DAY 12: THE CEPF ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP BEGINS
After a couple of days off, we were back on the job yesterday, returning to Dar es Salaam for today’s start of the CEPF Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests Assessment Workshop.
The Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG), as a member of the CEPF coordination unit for Tanzania and Kenya, organized the workshop.
Following a festive entrance complete with music and clapping, the minister of natural resources and tourism for Tanzania, the Hon. Shamsa V. Mwangunga, officially opened the workshop today. She commended the grantees for their hard work in conservation and ecotourism activities, and spoke about the necessity of conserving the region’s forests.
“Globally, these forests are of importance for their biological values and store significant amounts of carbon, thus acting as a buffer against global warming and climate change,” she said. “At a national level, these forests play an important role as a source of water to millions of Tanzanians, water for the environment and for the hydropower stations that generate over 50 percent of the electricity produced in the country.”
She commended the achievements made during the CEPF investment period, such as helping communities near the forests to develop sustainable livelihoods; making important steps towards improving forest connectivity, particularly around the Udzungwa Mountains; and dramatically improving knowledge of the hotspots, including the discovery of new vertebrate species.
The minister also said that CEPF’s cross-border approach brought NGOs and forest departments in Kenya and Tanzania into closer cooperation.
“We cannot be complacent. The challenge ahead remains enormous,” she said. “Whilst CEPF’s investment has helped to attain a certain level of conservation, we still have a long way to go.”
Following the minister’s remarks, Samson Njihia of the Kenya Forest Service suggested that the minister meet with her Kenyan counterpart to further discuss conservation issues, and also that she should look at the level of funding for forestry, since it is such a crucial issue.
Felician Kilahama, director of forestry and beekeeping for Tanzania, served as session chair. He welcomed the nearly 100 participants and reminded them that the workshop is not just about assessing work to date, but also should focus on the future, and how to maintain the conservation gains made through five years of CEPF investment in the Eastern Arc and Coastal Forests.
CEPF Grant Director John Watkin provided an overview of the five-year investment and the work it supported. A total of 103 grants were issued, addressing needs such as developing the capacity of institutions and residents of the region to undertake conservation efforts; raising public awareness and improving education on environmental issues; supporting a range of research related to conservation; helping communities develop conservation-friendly livelihoods; creating or improving management of protected areas; and ecological monitoring. CEPF also supported site improvement actions, such as enrichment planting, as well as coordination among various projects.
Four NGOs served as CEPF’s coordination unit in the region—TFCG, the Africa Secretariat of BirdLife International, the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology, and the East Africa Regional Programme Office of WWF. They were responsible for working with CEPF and grantees in the region to achieve the conservation outcomes targeted by CEPF.
- See projects supported by CEPF in the region
- Read project final reports for the region
Some achievements highlighted include:
• The addition of 158,626 hectares to the protected area network with gazettement of the Kilombero and Uluguru nature reserves
• Government interest in gazetting Nilo Nature Reserve (6,025 hectares) and Mngeta corridor (between Kilombero Nature Reserve & Udzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve).
• Discovery of at least 29 new vertebrate species
• Support of 26 Kenyan and Tanzanian students to pursue their master’s or doctoral degrees through locally administered small grants.
• Provision of 145 community micro grants (51 to Kenya and 94 to Tanzania) for livelihood improvement and conservation action.
• $15,000 generated in direct revenues from some of the income-generating activities resulting from livelihood projects
• At least $3,728,338 in additional funds leveraged by 33 approved projects
• Production of a map of forest change in the region from 1990 to 2000, with updates in the works to map change through 2007.
The morning also marked the premiere of a documentary film, “Cry of the Forest,” made by Lars Johansson with support from the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group, a CEPF coordinating unit member and organizer of the assessment workshop. The film further explored conservation achievements in Kenya and Tanzania that were backed by CEPF, spotlighting projects in the Taita Hills area of Kenya and in the Udzungwa Mountains.
View "Cry of the Forest" video.
ANALYZING THE DRAFT ASSESSMENT REPORT
In the afternoon, workshop participants met in small groups, according to their areas of expertise, to analyze specific strategic targets in a draft assessment report, and consider whether additions or other changes were needed. They then worked up presentations on their findings to be given the next day. This stretched well into the evening with some groups putting in a very long day’s work before being rewarded by the workshop reception and poster session.
Like many participants, I suspect, I went to bed at my earliest opportunity after a long day.
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