By Mutayoba Arbogast
Every morning, as residents of Mbatamila village in Tanzania’s Tunduru District wake up, the threat of drought is never far from their minds.
Located in Ruvuma Region in southern Tanzania, the village has become increasingly concerned about the changing climate and its impact on livelihoods. Village leaders believe deforestation in Mbatamila and surrounding communities is among the factors worsening the problem.
Although residents have made efforts to curb environmental destruction using their own resources, village leaders concluded that outside financial support would be essential to protect their environment more effectively and secure livelihoods for the future.
Speaking in August 2026, Mbatamila Village Executive Officer Edwin Daniel Mlanda said the proposal to seek financial support was first presented to the village council before being approved by a village general assembly.
Mbatamila, officially established in 1974, consists of 11 hamlets with a population of 3,901 people, including 1,978 women and 1,923 men, according to Mlanda.
Following the assembly’s decision, the community applied for a grant under a programme supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Mbatamila was not alone. Similar concerns about environmental degradation and climate pressures were being raised across Ruvuma Region.
Eight villages eventually met the programme’s eligibility requirements: Mbatamila, Chanampungu and Daraja Mbili in Tunduru District; Ndongonsi, Namatuhi, Muhukulu Ilahi and Muhukulu Barabarani in Songea District; and Likusanguse in Namtumbo District.
The participating villages subsequently entered into formal agreements involving village chairpersons and executive officers, district executive directors and WWF.
According to Mlanda, the agreements provide funding for several activities, including forest patrols and the establishment of community groups involving women, young people and persons with special needs. Implementation periods and work plans are also clearly outlined.
A Community-Led Response
In June 2026, WWF launched the programme in Ruvuma under the global People Powering Biodiversity initiative. Through its Direct Financing Mechanism, approximately TSh1.2 billion has been allocated to help communities respond to climate change, tackle environmental degradation, including uncontrolled tree cutting, and support local efforts to reduce poverty.
Likusanguse village in Namtumbo District offers an example of how communities are beginning to translate conservation funding into practical action. Standing near one of the village’s remaining forest areas, Village Chairman Rashid Mwenda outlined plans that combine environmental protection with local economic development.
“We have decided to allocate TSh20 million for patrols to protect the village forest and for boundary marking, TSh14 million for the construction of a market, and TSh19 million to empower community groups,” Mwenda said.
The allocations reflect an approach in which communities identify their own conservation and development priorities rather than simply receiving projects designed elsewhere.
A representative of WWF Tanzania Country Director Dr Lawrence Mbwambo said at the programme’s launch that the funding has three broad objectives. The first is to strengthen forest conservation and environmental protection, while the second focuses on supporting community groups engaged in environmentally friendly economic activities such as beekeeping, fish farming and productive agriculture.
Particular attention is being given to young people, women, older people and persons with special needs. The third objective is to improve essential social services, including health facilities, schools and access to clean and safe water.
Conservation and Tanzania’s Vision 2050
Launching the programme, Ruvuma Regional Commissioner Major General Ahmed Abbas thanked WWF and other conservation partners for their support, saying the initiative was closely aligned with Tanzania’s Development Vision 2050.
He urged communities to treat environmental conservation as a collective responsibility, particularly as the effects of climate change become increasingly visible across the country.
One of the pillars of Vision 2050 focuses on environmental conservation and resilience to climate change, with priorities including biodiversity conservation, protection of wetlands and water sources, pollution control and effective land management.
Major General Abbas said Tanzania has set aside approximately 40 per cent of its land for conservation. He also welcomed key elements of the Ruvuma programme, including improved land-use planning, village forest conservation committees and demonstration farms aimed at strengthening climate awareness and education.
Climate change, he stressed, does not recognise the boundaries of a village or district. It is a challenge with consequences for the entire country, making local participation critical to national efforts to protect natural resources.
Turning the TSh1.2 billion investment into meaningful and lasting change, however, will require more than funding. Careful planning, accountability and sustained participation by local communities will be equally important.
At early implementation meetings, young people were already asking questions about beekeeping, one of the activities expected to provide small-scale producers with income while reducing dependence on practices that destroy forests.
Direct Funding, Local Accountability
As the Swahili proverb goes, “Mali bila daftari hupotea bila habari”—roughly translated as, “Property without proper records can disappear without anyone noticing.”
The programme seeks to address that concern by transferring funds directly into village bank accounts through the Direct Financing Mechanism under the People Powering Biodiversity initiative. The approach is designed to improve transparency, reduce administrative delays and give communities greater ownership of conservation and development projects.
WWF Tanzania officials said the TSh1.2 billion would be disbursed in phases, allowing implementation, income and expenditure to be closely monitored before additional funds are released.
“The funds will be disbursed in phases, beginning with three instalments. Careful use of the funds for their intended purposes, together with timely implementation, will determine whether a village qualifies to receive the next instalment,” a WWF Tanzania representative said.
The phased system puts financial accountability at the heart of the initiative while giving communities greater responsibility for demonstrating that resources are producing the intended results.
A Long-Term Conservation Challenge
WWF has been involved in environmental conservation for decades across more than 100 countries, including Tanzania. In the country, the organisation has worked with the government on efforts to restore degraded landscapes under the AFR100 initiative, which aims to restore 5.2 million hectares of degraded land.
WWF’s broader conservation ambitions also include the global Trillion Trees initiative, which supports large-scale forest restoration and tree conservation.
Tree planting and forest restoration remain important tools in responding to climate change. Healthy forests protect water sources, support biodiversity, help regulate local weather patterns and provide habitats for numerous species.
According to Global Forest Watch, Tanzania experienced significant forest loss between 2000 and 2020, highlighting the scale of the conservation challenge facing the country.
For communities in Ruvuma Region, however, the TSh1.2 billion programme represents a beginning rather than an end. Environmental protection is rarely achieved through a single intervention, but through sustained local action built over time.
FAO Warns of Climate Risks to Forests
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in a report produced with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), has warned that climate change is likely to have significant consequences for forest ecosystems.
In its Forest Sector Outlook 2020–2040, the organisation notes that global strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions continue to depend heavily on the ability of forests to absorb and store carbon.
The report also highlights the potential of innovative products derived from timber and other forest resources to provide alternatives to materials associated with high carbon emissions in construction, manufacturing and other industries, while contributing to energy production.
It further offers policy guidance for the forestry sector, including measures aimed at strengthening sustainable supply chains, improving the resilience of forest ecosystems and supporting wider efforts to address climate change.
From Warnings to Village Action
Environmentalists and conservation advocates have repeatedly warned about the consequences of continued deforestation.
“This situation is unacceptable. Deforestation is one of the causes of the climate change we are experiencing today. Climate change is producing severe consequences, including droughts, rising temperatures, floods and increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns,” Tanzania’s former Prime Minister and environmental advocate Kassim Majaliwa said in April 2023.
British primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall has similarly warned of the wider consequences of forest destruction, stressing the need to reverse deforestation and protect both people and the natural world.
For communities across Ruvuma, such warnings are no longer distant environmental concerns. They are increasingly reflected in everyday worries about drought, forests, water and livelihoods.
The test now is whether the resources being placed directly in the hands of these villages can deliver lasting results. If community ownership, conservation and accountability work together, Ruvuma’s villages could demonstrate how local action can protect forests, create sustainable livelihoods and build stronger resilience to a changing climate.
