To help the communities better manage their natural resources and meet their conservation goals, the project has provided capacity-building workshops. With technical and financial support from USAID, the project has provided training to communities in planning, accounting, marketing, leadership, and governance to facilitate locally driven project management focused on scaling up sustainable land use practices.
The project has enlisted the communities, including former loggers and shell fishers, to lead biodiversity monitoring activities. The biodiversity monitoring team is trained and equipped with tools like the “SMART” mobile app which allows them to record the location, number, and type of species they’ve encountered within the project area. Communities also receive training on […]
The project area is home to a vast expanse of mangrove forests including a protected area established in 2017 called Cabo Manglares. These mangroves serve as nursery grounds for a diverse array of marine species. They play a pivotal role in carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change, while also offering coastal protection against erosion and […]
The communities of the ACAPA – BMyF REDD+ project traditionally derived their income and subsistence from logging and agricultural production. The project has provided training and technical assistance to local communities on sustainable agricultural practices and market systems development for high-value crops such as cacao and coconut in order to enhance their livelihoods and reduce […]
The ACAPA – BMyF REDD+ project supports local women by providing environmental education, employment, and training in sustainable agricultural practices, including for high value crops such as coconut and cacao. Women are also trained on biodiversity monitoring techniques and are encouraged by the project to participate in decision-making processes and general assemblies. These activities not […]
Many rural areas within the project lack access to modern healthcare services and clean drinking water. To understand the needs of the local community, the project conducted a feasibility study and designed a water treatment facility that now provides 885 families in 20 villages access to potable drinking water. The project also plans to open […]
The Gender Empowerment Team has taken the lead for increased crop yield and agriculture intensification activities in the project area. A few decades ago, fungi were destroying the cassava crops around Mai Ndombe, leading to crop failures around the country. A university study was conducted to explore other cassava varieties more resistant to fungi and […]
Farming of fish is not traditionally undertaken by the local communities. Whilst some villages are home to fisherman, they predominantly use the wild caught method and as such, aquaculture is a very new concept. Unfortunately, traditional wild caught fishing has proved to be unsustainable in the Mai Ndombe region, leading to depletion of the wild […]
Providing clean water is a top priority of the Mai Ndombe REDD+ project as water related illnesses are the second leading cause of death in the area after malaria, associated with the lack of access to safe drinking water despite the general abundance of water in the region as villagers dig shallow wells or fetch […]
Improved healthcare is one of the most important activities in the Mai Ndombe REDD+ project given the very poor health and nutritional status of community members across the project area. Over 1/3 of children under 5 are malnourished and many are at high risk from malaria, together leading to a high mortality rate of 220 […]