The Nature Conservancy in Africa

Kevin Juma, Africa Climate Director with The Nature Conservancy in Africa will be a Guest Speaker for the 2024 Chief S.L Edu Memorial Lecture, the 22nd in the lecture series, hosted by the NCF Nigeria. 🗓️ The lecture will take place on Tuesday, 28th May 2024, in Lagos, Nigeria. 🌱 The topic is ‘Carbon Credits: Opportunities and Pitfalls to Avoid.’ This annual lecture is the NCF’s flagship advocacy event which takes a critically look at burning conservation issues. The 2023 lecture took a critical look at the theme “Humanity and the Twin Crises of Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss”. The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), is a premier environmental NGO in Nigeria, dedicated to nature conversation and sustainable environmental management. For over four decades, NCF has successfully provided national leadership in this space through research, policy influence, advocacy, conservation actions, and programmes implementation. NCF has a number of programmes in pursuit of this objective, and they can be reviewed on their website, www.ncfnigeria.org

In Northern Tanzania, grasses are everything. Communities, including the Maasai, rely on the native grasses to feed their cattle—the same grasses elephants, wildebeests and other big mammals graze upon too. As the grasses face growing pressure from increasing numbers of livestock and from invasive grasses that crowd out native species, Warda Kanagwa, The Nature Conservancy in Africa livestock and grazing officer in the area, is working with community members to give the grasses a fighting chance. 🌱🔗 Read about how Warda Kanagwa helps the Maasai people conserve critical grasslands: https://lnkd.in/dXzjGsKW

🐙🌊 Exciting strides in sustainable octopus management in Tanzania. Prof. Mohammed Sheikh, ministerial director of fisheries development, recently highlighted new measures to preserve octopus stocks, a crucial resource for local and international markets. The Government will collaborate with The Nature Conservancy to deploy the FishPath approach, a comprehensive online tool for designing harvesting strategies for fisheries, to guide sustainability. This collaboration aims to support Tanzania's Blue Economy through responsible management and conservation efforts. 🔗 Learn more about how The Nature Conservancy in Africa is working with the Government of Tanzania to ensure the longevity and health of marine ecosystems in this The Guardian article: https://nature.ly/3V11D3j

"Communities are the greatest investors within any conservation arrangement, so they must be the greatest beneficiaries. Building the capacity of communities to manage wildlife on their own and creating commensurate benefits to the whole conservation arrangement will not only create more tolerance but also increase wildlife numbers in these areas because conflicts have led to the animal mortalities we see around." - Jack Marubu, Community Engagement Specialist with The Nature Conservancy in Africa #NTVWildTalk Read the article in NationAfrica https://nature.ly/3UW2dzd

The Nature Conservancy is excited to partner with the award-winning television series NTV Wild Talk, hosted by the esteemed Smriti Vidyarthi on NTV (Kenya’s second most watched station), which boasts a substantial viewership of over 10 million people. The Nature Conservancy in Africa is partnering on five engaging episodes during the show's sixth season.     In this season, we will feature captivating narratives about Kenya's environmental efforts and wildlife conservation including the red elephants of Tsavo and searching for a solution to human-wildlife conflict, the vital River Yala Water Fund, the impact of octopus fishery closures in Lamu, the recent translocation of 21 endangered black rhinos to Loisaba, and the important ecological role of The Small Five. Join us each week as we bring to light the crucial conservation work being carried out by The Nature Conservancy and our partners in Kenya. Participate in the conversation using the #NTVWILDTALK hashtag and follow our social media pages for updates. 🔴 Livestream: Watch Sundays at 8.25pm EAT/1:25pm ET on ntvkenya.co.ke/live 🟢 Watch afterwards through our episode guide on https://lnkd.in/d9QEi2w6 Kenya Wildlife Service Taita Taveta Wildlife Conservancies Association Loisaba Conservancy (Oryx Ltd.) San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Space for Giants The Elewana Collection The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

Exciting news from the Eldoret-Iten Water Fund! We were honoured to have running royalty and world record holder for the 1,500 meters and the mile, Faith Kipyegon, join us in Kapsabet. Together, we planted avocado trees and distributed additional seedlings to the community. In collaboration with the incredible Faith Kipyegon, The Nature Conservancy in Africa is proud to champion a greener future for Eldoret. Thank you, Faith, for your inspiring commitment to our environment and communities! 🌱💚✨ Water Funds for Africa E. Wanjiru Karanja 📸: Frank Odhiambo

Recently, 20 representatives from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE): Oceans and Coasts together with partnering consultants that support the Department with stakeholder engagement in the development of Marine Protected Area (MPA) management plans project gathered at the DFFE offices in Cape Town for a two-day workshop on Best Practice for Stakeholder Engagement.  Facilitated by Simone Dale, WILDTRUST's Director responsible for Environmental & Social Safeguarding, the workshop drew on international best practice principles, local social research and the DFFE and consultant team’s experience to inform the knowledge sharing. This interactive workshop covered stakeholder engagement best practice principles, stakeholder identification and analysis, consultation in practice, engaging with vulnerable communities, gender and power dynamics, and a look at relevant South African law and grievance management and feedback. Through workshops such as these, WILDTRUST aims to support best practice in public participation processes and ensure the most vulnerable stakeholders are given a voice in marine and protected area decision-making. Funded through the Blue Benguela Partnership, a collaboration between The Nature Conservancy in Africa and Blue Nature Alliance, with a common vision of improving ocean protection through support for multi-sector ocean governance across Angola, Namibia and South Africa, this workshop is part of a project that will see the WILDTRUST, as the South African implementation partner, providing support to the DFFE to deliver management plans for 10 marine protected areas declared in 2019 as part of the Operation Phakisa process. Our thanks to the DFFE Oceans & Coast team for their enthusiastic engagement, and to the Blue Benguela Partnership for making this possible.

Big waves of change for seaweed farmers in Tanzania! 🌊🚤🌿 Exciting news from The Nature Conservancy in Africa! We have donated two non-capsizable boats to the seaweed farmers of Unguja and Pemba Islands, Tanzania. This is part of our ongoing efforts to support the seaweed farming industry in the region, enhancing safety and efficiency. 🌱 Supporting local communities Seaweed farming is more than just an occupation for the communities of Unguja and Pemba, it's a way of life that has thrived for over four decades. With over 25,000 farmers, predominantly women, producing 15,000-18,000 tons of seaweed annually, the industry is vital. Yet, it faces challenges such as competitive space and the need for safer practices. 💡 Innovation and Safety First To address these issues, The Nature Conservancy has introduced innovative farming techniques like the Double Made Loop from Indonesia, benefitting over 1,172 farmers directly and indirectly. Safety is also a top priority. During a recent visit, after hearing about several tragic accidents, we provided two 8-meter boats equipped with 15 HP outboard engines to help farmers safely navigate to their farming sites. 🤝🏾 Supporting Sustainability The boats were handed over in a ceremony attended by community members and local officials, Principal Secretary of Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries was represented by Dr. Salum Sudi Hamed at Muungoni and Dr. Salim Mohammed Hamz on the Tumbe Shehia. We also distributed life jackets to each village, ensuring that every day at sea is a safe one. Join us in celebrating this milestone as we continue to support sustainable practices that equip communities and conserve our oceans.

We are thrilled to share highlights from a dynamic workshop held at The Nature Conservancy in Africa's HQ office in Nairobi, Kenya, where our Women In Nature (WIN) and Men as Allies groups convened to foster discussions on gender equity. This event marked a significant occasion, with the WIN Steering Committee, comprising members from Kenya, Tanzania, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, meeting with our Africa Team in person.    A warm thank you to Munira Anyonge Bashir, our Kenya Program Director, for her leadership in hosting this global team, exemplifying our dedication and commitment to creating an inclusive environment that respects and elevates all voices.   The workshop was both interactive and informative, with participation from colleagues across Africa and globally, both in person and virtually, sharing invaluable insights that contribute significantly to our mission.   At The Nature Conservancy, we believe that achieving our 2030 conservation goals is intertwined with our efforts to ensure gender equity and inclusion are at the forefront of everything we do. Our Women In Nature group, established in 2013, continues to lead these efforts by advocating for systemic change and inspiring our staff worldwide.   We invite you to join us in this vital conversation using the #WomanInNature hashtag. Whether you are a partner, supporter, or friend, your involvement is crucial as we strive to make every level of our organisation—and our planet—a place where all can thrive.

On the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Western Tanzania, life moves fast. Bustling communities hurriedly go about their day. It’s with these bustling communities that The Nature Conservancy and Pathfinder International launched the Tuungane Project. The project takes a 360-degree approach to tackle the interconnected challenges of population, health and the environment to create healthier families, fisheries, and forests. Thirteen of the 17 coastal villages within the Tuungane Project area have established Beach Management Units to enact their own sustainable fishing regulations, such as outlawing beach seines that drag in juvenile fish, eggs and anything else in their path. Community Conservation Banks (COCOBAs) also provide the opportunity for community members without access to traditional banks to save money and access small loans for environmentally friendly enterprises. 🔗 Hear from some of the people who live in three villages just north of the Mahale Mountains about life, their challenges, and the impact of the Tuungane Project: https://lnkd.in/eRgBK3C9 📸: © Ami Vitale