The project is addressing social vulnerabilities such as food insecurity, access to resources, water use conflict, human wildlife conflict, pastoralist migration, and land-use conflicts
to support restoration of ecosystem services and contribute to improvement of Tanzania’s legal and development policy framework as it addresses a core issue that affects restoration
of ecosystem services.
Tanzania faces several challenges related to weak institutional, financial, and poor access to appropriate technologies: weak climate knowledge management, inadequate participation of key stakeholders, and low public awareness to support effective implementation of ecosystem-based adaptations. Therefore, this project is supporting strengthening ecosystems that deliver critical services to communities to enhance community resilience. A wide range of stakeholders are involved in research, advocacy, and policy-making processes around EbA-related fields such as agriculture, livestock, natural resources management, and tourism, and communities in targeted districts will be engaged. The project information will inform the public on the best approaches to ecosystem-based solutions and feed into decision-making processes to support the replication and
upscaling of sound approaches.
Project impact
- Increased resilience and well-being of communities especially most-marginalized people through improving ecosystem services in drought prone areas.
Project Outcome:
- Increased resilience and well-being of communities especially most-marginalized people through improving ecosystem services in drought prone areas.
- Improved enabling environment to support increased funding for gender-sensitive ecosystem-based adaptation approaches Simanjiro, Kiteto, Chemba, Same and Mufindi
districts
Project Achievements
- The New Approaches to Upscale Resilience and Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (NATURE) Project was successfully introduced to Same, Mufindi, Simanjiro, Kiteto, and Chemba Districts in Tanzania. The project has made significant progress in the implementation of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA) initiatives in Tanzania.
- Created awareness of 29 (11F and 18M) project beneficiaries composed of district commissioners, district executive directors, and heads of departments of piloting districts (Same, Kiteto, Simanjiro, Chemba, and Mufindi) to support the integration process of ecosystem-based adaptation actions in their district planning process.
- Trained 53 (13F and 40M) project beneficiaries composed of policymakers, planners, and decision-makers on steps for integrating Ecosystem-based actions into district planning and budgeting processes.
- Identified 15 village champions for demonstration of the integration process of EbA to improve village local adaptation plans.
- The project assessed the level of integration of ecosystem-based climate change adaptations and gender-related issues into existing legal frameworks and presented findings into a national dialogue workshop.
- Completed climate change impacts assessment on ecosystems of the pilot districts in collaboration with the government and stakeholder developed district restoration plans.
- Completed the gender-sensitive analysis, which identified gender gaps, power relations, and dynamics in ecosystem-based services and budgeting at the district and national levels.
- Organized and facilitated national policy dialogue workshop that brought stakeholders and government institutions in the sectors of water, natural resources, agriculture, livestock, land, disaster management, and environment to provide input on integrating gender-responsive ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) into local and national policies and development frameworks.
- The capacity development was completed to 49 (31M&18F) project beneficiaries composed of natural resources professionals from project pilot districts and at National level to understand Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), Analyzing climate vulnerability and risks to ecosystems and livelihoods, Identifying and prioritizing EbA options, design and implementation of EbA options, gender-responsive EbA, and monitoring and evaluation of EbA options.
- The project has initiated a virtual platform to ensure the information is easily available to ecosystem-based adaptation stakeholders, including the government, to get feedback on the implementation of EbA.
Lessons Learned
- The concept of Ecosystem based Adaptation is new in Tanzania and is not fully articulated in the policies. This demand for CbA awareness to policies developer, influential and planners, this was revealed during the recent policy analysis conducted by the project.
- The integration of EbA in the development framework requires the participatory involvement of all key actors (Natural resources professionals, policy makers, community and planners).
- Capacity development on ecosystem-based adaptation is required at community, policymakers, planners, and decision-makers to have a basic knowledge of the EbA and the role of EbA in improving ecosystem services.
- Implementation of Ecosystem based adaptations action needs funding. This address for thoroughly quantification of cost and benefit to attracting the engagement of the private sector, government and external support.
- For the gender responsive EbA to be integrated in the policies and development plans of the government entities, the capacity building should not only focus on the technical staff but also the decision makers and influencers in the government entities