Teddy's Energy is going strong!:)

Thank you very much for your generous donations!:) Thanks to your donations, we are now able cover the salaries of Vincent and Moshi, as well as their travel expenses and many of the workshop expenses in Tanzania.

Hereby, a first update of our progress:

We have not sat still this past month and are happy to announce that, as of today, the Swahili and Dutch versions of the Teddy’s Energy children’s book are freely available on our website!:) Vincent and I have started to work on the workshops we will facilitate in the six Tanzanian villages we conducted fieldwork. In February 2024 we will first facilitate a workshop at the District office together with members of interested Tanzanian NGOs, as well as Tanzania Forest Service (TFS), which are responsible for forest management at national level. Hereafter, we will facilitate half-day workshops for 25 to 35 people, including charcoal producers, members of the village council, and one District council member.

Each workshop will be tailed to the individual villages, focusing on those results that are most interesting to them. Three of the six villages engage in participatory forestry. These villagers govern and manage the forests themselves within their village boundary in accordance to rules and regulations put in a forest management plan, which needs updating every 5 years. Coincidentally, our outreach is right on time, as the three villages need to update their forest management in 2024. Hence, in the villages under participatory forestry, we will facilitate discussions on the three main sections of their management plan: (i) governance, (ii) natural resources management and (iii) sustainable livelihoods. First, we present results, after which the villagers will discuss in groups what implications the findings have for their forest management plan. Is it necessary to adjust the plan based on the findings or not?

In the remaining three villages, charcoal production occurs informally. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of financial resources to apply for participatory forestry in Tanzania. Vincent indicated that most villages are unable to provide these and hence need help of Tanzanian groups and NGOs, such as Tanzania Conservation Group (TFCG) to engage in participatory forestry. Therefore, the legal situation in these villages is unlikely to change soon. Vincent believes that it is of great importance to show the villages a different way of governing charcoal by indicating the differences in production among the two village types, as well as implications for forests and livelihoods. Therefore, we will invite charcoal producers and members of the village government of villages under participatory forestry to travel with us to the villages in which charcoal production occurs informally to share their experiences on governance, natural resources management and livelihood benefits of participatory forestry. We hope this exchange of knowledge and ideas will help the villages to already reflect on some solutions to problems they may be facing.

What’s next?

Together with Vincent, I will continue to work on the research posters for our workshops, as well as research reports for the villages and District. Vincent indicated that it would be very good if paintings would be created to help explain research findings and communicate the research outcomes using story-lines and narratives. Therefore, I am also working on additional paintings that help explain the research results (see attached photo of some progress on one of the paintings). Besides this, we will arrange logistics and permits to share our findings. The next couple of updates will be about the research findings we will share.

A huge thanks again to all who support us!:)