Sustainable Land Management: Challenges, Success and Future Opportunities for Tanzania

Abstract

This paper was presented at the United Nations Development Program’s Sustainable Land Management Project feedback conference in Moshi, Tanzania. The conference was held to discuss lessons learnt from the Government of Tanzania and the United Nations Development Program’s Project on Reducing Land Degradation on the Highlands of Kilimanjaro Region. It summarises the challenges and successes of implementing the United Nations Convention on Desertification and Degradation in Tanzania and in the rest of the world, notably, unsustainable land management practices, deforestation and soil erosion, caused by a demand for agricultural land as the world’s population rises. It notes that limited funding for sustainable land management has limited the effectiveness of projects to address challenges. It also summarises new opportunities for funding that can make a bigger impact, such as the Green Climate Fund and Payment for Ecosystem services, which promise to allocate more funding to sustainable land management projects in the future.