On 17 February 2026, the Nature Tanzania team held a high-level meeting with the Office of the Principal at the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Tourism, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). The primary objective of this visit was to introduce the “People Partner with Nature – from Local to Global Action (Phase IV) Program (PPN IV), which will be implemented in the Mazumbai Forest Reserve. As the owner and custodian of the reserve, SUA is the primary partner for this initiative.
The PPN IV is a regional conservation initiative in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda that aims to address forest degradation in East Africa by linking national Participatory Forest Management (PFM) policies to local action. The programme fosters knowledge sharing across regional clusters, focusing on community-led conservation, biodiversity monitoring, species protection, climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and policy advocacy, targeting 150 local conservation groups in the Mazumbai Forest Reserve. Funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CISU, it is managed by Dansk Ornitologisk Forening (DOF)/BirdLife Denmark. It runs from January 2026 to December 2029.
The PPN IV programme inception meeting was held at the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Tourism in Morogoro. Mr Emmanuel Mgimwa and Mr John Salehe represented Nature Tanzania at the meeting. Mr Mgimwa delivered the programme presentation, and Mr Salehe provided technical input, particularly on the importance of joint work planning and formalising the collaboration through an MoU. On behalf of Principal Prof. Agnes A. Sirima, the meeting was chaired by Acting Principal Dr Greyson Nyamoga. He appreciated the donors and reaffirmed support for the PPN IV programme. He highlighted that the College already has qualified experts in species monitoring, data analysis, forest trend verification, and training local conservation groups in policy, advocacy, and forest governance. Other participants from SUA included Japhet Mwambusi, Dr Namaka Mwambusi, Barnabas Malila, and Beevans Biseko.
We appreciate the positive reception from the College of Forestry. With their existing expertise and dedicated staff, we are confident that this partnership, supported by contributions from the PPN IV programme, will ensure the long-term ecological integrity of the Mazumbai Forest Reserve.”
College of Forestry, Wildlife and Tourism,
