Conservation and Management of the Eastern Arc Mountain Forests (CMEAMF)
The Conservation and Management of the Eastern Arc Mountain Forests (CMEAMF) project is a collaboration between government departments and NGO’s. CMEAMF aims to improve the prospects for long term sustainable conservation of the globally important forests of the Eastern Arc. It is coordinated by the Government of TanzaniaForestry and Beekeeping Division (FBD) in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, with technical inputs from two NGOs - CARE and Tanzania Forest ConservationGroup.
(above image: Leptopelis Flavomaculatus - A tree frog found in many of the Eastern Arc Mountain Forests.
The project will run for 5 years (2004-2008) and is part of a larger funding programme to assist FBD with the better management of its forest resources. CMEAMF is funded by the Global Environment Facility through UNDP.
The Project has two components: the Eastern Arc Strategy and the Uluguru Component and is closely linked with the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund.
CMEAMF Project Aim
"To develop and implement conservation strategies that ensure the sustainable conservation of the Eastern Arc mountains, both for the conservation of forests and biodiversity, but also to ensure the livelihoods of more than a million people living on the mountains and the millions more who are dependant on the water and power coming from these areas".
Eastern Arc Strategy
The project is responsible for developing a conservation strategy for the Eastern Arc Mountains to include the following elements:
Education - a broad education programme that gives stakeholders the information to make decisions on the use of forest resources. Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) has developed an Information Education and Communication Strategy.
Improved Protection- of forest reserves within the Eastern Arc mountains and recognition of forest reserves as protected areas for biodiversity conservation.
Sustainable financing - for managing the reserve network and improvement in livelihoods of forest-adjacent communities, including support to EAMCEF.
Monitoring - of forest and biodiversity resources, ecological services provided to people (water and power supply), and livelihoods of local people. CARE is responsible for developing a socio-economic monitoring strategy.
The Eastern Arc strategy is working in collaboration with Districts and civil society organisations throughout the Eastern Arc.
The Uluguru Component
The Uluguru Mountains are one of the most important of all the Eastern Arc Mountain blocks for water and biodiversity. These mountains supply water to Dar es Salaam and Morogoro, and are also among the top three sites in the Arc for protecting endemic and threatened species of animals and plants.
The Uluguru component aims to test ideas and methods for ensuring sustainable conservation looking, in particular, at the people-forest interface. It also provides a testing ground for the Eastern Arc conservation strategy. The Uluguru component is being led by CARE working with TFCG, WCST and UMADEP.
History of the development of the Project “Conservation and Management of the Eastern Arc Mountain Forests”
The “Conservation and Management of the Eastern Arc Mountain Forests” (CMEAMF) Project (GEF-UNDP URT/01/32) has its roots in the 1997 International Conference on the Eastern Arc Mountains, organised by TAFORI in Morogoro. Following the recommendations from that conference the Forest and Beekeeping Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (FBD) initiated the process of developing a full project proposal for the GEF. PDF Block A and Block B processes were completed. The PDF B had two components; one through the World Bank for an endowment trust fund and the second through UNDP, coordinated by CARE Tanzania for the FBD. This resulted in the development of two components: one, a site-based project in the Uluguru Mountains ($2.86 million) and the second, a holistic conservation strategy for the entire Eastern Arc Mountains ($2.14 million). These two components comprise the current project “Conservation and Management of the Eastern Arc Mountain Forests” (CMEAMF), which is being implemented with funding from the GEF channeled through the UNDP. The Project headquarters is in Morogoro.
The CMEAMF project is a component of a $12 million GEF package for Tanzania that includes both UNDP and World Bank GEF funds, with counterpart and linked funding from DANIDA through the “Capacity Building for WCST-Birdlife, Tanzania: Uluguru Mountains Project component” (DOF-WCST), the Participatory Forest Management component of the Tanzania Forest Conservation and Management Project (TFCMP), and the NORAD-funded Catchment Forest Project. The GEF support includes the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund, which is also based in Morogoro. The Endowment Fund contains $7 million GEF/World Bank funds and $2 million contributed by Government of the United Republic of Tanzania using World Bank IDA funds. The GEF support has been fully integrated into the TFCMP, which is a $50.1 million initiative in total (this includes the US$ 31.1 million in IDA financing). The TFCMP supports: the processes of institutional reform for the FBD; community-based forest and woodland protection and management; improved forest governance; and increased involvement of the private sector in the management of industrial plantations. The TFCMP is the primary financial mechanism that has been mobilized for implementation of the National Forest Program (NFP).
