On may 25th, at the presence of the Mozambican Ministry of Land&RuralDevelopement (MiTADER) and the Delegation of the European Union in Maputo, the project “Strengthening Financial Sustainability and Biodiversity in the National Reserve of Gilè” has been officially launched. The Action, that in the next four years aims to introduce new financial mechanisms to preserve biodiversity in the Reserve, involves public and private actors from institutional, nonprofit and profit organizations. Coordinated by the Italian NGO COSV, the Zambesian Departments of MiTADER and of Ministry of Culture and Turisme (MiCULTUR), IGF Foundation, Carbon Sink, University Eduardo Mondlane, University of Florence and Parco Natura viva will work together in an innovative and challenging approach. “We believe that this Action represents a good example of multi-stakeholder partnership that sees the convergence of different perspectives to reach a common goal”, stated Anna Ranieri, Section Chief of Operacional Sociedade Civil e PALOP-TL at the Delegation of EU, the principal donor of this intervention.
The importance to proceed in an integrated and holistic way when dealing with environmental issues has been pointed out also by Dr. Serra, General Director of Mitader Juridical Office. “The National Reserve of Gilé is the last sanctuary of Miombo, surronded for an highly populated by communities suffering of poverty. Then it’s crucial to protect biodiversity with actions promoting a sustainable rural development”. Dr.Serra went on highlighting how Gilé is a priority for Mozambique and particulary for Mitader and how this project represents an opportunity to show the World the attention given to this beautiful and particular zone”
Sustainability has been the key word of the meeting, underlined by COSV Program Coordinator in his speech. “One of the aspects to gain sustainability in biodiversity protection is to improve population resilience. The 14 communities of the surroundings zone of the National Reserve of Gilé will benefit from improved stoves, conservation agriculture and eco-tourism activities”.
With the intention to open up a sharing network to exchange good practices and to facilitate the harmonization of the differents efforts in favour of RNG and its surroundings, the event has seen the participation of several stakeholders engaged in environmental actions in Mozambique, such as UEM, Carbon Sink, IGF, World Bank, Biofund, Amoma, Platform for Climate Change, ETC-Terra, Redd+… Leaded by Prof. Cornelio Ntumi from University Eduardo Mondlane, participants gave their contributions to enrich the debate and to permit an first proposition for an update of activities plan.
Biofund, at the moment missing in the National Reserve of Gilé, manifested hopes for this area to be included in their program starting from next year, having all the conditions to apply. World Bank, present in Zambesia with a pilot project REDD+ to reduce pressure on natural resources, has opened up the way to a joined work to harmonize carbon credit actions. The importance of coordination of interventions has been highlighted by IGF Foundation, in order to create economic alternatives to reduce exploitation of resources. An additional suggestion has been raised by ETC-Terra that sees potentialities of using the project innovative fire cooking stoves also in urban areas. Last but not least is the role of youth in this process, stated by the Platform Climate Changes, that appreciated the inclusion of environmental education activities and envisage a general widening of youth participation within society.
The value of this exchange, supported by the Delegation of the European Union in Mozambique, has been widely recognized. Presented in 2012 and financed in 2016, this project has to cope with to new biological threats of the National Reserve of Gilé, to the social changes of its surroundings, and in the respect with the juridical updates of the environmental Mozambican Law this project has to coordinate himself with the stakeholders working in the same area of its intervention. The Project partners share the position expressed by Ana Margherita Mariguesa, EU Officer at Environment section, who closing the event affirmed: “We strongly believe in this coordination and are pleased to see that many actors engaged in the development of National Reserve of Gilé are willing to cooperate and harmonize interventions to reach sustainable development”.
Mozambique | A multi-stakeholder partnership for sustainable development of Gilé National Reserve
