DEPUTY Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mary Masanja, has urged stakeholders in the sector to develop robust strategies for sourcing funds to support the conservation of natural resources.
According to Ms Masanja, the strategies include environmentally-friendly activities such as beekeeping, fish farming, fruit tree cultivation and ecotourism.
Addressing the 13th Consortium of African Funds for the Environment (CAFÉ) General Assembly, Ms Masanja emphasised the importance of these funding strategies to enhance conservation efforts.
“I know that your gathering has a broad goal of ensuring sustainable financial resources to meet the requirements of natural resource and environmental conservation. I urge you to take this goal seriously and come up with strategies at the end of your meeting,” she said.
Ms Masanja was quick to remind delegates gathered at the Consortium that Tanzania ranked 12th in the world in natural attractions.
The Deputy Minister attributed such an achievement to the country’s conservation efforts.
“A considerable portion of these forests enable various activities like beekeeping, ecotourism and sustainable hunting,” she offered.
Ms Masanja further highlighted that the forestry sector contributes between three to four per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), providing an average of three million jobs annually.
For his part, CAFÉ President Dr Theophile Zognou said the meeting aimed to amplify nature conservation strategies.
He emphasised the need for organised efforts to overcome conservation challenges and safeguard the future for generations.
“We must not overlook the contributions of the private sector to conservation; their involvement is crucial,” he added.
CAFÉ is a network of Environmental Funds (EFs) that has been operational since 2011, with 19 Member Funds supporting various conservation areas across multiple countries in Africa. It has a total of 19 Member Funds that among others, support over 90 parks and reserves and 125 communal conservancies and community forests, which cover over 270,000 square kilometers across 20 countries and manages over 400 million US dollars in endowments and about 100 million US dollars in sinking funds.