Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya ...

An Endowment Fund for the Eastern Arc Mountains is one of the outcomes for the big GEFproject (GEF 2002). An alternative sustainable funding mechanism is suggested in this profile: aResource Mobilization Unit. This unit will become self-sustaining through the funds it raises.Local human capacity will be built by 14 of the investment priorities. Fostering private sectorinvolvement can be done through four of them. Commercially viable conservation projects arethe outcome of two-three investment priorities. Leveraging of further donor funding is the onlypossible strategy for five of the investment priorities. It will also be necessary if the small grantsare to continue and it should be pursued by the RMU for all priorities as opportunity arises.CONCLUSIONThe biological importance of the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania andKenya is well recognized. There have been a considerable number of biodiversity investigationsand conservation efforts in this hotspot during the last three decades. Despite this investment,there are significant gaps in our biological knowledge. There are also important opportunities forthe further application of conservation science, particularly with respect to forest fragmentation.The major threats to the hotspot arise from the needs of impoverished local people, rather thanfrom any large-scale developmental projects or corporate ventures. These considerations haveled to a definition of the CEPF niche that builds on previous work through a focus on people andscience.The people focus will be on the interface between biodiversity and development and will addressways in which local populations can benefit from and contribute to, biodiversity conservation inthe hotspot. The science focus will be on opportunities for improving connectivity in fragmentedforests and on gaps in our biological knowledge of the hotspot. In each case, projects funded byCEPF must have a positive effect on at least one of the 333 threatened species and/or the 160sites identified in this profile. Building local human capacity is the major element in thesustainability strategy. No matter how global the world becomes, it will be local actions that willlargely determine the future of biodiversity hotspots. The prospects for the hotspots will begreatly improved if these local actions are motivated by conservation concerns and guided bygood science.63