Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya ...

Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and KenyaThe East Africanhttp://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/20072004/Opinion/Opinion2.htmlOpinionMonday, July 5, 2004New Fund Will Help Communities to Conserve Plant, AnimalSpeciesRecently, a number of organisations jointly established the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund(CEPF), which is expected to address the rising threat to wildlife species in the Eastern ArcMountains and the Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya. Special Correspondent JOHNMBARIA talked to the Fund's communications director BOBBIE JO KELSOWhat does CEPF do?The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund provides funding and technical assistance to nongovernmentalorganisations, community groups and other civil society partners to help safeguardthe earth’s biologically richest, yet most threatened, areas. It is a joint initiative of ConservationInternational of the US, the Global Environment Facility, the government of Japan, the John D.and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.How Important is the East African biodiversity hotspot?The Eastern Arc Mountains and the Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya have at least 1,500species of plants and 50 species of reptiles which are not found anywhere else on earth. Otherwildlife unique to this area include 21 species of African violet, the Zanzibar red colobus monkey,the Rondo galago and the Aders’ duiker.The hotspot stretches 900 km along the East African coast – from the Kenya-Somalia border inthe north, to the Tanzania-Mozambique border in the south. In Tanzania, the hotspot stretchesinland to include the Pare, Usambara, Nguru, Rubeho, Uluguru and Udzungwa Mountains, aswell as forests throughout the coastal zone such as Ruvu South, Pande and the lowlandUsambaras. It also includes the islands of Zanzibar. Water flowing from the Eastern Arc forestsgenerate 90 per cent of Tanzania’s hydro-electric power. The forests are also the source of waterfor major cities, including Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Morogoro.In Kenya, the Taita Hills, the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, the Tana River forests and the Shimba Hillsas well as the many "kayas" or sacred forests are part of the hotspot.There is a growing appreciation that poverty is the biggest contributor to biodiversitydegradation in Africa. By putting the civil society at the heart of your project, aren't youcreating another elitist project that will alienate the poor, who draw sustenance from thehotspot?No, the project will not alienate the poor people living on biological resources. These people arepart and parcel of the civil society who we will seek to involve and not to alienate. The way thatCEPF makes its investments is designed to involve and support people in conservation effortsand in ways that build their capacity to sustain the specific projects.