By Sadick Rutenge

Project Summary:

Project Title: Reducing the Effect of Climate Changes Though Mined Land Rehabilitation in the environment affected by Small Scale Mining

Community Serve and life survival organization has developed this proposed project in responses to building in works that the Government has been doing in the field of environmental conservation , protection of habitats of living things, protection of humid cover, improving natural water and sanitation, wind break, reduce of carbon and carbon dioxide from air, reducing air pollution and in response to the community environment  those  has been polluted and degraded by human activities include mining activities, agriculture, over grazing, mining camps and deforestation in Geita Region.

Environmental pollution continues to be huge environmental challenges in Geita Region especially in areas dominated by mining activities. Despites the requirement  of environmental laws those provides for mined land rehabilitation, players do not comply due to poor environmental  education and lack of close monitoring from Environmental Authorities.

As a result thousands of trees are cut every day to clear area for mining, getting trunks of trees to facilitates building of mining holes and tenures, clearing the mining roots to facilitate transportation of mineral ores from mining areas to production areas, clearing trees to establish temporary mining camps, buildings of mining plants, building of cyanides dam and vats leeching plants. Mining activities those use mercury as mining chemical created natural death of plants and grass when the leakage spread on mining environment. In both Geita and Chato District the area those have affected are Rwamgasa, Mpovu, Nyarugusu, Nyaruyeye, Makurugusi, Nyamtondo, Nyamahuna, Mgusu, Nyakagwe, and Musasa in Chato District, Samina and Bigwa.

This result into unsettled local communities moving from one place to another to looks for safe habitats. Disappearing of plant species like Mninga and Mikora, pollution of water source creating scarcity of water for domestic uses, climate changes from two rainy seasons to one rainy season and unsafe rainy water to the communities due to pollution from mining chemicals. As the effects continue the communities may fails to get their social rights like education for children, community health and community social welfares as they move from one place to another to look for safe habitat.

The project aim to improve environmental conservation by planting more trees and grasses especially where natural vegetation has been destroyed by mining activities, replanting species especially those are nearby disappearing, provision of environmental education to mining players and local communities, visiting all schools and educating young generation about environmental conservation. This will result into protection of humid cover, serve lives of plant and animal, wind break, improves drainage cycle and rainy season, protect natural water resources, create best habitat for living things, reduce carbon from air, neutralize carbon dioxide, protect land slid and soil erosion.

The project will adopt the participatory and multi-sectoral approach due to complexity and interrelated casual factors affecting environment. Although some large scale miner’s implements mined land rehabilitation, there is a need to support on-going efforts to accelerate progress especially for small scale miners and young generation. This project will help address issues on environmental conservation and rehabilitation for 365 days  through education in schools for young generation, seminars to miners  and supplying nurseries in schools and planting natural trees in mined land areas to improves green lives in Geita Region especially Geita and Chato District.

The design of the project has been developed through consultative meetings from the communities and is based on the lesson learnt from research carried by number of institution in integrating the number of programs aims improving lives of human, animals and plants.

Project Activities

1. Train 10 workers and 50 volunteer who will help in provision of environmental education and also provision with working tools like motorcycle and gumboot.
2. Making sensitization and provision of environmental education to 500 small scale miners, 20 environmental workers from government authority  and 80 from other public office   Geita and Chato District
3. Support the 10 members from communities to establish tree nurseries by providing them with necessary requirement like manures, paste sides, organic soil and nursery seeds  
4. Planting  100,000  nursery trees and Grasses  to mined land areas (mined land rehabilitation)  Geita and Chato District
5. Print 1000 material on the importance of environmental conservation, effect of environmental pollution and 700 sensitization T-shirt and distributed those material to targeted group included those who will not attend training.
6. Hold community awareness and sensitization program with beneficiaries and other key stakeholder on recommendation on the environment conservation and mined land rehabilitation.
7. Design bronchus and sensitization card and uses NGO website (www.cslso.or.tz) to publish them so that the education may reach more audience.
8. Support the communities’ environmental volunteers to sensitize the communities on the importance of environmental conservation.

Targeted audience

Small scale Miners and officers from environment agencies of Geita and Chato District

Number direct beneficiaries

The communities of Geita Region including human being, animals and plants as  environmental rehabilitation  has social , economic, physical and environmental benefit

Project Goals

Training 1000 small scale miners from Geita and Chato District and planting 100,000 tree nurseries and grasses in Geita and Chato District where small scale mining had degraded the environment.

Details of expected outcomes

• Conducting seminars and sensitization meeting will creates awareness  to small scales miners and other key stakeholder on environmental conservation
• Planting more trees and grasses and making general mined land rehabilitation improves drainage cycle and rainy making system that will be the solution on the effect of climate changes
• Trough planting more trees and grasses, protecting soil erosion and landslide creating best habitat  with full of safe water for domestic uses and favorable air from vegetation to both human and animals  
• Through replacing natural plants and grasses, education to small scales miners and other stakeholders will improves environmental conservation and preserve natural species.
• Planting more trees and grasses and making general mined land rehabilitation protects  humid cover increases sustainability of sources of natural water and wipe way water pollution

Sustainability of the Project

• Support the communities to establish tree nurseries by providing them with necessary requirement like manures, paste sides, organic soil and nursery seeds 
• For the period of one year of the project we shall adopt monthly assessment on the sustainability of the project. These continue even after one year of the project. The adopted monthly assessment shall give areas of improvements which shall contribute to sustainability of the project.
• Develop a sustainability strategy includes regular visiting areas where we shall plant trees and replacement of all dead nurseries to ensure that the objective of the project are met
•  Proposed to government authority to adopt and enforce a sustainability standard. This included propose on the amendment of laws and regulation where there is loopholes for environmental pollution, imposing sanction to those environmental law break.
• Look for sustainability in partners and vendors including creating awareness to young generation especially scholars by providing them with environmental education. This will help creating future generation with awareness on environmental values.

How to Monitor the Project

• We shall be working with team members with regular meetings to create project outlines that will help in tracking the project progress, identifying the area for improvement and setting new outlines.
• Adopting and enforcing financial and non financial control, ensuring the resources of the project are used in accordance with NGO financial policies, strengthening internal control system, and ensuring preventive, detective, corrective and directive control are in place.
• Ensuring all polices adopted by the organization includes environmental policies, human resources polices, financial policies, working safety polices are implemented and reviewed.
• We shall establish goals and deadline and review the attainment of the goals on monthly bases.
• Establish feedback strategies ensuring each member have the reporting line. Reporting on the performance shall be done on weekly bases and the head of every unit shall be compiling the monthly report on the performance and progress of the project and   maintain record for future valuation.
• Ensuring compliance with state law and regulation and appointment of consultants who shall be guiding on compliance issues, included tax consultants (employment taxes), environmental consultants and project consultants.