Natural Resource Industries and Livelihoods

In April, CSF held the third workshop of the CSF Project for Tourism in Indigenous Peoples' Lands Paiter-Surui and Parintintin. We discussed the final details of tours and infrastructure, the market study data, and the financial viability of the businesses.

The Albertine Rift is the 920-mile long western area of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It runs from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tanganyika. Formed over millions of years, the Albertine Rift is the result of two tectonic plates that once collided and are now slowly moving apart. This geologic activity has created some of Africa's tallest mountains and many of the world's deepest lakes. In addition, the unique variation in elevations has contributed to the diversity of habitats that include wetlands, alpine grasslands, lowland and montane forests, and woodland savannas. Within these habitats, one finds everything from active glaciers to volcanoes.

As CSF's new BUILD Program Operations Manager, Irene Burgués Arrea has found herself traveling all over the world in order to promote biodiversity conservation through infrastructure best practices. From her native country of Costa Rica, to the forest of Uganda (with stops in Bolivia and Brazil in between), Irene is jumping right in.

In early December, CSF’s Marcos Amend delivered economics know-how to students in the Professional Masters for Protected Area Managers program run by INPA (National Institute for Amazon Research). The program's objective is to train managers to face the challenges of protected areas management in Amazon region. This is the second time CSF has contributed to the program, which was founded by CSF course graduate Rita Mesquita.

An hour drive from Kampala lies the Mabira Forest, one of the few remaining natural forest reserves in Uganda. Rich in biological diversity, the forest contributes to the livelihood of the adjacent communities and provides an opportunity for ecotourism. In 2009 the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (SCOUL) requested permission from the government to use part of the Mabira Central Forest Reserve for sugarcane growing. CSF graduate Ronald Kaggwa took action.

Conservation Strategy Fund's Economic Tools for Conservation training course will be offered next year in Micronesia thanks to a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and a partnership with 2010 international course graduate Willy Kostka and the Micronesian Conservation Trust (MCT).

The course will be CSF's first in the Western Pacific region.

The training will support conservation of marine and forest resources in Micronesia by equipping conservation practitioners, natural resource managers and community leaders with the principles and tools of conservation economics.