Blue Lake Lake Geneva Federation for Cooperation Present
Spirit of solidarity
Good evening! Today we are going to Tanzania
In the west of the country, the population of Inyonga is heavily dependent on its natural resources for its livelihood.
But these resources are too often exploited by others, with little local impact.
The association for the development of protected areas, ADAP, supports them with concrete solutions. Have a look!
This hive is full. It is time for beekeepers to remove the ten kilos of honey it contains.
These hives are hung from trees to escape, among other things, animals fond of this nectar.
These beekeepers are among the 3000 people trained by the Inyonga beekeepers' association,
supported by the association for the development of protected areas.
- Richard Andrea, president of the Inyonga Beekeepers' Association (IBA) - "The purpose of the association is to provide its members with
beekeeping know-how and techniques
to guarantee a quality honey".
"To this end, it offers beekeepers training courses,
with the support of ADAP
in order to move from conventional beekeeping
to a modern beekeeping system
It also helps its members to find markets
to sell bee products at a good price
ADAP supports this community-based natural resource management project.
It promotes a sustainable source of income.
Certification makes it easier to sell honey and at a higher price. But there are still challenges.
- Ernest Kanumba, Manager of the Inyonga Beekeepers' Association (IBA) - "Some buyers need 4 tons per month
while IBA produces 1 tonne per year.
It is therefore difficult to reach these markets".
The hives are located here, in the district of Mlele.
A beekeeping reserve of 850 km2,
co-managed by the Inyonga Beekeepers' Association (IBA).
30 village eco-guards, trained by the association, patrol the area to protect it from several threats.
- Dickson Malembeka, Head of Village Eco-Guards (VGS) - "The first is animal poaching
for consumption or for trade.
The second is illegal logging.
The third, small-scale gold panning. »
Good management of the reserve also protects the forest and the mammals it supports.
56 animal species have been identified, six of which are endangered, using photographic traps.
- Yves Hausser, Head of Operations Communication - "These are passive systems that are installed, with triggers that are triggered when animals pass through.
It allows us to grid the entire reserve,
it is also a method that could be taught to village guards
and they are able to do this monitoring independently today.
and thereby continue to accumulate data on the state of biodiversity in the reserve. »
ADAP accompanies the rest of the community to improve the use of village land.
Women are also trained to develop complementary sources of income that are not harmful to nature.
But newcomers are threatening the wilderness.
Livestock farmers in search of land, or the construction of roads to promote local trade.
It will also have to be taken into account to continue to protect forests.
Sandy Mermod, hello!
Good evening!
You are the Executive Secretary of ADAP,
these new threats, do they challenge your work?
So basically, no. They do not call into question ADAP's work,
on the other hand, they are pressing for action, we must act even faster!
But the Tanzanian state must also react more quickly to be able to counter them.
And then we would also have to replicate this approach that we have in the beekeeping area in other reserves,
because if we finally have 850km2 that are very well managed, and 20,000 others that are degraded,
it is a result that is of little use to the population or the environment.
It also shows the importance of following projects over the long term, doesn't it?
Yes, this type of approach cannot be implemented over a two-year or four-year phase...
It is a change in perceptions, in mentalities.
There are also many things that need to be negotiated, for example, in terms of the government's retrocession of rights.
That is why it is necessary to plan long-term projects, and then adapt them if things change,
as is the case here when new threats appear.
You have to have a dialogue with the Tanzanian government: is it finally happy that you are doing this work, instead of him, if you can call it that?
I don't know if we can say that we do it for him! But with the kind of projects we have,
we must collaborate with the state, because we work with the reserves and resources that belong to the state.
Some sectors are satisfied with our interventions, others are motivated to collaborate with us,
they have the same objectives,
but it is more difficult to work with other sectors of the state.
We really need to maintain good contacts with the government
and be transparent with them if we want to succeed in our goals.
We saw in the report, there are data that you collect on animals thanks to photographic traps,
it's a collaborative work with the hepia. What are the benefits of this collaboration?
Linking research and action, I believe it is a win-win partnership for both:
For students, it is a unique opportunity to gain field experience abroad,
and for ADAP, it is the opportunity to focus on topics that could not be studied as part of a normal project.
For example, students help us measure the rate of deforestation with satellite images and field surveys.
Does it strengthen the credibility of your project?
Yes, these are things that we and the local team are seeing: from year to year there are fewer forests and more pressures,
but we really need this concrete data to start discussions and find new solutions.
You yourself did your Bachelor's and Master's work in Tanzania, when you spent six months there for that:
Yes!
what did it get you?
A great humility! You can't come up with a "I'll teach you things" speech
we are the ones who learn a lot about the environment, about the people who live there,
we are thus able to better understand the context in order to carry out more appropriate projects.
This gives us a better understanding of the interests of the various actors and the power struggles between them,
We also live in rather harsh living conditions that make us understand why some things don't work...
But it is also a source of motivation, because once you have been in the field,
we know why we have to fill out a lot of reports in Geneva, why all these figures.
It helps us to make this "administrative passage".
It becomes more concrete? Does it make more sense?
Yes, that's right!
Thank you very much Sandy Mermod!
Thank you!