for the Maasai community. Samuel shared insights into the Maasai way of life and the role Randilen plays in protecting both its wildlife and the livelihoods of those in its community. For him, the future of this region depends on one simple truth: conservation and community must work together, or neither will have a chance at surviving.
The Maasai Way of Life
“I come from one of the eight Maasai villages that form Randilen, a community-owned Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Our role is to protect and care for its wildlife while respecting the cultures of the people who rely on this land. Established in 2012 and officially gazetted in 2013, Randilen WMA is where and how I focus my time.
But before I tell you all about that, I need to give you a look into the Maasai way of life. We are one of the most well-known ethnic groups in East Africa, celebrated for our rich traditions, culture, dress, and connection to the land. For us, life revolves around livestock, which represents wealth, status, and the ability to provide for our families. Owning cattle is essential—it defines what it means to be truly Maasai. My father, like many elders in our community, had multiple wives and managed a large herd, a hallmark of success in our culture.
Women are responsible for the home—milking cattle, collecting firewood, fetching water (often from far distances), caring for children, and even building the family’s houses. Men oversee the livestock, issuing daily instructions to younger boys about where and when to graze the herds. Elders play a supervisory role, gathering at the village gate as the livestock return each evening to ensure every animal is accounted for. If there’s a loss—perhaps due to an encounter with lions or elephants—it sparks a detailed conversation about what happened in the bush and how to avoid such issues in the future.
Respect for elders and the natural world is at the heart of Maasai traditions. From a young age, we are taught to live in harmony with the environment, balancing the needs of people, livestock, and wildlife. Rotational grazing, where herds are moved to prevent overuse of the land, is one of the practices passed down through generations to preserve our resources. These systems are more vital than ever as climate change and population growth make sustaining our way of life increasingly difficult. Change is not something we dispute here, as we all are witnessing its impacts firsthand.
At the same time, being Maasai is about resilience. We hold steadfast to our customs despite pressures to adapt to modern ways. Whether it’s our brightly colored shukas, our ceremonial gatherings, or our traditional songs and dances, each is a reflection of our strength to hold on to what’s ours. They remind us of who we are and the balance we seek with the world around us. Even as challenges grow, our identity remains potent, and we continue to adapt without losing sight of where we come from.
A Collection of Communities
The WMA concept arose when the government realized that conservation efforts—focused mostly on national parks—weren’t directly involving local communities. By establishing WMAs, the government created a way for communities to engage in conservation while benefiting from it. In Randilen, over 20,000 people across our eight villages have joined forces to protect this land—from preserving wildlife, safeguarding vegetation, and fostering sustainable livelihoods.
Our main focus is on pushing what we call “photographic eco-tourism” rather than sustenance or trophy hunting, which has plagued Africa for a long time. Seven key investors, including Elewana Collection’s Treetops, operate lodges in Randilen, attracting global, eco-conscious visitors. These people contribute directly to conservation through fees paid at one of our three entry gates, generating revenue that sustains both the WMA and the local communities affiliated.
Sixty-five percent of the revenue goes back to the WMA from the Ministry of Natural Resources, with half of that allocated to operational costs—like our 26 rangers’ salaries—and the other half invested in community projects. However, for pastoralist Maasai families, the true value of Randilen lies in its carefully managed grazing system, which is divided into two zones. The first is a yellow zone for grazing and the second is a green core zone for conservation and tourism. We’ve created a rotational grazing system to ensure livestock always has access to grass. This “grass bank” supports their livelihoods by providing a reliable source of grazing, even during deadly droughts, allowing them to fatten their livestock and support their families all the time.
For us, Maasai, grass is life. It’s more valuable than money because it sustains our economy, culture, and way of life. By harmonizing conservation with the needs of the community, Randilen has become a place where both people—regardless of where they are from—and wildlife—including livestock and game animals—can all live, work and flourish together.
The Three Pillars
To ensure the community continues to view Randilen WMA as a valuable resource and shared investment, we focus on three key pillars—a structure I’m incredibly proud of. The first pillar is social value, which encourages the community to see the WMA as their property that they have authority over and a stake in preserving. A significant part of this is addressing human-wildlife conflict, a common challenge here. Many villagers practice mixed farming, raising livestock alongside cultivating crops like maize, which often attracts wildlife. Elephants, while iconic and vital to our ecosystem, are the most destructive, posing a significant threat to farms when they wander beyond the WMA’s boundaries.
To tackle this, we collaborate with partners like The Nature Conservancy, Honeyguide Foundation, and Treetops Lodge to provide farmers with tools such as “chili bombs,” torchlights, and other deterrents to protect their crops. When these methods fail, villagers can call for assistance, and our team responds to safely herd the elephants back into protected areas. These efforts have reduced crop destruction by nearly 20%, building trust between the community and conservation initiatives.
This pillar is quite personal to me, as I lost my brother to an elephant conflict. It’s a tragedy I still struggle to put into words, and the memory of that loss remains a constant in my life. Reconciling this pain with the knowledge of why these animals must be protected is challenging — but I do it because I know elephants are the heartbeat of Africa. They shape ecosystems, support biodiversity, and showcase the beauty of our land to the world. This understanding drives me to push for better tools and programs that help our communities coexist with these magnificent creatures.
The second pillar is education support, a vital aspect of ensuring future success for our community. Beyond sharing revenue with the villages, Randilen WMA provides scholarships for students from low-income families. Village councils review applications and submit the names of eligible children. Today, we support 90 students through secondary school and college, empowering the next generation with opportunities our ancestors could only dream of.
The third pillar is economic empowerment, which ties everything together. By creating tangible benefits for the community through conservation, we ensure that Randilen remains a resource worth protecting. Tourism brings value to the people living here, demonstrating that preserving our land pays off. I’m happy to share that this pillar is in full effect.
Adversity Amidst the Beauty
Challenges are an undeniable part of our work, but we view them as opportunities. One of our biggest is dealing with invasive plant species, which suppress native grasses vital for wildlife and livestock. These species dominate the landscape, reducing the quality and quantity of grazing land. Over the years, we’ve experimented with various methods to control them, including cutting, burning, and uprooting. Uprooting has proven the most effective, and we’ve cleared over 600 hectares because of it. The results show that native grasses are regenerating, creating better conditions for both wildlife and the pastoralist communities that depend on healthy grazing land.
The government’s strong stance against poaching, particularly under the late President Magufuli, has dramatically reduced elephant kills in the region. Since the WMA’s establishment in 2013, we haven’t recorded a single poached elephant—only deaths from natural causes. Today, elephants roam freely in and around Randilen. However, bushmeat poaching of smaller mammals like antelope persists at the WMA’s peripheries. Our rangers and law enforcement partners continue to address this issue, making steady progress in protecting all species.
And I can’t forget to mention climate change, which makes everything more severe. Water sources near communities are drying up, forcing women to walk long distances to find water. These treks often lead to dangerous encounters with wildlife, which can tragically result in injuries and deaths. We see climate change’s fingerprints on other issues, too, like with invasive species and shifting grazing patterns. To address this, we’ve been educating communities about the importance of preserving trees, reducing overgrazing, and how it’s critical that we adapt to these changing environmental conditions.
Everything Is Changing
Life for the Maasai is changing fast, and it’s all tied to a shifting climate and modern influences. Traditionally, we lived a nomadic lifestyle, always moving to find grass and water for our livestock. It’s what shaped our culture for generations, guided by the elders and the rhythms of the land. But now, with droughts lasting longer and grazing lands disappearing, it’s getting harder to live the way we used to. In some places, like Monduli, families are settling down, building permanent homes instead of the traditional bomas made of mud and wood. But in areas like Simanjiro and Ngorongoro, many still live as nomads, moving wherever the grass grows and water flows.
Even our traditions are evolving. Practices like female circumcision, once a part of our way of life, are becoming less common because of government laws and shifting beliefs. Education, which wasn’t a priority for many of us in the past, is now vital. Parents are sending their children to school, and we’re seeing a new generation of educated Maasai. But with that comes its own challenges. Many young people finish school and leave for the cities, chasing opportunities instead of returning home to carry on our traditions. Elders worry that with these changes, our culture might fade away.
But that’s where the WMA comes in, helping us find a balance between the old ways and the new. We’re working to protect our land, promote conservation, and give communities opportunities that connect to wildlife protection. As Maasai, we’ve always lived peacefully with nature—we don’t hunt wildlife or eat bushmeat. That respect is part of who we are, and it’s something we carry forward. At Randilen, we’re making sure our people and the land we love can adapt and thrive together, no matter how much the world changes around us.