CONTAN project is an Erasmus + Capacity-building project in the field of higher education “Developing curricula for biodiversity monitoring and conservation in Tanzania”. The Project Partners in the EU: University of Florence, (coordinator), MUSE – Science museum, University of Copenhagen, and the University of Bayreuth. Partners in Tanzania: the Sokoine University of University, University of Dar es Salaam, and College of African Wildlife Management.
The project aims to build the capacity of students in the field of higher Education for monitoring and conservation of Biodiversity in Tanzania. This Project has pledged to meet the Convention on Biological Diversity’s international 2020 biodiversity goals through the 2020 Biodiversity Strategy, which includes “stepping up to avert global biodiversity loss.
Funding line: European Union – Erasmus+ KA2 – Capacity Building in Higher Education (call EAC-A02-2019-CBHE)
Implementation period: 15 January 2021 – 14 January 2024 (36 months)
Summary
In the current era of unprecedented biodiversity crisis, which is disproportionally acute in the tropics, many ACP countries have embraced international commitments to ensure green growth through conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. In Tanzania, the project Partner Country, the National Biodiversity Strategy identified in the lack of capacity and inadequate curricula by its Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) major barriers to mainstream biodiversity conservation in the country’s development. Meanwhile, the EU recognizes that actions to avert the environmental crisis need to be taken within the EU but also at global level. Applicants targeted Tanzania because of its outstanding biodiversity importance and the long-standing presence in biodiversity conservation by EU proponents. The project aims at building a network of HEIs and natural science museums in the EU and the 3 major Partner Country HEIs to implement state‐of‐the‐art HE training so to boost capacity and curricula in biodiversity science, hence improving the country’s HE offer. Activities will (1) strengthen the academic scientific knowledge and improve the HE offer by delivering modern training approaches, through introducing e‐learning courses and facilitating the upgrading of formal curricula; (2) build the capacity of HEI’s lecturers and technicians on biodiversity approaches so to deliver effective training, by targeting trainers for capacity building, producing a toolkit and providing adequate equipment; (3) boost skills of students, and update the capacity of professionals, to implement standardised biodiversity monitoring techniques in the field by organizing field training courses. Field training will be delivered at two field stations: in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park (Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre, co-managed by MUSE/University of Florence and the Natural History Museum of Denmark in partnership with Tanzania National Parks) and in Kilimanjaro National Park (Scientific Station Nkweseko, managed by the University of Bayreuth in partnership with Tanzania National Parks). Impacts generated will include the activation of new course programmes to shape an increased number of future competitive biodiversity experts for relevant professional positions, increased research, scientific production, and biodiversity programmes that adopts international standards.If you want to know more about the project send email to Dr. Charles J. Kilawe,Contact Person at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Department of Ecosystems and Conservation, PO Box 3010, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania, ckilawe@sua.ac.tz, +255 752 581 069.
