Program for Consolidation

Eastern Arc Mountains & Coastal Forests

January 2011

The Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya (EACF) comprise two distinct, but intrinsically linked habitats that follow the East African coast from the Somali to the Mozambican borders and stretch approximately 350 kilometers inland. This area was described as one of the original 25 biodiversity hotspots in 2000. However, in 2005, as additional data became available, the hotspots were reappraised. Based upon the results of this analysis, these habitats were divided between two newly identified hotspots. The Eastern Arc Mountain Forests and Coastal Forests now comprise part of the larger Eastern Afromontane, and Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa biodiversity hotspots, respectively.

The chain of Eastern Arc Mountains starts in the Taita Hills in southern Kenya and extends south to the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania. These ancient mountains are famous as the center of endemism of the African violet (Saintpaulia spp.). Almost 40 percent of the approximately 2,000 vascular plants found here are endemic. They are located in nearly all of the types of altitudinal forests, as well as in intervening habitats such as rocky outcrops, heathland, montane grasslands, and wetlands. Of those studied, non-vascular plants also show significant endemism. Predictably, there is a direct correlation between the area of forest blocks and species richness.

The coastal forests of Tanzania and Kenya fall within the coastal forests ecoregion that is located along the coast and includes the islands of Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba). This ecoregion comprises a mosaic of forest patches and intervening habitats. Closed canopy forest represents only one percent of the area but contains at least 400 endemic plants out of the 3,000 plant species identified from coastal forests. The remaining 99 percent of the area is a heterogeneous mix including savanna woodlands, bushlands, thickets, and farmland that contains more than 500 endemic plant species.

The most prevalent threat to the remaining forests is habitat destruction for agricultural expansion and timber extraction, both legal and illegal. Forests are also the main source of fuelwood and charcoal for the majority of the population, placing considerable pressure on the natural resources. Combined, these pressures have resulted in the fragmentation and loss of remaining habitats for many known (and unknown) globally threatened species.

The root causes of these threats are many. Burgeoning human population exerting pressure on forest resources and land, poverty leading to unsustainable use of forest resources, lack of strategic management and inadequate implementation and action plans, under-resourced government institutions, a legacy of outdated environmental policies and legislation, forest governance shortfalls, and lack of political will and public awareness all combine to undervalue forests and the ecosystem services that they provide.

Since 2004, the CEPF investment in this region focused on improving human wellbeing and scientific knowledge and reducing the extinction risk for 333 globally threatened species through improved protection for the sites where these species are found. The CEPF niche sought to improve livelihoods for communities living around five priority sites (Lower Tana River Forests, Taita Hills, East Usambaras/Tanga, Udzungwa Mountains and Jozani Forest) and raise awareness locally and nationally of the importance of the ecosystem services and reducing threats to biodiversity.

Nature-based livelihood activities that were established during the initial CEPF funding included improved honey production, extracting essential oils from local trees and herbs, soap and shampoo production, pine resin harvesting for turpentine, mushroom production and butterfly farming. Both Tanzania and Kenya are net importers of honey with local production failing to meet demand for this culturally important non timber forest product.

One of the essential oils extracted from the blue basil plant Ocimum kilimandscharicum lead to the development and commercialization of an aromotherapeutic ointment and balm (Naturub) based upon the indigenous knowledge and traditional use of this plant for its medicinal and mosquito repellent properties. This product was pioneered by the Muliro Framers Group neighboring Kakamega Forest in western Kenya but under CEPF has been expanded to communities around the East Usambara Mountains, Tanga region, Tanzania providing a valuable second or third string to their rural economy. This product is marketed through a national chain of supermarkets in Kenya and was gaining a foothold in Tanzania. In addition, communities were given assistance to establish tree lots to reduce their impacts on the natural forests but also to sell as building poles.

The key to the success of these livelihood activities in affecting behavior change is the direct link between maintaining a healthy forest and the financial benefits realized. This link is especially true with regards to butterfly farming where the food plants for the commercially attractive species can only be sourced from pristine forests. During the initial investment butterfly farming was expanded in Amani Nature Reserve and introduced in the Taita Hills. The farmers neighboring Amani Nature Reserve who $90,000 in 2009 from the sale of pupae to "flight houses” in Europe and USA through both the already established Kipepeo and Amani Butterfly Project on-line markets.

During the five-year CEPF investment US$7 million was allocated to 103 projects led by local and international civil society organizations under five strategic directions. These projects leveraged an additional US$5,379,585.

Achievements: The results of the initial CEPF investment from 2004 to 2009 that are most relevant to the consolidation phase are the following:

• The Kilombero and Uluguru nature reserves were gazetted by Tanzania’s Forestry and Beekeeping Division, resulting in 158,626 hectares being added to Tanzania’s protected areas network.
  
  
• Data gathered by CEPF provided the basis for an application to the World Heritage Convention for nine sites in the Tanzanian Eastern Arc, forming a serial site covering the majority of the forest biodiversity values.
  
  
• The process to gazette Magombero Forest as part of the Selous Game Reserve has been advanced with Illovo Sugar Company and the Wildlife Division of Tanzania, with the only remaining issue to be solved being the allocation of alternative land to replace that agreed to be given up by Illovo.
  
  
• A forest corridor in the East Usambara Mountains was gazetted as the 968 ha Derema Forest Reserve, linking Amani Nature Reserve to the forests further north.
  
  
• Building on experience from gazetting the Derema Forest Reserve the 106 ha Bunduki Gap forest corridor was included in the gazettement of the Uluguru Nature Reserve to cover the forests of the Uluguru Mountains.
  
  
• Key corridors between the Udzungwa Mountains National Park and the Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve and the Selous Game Reserve have been identified, and initial steps made with government to start planning how they might be conserved.
  
  
• Forest plot data gathered during biological surveys funded by CEPF, and forest change analyses for the Eastern Arc and coastal forests have been used directly in Tanzania government’s Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus carbon enhancement (REDD+) readiness work, and in proposals to World Bank, UN-REDD and Norway support to REDD in Tanzania.
  
  
• Projects emphasizing the direct link between a healthy forest and economic returns have resulted in a behavior change toward forest resources in priority areas in Tanzania and Kenya.¹
  
  
• A new teachers' resource manual for primary schools in Tanzania was developed, and has been ratified by the Ministry of Education. This together with other tools and materials are contributing to environmental communication vital for awareness, education and capacity building.
  
  
• Global, national and local awareness about forest conservation has been increased through a BBC World documentary, the establishment of a coastal forest website, world environment day events involving thousands of people including local artists living in communities close to the forests, and the distribution of printed materials on forest values, natural resource policies and linkages with climate change.
  
  

Justification for consolidation:
In the five priority sites listed above (Lower Tana River Forests, Taita Hills, East Usambaras/Tanga, Udzungwa Mountains and Jozani Forest), CEPF’s original investment took a two pronged approach: 1) promoting alternative nature-based livelihood activities amongst communities as an entry point to raise awareness of the importance of these forests and 2) working with the relevant authorities to secure the gazettment of these key areas. Combined, these approaches have led to shifts in behavior away from destructive actions to sustainable practices at the local scale as well as a number of forests being gazetted as protected areas. Additional funding is needed to ensure that these gains are sustained into the future, and to stimulate local civil society to take advantage of up-coming opportunities in the context of climate change, including and especially Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus carbon enhancement (REDD+) recently supported by the Norwegian Government in Tanzania. Capturing such opportunities will increase the likelihood that CEPF’s achievements will be secured well beyond the consolidation phase.

To this end an allocation of $1,740,000 to be implemented over three years is requested. The mainstay of this program is to further local communities’ involvement in increasing the level of connectivity between fragments of forest of these key areas by providing realistic economic alternatives through nature-based livelihood activities and forging links with new markets and up coming opportunities. The ultimate goal of these approaches is to ensure financial stability of these activities which are vital to sustain ecosystem services and conserve endangered species. In addition, the original investment placed significant emphasis on undertaking biodiversity surveys, improving data management as well as making these data available to inform awareness and policy decisions. These aspects are reflected in the consolidation investment.

The proposed grants in this consolidation program will be implemented by the four conservation organizations that comprised the EACF Coordination Unit which included icipe, BirdLife International and their national partners in Tanzania and Kenya, World Wide Fund for Nature and the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group. These organizations have proven themselves to be capable and cost effective. Many of the proposed activities will be undertaken in partnership with community-based organizations and local groups active in CEPF’s first phase. They were participants in the Final Assessment Workshop in February 2009 that endorsed the plans for this consolidation program

The proposed consolidation activities integrate with the strategic programs of the Environment Donor Coordination Group in Kenya and the Tanzania Development Partners Group, and are endorsed by the Kenya Forest Service and the Tanzanian Forestry and Beekeeping Division (FBD), as it transitions to the newly created Tanzania Forest Service. Finally, the activities detailed in this consolidation paper have been refined by members of the Coordination Unit to integrate with the development of the CEPF ecosystem profile for the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot that is being undertaken in 2011 spearheaded by BirdLife International’s Africa Secretariat.

Four investment priorities have been developed in consultation with the EACF Coordination Unit and other grantees in Tanzania and Kenya.

1. Ensure financial sustainability of livelihood initiatives for people residing next to priority forests. This investment priority will reinforce the nature-based income generating activities pioneered during the original CEPF investment and assist these to become sustainable through improving the quality and diversity of these products and forging links with existing and new markets. Examples of these projects include a) the CARE/Wildlife Conservation Society-supported savings and credits scheme around the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park; b) the icipe commercial insect and bioprospecting projects on the Taita Hills and the East Usambaras (with Tanzania Forest Conservation Group); c) the CARE-supported savings and credit scheme in the Bunduki Gap in the Uluguru Mountains; d) the WWF supported income generating activities around Magombera forest and the Udzungwa Mountains National Park in the Udzungwa Mountains; and for other nature-based enterprises in the region such as the Mombasa butterfly exhibit which offers significant marketing opportunities.
   
   Despite the current investments by other donors, there is no current funding in place to support development of these market linkages and to increase in the sale of the nature-based products. Although many communities have been trained to produce to a certain quality, there is in some cases a time lag between training farmers and completion of the production centers, and a need to train to reach a production volume above that which is consumed locally. CEPF support will ensure that the most strategic and promising livelihood initiatives developed under CEPF phase 1 that have demonstrated the commercial potential to become self-sustaining by the end of the consolidation phase.
   
   Support for initiatives to improve livelihoods is particularly important for increasing connectivity because the restoration of forest corridors and stepping stones can lead to loss of livelihood options for the affected communities. Although other funding opportunities may arise for these initiatives, the delays involved and the risks that proposals may not succeed will put CEPF’s phase 1 and other livelihood investments at risk through a loss of momentum.
   
   
2. Consolidate the gains in increasing forest connectivity in critical parts of the EACF. CEPF funding has assisted the gazettement of the forest corridors in the East Usambara Mountains (Derema) and Uluguru (Bunduki), and the identification of further key corridors in Udzungwa Mountains (Mngeta), Dakatcha Woodlands and Taita Hills (various). It has also helped with gazettement processes of reserves at Magombera – with the aim of including this small, but vitally important, forest patch within the Selous Game Reserve. Under consolidation CEPF’s funds will ensure that: a) alternative land promised as part of the compensation agreements to the 1,128 farmers affected by the Derema compensation area is provided mitigating possible poverty; b) in conjunction with the local communities, identify and agree to the boundaries of the proposed Mngeta corridor reserve in the Udzungwa Mountains and a boundary map, and finalize the dossier for the proposed reserve with the Survey and Mapping Unit of the Forestry and Beekeeping Division for final gazettement; and c) communities in the Taita Hills are helped to replace exotic conifer plantations with native species to create forested stepping stones and corridors between natural forest patches.
   
   Restoration of connectivity is the most critical conservation activity in the Eastern Arc. There has already been considerable investment, by CEPF and other partners, especially in Derema where efforts have succeeded in completing payments for compensation, and gazetting the reserve. A particularly urgent issue concerns the issue of land under the Relocation Action Plan for Derema. About 921 hectares of farmland have been surveyed and demarcated by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development. This process has not been concluded and hence this jeopardizes the efforts that have been made to gazette Derema. The work in this area provides a model for similar efforts in the Udzungwa Mountains, while the stepping stone approach in the Taita Hills rests on a solid scientific basis and needs to be supported through to completion.
   
   
3. Consolidate communication networks, raise awareness and solidify the education achievements for the long-term benefit of civil society. From a baseline of limited knowledge and poor access to relevant, up-to-date data, significant progress was made during the original CEPF investment to develop databases, share information and use these to raise awareness of the conservation needs in the Eastern Arc and Coastal Forests. This approach took advantage of vastly improved internet speeds and public access and sought to increasing transparency and increasing data availability has targeted all levels of civil society from schools, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia and the policy realm. This broad approach was highlighted as an important contribution by the CEPF Project Steering Committee that provided oversight of CEPF’s investment and was chaired jointly by the Kenya Forest Service and the Tanzanian Division of Forestry and Beekeeping.
   
   For these efforts to realize a long-term, sustainable benefit there is a need to consolidate these networks and reinforce learning initiatives with a view to making all data as accessible as possible through a variety of media relevant to the respective tiers of society. This investment priority includes: a) disseminating and the Teacher’s Resource Manual throughout the region b) updating websites describing the coastal forests ecoregion and Eastern Arc Mountains to include all relevant materials that have been produced in recent years; c) publishing four final issues of the The Arc Journal to fully capture summary results of the CEPF investment accompanied by 2 issues of Komba in Swahili for children; d) sharing widely the results of the CEPF-financed research with governments, academic institutions, communities and other stakeholders by distributing key reports, mass media and outreach materials; e) publishing another two special issues of the Journal of East African Natural History to capture the scientific results of the projects work that remains unpublished; f) undertaking a follow up survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices in the Eastern Arc region as a repeat of the baseline undertaken in 2004/05; and g) supporting sustainable awareness activities at the Mombasa butterfly exhibit.
   
   CEPF’s awareness and education projects were outstanding achievements in the first phase. The Arc Journal provided critical information on CEPF activities and the Journal of East African Natural History broke through the online barrier with CEPF funding. Despite these successes, awareness activities remain hard to fund and impacts diminish with time unless they are reinforced by renewed investment. Activity a) will ensure that critical up-to-date information on the region remains accessible. Activities b), c) and d) will enable CEPF investments to be comprehensively captured in print and electronic format. Activity e) will allow the impacts of awareness and education to be assessed against a baseline and will help to justify further funding from other donors, and activity f) offers a rare opportunity for genuinely sustainable awareness raising for the region, supported by gate fees at the butterfly exhibit.
   
   Only by adopting a comprehensive and combined effort can all relevant data be brought together and incorporated into the nomination of the Eastern Arc Mountains as a cluster site for submission to UNESCO. It is hoped that this can be completed and submitted for consideration by UNESCO in 2011.
   
   
4. Availing biological and forest change data to leverage REDD+ and REDD Readiness for the EACF. Tanzania has received assistance from the Norwegian government to prepare for the REDD+ market, however, in order for the remaining forests to receive appropriate relevant levels of compensation under this scheme the most up-to-date information need to be available. Not least are the most accurate measurements of the remaining forest and the rates of change in forest cover.
   
   Under the first investment CEPF generated a significant amount of data that has served to improve the overall understanding of the importance of the services provided by the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests. At the same time, relevant architecture was put in place to ensure all existing biological and social data are available to a broad audience. However, a lot of new data has been gathered during the CEPF grant period that is only now becoming available, and this needs to be added to the World Biodiversity Database (WBDB) that BirdLife maintains as well as the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). Moreover, there is a strong need to make the data available to governments (as agreed under existing MOUs) through status and trends reports and peer-reviewed journal articles, and for some of it to be made available to the world through the web. Linkages with other national and international monitoring systems in the region also need to be reinforced and institutionalized, especially in the context of ensuring biodiversity and livelihood co-benefits under REDD+. The forest change analyses are particularly important in this context and need to be updated to 2010.
   A Darwin Initiative concept that was submitted by BirdLife in October 2010 to support REDD+-linked biodiversity monitoring in Kenya and Tanzania did not make it to Stage 2. It was subsequently agreed at a KFS/WB REDD+ workshop that BirdLife and Nature Kenya will lead on biodiversity monitoring, but no funding is currently available and past experience has shown that it is extremely difficult to fund such projects. It is anticipated from early discussions that the Kenyan Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Readiness Preparation Proposal FCPF RPP) will focus on carbon aspects (especially carbon monitoring, governance and institutional mechanisms) rather than on co-benefits. CEPF therefore has the opportunity to become positively involved with the REDD process in the region by building on its biodiversity and forest change monitoring. These activities have given CEPF a strong head start in the region that needs to be exploited if the region’s forests are to benefit from REDD+.

Table 1. Investment Priorities & Activities

Investment priority 1:  Ensure financial sustainability of livelihood initiatives for people residing next to priority forests.
Implementing partners: icipe (lead implementer, $140,000), CARE ($50,000 via sub-grant); WWF ($160,000); NMK ($50,000).
Potential leverage: REDD through NORAD, Ford Foundation, GEF
Outcome 1: Consolidate and make sustainable alternative nature-based livelihood support programs.
Activity	CEPF budget: US$ 400,000
Promote sustainability of alternative nature-based livelihoods. Establish market links between the butterfly farming in the Taita Hills and East Usambara Mountains and the Mombasa Butterfly exhibit which will come on stream in 2011. Support the marketing and diversified production of other goods produced by local communities, including Nature Rub produced from Ocimum in the East Usambaras and items produced by the Kwale Community Enterprises (e.g. cosmetics and honey). Establish market linkages for community products through the gift shop at the Mombasa butterfly exhibit that is being established next to Fort Jesus - a prime tourist attraction receiving 100,000 visitors per annum as a strategic local outlet for these products. Replicate and expand the Savings and Credits Schemes and alternative income generating activities as piloted by CARE in the Ulugurus amongst communities surrounding the Udzungwa National Park.
Investment priority 2:  Consolidate the gains in increasing forest connectivity in critical parts of the EACF.
Implementing partners: WWF (lead implementer, $300,000); WCST ($40,000 via sub-grant); Nature Kenya and Taita Taveta Wildlife Forum ($200,000 via sub-grants).
Potential leverage: UNEP
Outcome 2: Restore forest connectivity in critical areas through completion of the processes initiated under CEPF phase 1 investment.
Activity	CEPF budget $ 540,000
Consolidate the gazettment and protected area expansion initiatives already advanced of the following fragmented forests: In Tanzania Derema land reallocation scheme (East Usambara) Bunduki Gap (Ulugurus) Mngeta (Udzungwa) Magombera (lowland Udzungwa) In Kenya Taita (Taita Hills) Dakatcha woodlands in Kenya
Investment priority 3:  Consolidate communication networks, raise awareness and solidify the education achievements for the long-term benefit of civil society.
Implementing partners: Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (lead implementer, $230,000), Nature Kenya ($80,000 via sub-grant); WWF ($50,000).
Potential leverage: UN REDD program in Tanzania.
Outcome 3: Raise awareness of the importance of the Eastern Arc and Coastal forests region and measure the impacts of past work.
Activity	CEPF budget $ 410,000
Update and reinforce the mechanisms that have been put in place to ensure these data are available to a broad audience, and that decision makers have access to up-to-date information including the Coastal Forests and Eastern Arc Mountain websites. Produce four thematic issues of The Arc Journal that targets civil society organizations, government departments and community conservation initiatives accompanied by 2 issues of Komba in Swahili for children. Publish two special issues of the JEANHS to fully capture the biodiversity survey and conservation biology results emanating from the initial CEPF projects, availing these data as primary literature in academic and research realms but also to influence the political manifesto. Support the development of appropriate awareness activities at the Mombasa butterfly exhibit to inform tourists and the general public of the importance of these remaining forest fragments. Finalize the Eastern Arc World Heritage proposal and submit this to UNESCO for processing these Nature Reserves as a Cluster World Heritage Site.
Investment priority 4:  Availing biological and forest change data to leverage REDD+ and REDD Readiness for the EACF.
Implementing partners: BirdLife (lead implementer, $260,000), Tanzania Forest Conservation Group ($30,000 via sub-grant); Conservation International ($100,000).
Outcome 4: Update available biological and social data on the region and make it available to governments and current and prospective donors via the web.
Activity	CEPF budget $ 390,000
Ensure that up-to-date data are available through relevant portals for data on, species, habitats, protected areas, management effectiveness, forest change maps, threats and social values for the Eastern Arc and Coastal Forests. These data will assist in defining the forest carbon and degradation baselines for REDD+ that can be compared with biodiversity and livelihood data. Produce Annual Status Reports that distill these data for the region and provide much needed assistance to government agencies to advise decision makers.
	Total consolidation: $ 1,740,000

Donor Collaboration: During the consolidation phase, collaboration with a variety of donors will be a pursued. Key ongoing investments in the next five years include UN REDD in Tanzania ($4.28 million) and the Norwegian REDD+ pilot projects in Tanzania (including TFCG community forests project ($5 million) and WWF carbon plots /mapping project ($1.97 million), GEF Coastal Forests Project in Tanzania ($3.55 million), GEF Coastal Forests Project in Kenya ($0.88 million), World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership ($0.2 million in Kenya), Valuing the Arc in Tanzania ($200,000 remaining), Finnish Government Climate Change/Ecosystem Services ($1 million for Eastern Arc component), and the USAID Mombasa Butterfly Exhibit ($0.7 million). From the outset CEPF has made great effort to integrate with the Environment Donor Coordination Group in Kenya and the Tanzania Development Partners Group, and during the consolidation program these efforts will continue.

Monitoring Plan: CEPF will monitor the performance of its grantees in achieving a core set of consolidation targets as outlined below through the review of programmatic and financial progress reports and site visits to each project. The specific targets presented in Table 2 have been selected based on their relevance from the CEPF Global Results Framework. Targets have also been developed based on the unique aspects of this consolidation plan.