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February/March 2011
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About Us
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is a joint program of l'Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.
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Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania & Kenya
Reinforcing Conservation Gains in Tanzania and Kenya In every region where CEPF invests there is an overall strategy behind the grants. A priority for CEPF's investment in the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya between 2004 and 2009 was improving our scientific understanding of the importance of these forests and using these data to improve livelihoods and achieve conservation gains at the grass roots as well as at policy levels.
Prior to CEPF's support, there were limited data available and gaining access to up-to-date information was difficult. The significant results of CEPF's investment included: 1) surveys of 37 lesser-known forests leading to the discovery of a minimum of 29 new vertebrate species; 2) updated threat status of 800 plants and 157 butterflies; 3) increased protected area coverage in Tanzania by 158,626 hectares through the gazettement of the Kilombero and Uluguru nature reserves by Tanzania's Forestry and Beekeeping Division; 4) defined key corridors between the Udzungwa Mountains National Park and the Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve and the Selous Game Reserve; 5) effected institution of a ban on illegal logging in Tanzania in 2004; and 6) supported 26 Tanzanian and Kenyan students to complete either master's or doctoral degrees in conservation-related studies.
In a bid to build upon these gains, CEPF is providing an additional $ 1.74 million as a suite of grants to civil society organizations. These grants seek to:
- Ensure financial sustainability of livelihood initiatives for people residing next to the priority forests Taita Hills and Kwale in Kenya; and East Usambara, Bunduki Gap, and Magombera in Tanzania.
- Consolidate the gains in increasing forest connectivity in priority sites including Taita Hills and Dakatcha woodlands in Kenya and Derema corridor, Bunduki Gap, Mngeta Corridor and Magombera Forest in Tanzania.
- Strengthen communication networks, raise awareness and solidify the education achievements for the long-term benefit of civil society.
- Make available biological and forest change data and integrate it with the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus carbon enhancement (REDD+).
Key to ensuring the success of this consolidation funding will be to integrate with similar and on-going investments in the region in the next three years including: 1) the UN REDD initiatives in Tanzania; 2) the Norwegian REDD+ pilot projects in Tanzania; 3) the GEF Coastal Forests Project in Tanzania; and 4) Coastal Forests Project in Kenya. |
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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
New Report: Bushmeat Hunting Driving Tanzanian Forests to Crisis
A new report was recently released from some of CEPF’s partners focused on the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya hotspot.
It reveals results collected from three separate research projects focused on the threats to biodiversity in the Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve in southern Tanzania. The report shows that Tanzania’s wildlife has been hugely impacted by human activities and recommends that action be taken urgently to protect it as "the declining trend is so sharp that without urgent action Tanzania will lose a biodiversity treasure," states Francesco Rovero of Italy’s Trento Museum of Natural Sciences, who led the preparation of the report."
"Human threats, especially hunting for bushmeat, but also forest degradation through selective removal of trees are behind these declining trends," continues Amani Kitegile, a lecturer at Tanzania’s Sokoine University of Agriculture and Ph.D. student with Anglia Ruskin University. |
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Rwanda
Conservation on the Ground: A Note from Rwanda
Editor’s note: This blog entry was posted to Conservation International's website by John Watkin, CEPF grant director, after his involvement in recent national meetings pertaining to the profiling of the Eastern Afromontane Hotspot.
"We’re staying at the Green Witch Hotel," said Tharcisse Ukizintambara as we waited for the taxi to pick us up from Kigali International Airport in Rwanda in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, neither we nor the taxi driver knew where this hotel was located. And after two days of travel in coach class from Washington, D.C., all I wanted to do was to lie flat.
As we drove toward town I gazed out of the window and saw a sign for the Greenwich Hotel. "Is that it?" I asked Tharcisse, who works for BirdLife International. Turns out, it was.
I was in Kigali with the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), running one of the consultation meetings that provide the foundation for a cohesive conservation strategy in each of the regions where we work. This meeting had brought together representatives from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to provide their technical savvy on a conservation strategy for the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot —the world's tenth most threatened forest hotspot — which covers 16 countries scattered along the eastern edge of Africa, from Saudi Arabia in the north to Zimbabwe in the south. Encompassing ecosystems as varied as montane forests, deep freshwater lakes and grasslands, the hotspot includes parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.
Among the 35 meeting participants in Rwanda were members of the Rwandese Association of Ecologists, the warden of the Parc des Volcans and a representative from the Global Environment Facility, all of whom are providing their input on the threatened species, sites and landscapes that make up the overall biological diversity of this region. They will also home in on the threats faced by these remaining habitats — and try to reconcile them with socioeconomic and policy considerations. Only by triangulating between all of these aspects can we produce a relevant and effective conservation road map that will have tangible, positive impacts on the ground.
While the all-important group photo of the participants (left) was being taken, we talked about how important it will be to engage local conservation champions considering the challenges discussed at the meeting. I am hopeful that with their involvement, conditions in the Eastern Afromontane hotspot can be improved for the benefit of both people and nature.
John Watkin is a grant director for the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund — a joint initiative of l'Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. |
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New Resources Final Project Completion Reports
- Establishment of Community Based Anti-poaching Networks to Reduce Poaching and Trade in Endangered Wild Species of Flora and Fauna in Kangchenjunga Singhlila Complex, Nepal, Kangchenjunga Landscape Concern Group, English (PDF – 50 KB)
- Building Grassroots Civil Society Support for Biodiversity Conservation in Bhutan, Royal Society for Protection of Nature, English (PDF – 35 KB)
- Management of Social Forestry in Bhutan, Royal Institute of Management, English (PDF – 47 KB)
- Advocacy and Awareness Campaign on Biodiversity in Bhutan, Kuensel Corporation Limited, English (PDF – 34 KB)
Grantee Publications
Biodiversity Conservation Lessons Learned Technical Series is a series of 10 reports sharing lessons learned in biodiversity conservation in the Pacific. These are technical reports prepared by a range of partners funded by CEPF and CI. The reports are being produced on an ad hoc basis as projects are completed, with more reports expected to be published every year.
The report, Conservation of the Endangered Fiji Flying Fox Mirimiri acrodonta on Taveuni Island, Fiji, is the first in the series. English (PDF – 1 MB)
This technical series is being realized through the related CEPF grant to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP). |
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Photo Credits: Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, © CI/Photo by Fransesco Rovero; Crater lake in Virunga mountains, Rwanda, © CI/Russ Mittermeier; Group photo in Rwanda,© CI/Photo courtesy of John Watkin
Header Photo: Tim Fitzharris / Minden Pictures | |
© 2011 Conservation International | As one of the founding partners, Conservation International (CI) administers the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the well-being of humanity.
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