20 villages were the case study areas in Karatu district located between two protected areas of
Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and Lake Manyara National Park (LMNP). The district
has potential areas that could be used to develop wildlife management areas (WMA) and adopt
conservation agriculture (CA) partly to address the issues of land clearing and soil erosion
causing siltation and disappearance of the surrounding wetlands. Using face to face interviews,
structured questionnaires were administered to a total of 133 respondents of local leaders at the
village government levels. For purpose of this study, a local leader was defined as any person
who holds any official position in the village government. The choice of local leaders was based
on the assumption that they represent broad perspective about biodiversity conservation in
relation to the grassroots members of the local communities and other conservation actors. The
study was conducted on the broad objective to evaluate the attitudes of local leaders towards the
conservation of village areas. The findings indicated that the attitudes of local leaders towards
the conservation of village areas were positive, with 87% of respondents describing charcoal
making activities as detrimental and insignificant to the developments of their villages. Majority
rated village environmental conservation bylaws and committees as ineffective in dealing with
the current state of rapidly environmental deterioration in the village lands. Among other
variables, the position of leader was important predictor. Those with higher positions were less
positive towards conservation in village lands. The implication of the results could be linked to
conservation initiatives outside protected areas and understanding the attitudes and securing the
support of local leaders. The overarching goal is to enhance biodiversity conservation both
outside and within protected areas.