Conservation Livelihoods
Jersey Overseas Aid’s Conservation Livelihoods programme aims to promote a mutually beneficial and sustainable relationship between conservation and human development.
Our Conservation Livelihoods projects enable governments and communities to alleviate poverty without detriment to their surrounding environments, and the protection and revitalisation of threatened ecosystems in a way that improves the wellbeing, and independence, of those who live in or near them.
The programmes focus on vulnerable ecosystems such as natural forests, special reserves and areas of important scientific interest, which are under threat from population growth, habitat destruction or changing weather patterns. They promote participatory and inclusive natural resource management and sustainable livelihoods, developed to ensure that communities are able to grow their incomes without placing increased unsustainable pressure on their environment.
Since 2018, through our Conservation Livelihoods projects, JOA has directly catalysed sustainable change for over 135,000 people living across a range of key ecosystems, including afro-alpine forest, riverine forest, and wetlands.
Current Conservation Livelihoods Grants
| Agency | Programme | Country | Value | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tearfund | CONSERVE: Conservation Of Natural resources for Sustainable Economic Returns | Malawi | £1,168,891 | 2021 | 2025 |
| Plan International UK | CLIMB - Conservation Livelihoods in Malawi's Biospheres | Malawi | £1,200,000 | 2022 | 2025 |
| Sand Dams Worldwide | Strengthening Climate Resilience of Smallholder Farmers | Malawi | £250,882 | 2019 | 2023 |
| Durrell | Improving Human Wellbeing for Nature Dependent Communities | Madagascar | £944,767 | 2017 | 2023 |
| Trócaire Northern Ireland | Community-led Planning and Management for Biodiversity Protection and Resilient Communities | Rwanda | £1,000,000 | 2020 | 2024 |
| Renewable World | Renewable Energy Access for Livelihoods in Fragile Buffer Zones: REALiZe | Nepal | £720,371 | 2020 | 2024 |
| The United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF | Improving Access to Eco-cookstoves and Establishing Green Zones in Nepal | Nepal | £1,000,000 | 2020 | 2024 |
| Sand Dams Worldwide | Restoring Degraded Lands to Reduce Rural Poverty in Ethiopia | Ethiopia | £323,072 | 2020 | 2024 |
| Farm Africa | Protecting Bale Eco-Region forests through sustainable livelihoods | Ethiopia | £600,000 | 2019 | 2023 |
| Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) | Cocoa’s sweet spot: Maximising livelihood, biodiversity and carbon benefits | Sierra Leone | £1,180,449 | 2022 | 2026 |
| Save the Children | Sustainable Livelihoods and Community-Led Conservation for the Protection of Mangrove Ecosystems in Sierra Leone | Sierra Leone | £1,000,000 | 2022 | 2025 |
| Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) | Community-led planning and management for biodiversity protection and resilient communities in the catchment area of Lake Chilwa, Malawi | Malawi | £1,200,000 | 2023 | 2027 |
Project in focus: Renewable Energy Access for Livelihoods in fragile buffer Zones (REALiZe)
COUNTRY: Nepal
PARTNER: Renewable World
DURATION: 2020-2023
The challenge
The Buffer Zones of Bardia National Park and Banke are in a biodiversity hotspot, home to some of Nepal’s most charismatic, protected megafauna, such as rhinoceros, tigers and sloth bears. Communities living in the northern Buffer Zones of these parks suffer from the national-level agriculture crisis, compounded by problems associated with living in an ecologically fragile area and face additional challenges posed by living in a protected forested area. These include valuable livestock being taken by tigers, crops being eaten by families of wild boars, and restrictions placed on how and when Buffer Zone communities can access forest products.
What did we do?
Over the course of 2020 – and despite the challenges of recurring national lockdowns in Nepal – work commenced to repair and upgrade water systems in two communities. The project team also worked with the communities to strengthen and improve livelihoods by conducting value chain assessments, to identify appropriate and marketable products, establishing a multi-purpose nursery locally, and distributing legume seeds. The project team also supported individuals to purchase improved goat bucks and provided training on goat rearing, including training on stall-fed feeding with the purpose of reducing ecologically harmful goat grazing in the forest. The first allocation of improved goat sheds were constructed, enabling community members to protect their livestock from wildlife attacks.
Outcomes
Each household in the two communities now has access to an individual tap, significantly improving access to water, and the communities are now growing a variety of vegetables for their families. There was an unexpected high demand for the goat rearing training, so additional sessions are running, reaching a far higher number of people than originally anticipated. The participants of the initial training, 48 of which were women as many men have migrated overseas for work, actively participated in the sessions, asking many questions. As a result, more sustainable goat rearing practices have been adopted, resulting in increased productivity.
“At the goat rearing training, I got information about nutritious grasses, grains, essential medicines, and mineral salts that goats require. Now we make our own mineral salt at home and feed the goats two to three times a week. After understanding these things, I plan to grow different nutritive fodder species like mulberry, Epil-Epil, and Napeir on our own land. I hope this will support our daily lives and improve our livelihoods in the future.”
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