23 March 2017; Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA - As the Global Support Initiative to Indigenous Peoples and Community-Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCA-GSI) gears to launch in Tanzania, it organized a national workshop to bring indigenous community representatives together with multi-level key actors and advisors to explore the status of the country’s ICCAs. The examination of Tanzania’s ICCAs including its governance structures, threats and opportunities is a crucial step as ICCA-GSI prepares to allocate catalytic grants through the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) delivery mechanism.

Workshop Participation and Activities:
SGP co-organized the 1-day workshop with other ICCA-GSI partners, namely, ICCA Consortium and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The workshop’s interactive sessions focused on supporting the self-strengthening process of Tanzania’s ICCAs. Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Management, IUCN Global Protected Areas Programme, civil society organizations such as Tanzania Natural Resources Forum (TNRF), Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG), Ujamaa Community Resources Trust (UCRT), Community Wildlife Management Consortium, Mwambao Community Coastal Network, SAIPRO Trust Fund, University of the Western Cape’s Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of Dar es Salaam and College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka.

The workshop discussion points included the following: (i.)history, values, threats and opportunities for Territories and Areas Conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities from a global perspective; (ii.) overview and role of UNDP GEF SGP Tanzania; (iii.) the role of IUCN and ongoing initiatives in Tanzania; (iv.) critical issues faced by Tanzania's ICCAs; (v.) ways to can formally recognize Tanzania’s ICCAs; (vi.) organizations and/or movements in Tanzania working on the recognition of and support to ICCAs; (vii.) Opportunities specific to Tanzania's ICCAs.

Outcomes: The Tanzania ICCA workshop increased the awareness of the participants on the emerging threats faced by ICCAs worldwide and countrywide as well as the opportunities and responses to act on. A team was formed to further document the governance systems for conservation and sustainable development in Tanzania. All participants will continue to collaborate on the opportunities discussed and follow up action points. Additionally, all strategies will be integrated in the individual project framework that will be implemented by a selected NGO. The recruitment of the selected NGO is expected to be finalized by SGP in May 2017.

For more information on ICCA-GSI, please click here.
To download the workshop report, please click here.