Integrated Land Use Planning

Integrated land use planning strategically allocated land for agriculture, conservation, and human settlements, balancing the needs of both people and wildlife. After training on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and continued sensitization on wildlife and habitat conservation during monthly community meetings facilitated by the BIOPAMA project, the integrated land use approach was on its way to being achieved. The beneficiaries of the 10% Fence Plan maximized the allocated 10% for agriculture by planting certified seeds best suited for the climatic conditions, resulting in high yields. At the same time, the remaining 90% of the land was effectively utilized by wildlife and livestock, creating the much-needed balance in Kamungi Conservancy. This approach benefited both the communities and wildlife by promoting sustainable land use that supported livelihoods and conservation efforts.

  • Collaborative Planning:
    A multi-stakeholder approach was essential for the success of integrated land use planning. Community members, conservationists, agricultural experts, and government officials were actively involved in the planning process, ensuring that the needs of all parties were considered. The inclusion of indigenous knowledge and the contributions made during monthly community meetings, facilitated by the BIOPAMA project, fostered a sense of ownership and commitment from local communities. This collaborative approach ensured that land was allocated for both agricultural and wildlife purposes, balancing the coexistence of people and nature.
  • Sustainable Land Management Practices:
    Training on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) empowered community members to adopt practices that enhanced agricultural productivity while conserving the environment. Certified seeds were used to optimize crop yields in the 10% of land allocated for agriculture under the Fence Plan. Simultaneously, sustainable grazing and habitat management ensured that the remaining 90% of the land was beneficially used by wildlife and livestock. This approach helped maintain biodiversity, supported ecosystem resilience, and contributed to soil health and water conservation.
  • Zoning and Mapping:
    Clear zoning and mapping strategies were implemented, designating areas for agriculture, wildlife, and livestock use. The 10% allocation for farming was carefully selected based on land suitability for crops and climatic conditions, ensuring maximum productivity. The remaining 90% was preserved for wildlife and grazing, providing a balanced and functional land use system. Community land mapping allowed for real-time monitoring of land use, helping to maintain the ecological integrity of Kamungi Conservancy.
  • Economic Incentives:
    Economic benefits played a critical role in ensuring community participation and adherence to the land use plan. The high agricultural yields from the 10% Fence Plan, achieved through the use of climate-smart practices and certified seeds, provided direct financial benefits to the local communities. Additionally, Tsavo Trust’s community support initiatives—such as the provision of solar home systems, energy-saving cook stoves, dam liners for water conservation, scholarship and education support, and health support—further incentivized communities to maintain the balance between conservation and development. These incentives significantly contributed to the overall success of the integrated land use approach by improving livelihoods while promoting sustainable land management practices.
  • Capacity Building and Training:
    The capacity-building initiatives led by the BIOPAMA project were instrumental in training community members on climate-smart agriculture and wildlife conservation. These trainings, along with continued sensitization efforts during the monthly community meetings, ensured that communities were well-equipped with the knowledge and skills to implement sustainable land management practices. The strong foundation of knowledge led to more effective land use, increased agricultural productivity, and improved wildlife conservation efforts.
  • Inclusivity Drives Success:
    Engaging all stakeholders—community members, conservationists, agricultural experts, and government officials—was essential to the success of the integrated land use planning. The participatory approach ensured that diverse needs were considered, fostering community ownership and long-term adherence to the plan. The inclusion of local knowledge, reinforced by continuous sensitization through the BIOPAMA project’s community meetings, contributed significantly to the plan’s success.
  • Climate-Smart Agriculture is Key to Productivity:
    The use of certified seeds and climate-smart agricultural practices under the 10% Fence Plan led to significantly higher yields, demonstrating that sustainable farming techniques can greatly benefit local communities. The successful integration of these practices allowed the community to benefit economically while simultaneously contributing to the conservation of surrounding ecosystems.
  • Economic Incentives Encourage Community Buy-in:
    Direct economic benefits, such as the provision of solar home systems, energy-saving cook stoves, dam liners, scholarship and education support, and health services, played a crucial role in encouraging community adherence to the land use plan. These livelihood projects, supported by Tsavo Trust, reinforced the balance between conservation and development, ensuring that communities saw tangible benefits from their participation in conservation efforts. This linkage between conservation and improved living standards fostered long-term support for the plan.
  • Balancing Land Use Enhances Coexistence:
    By designating 10% of the land for agriculture and reserving 90% for wildlife and livestock, the land use plan successfully created a balance that supported human livelihoods while maintaining wildlife habitats. This careful land allocation reduced human-wildlife conflicts and ensured the sustainable use of natural resources, promoting long-term coexistence.
  • Policy and Legal Frameworks Provide Stability:
    Strong policy backing and legal support were instrumental in enforcing the integrated land use plan. The collaboration with local governments ensured that land use boundaries were respected and violations addressed. This legal framework created a foundation for sustained conservation efforts and development.
  • Adaptability is Essential for Sustainability:
    The continuous monitoring and evaluation of land use through GIS mapping and community feedback mechanisms allowed for adaptive management. This flexibility ensured that the land use plan could respond to changing environmental conditions and socio-economic needs, making it more resilient and sustainable in the long term.
Women at the forefront of Mangrove restoration to inspire more people to join mangrove conservation efforts.

Women face multifaceted challenges that hinder their active participation in climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability. These include limited access to financial capital and technology, heightened vulnerability to climate change impacts, limited education and awareness, gender-based discrimination, and restricted entry into leadership roles. Additionally, women's access to markets and capital is constrained by gender roles, insufficient skills, resources, and mobility.

Working together with coastal communities, fishermen and the Beach Management Unit (BMU) in Dar Es Salaam, also through our local partners, Aqua Farm Organization (AFO), Girls in Climate Change (GICC) and Tanzania Forestry Service.

Meeting with the local leaders to be able to work closely with the young women in the community. 

Carried out research on the challenges that were impacting the mangroves and issues causing the lack of conservation of the mangroves by the coastal communities. 

Ensured community ownership in this process, so that the women feel they are a part of the solution and are willing to volunteer in these conservation efforts. 

Women’s involvement in mangrove conservation is a vital tool for empowering women to feel they are part of the solution and can take on more leadership roles in environmental conservation.

Involving community members before project implementation is crucial, they feel more mob to be part of the process and adds value to project implementation

Institutional strengthening & sustainability

The ACReSAL project collaborates with three key ministries: Environment, Agriculture, and Water Resources. It operates across multiple institutional levels, including state, national, local, and community levels. This approach ensures that project implementers at all ministerial levels have their capacities strengthened, thereby sustaining the project's investments and efficient landscapes management.

  • Effective collaboration across the three Ministries and the Institutions that are implementing the project through regular stakeholder engagements.
  • Technical support from the World Bank, the team provide support across project activities and ensure impactful project implementation.

The synergy between the Ministries and institutions is key to producing results, because for impactful results for the project it is key that all Ministries must work closely together. The synergy has provided more innovative and collaborative ideas for effective project delivery.

Sustainable Agriculture and Landscapes Management

The integration of sustainable agriculture and landscape management practices in land restoration efforts is crucial in conserving soil and water, promoting biodiversity, and mitigating climate change. This approach also improves livelihoods, enhances ecosystem services, and builds resilience. To achieve this, we conducted thorough assessments, engaged local farmers and other stakeholders, developed context-specific plans, provided training, monitored progress, and foster policy support. This ensures a holistic and sustainable restoration of degraded lands, benefiting both people and the environment, including water resources. It's important for the community to collaborate, contribute, and learn effective environmental management approaches to ensure the project's long-term sustainability and unsustainable agricultural practices.

 

  • Prioritizing alternative livelihood options in land restoration.
  • Sensitizing the community to environmental issues and methods to prevent land degradation.
  • Integrating climate smart agriculture in soil restoration.
  • Community Ownership and government support.
  • Emphasizing the importance of community participation to identify their top priority issues.
  • Raising community awareness of all interventions, including gully restoration and reforestation, through comprehensive awareness campaigns.
  • Establishing an interim engagement point, such as collaborating with traditional leaders, to secure community support
Impact Reporting

Environmental restoration initiatives need to report to their donors and other stakeholders the impact of their investments. The TREEO Impact Dashboard is a platform where the results from implementer’s projects are showcased, thereby providing evidence from their planting and monitoring efforts which they can use for further reporting and sharing with their stakeholders. The Impact Dashboard, with single sign-on capabilities, displays the data from tree monitoring, including sequestered CO2, biodiversity monitoring, and data from the socioeconomic surveys if performed. This fosters easy reporting as well as provides interactive and clean visualisation for the implementer’s stakeholders (donors, sponsors, government agencies, and companies). Impact reporting data comes from the TREEO Cloud and can be exported and published based on each project’s needs.

  • The TREEO Technology is already integrated in a way the the data from the App is stored in the Cloud and then available on the Impact Dashboard, which can be customized for each project’s needs
  • Market demand for proving the results of your planting efforts 
  • Regulations which undertake companies/organizations to report 
  • Each stakeholder has different needs and the Dashboard can be tailored to each
  • We started with too few features and learned that each stakeholder has specific requests that we have been adding (like biodiversity and socioeconomic data reporting)
  • Project implementers also need farmer stories for their marketing materials which we can also provide via the impact dashboard
  • We started with the Dashboard only available to the developers themselves, but as they want portions of it to be easy to integrate in their own websites or shared with their stakeholders we’ve implemented this as well
Results

Under the application of the trap for intermittent harvest, the best results were achieved with the following combination of variables: maize bran (supplementary feed) x maize bran (trap bait) x O. Shiranus (species) x 2 fish/m2 (stocking density).

The total yields under this combination were 25 percent higher than in the control group with single batch harvest. A higher stocking density (3 fish/ m2) led to a slightly higher total harvest in the control group, but to a lower net profit. The use of pellets reinforced both effects and was the least economical.

Results from the on-farm trials (see Figure 1) have demonstrated the functionality and the excellent catch effect of the traps. Over the three-month on-farm trial period, the trap was used 2 to 3 times a week and a total of 27 times. On average, around 120 small fish – an equivalent of 820 grams – were caught each intermittent harvest. With the use of the trap, all households reported that they now eat fish twice a week. Before that, fish consumption was between one and four times a month.

The benefits:

  • Reducing the competition for oxygen and food among the fish in the pond and thus measurable increase in yield.
  • Improved household consumption of small, nutritious fish and better cash flow.

Success factors:

  • Traps are easy and inexpensive to build (USD 3).
  • Traps are easy to use, also for women.
  • Directly tangible added value thanks to easy and regular access to fish.

 

Examples from the field

Overall, the user experience of households engaged in the on-farm trials was very positive:

As a family we are now able to eat fish twice and sometimes even three times a week as compared to the previous months without the technology when we ate fish only once per month.” (Doud Milambe)

Catching fish is so simple using the fish trap and even women and children can use it.” (Jacqueline Jarasi)

It is fast and effective compared with the hook and line method which I used to catch fish for home consumption that could take three to four hours but to catch only three fish and thus not enough for my household size.” (Hassan Jarasi)

Results

Under the application of the trap for intermittent harvest, the best results were achieved with the following combination of variables: maize bran (supplementary feed) x maize bran (trap bait) x O. Shiranus (species) x 2 fish/m2 (stocking density).

The total yields under this combination were 25 percent higher than in the control group with single batch harvest. A higher stocking density (3 fish/ m2) led to a slightly higher total harvest in the control group, but to a lower net profit. The use of pellets reinforced both effects and was the least economical.

Results from the on-farm trials (see Figure 1) have demonstrated the functionality and the excellent catch effect of the traps. Over the three-month on-farm trial period, the trap was used 2 to 3 times a week and a total of 27 times. On average, around 120 small fish – an equivalent of 820 grams – were caught each intermittent harvest. With the use of the trap, all households reported that they now eat fish twice a week. Before that, fish consumption was between one and four times a month.

The benefits:

Reducing the competition for oxygen and food among the fish in the pond and thus measurable increase in yield.

Improved household consumption of small, nutritious fish and better cash flow.

Success factors:

Traps are easy and inexpensive to build (USD 3).

Traps are easy to use, also for women.

Directly tangible added value thanks to easy and regular access to fish.

 

Examples from the field

Overall, the user experience of households engaged in the on-farm trials was very positive: “As a family we are now able to eat fish twice and sometimes even three times a week as compared to the previous months without the technology when we ate fish only once per month.” (Doud Milambe)

 

Catching fish is so simple using the fish trap and even women and children can use it.” (Jacqueline Jarasi)

 

It is fast and effective compared with the hook and line method which I used to catch fish for home consumption that could take three to four hours but to catch only three fish and thus not enough for my household size.” (Hassan Jarasi)

Continuity in cooperation
  • Our transnational cooperation was largely based on personal contacts and larger efforts were dependent on external funding. The work for the preparation of the joint management plan has allowed us to structure the transnational cooperation and formalize it. All these measures will contribute to a more sustainable and long-term cooperation that isn´t so dependent on personal connections. 
  • Now we have a better explanation of the tasks and organization of the transnational cooperation group, and we also included all municipalities in the area in the group.  
  • An expert panel will help in management questions considering protection of World Heritage values and give valuable input to both site managers and the transnational cooperation group.
  • Personnel from different levels in the management authorities in both countries will meet regularly, and this is written into the management plan.   

The transnational cooperation group agreed to meet more frequently while working on the management plan. We had many discussions and workshops about the mission and constitution of the group, and we have also discussed the transnational management with organizations not directly involved in it. Transnational cooperation has to be important for the involved organizations and there has to be a will to invest in it. 

  • This kind of work takes time. By building cooperation over time, it is possible to move on from learning from each other to solving challenges together. 
  • Cooperation can be very vulnerable if it is based on specific persons and personal connections, for example when persons in our cooperation group have changed and a new representative from the same organization did not have the chance to learn about the work from their predecessors. That´s why it is important to form routines for transferring knowledge within the involved organizations. 
  • Another challenge is to find the right level of representation, to get persons involved who have both knowledge and right to make decisions. When involving many different organizations, it isn´t always possible to reach consensus in different matters, but the strength of the cooperation is in the discussions and in asking questions.
  • Another part of the success is that all work with the management plan (except the CVI project) was done as a part of our regular work. All things learned stays in the organizations when no short-time project staff have been participating. It took a long time, but it was worth it.
Haenggung Village Cooperative Association

The local residents who were previously excluded from the various cultural tourism activities and festivals centering on the World Heritage property started to independently host village activities and built up their capacities for delivering and managing events. 

The initial residents group started to participate in the operations of the Suwon Heritage Night Walks in 2017 as traffic control staff. As the number of festivals that were hosted to celebrate Suwon Hwaseong as World Heritage increased, such as the Hwaseong by Night, World Heritage Festival, and Media Art Shows, the number of jobs available for the residents also increased. 

The Haenggung Village Cooperative Association was established on 31 May 2021 and it consists of 46 members. The main line of work is creating content and activities for visitors. 
The association is composed of 4 sub-groups each named “jigi”, which in the Korean language means friends: 

  • Haenggungjigi, who focuses on providing event support, information, sanitation and the operation of activities; 
  • Donghaengjigi, a group that creates the content and stories of the village tours; 
  • Surajigi that promotes and shares research and education on food; 
  • Cheongnyeonjigi, the group that monitors and conducts evaluations of activities. 

It was key to create jobs that could best optimize the capacities of the local residents. The division of work between members of Haenggungjigi, Donghaengjigi, Surajigi and Cheongnyeonjigi was fundamental to organize the work. 

Lastly, all residents participating in these activities had to complete a mandatory training.

Through the cooperative association that based itself on the experience of creating village activities, diverse jobs that could be directly linked to the capacities of the local residents were set up. These included positions such as event operation staff, information officers, cooks, and conducting baseline research. This made a big transition as the residents who were previously neither part of nor benefitting from the festivals could now directly be involved and be paid for their contributions. 

The mandatory training for the residents who wanted to participate increased the overall capacities of the local residents and boosted their understanding of World Heritage, local values and  the importance of local participation. 

Haenggung Village Cooperative Association

The local residents who were previously excluded from the various cultural tourism activities and festivals centering on the World Heritage property started to independently host village activities and built up their capacities for delivering and managing events. 

The initial residents group started to participate in the operations of the Suwon Heritage Night Walks in 2017 as traffic control staff. As the number of festivals that were hosted to celebrate Suwon Hwaseong as World Heritage increased, such as the Hwaseong by Night, World Heritage Festival, and Media Art Shows, the number of jobs available for the residents also increased. 

The Haenggung Village Cooperative Association was established on 31 May 2021 and it consists of 46 members. The main line of work is creating content and activities for visitors. 
The association is composed of 4 sub-groups each named “jigi”, which in the Korean language means friends: 

  • Haenggungjigi, who focuses on providing event support, information, sanitation and the operation of activities; 
  • Donghaengjigi, a group that creates the content and stories of the village tours; 
  • Surajigi that promotes and shares research and education on food; 
  • Cheongnyeonjigi, the group that monitors and conducts evaluations of activities. 

It was key to create jobs that could best optimize the capacities of the local residents. The division of work between members of Haenggungjigi, Donghaengjigi, Surajigi and Cheongnyeonjigi was fundamental to organize the work. 

Lastly, all residents participating in these activities had to complete a mandatory training.

Through the cooperative association that based itself on the experience of creating village activities, diverse jobs that could be directly linked to the capacities of the local residents were set up. These included positions such as event operation staff, information officers, cooks, and conducting baseline research. This made a big transition as the residents who were previously neither part of nor benefitting from the festivals could now directly be involved and be paid for their contributions. 

The mandatory training for the residents who wanted to participate increased the overall capacities of the local residents and boosted their understanding of World Heritage, local values and  the importance of local participation.