Department of Commercial Crops Fruits & Forestry

Conservation of biodiversity

The conservation strategy of natural forests in Zanzibar has for many years been concentrating on the conservation of the two main forests: Ngezi and Jozani which were considered as very important for preserving the history and culture of the Zanzibar and its biodiversity through fauna and flora components with particular attention to endemic species of the country. This move has left many other forests to be less protected and therefore were over exploited. The knowledge of biodiversity was not available and therefore concentration on management of the natural forests reserves was geared towards exploitation of important timber species.

The clearing of large parts of the moist high forests of Zanzibar means that the remaining true forests as opposed to bushes are very important for plant and animal conservation. Although loses in biodiversity have become widely recognized as a serious consequence of human population growth, over exploitation and mismanagement of the natural environment of which Zanzibar has been late in trying to address the serious problems of loosing her biodiversity. Due to this, a considerable number of plant and animal species of high biological values have been destroyed to an alarming proportion.

On-going conservation initiatives

The Sustainable Resource Use and Community Development on Ngezi-Vumawimbi (Matumizi Endelevu ya Maliasili na Maendeleo ya Jamii, Ngezi-Vumawimbi (MEMMA)

This is a project initiave under CARE Tanzania back support. The program aims at encouraging effective management of the natural resources within Ngezi-Vumawimbi whilst enhancing the livelihoods of the local communities. This will be achieved through various mechanisms, such as capacity building, good governance, and establishment of income generation activities. There will also be a review of relevant policies and legislation.

CARE works in partnership with various Government Institutions in the implementation of this proposal, including the Department for Commercial Crops, Fruits and Forestry while targeting the community as the main beneficiary.

Goals and objectives

Long-term Goal
The long-term goal of the program is to ensure the continued existence of the globally significant ecosystems contained within Ngezi-Vumawimbi in a participatory, sustainable manner, whilst at the same time raising the livelihood assets of the 11, 200 inhabitants within the ten communities surrounding Ngezi-Vumawimbi forest. This will be achieved through a mixture of capacity building in the areas of natural resource management, good governance and improved income generation activities.

Program Objectives
To achieve the long-term goal the program has been split into four main program objectives, each considering an individual theme, which cover the conservation of natural resources, improved governance amongst stakeholders, increased livelihood assets of the communities and promoting the significance of Ngezi-Vumawimbi at a national level, as well as on the world stage. Each of the program objectives is considered in more detail below.