Ngorongoro Conservation Area

As one of Africa's Seven Natural Wonders, NCA was universally recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage in 1979 under the natural and cultural criteria owing to its global importance for biodiversity conservation having demonstrated by the existence of globally threatened species, the density of wildlife inhabiting the area, and the annual migration of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and other wild animals into the northern plains. Its cultural recognition stemming from an exceptionally long sequence of crucial evidence related to human evolution and human-environment dynamics. Due to its exceptionally long sequence of this crucial evidence, spanning nearly four million years to the beginning of this era, including physical evidence of the most important benchmark in human evolutionary development, NCA’s global identity is fairly justified.

At its inception, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area was primarily established as a multi-land use area, where wildlife could co-exist with the most dominant semi-nomadic Maasai residents, who always move from one place to another in search of water and pasture for their livestock.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is known to be a permanent homeland to multiple well-known ethnic groups who share distinctive customs and lifestyles, including the Hadza or Hadzabe and Datoga, Irawq. The Maasai people, however, are the most prominent ethnic group, who are thought to have migrated southeast from the Nile region in the 18th century.

The Maasai and Datoga are pastoralists, whereas the Hadzabe are hunter-gatherers and are not related to any of the ethnic groups in the area. They are an indigenous ethnic group found in the Lake Eyasi area, with a population of less than 1000 people. Each of these tribes has its own way of life, with its own set of ancient traditions, mythology, tales, songs, and dances.

The jewel in Ngorongoro's crown is a deep, volcanic crater formed nearly 2.5 millions years ago, the largest un flooded and unbroken caldera in the world. About 20 kms across, 600 meters deep and 300 sq kms in area, the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking natural wonder. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa’s most famous sites and is said to have the highest density of wildlife in Africa. Sometimes described as an ‘eighth wonder of the world’, the Crater has achieved world renown, attracting an ever-increasing number of visitors each year.