A New USAID-funded Community-based Conservation Initiative Launches in Northern Tanzania

Several years ago, the African People & Wildlife Fund integrated rangeland management into its four-step process towards long-term conservation success in Tanzania. Recently, a collaboration of ten organizations kicked off a five-year project to ensure that Tanzania’s rangelands, ecosystems, and the communities within those ecosystems, are protected. 
By the African People & Wildlife Fund
Wildlife conservation in Africa is complex. To get it right, conservationists must work with a diverse range of partners supporting a vast number of initiatives – livestock keeping, farming, economic development, land use, health, and education to name just a few.
More than a decade ago, the African People & Wildlife Fund (APW) understood this basic principle, which is the essence of its grassroots community-based natural resource management program in Northern Tanzania. This program implements the organization’s four-step integrated process for long-term conservation success and has led to several strong partnerships.
One of those collaborative ventures, the Northern Tanzania Rangelands Initiative (NTRI), has gained serious momentum in recent months. Now with a coalition of nine organizations that is led by The Nature Conservancy, NTRI recently launched a five-year USAID-funded project called Endangered Ecosystems of Northern Tanzania.

(Photo courtesy of APW/Laly Lichtenfeld)

“Our local sister organization, Tanzania People & Wildlife, is a founding member of NTRI. We have long respected the need for such robust partnerships,” explained Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld, APW’s executive director. “It is the only way to have a far-reaching positive impact to fully benefit both people and wildlife.”
Besides The Nature Conservancy and Tanzania People & Wildlife, the coalition includes the Wildlife Conservation Society, Honeyguide, Carbon Tanzania, the Ujamaa Community Resource Trust, Dorobo Fund, Maliasili Initiatives, Oikos Institute, and Pathfinder International.
Such a powerhouse team did not come together overnight. The conversations began several years ago, and it took considerable patience and perseverance for NTRI to stand as a united coalition.

(Photo courtesy of APW/Felipe Rodriguez)

Today, with the support of USAID, NTRI has multiple integrated goals for its first full-scale project, including strengthening wildlife management and anti-poaching; securing land for conservation and sustainable natural resource use; increasing the capacity of communities and their leaders in governance; diversifying livelihoods through conservation-based business enterprises; boosting communities’ resiliency to climate change; and providing greater health access, specifically for women and youth.
The broad-sweeping project will allow APW and its sister organization, Tanzania People & Wildlife, to expand their long-standing human-wildlife conflict prevention programs and further develop more recent ventures, such as those in rangeland management, enterprise development, and honey production.

(Photo courtesy of APW/Felipe Rodriguez)

“This is only the beginning for NTRI,” said Dr. Lichtenfeld. “We have a long road ahead before we truly see communities realize sustainable management over their resources. But with such strong partnerships and collective support, we will help to ensure a future where people and wildlife can both thrive.”