Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Conservation efforts often falter on the fault line between ecological ambition and human reality. A new initiative in southern Tanzania seeks to bridge that divide, reports contributor Ryan Truscott for Mongabay. The Udzungwa Landscape Strategy (ULS), launched in late 2023, is a 20-year plan to safeguard one of Africa’s most biodiverse mountain regions — not just by protecting its forests and wildlife, but by investing in the people who live among them. The Udzungwa Mountains, part of the Eastern Arc range, are famed for their endemic species, including the shaggy-haired kipunji monkey (Rungwecebus kipunji), the elusive Sanje mangabey (Cercocebus sanjei), and the once-extinct-in-the-wild Kihansi spray toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis). But they have also suffered centuries of forest loss driven by agriculture, logging and plantation expansion. Conservationists now aim not merely to slow deforestation, but to reverse it. At the heart of the strategy lies a shift in priorities: more than half of ULS’s projected $3 million annual budget is earmarked for community development and reducing human-wildlife conflict. Villages surrounding the protected areas will receive performance-based payments to curb forest loss and poaching. Village savings groups will offer residents access to capital for businesses and essentials like school fees. Fuel-efficient stoves, already distributed in five villages, aim to cut both household costs and pressure on local forests. Such community-focused approaches can be pragmatic as well as ethical, say supporters. “Safeguarding these precious forests whilst guaranteeing…This article was originally published on Mongabay
From Conservation news via this RSS feed