USAID Tuhifadhi Maliasili Activity Monthly Report - October 2021

The activity officially launched on October 28, 2021, in Dodoma, with the attendance of the USAID Mission Director, Director of Wildlife, and representatives from various government institutions and private sector organizations. The program is focused on three main objectives: building institutional capacities of both public and private stakeholders, increasing private sector engagement in biodiversity conservation and natural resources management, and improving the policy, regulatory, and enabling environment for biodiversity conservation and NRM. To achieve these objectives, the program is supporting government institutions with data management systems to facilitate informed decision-making for biodiversity conservation. The program is also supporting the College of African Wildlife Management (CAWM) - Mweka and Likuyu Sekamaganga Community Based Conservation Training Centre (CBCTC) to update their training curricula to address the current challenges of biodiversity conservation, including human-wildlife conflicts and wildlife habitat connectivity. The program has initiated discussions with CAWM-Mweka and Likuyu Sekamaganga CBCTC on the processes involved, including review of the budget and work plan. Through its subcontract with Journalists' Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET), the program completed a Training Need Assessment (TNA) report for review and approval. The TNA evaluated the progress made since the last training was conducted under the previous Activity—USAID Promoting Tanzania’s Environment, Conservation, and Tourism (PROTECT)—and established the new training needs. The TNA report suggests a need for training topics such as wildlife connectivity, human-wildlife conflicts, land use planning, biodiversity conservation legal framework, news reporting techniques, and combating wildlife crime and trafficking. The program has also completed a conservation value chain analysis in the priority areas of connectivity and submitted the report to USAID on October 25, 2021. The analysis evaluated the engagement of the private sector across various segments of value chains and identified potential opportunities and challenges facing different value chains in the Activity's priority areas of connectivity. In addition, the program has started assessing the engagement of the private sector across various segments of value chains. During this reporting period, in the Amani-Nilo corridor, the program interviewed the managing Director for the Magoroto Forest Estate and one of the major sugar cane out-growers in the Nyerere Selous- Udzungwa corridor. The program has also completed and submitted a draft report on the National-level Political Economy Analysis (PEA) to USAID for review on October 4, 2021. The report provides strategies for harnessing opportunities and avoiding obstacles to activity implementation. The program has also completed and submitted a draft biodiversity analysis report on October 18, 2021, which will serve as a baseline to monitor and demonstrate levels of biodiversity conservation effectiveness and changes in biophysical conditions. The program has also completed the procurement of a supplier to print copies of the Tanzania Wildlife Corridor Assessment and Prioritization Action Plan (TWCAPAP) ahead of the launching of the document and distribution at the TAWIRI 13th Scientific Conference scheduled on December 6 – 8, 2021, in Arusha. A session to launch the TWCAPAP will be held during the conference to mark formal endorsement of the policy by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. The program has also had its official launch event in Dodoma on October 28, 2021, which was graced by the USAID Mission Director and the Director of Wildlife representing the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism. The launch was also aired live through Zoom to allow other participants to attend virtually. The Director for Wildlife informed the Mission Director of the importance of communicating USAID's work in the natural resources sector and proposed to organize a meeting for the USAID NRM Implementing Partners very soon and extend an invitation to other key government representatives. The program has also addressed the comments from the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) and Mission Environmental Officer (MEO) on the Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) and on October 14, 2021, the USAID Tuhifadhi Maliasili EMMP was approved. The program has also completed Activity location data collection by adding spatial data and information about the project on the Activity Location Data Collector Tool (ALDC) platform available in this link.