2nd National CBNRM Forum – Held successfully!

Theme: Be the change to unlocking CBNRM potentials in Tanzania

27^th May 2015 was a great day for TNRF, its partners and interested stakeholders following completion of a full- day multi-stakeholders’ dialogue on Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) during the 2^nd National CBNRM Forum. The first forum meeting was held in 2012 to launch the forum and approve the CBNRM stocktaking report.

Click the attachments below to view the presentations

TNRF begun a process to establish a series of dialogues on Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) with the aim of providing a platform for multi-stakeholder exchange of information and agreeing on a common course for CBNRM success in Tanzania. In 2012, TNRF undertook a stocktaking exercise of CBNRM in forestry, fisheries and Wildlife in Tanzania which also recommended the need for establishing a national level platform named National CBNRM forum to help disseminate information on CBNRM success stories, share experiences and promote a greater understanding of the actions and enabling environment on CBNRM that can lead to improved social, economical and environmental benefits. While facilitating engagement at the national level, TNRF has also joined a regional civil society network on CBNRM issues, called Southern Africa CBNRM Forum (SACF) whose secretariat is based in Lusaka-Zambia. Joining SACF helps to promote South-to-South exchange on CBNRM issues and experience. Similar efforts are also made to promote South-to-North linkages through exchange dialogues.

To further promote CBNRM among other tasks, TNRF and WWF-CEAI entered a 3-years partnership programme on Land and forest-based investments programme on forest and land-based investments in Tanzania (2014-2017). The programme is geared towards building constructive dialogue with wide range of stakeholders including private sector, Government, civil society organizations to address and contribute to responsible investments on land and forests. With funds from WWF-Finland and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the initial implementation schedule of the partnership programme provide for support to hold a National CBRNM forum.

Rationally for the National CBNRM Forum: TNRF promotes community based natural resource management (CBNRM) as the focus for strengthening citizens’ voice in the forestry, rangelands, wildlife and fisheries thematic areas across the country and at community level. Focusing on the citizen and community brings natural resources management down to the level of practice, where the effects of policy can be seen and where real changes occur.  Promoting CBNRM will put the citizens first; secure livelihoods at the community level and foster sustainable natural resource use. Success stories have been recorded in various CBNRM models, yet major challenges related to sustainability of project-based, donor funded models have not been addressed. Further, most CBNRM models have neither been able to deliver significant economic benefits to participating communities nor provide adequate incentives for effective participation. TNRF and other partners believe that most CBNRM models have not been able to fully unlock economic potentials for participating local communities.

One way of addressing the multitude of challenges facing CBNRM in Tanzania is through improved stakeholder collaboration and coordination. However, the coordination and collaboration between CBNRM stakeholders has for the past years been characterized as temporary, reactive, non-strategic, and non-holistic (some stakeholder are left out) and ad hoc at large. The lack of a national platform for deliberations and joint decision-making between multiple actors affected progress and effectiveness of CBNRM programs in achieving sustainable natural resources management and rural development in Tanzania. Realizing this lack of a common platform and following consultations with various local, national, regional and international level stakeholders, the Tanzania Natural Resources Forum (TNRF) facilitated the process to establish the Tanzania National CBNRM forum.

Objective and scope of the forum: The main objective of the National CBNRM forum (as suggested by stakeholders during its establishment) is to provide a platform for multi-stakeholder exchange of information, sharing
experiences and agreeing on a common course for the success of CBNRM in
Tanzania. The current design of the forum focuses on CBNRM in the forestry (e.g. PFM approaches), fisheries (e.g. fisheries co-management approaches such as Beach Management Units) and Wildlife (e.g. CCS, CBC/WMA and CBWM) subsectors with expectations to expand the scope into rangelands and mining sub-sectors.

The report for the 2^nd CBNRM Forum meeting will be produced shortly.

For further information/comments/opinion regarding the National CBNRM Forum please contact:

Faustine D. Ninga | CBNRM Programmes Coordinator | Tanzania Natural Resource Forum-TNRF | P.O.Box 15605 | Arusha, Tanzania | Mobile: +255 784 252 495 | Email: f.ninga@tnrf.org | Skype: ningafaustine