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   RUFIJI 
   ENVIRONMENT 
   MANAGEMENT 
   PROJECT
   Tanzania
   Equator Initiative Case Studies
   Local sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
       UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
       Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that work 
       for people and for nature.  Few publications or case studies tell the full story of how such initiatives evolve, the breadth of 
       their impacts, or how they change over time.  Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practitioners 
       themselves guiding the narrative.  
       To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to fill this gap.  The following case study is one in a growing series 
       that details the work of Equator Prize winners – vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmental 
       conservation and sustainable livelihoods.  These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local success 
       to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models for 
       replication.  Case studies are best viewed and understood with reference to ‘The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Years of 
       the Equator Prize’, a compendium of lessons learned and policy guidance that draws from the case material.    
       Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiative’s searchable case study database.
       Editors
       Editor-in-Chief:              Joseph Corcoran
       Managing Editor:              Oliver Hughes
       Contributing Editors:         Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
       Contributing Writers
       Edayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughes, 
       Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma, 
       Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu      
       Design
       Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis
       Acknowledgements
       The Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Rufiji Environment Management Project, and also the guidance and inputs of 
       Abdalla Said Shah, IUCN Tanzania office. All photo credits courtesy of Rufiji Environment Management Project. Maps courtesy of CIA 
       World Factbook and Wikipedia.
       Suggested Citation
       United Nations Development Programme. 2012. Rufiji Environment Management Project. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York, 
       NY.
      RUFIJI ENVIRONMENT 
      MANAGEMENT PROJECT
      Tanzania
      PROJECT SUMMARY                                                KEY FACTS
      Between 1998 and 2003, this IUCN-led intervention in the       EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2004
      Rufiji Delta area of Tanzania worked through the Rufiji District 
      Council to develop village environment management              FOUNDED: 1998
      plans in consultation with local communities. The project 
      oversaw the effective transfer of resource management          LOCATION: Rufiji District, Tanzania
      authority from the central government to four pilot villages 
      comprising communities in the floodplain and delta areas       BENEFICIARIES: Villages in the Rufiji River Delta
      affected by the flooding of the river downstream of the 
      Selous Game Reserve.                                           BIODIVERSITY: Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Marine Ramsar site
      Land-use maps were collaboratively produced by teams 
      of researchers, government officials, and the communities 
      themselves using a combination of modern and traditional 
      means; these maps then formed the basis of participatory 
      land use planning at the village level, focusing on 
      empowering women as prime resource users. The enduring 
      impact of the project has been closer cooperation between 
      communities and local government in preserving the 
      region’s delicate socio-ecological balance. 
      TABLE OF CONTENTS
       Background and Context                             4
       Key Activities and Innovations                     6
       Biodiversity Impacts                               7
       Socioeconomic Impacts                              8
       Policy Impacts                                     9
       Sustainability                                    10
       Partners                                          11
                                                                3
          Background and Context
     The Rufiji River lies entirely within Tanzania, rising in the south-west      A socio-ecological balance
     of the country and reaching the Indian Ocean some 375 miles later, 
     forming a sprawling delta. Located about 250 miles south of Dar               Farmers in the Rufiji flood plain and the delta area have evolved a 
     es Salaam, the Rufiji River Delta is the largest in Eastern Africa, and       system of land use over time that is adapted to the unpredictable 
     contains the largest estuarine mangrove forest on the eastern sea-            floods of the Rufiji River. The system is based on inter-planting and 
     board of the African continent. Common mangrove species include               rotating rice, maize, beans, and, to a lesser extent, cotton. In addition, 
     Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia alba and Ceriops tagal, while Avi-           livelihoods are supplemented by the utilization of available natural 
     cennia marina and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza occur less frequently. As             resources, such as fishing in the rivers and lakes, and harvesting of 
     well as an extensive food web that supports a high diversity of om-           forest and non-forest products.
     nivorous crustaceans of commercial importance, the delta ecosys-
     tem and Mafia Island are important wintering grounds for migrating            In 2002, it was estimated that the forests provided around 60% of 
     birds, including waders and terns. Wildlife such as hippopotamuses,           locally-raised income within Rufiji District. In 2008, a study con-
     crocodiles and monkeys feed and shelter in the mangrove forests.              cluded that wetland resources were of substantial economic value 
                                                                                   to households in one of the delta’s villages, Mtanza-Msona: the ma-
     In 2004, the delta was included in Tanzania’s fourth site to be named a       jority of wetlands harvest and use activities were worth at least TSh 
     Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.              25,000 (around USD 20 at 2008 prices) a year per person, with timber 
     Known as the Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Marine Ramsar site, it is a complex           harvesting for sale, fishing, honey collection, building poles and fire-
     of coastal and marine habitats that includes the Rufiji Delta; Mafia          wood being the most lucrative. The total annual value of wetland re-
     Island and surrounding smaller islands, sandbars, and coral reefs lo-         source use to the village’s 428 households was TSh 226 million (USD 
     cated just offshore; the Songo-Songo Archipelago to the south; and            192,000), or just over USD 100 per capita.
     adjacent waters, including the Mafia Channel and waters between 
     Mafia and Songo-Songo.                                                        The shared use of natural resources was governed by both complex 
                                                                                   sharing of ecosystems between villages or lineages and by local per-
     The major ethnic group in Rufiji District is the Wandengereko. Other          ceptions of space as sacred groves or as having assigned spiritual 
     groups include the Wanyagatwa, who are mainly found in the Rufiji             values. Traditionally, the floodplain and hill tribes have had an infor-
     Delta, and Wamatumbi, who are mainly found in the southern part               mal mutual aid agreement that stipulates that, in years of bad rain-
     of Rufiji, as well as a number of other smaller ethnic groupings. Col-        fall, the floodplain people cannot refuse to provide the hill people 
     lectively, these groups are often referred to as the “Warufiji”, or Rufiji    with food, and vice-versa in years with insufficient floods. The for-
     people. The history of Rufiji District is strongly linked to the develop-     ests and woodlands have also acted as safety nets during times of 
     ment of the coastal Swahili culture and the trade links between the           drought and rainfall, providing subsistence nutrition or timber that 
     East African coast and the countries of the Persian Gulf. The district is     can be sold for food. Numerous taboos exist on harvesting of certain 
     home to many people of Arab origin, and Islam is an integral part of          species, and their harvesting requires complex rituals. 
     the Rufiji culture, guiding both its religious and social systems.
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