THE government has received tourist vans, drones, motorcycles and radio call systems to be installed in various forest zones around the country.

Dr Hassan Abbas, the Tourism and Natural Resources permanent secretary, said in receiving the forest conservation grant valued at over 1bn/- from the European Union (EU), that the 74 pieces of equipment and devices will be used to safeguard forests against unregulated tree harvesting

The facilities are meant for the Tanzania Forests Services Agency (TFS) to enhance forest conservation activities, part of implementation of a three-year project of transformation of Tanzania fuel wood value chain project 2023/26 slated to cost euro 2.5m set for completion towards the end of next year.

The project is geared for attracting positive transformation from the fuel wood value chain to clean energy solutions with the purpose of conserving forests in the wake of climate change affects, he stated.

The project is meant to enhance TFS capacity in monitoring and evaluation of various activities in the forestry sector, in line with conservation guidelines adopted by district councils.

The EU- funded project is being implemented in coordination of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) country office, the Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative and the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT), he explained.

Dr Amani Ngusaru, the WWF Tanzania country director, said that the project also covers training for forest conservators at the district and village levels, relating to procurement, data collection and issuance of permits.

Radio call systems are to be installed in the western, eastern, northern regions and Lake Zone areas where harvest areas of forest products is taking place, he said, pointing at Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Tanga, Coast, Mwanza and Tabora regions as leading regions in production and consumption of wood fuels. 

Prof Dos Santos Silayo, the conservation commissioner said that other facilities extended through the project include point of sale machines and surveillance boats, hailing the EU for funding the project that fosters forest conservation in the thick of climate change effects. 

"We are looking at making good use of the offered facilities to ensure that there is responsible business along the forest products value chain,” he declared.