Reducing Biodiversity Loss at Cross-border sites in East Africa

General/regional

• The project succeeded in forming links between the three countries' Forest Departments and Environmental Management Agencies and in bringing these agencies into cooperation with Ministries of Finance and Economic Development.
• Cross-border exchange visits for district leaders have been organised and workplans have been synchronised between countries.
• Regional training courses in integrated conservation and development were organised in partnership with WWF and CARE. The project also provided training in participatory management and joint forest management.
• The project worked with the National Museum of Kenya, the Missouri Botanic Garden Tanzania Training Programme, the Tanzania Association of Foresters and others to draw up botanic and bird diversity values and checklists at most sites.
• National GIS systems, used in forest planning, were strengthened.
• An economic valuation of forest values was undertaken through IUCN-EARO to facilitate better appreciation of biodiversity values by policymakers. The project also provided policy analysis and training for the natural resource sector through the Africa Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) and helped harmonise policies/

• Other projects in this region which are using techniques derived from the Cross Borders project include: GEF's Albertine Rift Forest Project in Uganda Tanzania's Participatory Forest Management Planning Project and the Ford Foundation's support for training in Participatory Forest Management Planning.

Kenya

• The project has succeeded in getting the 92 hectare Taita forest formally gazetted. This came as a direct result of pressure from the project and local villages on the government to seek higher protection status for the forest, which houses a number of endemic species and is under threat from agricultural encroachment on all sides.
• The project has promoted alternative energy sources, such as efficient stoves and biogas digesters, alternative income generation and environmentally friendly livelihood activities including beekeeping, use of the Jatropha plant for soap manufacture, cooking fuel and fencing, and the commercial use of water hyacinth. Many of these activities are run by, or involve, women's groups.
• Partnerships have been formed with two NGOs - the Intermediate Technology Group and the East African Wildlife Society - to further develop alternative livelihood projects.
• Water schemes have been developed at several sites to regulate access to water by humans and livestock and preserve forest biodiversity. Natural springs have been rehabilitated and protected and wells, weirs and cattle troughs constructed
• Community based organisations - including women's groups - have been sensitised to conservation issues, trained and supported. The schools biodiversity programme has been enhanced.
• Baseline surveys on plants, harvestable timber, birds and butterflies have been conducted. Threat reduction assessments have been completed for forest areas.
• A botanical survey of Kasigau Forest and an avifauna survey of Loima Hills were completed in 2001.

Uganda

• Environmental trust funds, supported by district and sub-county administrations, have been set up to ensure the financial sustainability of project activities.
• articipatory Forest Management Plans - which incorporate indigenous knowledge and encourage participation by the local community - are being implemented. Local Environment Committees (LECs) have been formed and Village Environment Plans developed. The community now helps to plant and maintain the forest reserve boundary. Community participation in forest conservation has greatly helped to eliminate previous conflicts with the Forest Department.
• The adoption of fuel-efficient cooking stoves has reduced pressure on the forest as fuelwood demand has dropped by up to 50%. The project has also promoted the use of biogas in farms and households.

• Although the indigenous Ik people have a total dependence on the forest, no one had involved them in the management of Timu Forest Reserve prior to the onset of the project. The project clarified the right of the Ik to live within areas of the Forest Reserve.
• The project's participatory planning process identified many problems facing Ik livelihoods, including water, health, famine and insecurity. Communities are now implementing activities developed by themselves. Modern methods of honey production and harvesting have led to greater production and better quality honey. Beekeepers associations have been formed. CBBP has helped the associations find markets and income from honey now comprises a substantial portion of Ik family incomes.
• Crop production has been improved by training in soil management, coffee production, and better banana management. Passion fruit growing has been introduced and some farmers have expressed interest in fish farming,
• Women's groups have been empowered by taking part in forest management planning and implementation of plans.

•  Windmill-powered boreholes have been constructed to provide clean water.

• The project has has frequently been able to introduce new capacity to its partner organisations For instance, as a result of CBBP training, the Church of Uganda now undertakes the construction of improved stoves and training women in cook stove construction. The church also implements other alternative livelihood strategies, including promoting beekeeping and tree planting.
• Tree nurseries, which provide fruit trees, saplings for agoforestry planting, wood for poles, firewood, palm leaves and generate income from the sale of surplus produce have been established at home, school, community and central levels. Coffee and passion fruit seedlings are also grown for sale in nurseries to farmers at subsidised prices.

•  Biodiversity conservation has acted as an instrument for peace. The unarmed, non-combative and numerically weak Ik have often suffered from cattle raiding by neighbouring ethnic groups and the Turkana and Pokot people in Kenya . The project has successfully used biodiversity and water issues as a platform to address Ik security concerns. Recently the Ik were able to persuade the Turkana to vacate invaded areas of Timu Forest Reserve.

•  A strong sense of community ownership at the Sanjo Bay site has helped reduce threats to the forest, in spite of negative pressure from some government and business interests. The Sanjo Bay site has been used as a flagship for other ICD and JFM projects in Uganda and other countries.

Tanzania

• Major project achievements in Tanzania include the establishment of an enabling policy and a good legal framework for biodiversity; successful community empowerment; the linking of water supply issues to conservation and biodiversity values; and the formation of good cross-border links.
• Jatropha oil technology, an alternative livelihood strategy, has been successfully adopted by a local company and the community at Monduli.
• The project has supported the production of tree seedlings in individual and group nurseries in all villages close to the project site. The seedlings are planted in the community's fields, woodlots and homesteads and surplus plants sold to other villages.
• Different types of fuel-efficient stoves have been promoted at each of the three Tanzania sites. About 85% of households have adopted the new stoves which are roughly twice as efficient as traditional cooking methods. One of the stoves being tested promises to be nearly three times as efficient.
• Alternative energy sources are being promoted by the project for cooking and lighting including biogas plants, Jatropha planting for fuel oils, and the use of solar energy stoves.
• The project is supporting beekeeping as a source of alternative income at all three Tanzanian sites and is providing training, technical help, working facilities - including some materials and equipment - as well as marketing advice.
• The sale and production of water hyacinth products - chairs, lampshades, baskets etc. - is being tested by a community group of volunteers in Bukoba.
• The project has built on earlier eco-tourism activities in Same and Monduli and has introduced a long-term biodiversity conservation component to them. Support has been given to the establishment of tourism information centres - including the publication of brochures - and in sharing the project's biodiversity data and promoting its values to visitors.
• Forest regulations have been developed for the Shengena Forest Reserve in Same.

Partners etc

Partners include Africa Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) and IUCN. WWF and CARE are partnering training programmes. Other partners include: national Forest Departments, local District Councils, and NGOs (e.g. Integrated Rural Development Initiatives (IRDI) in Uganda; East African Wildlife Society in Kenya and TAF in Tanzania.); training institutions such as Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Resources and Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation; and the Mweka College of African Wildlife Management; Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), National Museums of Kenya (NMK), Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), East African Wildlife Society (EAWS), and the Habitat Restoration Initiative (HARI.

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