Mulanje Mt. Biodiversity Conservation Project

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The Mulanje Mountain Biodiversity Conservation Project will contribute to increase awareness on the value of biodiversity within the project area, among the Forest Department (FD), and surrounding communities alike, ensuring that conservation needs are addressed, strengthening FD's capacity, and, encouraging greater community participation in forest management. The components include: 1) establishment of the Trust Administration Unit (TAU), within the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust (MMCT), to develop the program content for biodiversity conservation, research/monitoring, environmental education, and, forest co-management, in collaboration with the FD, and nongovernmental organizations. The capacity building element will relate to the coordinating functions of MMCT, including training, inter alia, in Trust accounts, reporting requirements, and procurement; 2) activities to support a biodiversity baseline survey, and monitoring; capacity building for biodiversity protection, management, and monitoring; direct operational conservation activities, and equipment; and, research on biodiversity conservation; 3) assessment of local primary/secondary schools' involvement in promoting environmental awareness, and, participatory planning, and design of program activities for the development of environmental education; 4) forest co-management, and sustainable livelihoods, emphasizing linkages between economic benefits, indigenous biodiversity, and natural ecosystems; and, 5) establishment of the Conservation Trust Fund, through the MMCT, to sustain biodiversity conservation within an ecological sustainable context.