Our Story

Our story

Meleckzedeck H.Laizer who is the founder of TSCCD, has worked in community conservation for 10 years since 2012 where he has seen how rich natural resources are in Tanzania but still Tanzanian communities live in poverty below $1. These communities have been experiencing problems like wildlife invading farms, property damage, and causing deaths, but also due to population growth, lack of understanding of how to plan the best use of land.

This trend has increased further after the end of 2020 after the founder became aware of the National Biodiversity Strategy action plan of 2015 to 2020 and According to the strategy, Tanzania is one of the twelve megadiverse countries of the world endowed with different natural ecosystems that harbor a massive wealth of biodiversity. But again the country is among 15 globally registering the highest number of threatened species,

This is due to increased ecosystem deterioration, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and climate change. It is estimated that Tanzania has lost at least one-third of its important ecosystems and biodiversity hosted within forests and wooded areas over the past few decades due to agriculture expansion and urban growth. Almost 38% of Tanzania’s forest cover is being lost at the rate of about 400,000 ha annually and should this continue, the country would deplete its forest cover in the next 50-80 years. Along the coast, 18% of the mangrove forest cover has been lost over 25 years (1980 – 2005). Similarly, more than half of inland water ecosystems (rivers, lakes, and dams) have been degraded.

To address these challenges, he decided to establish this institute to work with other stakeholders in finding positive solutions on how to protect, conserve and manage our natural resources to bring productivity, improve the lives of Tanzanian community members to prevent erosion of earth biodiversity.