Belgian Development Agency (BTC), Kilombero Valley Teak Company (KVTC) and Africa Wildlife Foundation (AWF) signed the agreement which will both benefit forest conservation and generate income for local communities.
The three private partners signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam under the Public Private partnership (PPP) in support to the government’s effort to protect natural resources.
The sealed deal is expected to effectively involve private partners in improving management for natural woodland valley management in Kilombero.
The Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Ms Angelina Madete, witnessed the signing of the document. She explained that the move was crucial since it would mainly empower villagers to manage natural resources.
“We would use it as a model for empowering other villagers,” she said. Morogoro Regional Commissioner (RC) Stephen Kebwe, under whose jurisdiction Kilombero Valley falls under, said such partnership would help in mitigating negative effects on the wetland.
Tanzania is experiencing a rapid loss of forest resources, a development that will produce negative environmental and economic consequences.
Rural communities sometimes do not see the benefit of forest conservation, if the conservation systems do not generate revenues. But the agreement will enable the communities to generate revenues from timber harvesting in a sustainable manner, a practice which requires technical and commercial capacities and a system of collaboration and accountability.
The PPP model was developed through a feasibility study supported by the ministry Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, BTC, KVTC and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On this basis, the PPP partners have decided to join hands and launch this pilot initiative with two goals in mind - to establish a collaborative scheme on 6,000 hectares of Miombo in KVTC land and to pursue the development of a broader enterprise capacity and collaboration systems which, with time, may serve other villages in the catchment which have Village Forest Reserves.
source-www.dailynews.co.tz
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