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. 

Covid 19: the pandemic that raised the bar on environmental challenges in the East Africa sub region

 

The East Africa sub region had observed increased direct environmental impacts, which have been accelerated as a result of the pandemic. Instituted border closure between countries in the sub region had a devastating impact on cross border trade and in a way caused a spike in illegal timber trade through porous border crossings. There was inadequate collaboration between forest agencies and inadequate border patrols were conducted during the pandemic. For instance, the legal trade between Kenya and Tanzania was stalled as no trucks were allowed to enter the border in both countries. There were also other negative forces to the environment that preceded Covid-19 such as climate-induced extreme weather events like floods in Kenya, swarms of locusts that invaded northern Kenya and large parts of Uganda and Southern Sudan, increased incidents of forest fires, and damage by pests and diseases. The environmental impact was huge due to low adaptation capabilities of the EAC member states and similarly at community level.

Forest protections in Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were impacted as a result of lockdown such that inadequate forest governance including surveillance activities were conducted by forest staff and guards in state managed reserves. Silvicultural operations such as thinning and pruning in plantations were suspended and deprioritized due to social distancing. Some large private sector companies and medium landholders engaged forest workers in small groups to keep the social distance as advised by the health authorities. However, in some countries like Tanzania and Burundi, which did not undertake total lockdown; small to medium landholding operations were not affected directly by operational aspects but rather by declined demand due the pandemic, hence forced to downsize their operations. Many of the field operations such as tree planting and silvicultural activities that include thinning, pruning, de-branching were in operation although with observance of social distancing.

It was observed and reported in some countries in the East Africa, illegal harvesting activities were on rise by 20% from the usual reported number of incidents, and all were associated with less surveillance and patrol activities in the protected areas. The pandemic affected much of the afforestation and planting activities.  The pandemic happened at the peak planting season and only 80 percent of the  planted targets were reached and in late season times, and therefore missing the country’s long term ambitious target of planting for restorations per their annual targets.