Government logo

Governance of protected and conserved

areas in Tanzania

Phase 1 workshop as part of an IUCN-assisted process of assessment and action

to enhance governance for conservation and sustainable livelihoods

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

21-22 March 2017

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Background Tanzania is home to tens of millions of people and is one of the world’s biologically richest countries, boasting hundreds of endemic species and sub-species (primates, antelopes, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and about 11,000 species of plants, many of which endemic) and ecosystems, including 9 major river catchments, mountains, drylands, savannah and coastal and marine areas. These diverse ecosystems support the national economy via agricultural, fishery and livestock production, forest production (including for domestic energy consumption) and the tourism industry (estimated at various times to amount to 10% to 30% of national GDP1).

The system of official protected areas of Tanzania is also vast, ranging from grasslands to the tallest mountain of Africa and including four natural World Heritage Sites: Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Kilimanjaro National Park, Selous Game Reserve and Serengeti National Park. The first official marine protected area of Tanzania, Mafia Island National Park, was declared in 1995. Since then, coverage of protected marine ecosystems has continued to expand.

Tanzania has committed to very ambitious national targets for conservation, and to the Strategic Plan

for Biodiversity 2011-2020, adopted by the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Aichi

Target 11, in particular, guides Tanzania’s efforts to reach these ambitious goals in terrestrial and inland

waters, and in coastal and marine environments, and to achieve both the quantitative and qualitative

elements of the Target. These concern not only coverage and representation of those areas of particular

significance for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, but to ensure that these are

equitably governed and effectively managed, ecologically connected and integrated into the wider

landscapes and seascapes.

Tanzania participated in the Capacity Development Workshop for Africa on Achieving Aichi Biodiversity

Targets 11 and 12 held in Entebbe from 21-24 March 2016, and presented an update on status of

achievement of these targets as well as priority actions for moving forward. The draft table and the

priority actions for Tanzania extracted from the report of the workshop are contained in Annex 2.

Tanzania highlighted the achievement of the coverage targets (35.5% terrestrial, and 13.5% of marine

territorial area) that far exceed the minimum targets established in Aichi Target 11. But the Tanzanian

delegation also drew attention to their findings (amongst others) that:

30% of Important Bird Areas in Tanzania remain unprotected;

ecologically important areas including forest land acting as buffer zones and wildlife corridors

for connectivity lack effective management and legal protection;

areas surrounding marine protected areas were inadequately protected;

approaches for equitable sharing of benefits were not comprehensive, affecting resource

utilization for local communities and opportunities for combatting illegal trade;

there was a need for greater participation and involvement of communities in governance of

protected areas;

1 MNRT (2008). Tanzania Forest Sector Outlook Study: 2008-2018. Dar es Salaam: Forestry and Beekeeping Division

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village land-use plans were not aligned with maintaining the integrity of important corridors;

embracing a broader suite of protected area governance types would provide greater

opportunities to achieve conservation and connectivity at the scale of the wider landscape and

seascape, and also to ensure that the most important biodiversity is protected.

Eight priorities for future action to enhance implementation by 2020 were identified, including:

(i) Establish new marine protected areas in biodiversity hotspots and fragile ecosystems; (ii) Expand Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and Forest Nature Reserves to improve wildlife

corridors connecting PAs; (iii) Promote new protected areas integrating wider land and seascape; (iv) Review policies, plans and strategies aimed at managing terrestrial and marine protected

areas; (v) Strengthen measures to limit illegal exploitation of resources in terrestrial and marine

protected areas; (vi) Promote regional cooperation on protection and conservation of transboundary terrestrial and

marine protected areas; (vii) Promote the ecosystem approach in marine protected areas; (viii) Enhance institutional, research and human capacity on the management of terrestrial and

marine protected areas.

While a variety of government agencies are in charge of governing the system of official protected areas, the overall coverage of protected areas (see Table I) and conserved areas – broadly understood here as areas conserved de facto, with or without the intervention of a conscious managing body – may be substantially larger. Crucially, official protected areas and the various other forms of conserved areas and territories ought to be taken into consideration as a system, as they are mutually supportive and beneficial. For instance, village forest reserves and community conserved wildlife habitats positively interact with state protected areas to provide areas for biological connectivity and wildlife dispersal. While also meeting gaps in protection, these enhanced areas for conservation also provide opportunities for the development of tourism and other livelihoods.

The actions and priorities identified in the CBD workshop are largely aimed at addressing these gaps and

allowing for these opportunities to be developed. One of the most important issues at the heart of this

enhancement concerns rights, governance and equity, still some of the most poorly addressed elements

of Target 11 anywhere in the world. The identification by Tanzania of specific steps to address improved

governance provides an excellent rationale for moving forward with a programme. At the CBD COP 13

in Cancun in December 2016 Decision XIII/2 invites Parties to make concerted efforts to address the

priorities identified in the regional workshops, and also invites IUCN to work with Parties and other

Governments to contribute to the assessment of progress in the implementation of Aichi Biodiversity

Target 11. https://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-13/cop-13-dec-03-en.doc

Governance for conservation of nature Since 2000, international policy for conservation and sustainable development has been extensively

engaging with governance issues. Among the significant examples of such policies are the Durban

Accord and Durban Action Plan developed at the 5th IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC 2003); the CBD

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Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA) (2004), numerous IUCN Resolutions at World

Conservation Congresses (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous

Peoples (2007) and several important decisions of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity,

notably the adoption of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 referred to above and its Aichi

Targets (2010).

From all these policy advances, the following key messages powerfully come to the fore:

Conservation needs the capacities, concerns and engagement of society as a whole, not of expert

professionals or government officials only;

More attention must be paid to the crucial ties between biological and cultural diversity, as well as

the conditions that allow indigenous peoples and local communities to be empowered for

conservation;

Conservation needs equity: a fair sharing of the costs and benefits of conserving biodiversity and

managing natural resources in a sustainable way;

Conservation needs to respect human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights, and do all that is

possible not to harm people and seek a positive impact on livelihoods.

These messages are reaffirmed and strengthen at subsequent COPS in 2012, 2014 and 2016.. Possibly the most important affirmation of the value of governance for conservation, however, came at the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014 in Sydney, Australia, (WPC 2014) where governance diversity, quality and vitality were highlighted as fundamental to conserve the world natural and cultural diversity. At the same Congress, , recommendations were made to further the processes of governance assessment, evaluation and enhancement for every country in the world, and to achieve the ambitions set out be the CBD.

IUCN and the ICCA Global Support Initiative Since WPC 2014, the CBD Secretariat has been instrumental in supporting information sharing and

capacity building processes on governance for conservation in through a suite of regional workshops. It

is clear from this that governance diversity, quality and vitality are far from being everyday terms in

conservation circles or in action on the ground. This is why specific initiatives are continuing to promote

enhanced capacity and action concerning governance issues. One such initiative is the ICCA Global

Support Initiative (GSI) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and

Development (BMZ) and implemented by UNDP GEF SGP, the IUCN Global Protected Areas Programme,

the ICCA Consortium and UNEP-WCMC.

While covering activities in 28 countries, the IUCN component of the work programme will focus on six countries, including Tanzania, Ecuador, Iran, Indonesia, Philippines and Georgia. In close collaboration with the government of Tanzania, civil society organizations, the ICCA Consortium, UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme and the IUCN’s Regional Office in the East and Southern Africa Region, the IUCN is engaged to support a process to better understand the directions that Tanzania wishes to make in fulfilment of its priorities to enhance governance of protected and conserved areas as identified in the CBD Regional Workshop referred to above. Through this work, the partners will plan and organize a process of governance assessment, evaluation and action for its system of protected and conserved areas. While the process is oriented towards recommendations and enhancements at the national level, it is expected that field work may concentrate in one or more pilot regions or sub-regions. The process

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will commence with a planning exercise (the topic of this background paper), that will lead ultimately to a more comprehensive workshop and discussion at a national and even regional scale later in the process. The process will follow the IUCN WCPA Best Practice Guidelines on Governance of Protected Areas--

From understanding to action,2 and it will start with an initial meeting on 21 – 22 March, 2017 in Dar es Salaam. A list of institutions and individuals to be invited has been preliminarily identified and is currently being contacted.

Governance of protected and conserved areas in Tanzania: Phase I Following the methodology illustrated in Part II of the IUCN WCPA Best Practice Guidelines, the national

process contemplates four phases, starting from a preparatory Phase I where the representative of key

national rightsholders and stakeholders meet to discuss and agree upon the process plan and to

establish a small Governance Planning Team to remain in charge of guiding the process and overseeing

the resulting action. Figure 1, reported below, illustrates the four Phases in the process.

Overall objective of Phase 1 Planning Meeting in Dar es Salaam, 21 – 22 March, 2017 To enhance understanding of “governance for conservation” among key national actors in Tanzania and promote the self-identification of a “Governance Planning Team” for guiding the process of governance assessment and action for the system of protected and conserved areas in the country.

2 Borrini-Feyerabend, G., N. Dudley, T. Jaeger, B. Lassen, N. Pathak Broome, A. Phillips and T. Sandwith (2013).

Governance of Protected Areas: From understanding to action. Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series No. 20, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. xvi + 124pp.

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Agenda of the meeting

Time Tuesday March 21 Wednesday March 22

09.00-09.30 Welcome coffee Welcome coffee

09.30-12.30

Tanzanian government + IUCN EARO and the GPAP: welcome and

outline of joint initiatives in Tanzania

IUCN delegate-- Governance for the conservation of nature—basic

concepts and IUCN and CBD recommendations for policy and

practice

Tanzania Government rep.-- Governance of protected areas in

Tanzania

Civil society representative – Governance of conserved areas in

Tanzania

IUCN delegate and IUCN Governance Officer— Assessing and

enhancing the diversity, quality and vitality of governance for

conservation—a process outline

The identified Governance Team meets

and plans Phase II and III of the

assessment and enhancement process.

Lunch

14.00-15.30

Small group work on assessing and enhancing governance of

protected and conserved areas in Tanzania

Coffee

16.00-18.30

Group work results: presentation and discussion

Facilitated identification of the Governance Team for Tanzania

Closing of the meeting

Expected results It is expected that this Phase 1 meeting will result in:

A shared understanding of issues and processes crucial for “governance for conservation” among key actors concerned with the system of protected and conserved areas in Tanzania;

A shared understanding of the phases of a standard process of assessing, evaluating and taking action to enhance governance for a national system of protected and conserved areas (a process of “governance assessment and action” for short).

Self-identification of a “Governance Planning Team” for guiding the process of governance assessment and action in Tanzania;

Identified needs for information, tools and technical expertise to be sought after and gathered in Phase 2 of the process;

Identified key rightsholders and stakeholders in governance of protected and conserved areas in Tanzania to be contacted and informed about the forthcoming larger workshop foreseen in Phase 3.

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Participants

Participants in the Phase I meeting are expected to include key individuals in representation of the

institutions and social actors in charge of governing protected and conserved areas in Tanzania. People

from both government and civil society backgrounds and concerned about terrestrial and marine and

coastal areas will be invited. Academics and professional advisors and facilitators dealing with

governance issues will also be invited to participate in the meeting, as well as data management experts,

and especially managers of spatial data (GIS systems in land use, conservation, administration and

governance issues, etc.). The initial meeting will last one day and will be followed by a smaller planning

event among the individuals that will form Tanzania’s Governance Planning Team.

Contact Doyi Mazenzele, Project Officer, IUCN Tanzania Office House No. 2 Floor 2 Left Wing, Adjacent to French Embassy on Kilimani Street, Kinondoni P. O Box 13513, Dar es Salaam - Tanzania Tel. +255 22 266 9084/5 Mobile: +255 713 110 993 +255 767 701 719 www.iucn.org

References

Governance of Protected Areas: From understanding to action, IUCN Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series No. 20, 2013

A primer on governance for protected and conserved areas, 2014

Recognising and supporting territories and areas conserved by indigenous peoples and local communities: Global overview and national case studies, CBD Technical Series no. 64, 2012

Final report of the CBD Capacity Building Workshop for Enhancing Progress towards achieving Aichi Targets 11 and 12 Final Report: UNEP/CBD/PAWS/2016/1/3

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Annex 1. Organizations governing areas and territories for conservation in Tanzania3 Organisation Role/Mandate Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA)

Parastatal organization responsible for the management of National Parks

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority

Parastatal organization responsible for the management of Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Tanzania Wildlife Authority (TAWA)

Responsible for the management of Game Reserves (GRs), Game Controlled Areas (GCAs) and all wildlife outside protected area boundaries and Wetlands

Wildlife Division (WD) The Wildlife Division facilitates the establishment of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), creates awareness and disseminates information about wildlife management to the village communities in their village lands and wildlife policy.

Communities Manage Community Forests and Forest Reserves through participatory forest management (PFM) – co-management with government; manage wildlife management areas (WMAs)

Village council Manage Village Land Forest Reserves (VLFR) and Beach Management Units (BMU)

District council Manage District Forest Reserves and Coastal Fisheries Management Areas (CFMA)

Tanzania Forest Service (TFS) Executive Agency with the mandate for the management of national forest reserves (natural and plantations), bee reserves and forest and bee resources on general lands.

Private Organizations/ individuals

Some private organizations or individuals run estates managed for conservation benefits, e.g. Grumeti Reserve

Marine Conservation Unit (ZNZ) (Department of Fisheries Development)

Coordinates the management of all marine conservation areas in Zanzibar and promotes coordination with other forms of marine managed areas (MMAs) such as privately managed sanctuaries

Department of Forests and

Non-Renewable Resources

Zanzibar (DFNR)

Manages and conserves 7 parks and reserves in Zanzibar, mostly forest and including mangrove forests.

Marine Parks and Reserves Unit (MPRU)

Semi-autonomous governing body responsible for the formulation of policies, management and administration of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Tanzania. Currently, there are three (3) marine parks and fifteen (15) marine reserves operating under MPRU

3 adapted from IUCN, JRC and AWF, East African Community State of Protected Areas Report, unpublished draft

2017.

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Annex 2.

Tanzania’s inputs into the report of the Capacity Development Workshop for Achieving Aichi

Targets 11 and 12 held in Entebbe, Uganda from 21-24 March 2016.

Extract of UNEP/CBD/PA/WS/2016/1/3 Page 99

DRAFT COUNTRY TABLES OF THE STATUS, GAPS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR AICHI BIODIVERSITY

TARGETS 11 AND 12

32. United Republic of Tanzania Element of

Targets 11 and

12

Status Gaps Opportunities

Quantitative

aspects

A total 77 IBAs

covering 168,000 km2

has been designated

as IBAs sites. Out of

these 65% of the 77

site are in protected

areas.

A total land area of

731,806.24 km2 has

been set aside as

protected areas of

different categories

equivalent to 33.5%

of terrestrial land of

the country.

Tanzania has set

aside a total area of

4,394.74 km2 as

Marine protected

equivalent to 13.5%

of marine territorial

water of the country.

22 IBAs out of 77 IBAs

site which is about 30%

of total IBAs have no

legal protection and

the their habitat are

degraded

Ecological sensitive

areas of 30,000 km2

both in general land

forest land acting as

buffer zone and

Wildlife corridors

connecting PAs lack

management have no

legal protection and

management plans.

Ecological sensitive

areas adjacent MPAs

have no legal

protection.

4 IBAs out of 22 will be given legal status to

increase legal protection of national IBAs.

4 Wetland protected areas as new categories of

PAs will increase PAs coverage and revenue for

PAs system to meet conservation needs.

6 candidate of Forest Nature Reserve within the

proposed 30,000 km2 will improve wildlife

corridors connecting PAs and reduce threats to

endemic species in the regions.

Expanding number of FNR at the tune 30,000 km2

will improve hydrological flow and increase the

carbon stock

Inclusion of ecological sensitive areas adjacent to

marine PAs will secure more breeding sites of fish.

Ecological

representation

Existing national PAs

represent terrestrial

wildlife and forest

parks and reserves

estimated to cover

40% of land area

where terrestrial is

33.5% and marine

PAS is 13.5 %

terrestrial water of

the country.

The existing categories

of PAs lack other form

categories of protected

areas which have the

role too in

conservation and

protection of habitats

for the threatened

Application of other categories of protected areas

including integration of wider range of landscape

to increase PAs connectivity and

New PAs will improve national efforts in climate

change mitigation measures

Improve coverage of PAs beyond 40% in terrestrial

and 10 in marine PAs will improve livelihood of

local communities

10

Areas

Important for

Biodiversity

Areas

Important for

Ecosystem

Services

55 Important areas

within NP and GR

have good protection

status compared to

other categories of

conservation areas.

22 Important areas for

biodiversity area have

no legal protection and

are subjected to

encroachment and

land degradation.

Wetland Regulation formulation will provide

protection of unprotected IBAs and wetland areas.

New wetland PAs will improve connectivity of PAs

as well as improve protection of threatened and

endemic species to the areas.

Inclusion of all 77 will provide more opportunities

to birdwatchers and researchers.

Management

Effectiveness

assessment

Improvement

16 National Parks and

5 Nature reserves

have established in

consultation with key

stakeholders and all

have GMPs that guide

how to management

the areas in

participatory manner.

28 Game Reserves, 38

WMA, 42 GCA and

more than 500 Forest

Reserves operate in

most case without

GMPs due to financial

constrain.

Extending the application of other categories of

PAs and strengthening GMPs practice to all PAs

will provide best possible foundation for achieving

the management objectives that are clearly

stipulated in the document.

Equity

Local communities

living within or

adjacent to GR or

running WMA get

25% of revenue

accrued from

hunting revenue

while NP Board of

Trustee set aside

fund for outreach

programme with the

aim of supporting

local communities in

each park.

Equitable sharing

approach lack proper

modalities to be

applicable to all sectors

extracting resources

surrounding local

people.

Applying equity principle will improve incentive to

the local people in management of PAs and

preventing illegal trade on natural resources.

Connectivity &

Corridors

4 potential Wildlife

corridors are

threatened by

increasing

encroachment and

poaching

4 Wildlife corridors

occur in game

controlled areas where

human activities are

less controlled.

Formulation of Buffer zone Regulation will provide

legal protection of remaining wildlife corridors

Appropriate Land use plan to all villages adjacent

to wildlife corridors will improve the maintenance

of these corridors.

Integration into

wider land and

seascapes

1 National Park has

been designated

extending from

terrestrial to marine

to provide protection

of both ecosystems.

Most PAs were

created with key focus

on wildlife fisheries

and forest related

biodiversity

conservation element.

New categories of PAs integrating wider land and

seascapes will provide more opportunities and

connectivity to the PAs.

Other effective

area based

conservation

National Ant-

poaching Strategy

and awareness

Inadequate fund for

the effective

implementation of the

Fund generated through wildlife related tourism

can support conservation plans

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measures programmes have

developed address

environmental

challenges

strategies.

Threatened

species

assessment

14 wildlife species

have been identified

as threatened

species, 5 species

timber have also

listed and about 9

marine species too

have list as

threatened species

making them to be

registered in CITES.

CITES control illegal

trade not other forms

of threat such as

habitat fragmentation.

National Strategy coped with regional and

International collaborative initiatives can be useful

in eliminating bad practices towards conservation

off threatened species.

Conservation

plans status

National Strategy

to Combat

Poaching and

Illegal Trade of

Wildlife Species.

The strategy focuses on

6 major ecosystems of

PAs holding larger

population of priority

target.

Registering all areas with potential in biodiversity

will extend conservation to PAs.

Page 135

30. United Republic of Tanzania PRIORITY ACTIONS

1) Create new marine protected areas in biodiversity hotspots and fragile ecosystems; 2) Expansion of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and Forest Nature Reserve to improve wildlife

corridors connecting PAs; 3) Promote new protected areas integrating wider land and seascape; 4) Review policies, plans and strategies aimed at managing terrestrial and marine protected areas; 5) Strengthen measures to limit illegal exploitation of resources in terrestrial and marine protected

areas; 6) Promote Regional Cooperation on protection and conservation of trans-boundary terrestrial and

marine protected areas; 7) Promote ecosystem approach in marine protected areas; 8) Enhance institutional, research and human capacity on the management of terrestrial and

marine protected areas