Enabling Communities to Conserve Forests in the Kolo Hills of Northern Tanzania

In the ecologically important forests of northern Tanzania, AWF is working with communities and local government to conserve the forest ecosystem, which is the source of the Tarangire River, and a critically important source of livelihood opportunities for communities. The project focuses on the continuous forest areas and government forest reserves known collectively as the Kolo Hills (or the Kondoa Irangi), in north-central Tanzania.

AWF is working closely with 21 villages comprising approximately 60,000 people, Kondoa District Council and the District Forestry Office to improve the management of 22,000 hectares of forests and about 34,000 hectares of community land. The project aims to halt and reduce deforestation and forest degradation by facilitating communities and individuals in the process of securing their land tenure through land use planning (LUP), providing alternative livelihood opportunities which reduce dependence on forest resources, promoting more efficient alternative energy options, and increasing productivity of agriculture in appropriate areas. The project has demonstrated agricultural methods which increase yields eight fold, trained local women and men on land use planning, forest resources assessments and REDD monitoring, and completed the Project Implementation Document as a first step towards securing REDD credits. Land use planning processes are nearing completion, and will lead to secure land tenure for individuals in the project area and the framework for benefit sharing agreements with the government. The Project Design Document is also soon to be completed according to the Voluntary Carbon, and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Project Design standards, and will enable the communities to market their carbon.