Tanzania massively invests in eco-drive to rank Africa’s greenest nation come 2050
The initiatives aim at tackling deforestation, land degradation, and low recycling rates while driving economic growth.
TUESDAY September 1, 2026
By The Tranquillity NewsCorrespondent, Tanzania
Tanzania has launched several environmental initiatives in 2026 to position itself among Africa’s top ten most sustainable nations by 2050.
The initiatives aim at tackling deforestation, land degradation, and low recycling rates while driving economic growth.
The core environmental initiatives include a Strategic Transformation Programme which former vice president Emmanuel Nchimbi unveiled in Dodoma in June this year.
Deforestation, land degradation in more than 60 per cent of its arid territories, the spread of invasive species, and a relatively low-level waste recycling are among challenges facing the resource-rich East African country.
The programme with a TSh7 trillion TSh ($2.6 billion) budget for the 2026–2030 period targets the planting of two million trees, thanks to a rule requiring five trees per a building permit.
It also intends to restore five million hectares of degraded land, boost clean cooking energy to 80 per cent by 2034, and scale the carbon market as one of the country’s three leading sources of income.
Restoring Ecosystems and Increasing Community Resilience in Tanzania” (TUNZA) is another three-year project the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Moroccan OCP Foundation launched in the country.
This project is designed to restore degraded ecosystems of the Eastern Usambara Mountains that provide water to the Zigi River, protect fertile soils, and provide habitat for unique plant and wildlife species
It targets planting two million trees, restoring five million hectares of degraded land, and expanding clean cooking energy to 80 per cent by 2034.
Dating back to 2021, the country’s clean cooking energy campaign saw compliance rise from 6.9 per cent to 28.5 per in 2025.
Tanzania aims to have 80 per cent of its population using clean cooking energy by 2034. PHOTO | WWF TANZANIA
National Mangrove Forest Management and Development Strategy for 2025–2035 is another initiative Tanzania adopted earlier in June 2025.
With more than 158 thousand hectares of mangroves, mostly found in the Rufiji Delta, the strategy aims at restoring and preserving 60 per cent of the degraded forests.
Mangroves are critical for protecting the coastline, mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration, and supporting the coastal economy through fishing, ecotourism, beekeeping, and carbon credit markets.
The Tanzania government launched a three-year conservation initiative in June 2026 for 57 endangered tree species.
The Tanzania Forestry Services Agency (TFS) and the Tanzania Forest Research Institute (TAFRI) jointly implement the project covering seed collection, seedling production, habitat restoration, and capacity building.
Tanzania has also launched a $6-million worth project for the sustainable management of critical coastal habitats.
The initiative, which the Global Environment Facility has approved, aims at protecting the Tanga-Pemba ecosystems and is a foundation for fishing, tourism, and local communities.
The project, which covers eight priority coastal districts on both Tanzania Mainland and Pemba Island, provides for the restoration of mangrove forests, seagrasses, and coral reefs, the development of sustainable fisheries, marine farming, and ecotourism, as well as strengthening management systems for marine protected areas
The Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Government along with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) allocated the first tranche of more than $2 million in June 2026 to eight local authorities for projects aimed at increasing resilience to climate change, including agriculture and climate-optimized infrastructure.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) also plans to invest about$57 million as part of the strategic plan for 2026-2030, focusing on the conservation of natural resources with the active participation of local communities.
The success of these initiatives will depend on effective coordination between government agencies, local authorities, international partners, and civil society.
Special attention, however, ought to be paid to the recognition that environmental protection is inseparable from economic development.
