Stakeholders in Botswana aims for FSC

 

Stakeholders in Botswana are under revision of the Interim National Standard (INS) based on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification system. Two workshops were held in Gaborone and Mauni to review the INS that would apply to certify forest biomass in the country. A sixty days' public consultation has been opened for the INS. Should you wish to participate please click here: https://africa.fsc.org/en-cd/sub-regions/southern-africa 

AFRICAN UNION CLIMATE CHANGE AND RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN (2022-2032)

 https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/41959-doc-CC_Strategy_and_Action_Plan_2022-2032_23_06_22_ENGLISH-compressed.pdf

Proving the Heights of Management of Community Forests in Kilwa landscape

 

EFC experts under the support of MCDI, working with communities in Kikole village government and the village natural resources committee of the village, assessed the performance of their village land forest reserve (VLFR), with several parameters and elements that proved to have been improved over the last five years. The communities, through their committee has been pulling resources and planning for management of their VLFR by protecting it from various threats including wildfires and grazing. The return of rare and endangered wildlife like Wild dogs and elephants, which disappeared for quite some time have been a major indicator for the forest healthy. A standardized assessment tool (i.e. METT tool) indicated a much higher percentage management score at baseline in 2022 for many of VLFRs in the Kilwa landscape. Thanks to MCDI and P4F for the support.    

Any caption you would think of?

 

The Year 2100

 

UN REDD Programme

https://twitter.com/i/status/1524676813791932417 

Infographic: Exploiting hydrocarbons of the Earth and Polluting the Air; The verge of it?

Infographic: Imagination of Earth Day in 2035 at Business As Usual scenario

 

Infographic: Keeping the Nature Balanced

 

INFOGRAPHIC: Nature based Solutions & Sustainable Consumption and Productions

 

Assessing management effectiveness for Tanzanian protected areas during and at post pandemic

 Protected Areas (PAs) provide the principal method for conserving areas of significant biodiversity in Tanzania, as set out in the key strategy within the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP), and their creation is explicitly stated in National Forest Policy (1998), Wildlife Policy (2007) and legislation, such as the Tanzania Forest Act (2002) and Wildlife Conservation Act (2013). A network of Nature Forest Reserves (NFRs), has been fully established in Tanzania, and categorized with highest level of protection under the National Forest Act of Tanzania. The designated NFRs are state-owned and are managed by the Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) Agency. No extraction of woody resources, animal species or any sort of consumption is allowed in NFRs and activities are generally restricted to scientific research, education and nature-based tourism. By the end of 2019, a total of seventeen (17) NFRs, had been fully proclamation as NFRs. By 2019, 17  Nature Forest Reserves (NFRs), were proclaimed and assessed on their management effectiveness. These are:

WDPA ID	NAME & DESIGNATION STATUS
555697525	Mt Hanang Forest Nature Reserve
555697527	Amani Forest Nature Reserve
555697531	Kilombero Forest Nature Reserve
555697522	Mwambesi Forest Nature Reserve
555697518	Nilo Forest Nature Reserve
555637955	Minziro Forest Nature Reserve
555697533	Kalambo Forest Nature Reserve
555697524	Rondo Forest Nature Reserve
555697526	Chome Forest Nature Reserve
555697528	Mount Rungwe Forest Nature Reserve
555697520	Uluguru Forest Nature Reserve
555697530	Magamba Forest Nature Reserve
555697519	Mkingu Forest Nature Reserve
555697532	Magombera Forest Nature Reserve
555697529	Uzungwa Scarp Forest Nature Reserve
555697521	Itulu Hill Forest Nature Reserve
555697523	Pindiro Forest Nature Reserve

 The Covid-19 pandemic brought significant challenges to the forest conservation and management, at a scale that was previously not imagined. Revenue streams for nature reserved that relied mainly on conservation trust funds, philanthropy donations, research fees and ecotourism were severely cut throughout 2020.

The current assessment has availed the real situation on the management effectiveness of these PA’s. The incoming results have demonstrated some significant on downward trend on effectiveness of management for some of the PA’s. Although, it was felt at the site level, the impact of Covid 19, was also translated on reduced fund allocations from the central budget system to the PA’s. The financial sustainability indicated huge net deficit as compared to expected budgets and revenue balances. A number of strategies have been proposed at each PA and high level recommendations that may also form part of policy actions for decision makers to taken into actions.

The pandemic recovery in the East Africa sub region: Economic, environment and social learnings in the forestry sector

 Economic terms: Over a year after the global pandemic, there is not much of the specific strategy that has been put forward in the forest sector within the East Africa sub region and its Member States. The forest sector which is largely not given priority in the national resource allocation and budgetary systems were thinly included in the macro plans/strategies at country levels. The forest sector, especially commercial forestry, where timeframes for return on investment are much longer, many investors have the ability to hold the forest assets and wait for relatively longer time for economic recuperation. Attracting private investment in the forest sector should be the driver of sustainable future growth, as the previous year has shown economic downfall in all sectors including the forest sector.

Environment terms: The initial assessment identified several environmental impacts that happened in due course of the pandemic. Many of the environmental impacts happened even before the pandemic, but they have been very much compounded with Covid 19. Member States had put forward commitments on forest restorations with more than 16 million hectares of forests. These commitments will need to be pursued through aggressive tree planting campaigns and massive land management to sustain ecological systems and their functionality that supports agriculture and tourisms in all Member States.     

Social terms: Forestry sector and its importance to the nearly 70% of the population in the East Africa sub region is still a major sector and all Member States recognize forestry as a key development sector.  Many of the communities, depend on the sector for uplifting them from resource poverty especially energy (i.e. charcoal, fuel wood), food, wood (i.e. timber, building poles, withies, carvings etc.), and non-wood (indigenous wild fruits, wild vegetables, herbal medicine). The functioning of the forests and their ecosystem services will continue to support agriculture and tourism post pandemic and also building back for countries’ economies will rely on significant environmental, social and cultural values of forests.