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EEmpmpoowwerered lived liveses.. RResilient nationsesilient nations.. RUFIJI ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT PROJECT Tanzania Equator Initiative Case Studies Local sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that work for people and for nature. Few publications or case studies tell the full story of how such initiatives evolve, the breadth of their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practitioners themselves guiding the narrative. To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to fill this gap. The following case study is one in a growing series that details the work of Equator Prize winners – vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmental conservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local success to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models for replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reference to ‘The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Years of the Equator Prize’, a compendium of lessons learned and policy guidance that draws from the case material. Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiative’s searchable case study database. Editors Editor-in-Chief: Joseph Corcoran Managing Editor: Oliver Hughes Contributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding Contributing Writers Edayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughes, Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma, Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu Design Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis Acknowledgements The Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Rufiji Environment Management Project, and also the guidance and inputs of Abdalla Said Shah, IUCN Tanzania office. All photo credits courtesy of Rufiji Environment Management Project. Maps courtesy of CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia. Suggested Citation United Nations Development Programme. 2012. Rufiji Environment Management Project. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY. RUFIJI ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT PROJECT Tanzania PROJECT SUMMARY KEY FACTS Between 1998 and 2003, this IUCN-led intervention in the EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2004 Rufiji Delta area of Tanzania worked through the Rufiji District Council to develop village environment management FOUNDED: 1998 plans in consultation with local communities. The project oversaw the effective transfer of resource management LOCATION: Rufiji District, Tanzania authority from the central government to four pilot villages comprising communities in the floodplain and delta areas BENEFICIARIES: Villages in the Rufiji River Delta affected by the flooding of the river downstream of the Selous Game Reserve. BIODIVERSITY: Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Marine Ramsar site Land-use maps were collaboratively produced by teams of researchers, government officials, and the communities themselves using a combination of modern and traditional means; these maps then formed the basis of participatory land use planning at the village level, focusing on empowering women as prime resource users. The enduring impact of the project has been closer cooperation between communities and local government in preserving the region’s delicate socio-ecological balance. TABLE OF CONTENTS Background and Context 4 Key Activities and Innovations 6 Biodiversity Impacts 7 Socioeconomic Impacts 8 Policy Impacts 9 Sustainability 10 Partners 11 3 Background and Context The Rufiji River lies entirely within Tanzania, rising in the south-west A socio-ecological balance of the country and reaching the Indian Ocean some 375 miles later, forming a sprawling delta. Located about 250 miles south of Dar Farmers in the Rufiji flood plain and the delta area have evolved a es Salaam, the Rufiji River Delta is the largest in Eastern Africa, and system of land use over time that is adapted to the unpredictable contains the largest estuarine mangrove forest on the eastern sea- floods of the Rufiji River. The system is based on inter-planting and board of the African continent. Common mangrove species include rotating rice, maize, beans, and, to a lesser extent, cotton. In addition, Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia alba and Ceriops tagal, while Avi- livelihoods are supplemented by the utilization of available natural cennia marina and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza occur less frequently. As resources, such as fishing in the rivers and lakes, and harvesting of well as an extensive food web that supports a high diversity of om- forest and non-forest products. nivorous crustaceans of commercial importance, the delta ecosys- tem and Mafia Island are important wintering grounds for migrating In 2002, it was estimated that the forests provided around 60% of birds, including waders and terns. Wildlife such as hippopotamuses, locally-raised income within Rufiji District. In 2008, a study con- crocodiles and monkeys feed and shelter in the mangrove forests. cluded that wetland resources were of substantial economic value to households in one of the delta’s villages, Mtanza-Msona: the ma- In 2004, the delta was included in Tanzania’s fourth site to be named a jority of wetlands harvest and use activities were worth at least TSh Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. 25,000 (around USD 20 at 2008 prices) a year per person, with timber Known as the Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Marine Ramsar site, it is a complex harvesting for sale, fishing, honey collection, building poles and fire- of coastal and marine habitats that includes the Rufiji Delta; Mafia wood being the most lucrative. The total annual value of wetland re- Island and surrounding smaller islands, sandbars, and coral reefs lo- source use to the village’s 428 households was TSh 226 million (USD cated just offshore; the Songo-Songo Archipelago to the south; and 192,000), or just over USD 100 per capita. adjacent waters, including the Mafia Channel and waters between Mafia and Songo-Songo. The shared use of natural resources was governed by both complex sharing of ecosystems between villages or lineages and by local per- The major ethnic group in Rufiji District is the Wandengereko. Other ceptions of space as sacred groves or as having assigned spiritual groups include the Wanyagatwa, who are mainly found in the Rufiji values. Traditionally, the floodplain and hill tribes have had an infor- Delta, and Wamatumbi, who are mainly found in the southern part mal mutual aid agreement that stipulates that, in years of bad rain- of Rufiji, as well as a number of other smaller ethnic groupings. Col- fall, the floodplain people cannot refuse to provide the hill people lectively, these groups are often referred to as the “Warufiji”, or Rufiji with food, and vice-versa in years with insufficient floods. The for- people. The history of Rufiji District is strongly linked to the develop- ests and woodlands have also acted as safety nets during times of ment of the coastal Swahili culture and the trade links between the drought and rainfall, providing subsistence nutrition or timber that East African coast and the countries of the Persian Gulf. The district is can be sold for food. Numerous taboos exist on harvesting of certain home to many people of Arab origin, and Islam is an integral part of species, and their harvesting requires complex rituals. the Rufiji culture, guiding both its religious and social systems. 4
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