Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and the Lake Tanginyika (Tanzania) Catchment Reforestation and Education Project (TACARE)

Overview

Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is an environmental conservation organization committed to preserving indigenous forests, and the chimpanzees that live therein, in the area surrounding Gombe National Park in Tanzania. Since its launch in 1994, the TACARE project has helped local people and communities develop sustainable methods of meeting their food, health care and education needs while promoting forest conservation. As a result of its local focus, the TACARE project has become recognized as a leader in the community-centered model for conservation and development.

The TACARE project incorporates five branches of sustainable development and conservation including: community development, health, forestry, agriculture and education, managed in a cooperative manner with local experts in the respective fields. The program initiatives respond to the expressed needs and desires of the community. Successful elements of the TACARE project include: the formation of village forest reserves for the development of sustainable activities such as beekeeping; the establishment of tree nurseries for reforestation and income generation; the planting of communal woodlots; the promotion of cash crops for rural development and income generation; the introduction of fuel efficient stoves; the foundation of savings and credit schemes to start and expand small businesses; the provision of family planning and primary health care services; environmental education programs for youth and scholarships for girls to achieve secondary and college level education. The project operates in 30 villages in the Kigoma region.

Poverty Reduction

By promoting sustainable use of natural resources and introducing mechanisms for small business development and income generation, the TACARE project has helped relieve the burden of poverty within the Kigoma region, one of the poorest regions in Tanzania. Most fundamentally, TACARE has founded a micro-credit program that allows villagers, especially women, have savings accounts and apply for small loans to found or expand small, local businesses. Loans are made to groups of 5 people, at least 3 of whom must be women, and each of the members is accountable for repayment of the others helping to ensure the sustainability of the program. To date, the project established 8 village-owned banks.

In addition to the micro-credit program, TACARE has introduced a number of initiatives within the communities to promote income generation and sustainable living. For example, TACARE has founded 115 tree nurseries in the area. These nurseries not only employ village nursery attendants (VINAs) but the nurseries are serve as a forum for education in sustainable agriculture and forestry. VINAs also serve as community based distribution people for condoms, an important element in the fight against HIV/AIDS. TACARE has also introduced and provided assistance to farmers in the production of cash crops such as coffee, mushrooms and coconuts. These cash crops provide income while maintaining sustainable practices. Third, TACARE has nurtured the re-cultivation of medicinal plants in the village forest reserves, which are collected and sold. This project not only provides incentive to protect the forests, it provides steady income to villagers. Finally, JGI and the TACARE project have collaborated with the Government of Tanzania to expand primary health care and family planning services in the Kigoma region. By providing these services, the project lessens the burden of care and allows community members, especially women, increased opportunities to pursue economic growth activities outside of the domestic sphere.

Biodiversity Impacts

The TACARE project is, at its heart, committed to protecting the habitat of the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park, where Jane Goodall earned her fame studying in the 1960s. The sustainable development, health and conservation activities it incorporates seek to provide villagers in surrounding communities, options so they will not be forced to destroy the forest to earn their livelihoods. To this end, the project staff and community volunteers educate local farmers on sustainable methods of agriculture including soil and water conservation, the communities invest in sustainable forest use, such as bee keeping and the harvest of medicinal plants and the nurseries have provided seedlings to promote forest regrowth. The establishment of village forest reserves has created a buffer zone between the villages and Gombe National Park and Kitwe Forest, further protecting these critical areas. These forest reserves meet the needs of the local people and therefore protect the habitat of the chimpanzees. By August 2000, there were 38 village forest reserves established in 32 villages and over one million seedlings had been planted. In addition, TACARE has introduced fuel efficient stoves and is working on the improvement of the water supply to cut down on not only the domestic labor of women, but also the necessity of consumption of these vital resources.

Further, JGI runs a worldwide youth environmental education program that is run through the TACARE program in the Kigoma region. This program teaches children about sustainable agriculture and the importance of conservation. In addition, it facilitates excursions in to Gombe National Park to observe the wildlife and raise awareness. By the end of 2000, the Roots and Shoots education program operated in 45 primary schools in Kigoma urban district and 20 villages.

Combined Impact

Unlike many conservationists that believe that walls are armed guards to keep people out are the best way to protect an environmentally crucial area, JGI and the TACARE project recognize that true conservation is impossible without meeting the needs of local, indigenous people. Therefore, all activities undertaken by TACARE have the combined intention and impact of poverty reduction, sustainable development and environmental conservation. For example, the tree nurseries provide income and rural development, while simultaneously providing the tools for forest re-growth. Additionally, by teaching sustainable agricultural practices communities are able to increase production, including the production of cash crops to decrease the poverty, while protecting the forests from further encroachment. By involving community members, in all decisions that are made about the project, TACARE ensures community support and ownership.

Partnerships

In the health sector, JGI and TACARE work in close partnership with the Government of Tanzania to provide primary health services and increase access to contraceptives. Neither of these services were readily available in villages before the advent of the TACARE project.

Sustainability

As a result of the community ownership of TACARE projects, demand for services is constant and the activities are largely self-sustainable. All JGI staff in Tanzania, except the program director, are local Tanzanians. In addition, many of the workers at the community level are volunteers. The community-based distribution of contraceptives, for example, is done by a network of volunteer women. In the future, it is hoped that demand for contraceptives will be sufficient to charge a meager fee for the service, with the distributing agents able to keep the proceeds. Likewise, the village nursery attendants are paid only in the proceeds from the nursery, limiting the overhead costs.

The micro-credit banks, established in 8 villages, are largely sustainable to due to the increasing volume of loans and savings, and the mechanisms in place to ensure returns. Given that each of the five members of a borrowing group is responsible for the others in the group, there is greater accountability and therefore greater returns. These banks are near sustainability.

Addressing Gender

The TACARE project is committed to promoting gender equality, especially in community participation and decision making. Women provide key roles in the design and implementation of all TACARE projects and activities. In addition, the project supports raising discussions and educating on many topics important to women, including claiming inheritance, divorce settlements, seeking custody of children and reporting rape or violence. In addition, the project supports discussions with men and women about family planning, HIV/AIDS and other health and development issues.

Beyond this participation, women benefit dramatically from the projects within TACARE. For example, the project has sponsored education for 37 girls from disadvantaged families in the region: 2 in primary school, 32 in secondary school and 3 in college. These students are provided opportunities that would have been impossible without the grant from TACARE. In addition, TACARE provides some legal aid support for women, and in some cases, will pay legal fees to bring a case to court.

Further, many of the initiatives undertaken by TACARE focus on decreasing the domestic burden on women. For example, increased access to family planning allows women more control over their fertility and allows them, in conjunction with their husbands, to determine the number and spacing between children. This not only is important for maternal and child health, but potentially allows women in the community to pursue activities outside of the domestic sphere. In addition, the introduction of fuel efficient stoves cuts down on the volume of firewood that women must collect, thus reducing her burden (while protecting the forests). Lastly, the advent of the micro-credit banks provides women a gateway into enterprise and cements their role in the development of the communities. In a borrowing scheme, at least three of the five members of a group must be women. This not only helps ensure the sustainability of the project (women have higher rates of repayment) but ensure women have a role in the decision that are made with those resources.

Future Developments

The Jane Goodall Institute is currently in negotiations to expand the TACARE model to other biodiversity hot spots in the broader Congo Basin. This community centered approach would be critical in that region, as violent conflict has interrupted many basic services, leaving people and therefore the environment in which they live, at risk.

For more information: http://www.janegoodall.org/