Valuing the Arc - Linking Science with Stakeholders to Sustain Natural Capital
Geographical location:
Africa/Madagascar > East Africa > Tanzania
Summary
The project aims to identify ecosystem services in the region and ensure their true value and worth is recognised.
This project outlines the partnerships and Memorandum of Understanding agreed by WWF and other organisations in relation to work in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania.
Background
The mountain habitat of the Eastern Arc Mountains has the highest concentration of endemic animals in Africa but is increasingly coming under threat.
With at least 96 animals and 832 plants endemic to the region, it also supports a dense and growing human population in one of the poorest countries in the world. Most local populations are dependent on agriculture and inefficient farming methods and increased demand for food has led to farmland expansion, sometimes into existing reserves.
Cambridge University has recently been awarded a grant from the Leverhulme Trust to undertake a programme on ecosystem services flowing from the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania.
This programme will be coordinated by the Zoology Department of Cambridge University, but will involve a number of other universities in the UK (Leeds, York, East Anglia and Cranfield), and 2 academic institutions in Tanzania (University of Dar es Salaam and Sokoine University of Agriculture).
WWF US has also been awarded a grant from the Packard Foundation to support similar activities. This programme support is a component of the Natural Capital Project, which operates as a consortium effort between a number of different institutions, primarily WWF, TNC and Stanford University. WWF Tanzania is also currently active in the Eastern Arc Mountains, with 2 operational projects and 4 more under development.
Objectives
Map ecosystem services from the Eastern Arc mountain and award an ecomonic value to each economic system to inform stakeholder decision making.
The outcome of the process is expected to provide input to the policy process of Tanzania including PES mechanisms in Tanzania.
