The Miombo woodland is a dominant vegetation type that covers 3.6 million square kilometers over ten countries of Southern Africa. The woodland is linked to the Zambezi River and its tributaries and provides crucial life support systems for over 65 million people. The Miombo Eco-region Programme was initiated in 1999 in Zimbabwe and has been running since early 2001. It is currently hosted by the Zimbabwe Country Office where the secretariat is based. Since its inception the programme has addressed different conservation issues that include: freshwater, forests, species, protected area networks and livelihoods and environmental education.

The programme is implemented in eight landscapes which cover an area of 1 137 000 square km. The landscapes include:

1. Upper Zambezi
2. Kavango Zambezi TFCA
3. Middle Zambezi and Luangwa Valleys
4. Lower Shire Valley
5. Zambezi Delta
6. Malawi-Zambia TFCA
7. Lake Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa
8. Bangweulu River Basin

Focal Area

The programme will focus its work on;

• Ecological networks
• Sustainable use of natural resources
• Responsible fair trade and investment
• Climate change adaptation and mitigation

Objectives

The objectives of the programme are;

1. To develop resilient ecological networks in the 8 landscapes by protecting and managing their biodiversity
2. To enhance good governance that promotes equitable access and sustainable use of natural resources
3. To optimize the sustainability of fair trade and investment for eco-system goods and services that benefit people and nature
4. To create greater resilience to cope with and minimize climate change impacts.

Programme Components

• Lobby for legal and institutional frameworks for sustainable natural resource management
• Introduce sustainable models for biodiversity management
• Promote freshwater resource areas and free flowing rivers through the adoption of appropriate land use systems
• Demonstrate the value of CBNRM as an approach to preserve the ecosystem and improve livelihoods
• Focus on financing mechanisms that contribute to better environmental practices
• Support the development of climate change models for different scenarios and facilitate their pilot testing