By APOLINARI TAIRO

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The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) in northern Tanzania realised Tsh102 billion ($51 million) in revenue last year, from Tsh70 billion ($35 million) in 2015.

This has been attributed to the installation of an electronic system, which helped seal loopholes through which revenue was being lost.

The authority’s chief conservator, Dr Freddy Manongi said that the system had checked the underdeclaration of payments made by clients of local and foreign companies that enable tourists visit the famous Ngorongoro Crater and other sites in the area.

Each tourist to the conservation area pays a $60 entry fee per day.

The NCAA is the most visited wildlife area in northern Tanzania, attracting over 600,000 visitors per year.

Dr Manongi said that tourist companies and other safari investors are required to apply the newly designed payment system to remit their taxes and fees to the authority.

Entry charges to Ngorongoro are Tsh10,000 ($4.59) per adult and Tsh2,000 ($1) per child. This applies to East African citizens. Those working in tourist camps inside Ngorongoro pay a Tsh1,500 ($0.6) fee per entry.

Non-East Africans are charged $60 for adults and $20 for children below 12 years. All charges are on daily basis. A motor vehicle permit, particularly those weighing between two and seven tonnes, costs between Tsh20,000 ($9.19) and Tsh150,000 ($ 68.91).

A filming crew pays $300 per day or the equivalent amount in local currency, but that does not include other applicable fees such as entry, camping, and guiding.

READ: Tanzania to raise game park fees

Covering 8,292 Km² of wildlife conservation area, Ngorongoro is home to over 25,000 wild animals, mostly found inside the crater.

The crater is steep, 600 meters in depth, sheltered by high natural walls that survived the volcano’s subsidence or caldera. It covers 264 Km², making it one of the largest, intact, and unflooded calderas in the world.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area shares the Serengeti ecosystem with Serengeti National Park and Kenya’s Masai Mara.

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