Download (Box 3). Increased understanding of climate change and biodiversity

MacArthur Foundation Grant Final Report, July 2012
START International Inc.
July 31, 2012
Name and address of Grantee:
START International Inc.
Registered Office:
1209 Orange Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
Operating Arm and Office for Communications:
International START Secretariat
2000 Florida Avenue NW, Suite 200
Washington DC 20009
Project Title:
Capacity Building for Adaptation: Education and
Training Program on Climate Change and
Biodiversity for the Albertine Rift Region
Grant Number:
09-94858-000-GSS
Project Dates:
June 1, 2009 – May 31, 2012
Prepared by
The International START Secretariat, Washington DC
MacArthur Foundation Grant Final Report, July 2012
START International Inc.
Background
START’s Education and Training program funded by the MacArthur Foundation and
implemented in collaboration with the Institute of Resource Assessment (IRA), University of Dar
es Salaam represents our continued commitment to the capacity building of individuals and
institutions to cope with climate change risks to ecosystems and biodiversity in the Albertine rift
region. Phase 1 of this initiative was implemented in 2007-2008 and successfully trained a pool of
20 conservation professionals from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania
and Uganda, many of which continue to be actively engaged in addressing key challenges to
conservation in the region and beyond. The Phase 2 program offered substantial enhancements
over Phase 1, while sharing several common elements with its predecessor. Key components of
Phase 2 include:
a. Advanced education and training courses for conservation practitioners, researchers,
educators and students
b. Field based externship research for hands on learning and application of knowledge
acquired in the classroom.
c. Training of Trainers (TOT) exercise targeted at educators from Albertine Rift universities
to enable them to incorporate knowledge about climate change and biodiversity
conservation in their own university curricula.
d. Online distance learning modules developed from the program curriculum to help expand
the program’s reach to a wider audience.
e. A Stakeholder Dialogue to brings together scientists, practitioners, educators, NGOs, and
policy-makers to share perspectives on the impacts of and adaptation to climate change
and other natural and anthropogenic stressors in Albertine Rift region
A Program Advisory Committee was set up to guide the implementation of activities under Phase
2. The committee, comprising experts in climate change and biodiversity conservation from
Africa and beyond, included:








Pius Yanda, Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam
Beth Kaplan, Antioch University, USA and National University of Rwanda
Guy Picton Phillipps, Wildlife Conservation Society, Tanzania Program
Guy Midgley, South African National Biodiversity Institute
Robert Scholes, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Zambia
Jane Olwoch, University of Pretoria
Anne Larigauderie, DIVERSITAS
Hal Mooney, Stanford University Department of Biology, USA
The primary role of the Advisory Committee was to provide intellectual guidance on high priority
issues facing the Albertine Rift region with respect to climate change. Committee members’
inputs guided key program components namely curriculum updates, externship design, distance
learning modules and engagement of policy and decision-making communities.
Project Objectives:
The overall goal of the project was to develop a sustainable capacity building program for
conservation professionals and policy-makers in the Albertine Rift region by continuing to
1
engage and strengthen individuals and institutions throughout the region, and in doing so foster a
network that can work across borders to address the challenge of biodiversity conservation under
a changing climate. This effort intended to:
 Address the substantial capacity gaps in, and the high demand for, education and training
on biodiversity conservation and climate change, as was highlighted in START’s report
to the MacArthur foundation for the Phase 1 project.

Expand the number of trained professionals who can develop and implement strategies to
address climate change risks to biodiversity in the Albertine Rift region, and in doing so
develop a ‘critical mass’ of trained professionals able to engage in collaborative efforts
across the region.

Strengthen local institutions and inform policy making processes that sustain, beyond the
lifetime of this project, efforts to integrate climate change considerations into biodiversity
conservation
Specific objectives include:
 Improving the quality and content of the curriculum on biodiversity conservation and
climate change.
 Focusing the externships on training participants to assess climate change risks to
biodiversity and ecosystems in the region in order to inform management.
 Expanding the reach of the education and training efforts across the Albertine Rift region
by targeting educators and by developing distance learning modules.
 Conducting a science-policy/stakeholder dialogue based on key issues and findings of the
externship assessments to engage Albertine Rift-country policy-makers and other key
decision-makers on issues of biodiversity conservation and climate change.
 Further fostering regional networks of scientists, conservation professionals, and policy
makers in the Albertine Rift region capable of conducting assessments of sufficient
quality to be included in international assessments, such as the upcoming Millennium
Assessment Phase II and related Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change.
Summary of achievements during the project period:
The Phase 2 program further advanced efforts towards addressing the existing capacity gap in
understanding challenges to biodiversity conservation from climate change and the critical need
for strategic action to preserve key natural resources in the Albertine Rift region. It widened its
reach beyond the limited scope of education and training program to potentially inform climate
sensitive decision-making in the region. It highlighted the need to account for climate change as
one of many natural and anthropogenic drivers that influence biodiversity and impact human
well-being as elaborated in the Millennium Assessment Report (MA, 2005). It emphasized the
need to prioritize sustainability of critical ecosystem services in any strategic approach to
conservation and adopted an integrated approach to capacity building that can potentially respond
to meeting conservation goals and key developmental needs in the region.
To meet its proposed objectives, the curriculum developed for the Phase 1 effort in 2008 was
updated and implemented as advanced Education and Training modules in Climate Change and
Biodiversity Conservation for 30 participants at the University of Dar es Salaam in 2010. This
curriculum is also available as a distance learning resource on the START website. Courses at
Dar es Salaam were followed by externships assessments undertaken by participants at various
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field sites in DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania. A Stakeholder Dialogue in
November 2011 brought together a diverse group of individuals variously engaged in
conservation related efforts in the region to share personal perspectives of multiple risks to
ecosystems and biodiversity. All individuals and institutions involved in the various components
of this capacity building effort are now a part of START’s growing alumni network wherein they
continue to be engaged in other capacity building initiatives targeted at sustaining ecosystem
goods and services in Africa. A detailed description of these activities in provided under their
corresponding objectives below.
Objective 1: Improving the quality and content of the curriculum on climate change and
biodiversity conservation
1. Curriculum update
A review of the Phase 1 training program curriculum was undertaken with IRA to identify areas
for improvement and to better address high priority conservation issues in the region.
Recommendations from the review included updating course content to account for participant
feedback on the Phase 1 curriculum; reflecting recent advances in scientific understanding of
climate change and biodiversity conservation challenges; and updating suggested readings.
Course modules and their content were also reorganized for more effective and efficient
presentation of information. The goal was to ensure that course modules remain responsive to the
needs of participating practitioners, researchers, students, and educators and can offer decision
support for addressing biodiversity conservation and climate change related challenges in the
region.
A key improvement to the curriculum was the strong emphasis on linking biodiversity
conservation to sustaining ecosystem goods and services that form the basis of human livelihoods
and survival. This aspect is particularly important for many developing regions where achieving
key Milliennium Development Goals (MDG) is often closely tied to the sustained availability of
basic ecosystem goods and services. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) framework,
which identifies multiple direct and indirect drivers of ecosystem change and emphasizes
conservation of key supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services was
therefore adopted as the underlying basis of curriculum modules. This was intended to underscore
the importance of situating biodiversity conservation within the larger context of human wellbeing at multiple spatial and temporal scales and the need to recognize climate change as one of
many drivers of change.
A new module focusing on the co-benefits of mitigation and adaptation strategies from the
perspective of biodiversity conservation was also added. This module provided information on
the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation (REDD) programs of the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), which have seen substantial implementation in many developing regions.
The REDD program is particularly gaining popularity in the Albertine Rift region due to the
significant potential for mitigation and adaptation benefits from the protection of forests and
reforestation and afforestation initiatives.
Curriculum modifications based on Phase 1 evaluation feedback included better streamlining of
module contents to allow for an added emphasis on: a) hands-on interactive learning; b) methods
and tools used in scientific and social assessments of climate change impacts on biodiversity and
ecosystems; c) case study exercises; and d) research proposal writing. An additional
recommendation that came out of the Phase 1 evaluation was access to actual modeling tools
(including software). While this was given due consideration, it was not logistically feasible to
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provide individual participants personal copies of such tools. Instead a demonstration of various
tools and techniques was included in the curriculum with the anticipation that participants may
subsequently be able to acquire tool(s) relevant to their work through their home institutions.
Indeed many participants were able to access and use statistical and GIS software in their
externship assessment projects.
The Advisory Committee provided valuable guidance in the curriculum development process
particularly in areas of design and content, methods and tools that could be used for in-class
instruction as well as suggestions for course readings. Every effort was made to incorporate these
recommendations into the final curriculum, which was organized into 10 modules (Box 1). A
detailed program curriculum is included in Appendix 1.
Box 1: Curriculum outline
Curriculum: Education and Training program on climate change and biodiversity conservation.
1.
2.
Biodiversity in a Changing Climate: An Overview
The Climate system: Processes, Variability and Change
- The Climate System and Greenhouse Effect
- Climate Change in the Recent and Distant Past
- Climate Change Projections for the Future
3. Implications of Climate Change for Human Well-being
4. Ecosystems and Biodiversity and their Vulnerability to Climate Change
- Ecosystem Concepts and Processes
- Ecosystem Goods and Services
- Mechanisms by which Climate Change Affects Ecosystems and Observed
- Impacts
5. Current Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation
6. Strategies for Adapting Biodiversity Conservation to Climate Change Impacts
- Approaches to Designing Landscapes under a Changing Climate
- Management of Protected Areas
- Protecting Matrix Areas
- Community-inclusive Approaches
7. Synergies and Trade-offs between Adaptation of Ecosystems and Biodiversity and Climate
Change Mitigation Initiatives in the Region
8. Methods and Tools
- Modeling Climate Change Impacts
- Socio-economic Assessment of Ecosystem Changes
- Designing and Monitoring Adaptive Management Strategies
- Examining synergies with Climate Change Mitigation Initiatives (i.e. REDD, CDM, other
bio-resource projects etc.)
9. Case studies of climate change threats to the biodiversity of the Albertine Rift and strategies
for adaptation
10. Proposal Writing for Externship Research
2. Organization and implementation of the Education and Training Program
The Education and Training program was implemented at the University of Dar es Salaam during
19 July – 3 September 2010, with the Training of Trainers (TOT) component on 6 – 9 September,
2010. Participants were selected based on a competitive application process following a program
announcement in early February 2010 that was widely disseminated via START and IRA
networks, partner institution networks, African Universities, local newspapers, and relevant email
listservs. More than 200 applications were received including some from outside the Albertine
4
Rift region. It was noted that male applicants were proportionally higher than females and fewer
applications were received from the Francophone countries - Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo.
A total of 30 participants were selected based on the relevance of their educational and
professional backgrounds to the program. Of these, 20 were early to mid-career conservation
practitioners, researchers and one graduate student from the five Albertine Rift countries. In
addition10 educators teaching courses related to conservation and natural resources management
at universities and colleges in the Albertine rift region were selected to also participate in the
Training of Trainers (TOT) program.
During the first week of the program, 2 of the selected 30 participants, from Burundi and Rwanda
respectively, had to quit due to personal emergencies. Their departure at such a time made it
difficult to bring in replacements from the reserve applicant pool from these countries. Instead,
only one local substitute from the Tanzania reserve applicant list was able to join the program and
the final count of participants was 29 (Table 1). The departure of these participants unfortunately
skewed the country-wise distribution. The list of selected participants is included in Appendix 2.
Table 1: Distribution of participants by country
Country
No. of participants
Courses + externships
Courses + TOT
Burundi
3
1
Democratic Republic of Congo
4
2
Rwanda
3
2
Tanzania
5
3
Uganda
4
2
Faculty for the programme was sourced from a wide range of expertise, largely from the
University of Dar es Salaam as well as from the Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania),
York University (UK), Mbarara University (Uganda), National University of Rwanda and
Tanzania Meteorological Agency. A detailed list of program faculty is available in Appendix 3.
Courses at the University of the Dar es Salaam campus were organized as interactive seminar
sessions over a span of 6 weeks. The initial 3-week session focused on enabling an understanding
of climate change, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem goods and services, and strategies for
adaptation. The final 3 weeks were dedicated to more practical exercises in applying various
methods and tools, case study exercises and proposal writing for externship research.
3. Field visit
A 1-week break was organized between the two sessions to provide participants a respite from the
intense pace of instruction and to accommodate a field visit to three conservation sites in
Tanzania i.e. Udzungwa Mountain National Park, Uluguru Mountains and Mikumi National Park.
While it would ideally have been preferable to target Albertine Rift locations for this activity, this
was not practically feasible due to the significant distance and travel time involved. The Tanzania
sites were nonetheless quite relevant in providing participants a first hand experience of key
challenges to biodiversity conservation and enabled them to examine similarities and differences
with Albertine Rift protected areas in their own countries.
The field visit included tours of the protected areas, information sessions by park authorities, and
interactive exchanges on current challenges to conservation and potential impacts of a changing
climate. Discussions largely centered around key conservation issues experienced in each park;
relevance of each park in the context of ecosystem goods and services; known climatic and non-
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climatic stresses as well as existing responses and coping strategies; structures of management
and governance; and the roles of key stakeholders. Participants’ feedback on similarities /
dissimilarities with protected areas in their home countries in the Albertine rift was sought. Some
of the major challenges to climate change adaptation identified by participants include:
-
Existing issues of natural resource degradation, biodiversity loss and rural livelihoods
Weak coordination and cooperation among relevant actors with respect to decisionmaking for conservation
Need for innovative approaches in addressing multiple challenges under climate change
The suite of recommendations that came out of participant assessments include the need for:
-
-
Increased community engagement in ecosystem management
Reforms in current laws and regulations to fully account for multiple stressors and enable
greater sustainability in ecosystem management
Increased research on climate change challenges to conservation in the region to enable
appropriate response and adaption measures.
Increased coordination between protected area management and the management of
matrix areas for more effective response strategies and greater sustainability of resource
conservation and development.
Effective park monitoring that is strategically focused on key target species and processes
4. Case study exercises
For case study exercises participants were divided into country teams to develop a baseline
understanding of the current status of a protected area in their home country. Participants used
existing scientific literature and other resources to collate information on the status of ecosystems
and biodiversity in their selected areas and their roles in the provision of key goods and services.
They applied classroom learning and the field trip experience to assess existing climatic and nonclimatic stressors, their implications for conservation and human well-being and emerging risks
under a changing climate. They also examined current management strategies and developed
recommendations for addressing multiple risks and sustaining ecosystem services. Each team
presented their case study in class, which provided an opportunity for significant interaction and
sharing of multiple perspectives and experiences.
Some of the key challenges to conservation identified in the case study exercises include a noted
increase in the occurrence of extreme events primarily droughts and floods, irregularities in the
succession of seasons, higher temperature trends and increasing habitat fragmentation. All case
study teams identified habitat fragmentation as an important non-climatic stressor that posed a
critical challenge to conservation. Other important non-climatic stressors were increasing
populations, expanding agricultural encroachment of park areas, poaching, wildfires, charcoal
burning and invasive alien species. Poverty in the region was another factor that served to
increase dependence on ecosystem resources and often led to their exploitation and degradation.
Also emphasized in the presentations was the need for more readily available information and
data on current and future trends in climate for the region that could enable more effective
decision-making.
Objective 2: Focusing the externships on training participants to assess climate change risks to
biodiversity and ecosystems in the region in order to inform management
The design of externships was given careful consideration under Phase 2 with the objective of
generating outputs that can add value to the understanding of conservation related challenges in
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the region. An additional consideration in externship design was the continued emphasis on
assessing risks to ecosystem goods and services critical for ensuring human well-being.
1. Externship research proposal development
The case study activity described above laid the groundwork for a more intensive exercise in
externship proposal development. Training of Trainer participants did not conduct externship
assessments but participated in proposal writing nonetheless to strengthen their teaching skills.
Proposal writing was undertaken by participants working in country teams under the guidance of
IRA faculty to build upon their case studies and develop one proposals per team to assess risks
posed by climate change and other stressors to high priority conservation targets in their selected
locations (Table 4). Participant proposals also sought to examine the implications of such risks
for the sustainability of key ecosystem goods and services in the region. Final team proposals
were presented to the participant group, which resulted in significant critical examination by
peers and further refinement to the final products.
2. Execution of externship research
Externship research was conducted by the five country teams in their selected locations under the
supervision of an expert supervisor associated with a local conservation institution or
organization, which served as the team’s host institution (Table 2). The research was conducted
during October – December 2010, after the conclusion of the training program at the University
of Dar es Salaam. Nineteen participants, excluding the TOT group, executed the on-location
externships. Team composition ranged from 2 to 6 individuals depending upon the number of
participants per country (Table 1: courses + externships column). The last minute withdrawal of 2
participants from Burundi and Rwanda respectively reduced the team size for these countries.
Moreover, one participant from Rwanda joined the Tanzania team for externship research since
he was then enrolled in a Masters program at Sokoine University in Tanzania and was unable to
obtain an extended leave of absence to perform externship research with this country team. This
generated a somewhat larger Tanzanian team with 6 participants.
Table 2: Participant externships, host institutions and supervisors
Country Externship title
Supervisor
Burundi
DR Congo
Rwanda
Tanzania
Uganda
Impact of climate change on water
resources and biodiversity
conservation in Kibira National Park
Impact of climate change on
biodiversity and livelihoods in central
Virunga National Park
Impact of climate change and climate
variability on the altitudinal ranging
movements of mountain gorillas in
Volcanoes National Park
Impacts of climate change on
biodiversity and community
livelihoods in the Katavi Ecosystem
Community and park management
strategies for addressing climate
change in Queen Elizabeth National
Park
Host Institution
Dr. Elias Bizuru#
Burundi Nature Action
Dr. Arthur Kalonji
Tayna Center for
Conservation Biology
Dr. Elias Bizuru#
Department of Biology,
National University of
Rwanda
Dr. Richard Kangalawe
Institute of Resource
Assessment, University
of Dar es Salaam
Department of Biology,
Mbarara University
Dr. Julius Lejju
# Dr. Elias Bizuru is associated with the NGO, Burundi Nature Action in Burundi and is a professor at the National
University of Rwanda. In that capacity he supervised both country teams.
Each participant was provided with a stipend of $2500 to facilitate their externship assessment.
Formal agreements were drawn with externship host institutions and supervisors prior to the
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commencement of externships to ensure their commitment towards facilitating the process and
providing adequate supervision and institutional support. Most externships were initiated in
October 2010. Only the Tanzanian team had to delay their assessment by a few weeks due to
general elections in October 2010, which hampered normal institutional functioning and field
travel. Nonetheless all teams had completed externship fieldwork by January 2011 and submitted
final reports to START and IRA by March 2011. Externship reports have been reviewed by
START and are available on our website at: http://start.org/programs/biodiv
Externship teams used available climate data, physical observations, community surveys and
interviews, and focus group discussions coupled with available secondary data to identify key
climatic and non-climatic drivers of change and their influence on ecosystems and biodiversity.
The availability and extent of meteorological data varied for the different study sites with no data
available for Virunga National Park in DR Congo due to a destruction of all weather monitoring
equipment during a recent period of armed conflict. Assessments were not just restricted to
national park boundaries but also took into account the role of communities thriving outside the
boundaries of the park.
Inputs from community members and park management indicate an increasing variability in
climate for all the five sites in recent decades in particular, irregularities and seasonal changes in
rainfall, warmer temperatures and increasing frequency of extreme events (Table 3).
Table 3: Community and park management perceptions of recent changes in climate at the five
externship assessment sites
Country
Climatic drivers
Temperature




?
DR Congo
Burundi
Rwanda
Uganda
Tanzania
Precipitation
 and 
* and 


 and 
Extreme events
?




 Increasing trend
 Variable trend
? No reported inputs from community members or park management personnel
*Deforestation has also contributed to the decline in rainfall in recent decades
Table 4: Non-climatic drivers of change in the Albertine rift region identified by local
communities and park management




*













* Irrigation farming is a serious threat in Katavi National Park
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

Industrial /
Commercial
activities

Fire

Armed conflict
Poaching and
hunting

Pests and
infectious
diseases
Resource
extraction

Invasive species
Deforestation
DR
Congo
Burundi
Rwanda
Uganda
Tanzania
Non-climatic drivers
Agriculture and
livestock rearing
Country






Community members and park management personnel expressed greater concern for the day-today challenges from non-climatic stresses, which hamper conservation objectives and impact
local livelihoods. Anthropogenic activities represent the majority of non-climatic stresses mainly
deforestation, slash and burn agriculture, unsustainable resource extraction from protected areas,
livestock grazing, competition with wildlife for water resources, illegal practices such as hunting
and poaching, as well as industrial / commercial development (Table 4). The pressures from a
rapidly growing population in the region only serve to compound these stresses.
Figure 1: Interrelationships between drivers of change and their impacts on ecosystem goods and services
and human well-being across spatial and temporal scales
(Adapted from: The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005)
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Habitat loss, habitat modification and degradation were some of the biggest impacts of climatic
and non-climatic drivers of change in the externship sites. This has resulted in changes in
ecosystem composition; changes in species distribution and loss of species; and changes in plant
phenology and animal behavior; and loss of ecological functions. The ecosystem impacts of
multiple stresses have affected human livelihoods in terms of reduced crop yields; reduced
availability of fodder for livestock; impacts on other natural resources dependent livelihoods such
as fisheries; and impacts on tourism and tourism related businesses. Human health is also affected
due to malnutrition, increased proliferation of diseases such as malaria and cholera.
The externship assessments reveal that the multiples drivers of change and their impacts on
ecosystems and human well-being are interconnected by two-way feedback loops thereby
influencing and in turn being influenced by their individual components (Figure 1). From a
management perspective, the weak understanding of emerging risks from climate change and
their myriad interactions with already existing natural and anthropogenic stresses has resulted in
the relative absence of any planned adaptation for ecosystems and biodiversity in the Albertine
Rift. Park Management initiatives are generally targeted at protecting vegetation and wildlife
from degradation by local communities and are usually very symptomatic in nature. Community
coping strategies to address these changing risks also generally tend to be reactive and are
influenced by the greater urgency of meeting livelihood and food security needs. A framework
for adaptation that is cognizant of the dynamic nature of natural systems and facilitates
knowledge generation, knowledge communication and networking and informed action across
multiple scales and sectors is recommended.
A detailed synthesis of the externship assessments is available in Appendix 4
Objective 3: Expanding the reach of the education and training efforts across the Albertine
Rift region by targeting educators and by developing distance learning modules.
1. Implementing the Training of Trainers program
In the Phase 2 program, an added training component was the Training of Trainers (TOT) module
organized during 6 – 9 September, 2010 and implemented exclusively for the 10 participating
educators from Albertine Rift region universities (Table 2 and Appendix 2). The TOT module
(Box 1), developed in collaboration with the Center for Virtual Learning (CVL), University of
Dar es Salaam, was intended to equip regional educators with enhanced teaching and curriculum
development skills on climate change challenges to conservation. The objective was to expand
training capability beyond the University of Dar es Salaam and thereby develop long-term
sustained capacity in the region to inform the next generation of conservation experts. Sessions,
led by CVL faculty, included training in methodological aspects of teaching, using distance
learning materials as teaching tools and practical applications of the Education and Training
program course materials (uploaded online), in curriculum development and teaching.
Box 2: Distance learning module
1.
Methodological aspects of teaching climate change
- Learning process
- Important stages of a lesson development
- Learning theories and Implications to education
2.
Use of online distance learning modules in teaching
- Dynamics of teaching and learning at a distance
- Online discussion
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A detailed TOT curriculum is available with this report in Appendix 5.
A portion of the TOT session was led by START staff to engage participants in interactive
discussions and obtain their perspectives on curriculum needs for teaching about climate change
and biodiversity conservation. Participants were introduced to several existing online curriculum
tools on climate change and/or conservation available at Conservation Training, Network of
Conservation of Conservation Educators and Practioners (NCEP), Windows to the Universe,
International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER), Adaptation Learning Platforms,
WeAdapt, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), etc. that could serve as
useful teaching resources. Participants were also informed about several sources of peer reviewed
and grey literature relevant to biodiversity conservation and/or climate change.
Development of online distance learning modules: Using curriculum, readings and presentations
from the Education and Training program distance learning modules have been developed to
serve as a teaching resource for educators in the Albertine Rift region and beyond. A review of
existing distance learning modules on climate change and biodiversity conservation revealed that
these learning resources did not adopt the integrated approach of understanding climate change
risks to biodiversity from the perspective of conservation planning and sustaining critical
ecosystem goods and services. Instead, current online learning tools either separately address the
subject of climate change or biodiversity conservation depending upon the mission of their host
organization. [For example climate change science is the focus of Windows to the Universe
modules by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and NOAA’s education and
outreach modules; on the other hand the Conservation Training Modules by the Nature
Conservancy and the NCEP modules focus mainly on biodiversity conservation and forestry].
The task of developing the distance learning modules was initially assigned to IRA to be
accomplished during 2010. Progress was initially stalled due to staff shortages and uncertain
capabilities at IRA. The institution subsequently underwent a change in leadership, which
resulted in further delays. In response to these obstacles, START eventually took over this task
from IRA in 2011. START staff conducted a review of existing distance learning modules to
familiarize themselves with the content, design and organization aspects of this task. They used
curriculum, readings and presentations from the Education and Training Program as well as other
resources to prepare a set of teaching tools on climate change science; climate change impacts on
ecosystems, biodiversity and human well-being; and implications for conservation. START
anticipates that these modules can form the basis of a growing e-learning resource housed within
the START website and equipped with curriculum, tools and learning resources not just limited to
climate change and conservation but encompassing a range of topics relevant to the implications
of global environmental change for human and natural systems.
The Distance Learning modules are available at: http://start.org/programs/biodiv/learningresources
Objective 4: Conducting a science-policy dialogue based on key issues and findings from the
externship assessments to engage Albertine Rift-country policy-makers and other key decisionmakers on issues of biodiversity conservation and climate change.
A multi-stakeholder Dialogue on Climate Change, Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem
Services was convened by START in collaboration with IRA. Targeted at participants from the
Albertine Rift countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, DR Congo and Tanzania, the event was
held at the Kunduchi Beach Hotel, Dar es Salaam on 15-16 November 2011. The Dialogue
brought together conservation practitioners, experts, academics, policy and decision-makers and
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NGO representatives to participate in interactive sessions and share individual perspectives on
impacts of and adaptation to climate change and other natural and anthropogenic stressors in
Albertine Rift region (Table 5).
Table 5: Stakeholder Dialogue sessions
Opening Session Welcome, introductions and remarks from key dignitaries
Conservation and Ecosystem Services in the Albertine Rift – Opportunities
Session 1
and Challenges
National-Regional Assessments and Relevance for Decision-Making
Session 2
Breakout group activities
Session 3
Regional universities as key Players in Addressing Climate Change Risks to
Session 4
Conservation and Ecosystem Services
Enabling Decision-Making for Conservation and Sustaining Ecosystem
Session 5
services and Livelihoods under a Changing Climate.
The primary emphasis of the dialogue was on challenges from multiple drivers of ecosystem
change that pose serious risks to the region’s unique biodiversity and impact ecosystem services.
The Dialogue also provided a platform for sharing findings from regional externships research
projects conducted by participants from both phases of the Education and Training program.
Based on participant presentations and outputs from breakout group activities, non-climatic
drivers such as population growth, illegal activities (e.g. poaching), invasive species,
deforestation, mining, conflicts, land degradation, wildfires, natural disasters and
governance/institutional inadequacies were identified as urgent priorities to be addressed. A weak
understanding of changes in climate and their impacts at local and regional scales resulted in a
slightly lower prioritization of climatic risks. Participants however recognized that reducing
impacts from such non-climatic drivers could build resilience under a changing climate. Climatic
risks deemed important due to their impacts on ecosystem services and human livelihoods were
extreme events such as floods and droughts, unpredictable rainfall patterns and increased
temperature. Lack of awareness; lack of adequate data and monitoring; lack of effective policies
and regulation; lack of political commitment; history of regional conflict; and lack of resources
were commonly identified barriers to informing and enabling effective action.
Dialogue participants acknowledged that targeted responses that are placed based and context
specific are urgently needed to address natural and anthropogenic risks to biodiversity and human
well-being in the Albertine Rift region. Adequate data and monitoring and enhanced
understanding of local changes in climate and its impacts will be necessary to enable such
responses. Participants strongly emphasized the need for: a) Capacity building through education,
training and awareness building; b) Increased support for research and assessment to better
inform adaptation actions; and c) Collaboration and networking among regional institutions and
key stakeholders. The following recommendations were made for building capacity, supporting
knowledge generation and facilitating collaboration and communication in support of
conservation objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Building awareness and enabling knowledge sharing
Upgrading formal education
Effectively engaging decision-makers
Effectively engaging other stakeholder groups
Prioritizing and enabling action
Examining opportunities in other programs:
Sustaining the effort
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A detailed Dialogue report is available in Appendix 6
Objective 5: Further fostering regional networks of scientists, conservation professionals, and
policy makers in the Albertine Rift region capable of conducting assessments of sufficient
quality to be included in international assessments, such as the upcoming Millennium
Assessment Phase II and related Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES), and the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.
Program alumni from Phases 1 and 2, faculty and staff engaged in the training and externship
activities as well as institutions associated with alumni, faculty and externship research projects
are a part of START’s regional network that can potentially contribute to furthering conservation
related knowledge and influencing decision-making in the Albertine Rift. Several program alumni
have successfully leveraged their participation in the Education and Training program to actively
engage in advanced research or contribute towards decision-making and action through their
positions in government institutions/ministries, in non-governmental organizations, as protected
area ecologists and managers, as Masters and PhD students, as educators in universities and
through engagement with other relevant national and international programs (Table 6). The
Stakeholder Dialogue helped to further grow START’s network and generated an opportunity for
participants to also collaborate with the Regional Network of Conservation Educators in the
Albertine Rift (RNCEAR).
Table 6: Examples of alumni engagement in research, decision-making and action
Engagement level
Institutional examples
Government
Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA); Tanzania Wildlife Research
institutions /
Institute (TAWIRI); Ministry of Agriculture, Tanzania; Geographic
ministries
Institute of Burundi; Department of Forestry (Burundi); Ministry of
Higher Education and Scientific Research, Burundi; Ministries of
Environment and Agriculture in Uganda; Uganda Wildlife Authority;
Rwanda Development Board (Tourism); Rwanda agricultural research
institute; National Forest Authority (Rwanda)
Non-government
Jane Goodall Institute; World Wildlife Fund; Greenwatch; Tayna Center
organizations
for Conservation Biology, Congo; CARPE/IUCN PACO; OCEAN:
Center for Research in Natural Sciences, DRCU; Burundi Nature Action;
Association for nature conservation in Rwanda
Advanced education Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium (PhD); Master's program in
(Masters and PhD
Management, Access and Conservation of Species; International
programs)
University of Andalucia in Spain;
International training UNITAR’s climate diplomacy program; SEI-UNISDR-UNU writeshop;
programs
African Climate Change Fellowship Program; UC Davis
Education and
University of Dar es Salaam; College of African Wildlife, Tanzania;
Research Institutions National University of Rwanda; University of Burundi; DR Congo
University; Institut suupérieur pédagogique de popokabaka, DR Congo;
Rwandan Agricultural Research Institute; Centre de Recherche en
Sciences Naturelles of Lwiro, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
Regular communication is maintained with alumni and participants primarily to apprise them of
new knowledge and developments in the field; inform them of new opportunities for research,
training and action; and to remain informed about their professional progress. The primary mode
of communication is email even though a Facebook page for program alumni has been generated
to facilitate to serve as a platform for interaction between alumni, faculty and START/IRA staff.
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It was anticipated that the Facebook page would enable tharing of information, resources and
opportunities related to biodiversity conservation and climate change. Facebook was favored in
place of a new web-based platform embedded within the START website because it was assumed
that most alumni would be more familiar with this mode of communication. However online
communication has not met with much success and postings on Facebook are very infrequent.
Participants have pointed to busy work schedules, frequent fieldwork, and limited access to the
internet as barriers to active participation in online communication. Other options, besides email,
to sustain interactive networking between program alumni in the longer term must be examined.
In addition to connecting with alumni START and IRA make every effort to keep other
conservation related organizations apprised of their capacity building efforts in the Albertine Rift.
Several international organizations such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),
Diversitas, Nature and Poverty, Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES), Ecosystems and Livelihoods Adaptation Network (ELAN) have invited
contributions from START on experiences and lessons learned from this program.
Major constraints, challenges or changes in context:
To a large extent constraints and challenges have been discussed in their relevant contexts above.
To re-iterate in brief here, some of the major constraints and challenges faced include:




Continuing the capacity building effort: Acquiring sustained funding for continuing the
effort in the long term, particularly given the significant demand for the program,
presents a challenge.
Balancing participation by gender, country and language: Fewer applications were
received from Francophone countries and from female individuals. Offering the program
in French could potentially invite additional applications from Francophone countries
although this would require dedicated resources for teaching and translation of
publications. Ensuring a gender balance could be harder although greater effort could be
made to encourage female applicants. The skewed gender balance could also likely be
attributed to fewer females engaged in this area of work.
Maintaining the alumni network: Maintaining the alumni network presents a challenge in
terms of ensuring regular communication and potentially collaboration. While dedicated
efforts by START staff have maintained a level of email communication but alumni must
be encouraged to communicate within themselves to share information and knowledge.
Perhaps dedicated funding to support physical alumni meetings on a regular basis might
present a solution.
Institutional challenges: Challenges from a change in leadership, staff shortages and
uncertain capabilities at IRA resulted in delays in timely implementation of the distance
learning and the Stakeholder Dialogue. This delayed the availability of online teaching
resources for TOT module alumni to use in their curriculum development.
Summary of major impacts and lessons learned; suggestions for the way forward:
The biggest impact of the project comes from the increasing number of alumni who are actively
engaged in climate change and conservation related work whether in terms of planning and
decision-making for conservation under a changing climate or in the form of advanced research
on the subject. The professional successes of these individuals serve as a testimony to the project
meeting it’s primary objective of enhancing individual and institutional capacity to assess and
address climate change challenges in the Albertine Rift region (Box 3).
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Box 3: Perceived program benefits by participants in order to significance








Increased understanding of climate change and biodiversity issues Professional
advancement
New career opportunities
Expanded network of professional connections
Contribution to research relevant to climate change and biodiversity conservation
Contribution to planning / decision-making relevant to climate change and
biodiversity conservation
Higher education opportunities
Contribution to publications relevant to climate change and biodiversity
conservation
Ability to incorporate climate change in teaching curricula
Feedback from participants have also indicated institutional benefits from their engagement in the
Education and Training program in terms of increased contribution to climate change issues
through research, planning and decision-making, and REDD related initiatives.
From START’s perspective the externships in Phase 2 were a significant improvement over the
Phase 1 projects largely due to the allocation of dedicated advisors for each team and the formal
assigned of a host institution for managing local logistics. This has resulted in significantly
improved assessments reports that highlight major challenges to biodiversity and ecosystems at
individual field sites and potentially pave the way for future in-depth investigation (Appendix 4).
Externship participants have indicated a need for added funding to support longer and more
detailed research initiatives in future externship programs.
Feedback from TOT participants has suggested that a majority of them are making efforts to
incorporate learning about climate change in their university curricula. It is anticipated that the
online learning resources developed by START will help to further facilitate this process.
Future possibilities for continued engagement in the region in terms of capacity building for
climate change and biodiversity conservation can potentially include:






Additional rounds of the Education and Training program possibly in English and French
More active engagement of regional educators potentially in collaboration with RNCEAR
A longer externship component to ensure more in-depth research and generation of data
Awarding of competitive regional grants to facilitate research on climate change and
ecosystem goods and services and livelihoods
Engagement of participants in writeshops to facilitate publication of research
Regular Stakeholder Dialogues to maintain the network and enable engagement of the
decision-making community
NOTE: Appendices submitted separately
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