Conservation and Management of the Eastern Arc Mountain Forests

The primary objective of GEF support is to bring about the long-term sustainable implementation and financing of forest biodiversity conservation and community-based conservation and sustainable development activities in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountain forests. GEF support responds to the increasing threats to the forests at a time when both local communities and more distant populations are increasingly dependent on them for their livelihoods as well as their water and energy potential. GEF support, which is integrated into the implementation of the Tanzania National Forest Program, will focus on protection of forests which are areas of exceptionally high biodiversity and species endemism. The approach toward GEF support is based on the outcomes of PDF/A and B processes, which identified needs, strategies, and target areas for GEF funded incremental action to preserve biodiversity. GEF support is fully blended into the proposed World Bank Forest Conservation and Management Project, a $28.75 million initiative to support and strengthen processes of institutional reform, to support community-based forest and woodland protection and management, to improve forest governance, and to more fully involve the private sector in the management of industrial plantations. The FCMP is the primary financial mechanism which has been mobilized for implementation of the National Forest Program.Thes outputs of the project form an integrated package of strategies, initiatives, and actions intended to provide global benefits. The approaches which will be supported, and which will be key to successful implementation are oriented toward bringing about closer collaboration and cooperation between the central government and regional and district administrations as well as local communities; supporting biodiversity research better to understand the extent and value of globally significant assets, as well as their relationship to human populations also dependent upon them; and support for local community action in an effort to address poverty issues and involve communities in conservation efforts.GEF support will complement, benefit from, and contribute to other ongoing and planned donor-financed activities in the Eastern Arc Mountains. Provisions will be made to ensure close collaboration and integration of the different activities underway and planned for the region.