Thematic Atlas of Nature’s Benefits - Dar es Salaam

@INTERACT-Bio Dar Es Salaam Coordinating Committee

Dar es Salaam in Tanzania is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, with green areas and trees disappearing rapidly as a result of urban densification and sprawl. In light of this loss and recognising the value of protecting local ecosystem services, the Dar es Salaam authority co-developed ‘A Thematic Atlas of Nature’s Benefits to Dar es Salaam’ in 2017 in cooperation with international research partners and in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. The Atlas was based on ecosystem services thinking and includes seven ‘themes’, each representing an urban challenge like increasing heat or flooding. Descriptive information about nature’s benefits in Dar es Salaam and maps were packaged as an easy-to-read report which is downloadable for free. The information and maps in the Atlas facilitate evidence-based decisions on where to invest in greening to achieve desirable social and environmental outcomes.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Knowledge, communication and innovation instruments›Knowledge and/or innovation

Challenges addressed

Soil quality
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Watershed restoration/water quality
Drought and fire risk
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Air quality
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education
Human health, comfort and well-being
Other, please specify

Provisioning services (e.g. food, raw materials); carbon sequestration and storage; pollination; biodiversity

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The Atlas provides concrete recommendations on how nature-based solutions can be used to address Dar es Salaam's various challenges. Proposed solutions include roadside greening to improve air quality, increasing access to green spaces to improve health and well-being outcomes, cooling the city with urban vegetation, and reducing flood risk through a network of green areas.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Blue areas

Green areas for water management

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Support multifunctional NBS

Locally appropriate

Innovative

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Municipality of Dar Es Salaam, with international partners

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The development of the Atlas was a joint initiative of the Dar Es Salaam authorities, ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) and the German research institute UFZ (Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research). The Atlas was developed in a highly collaborative manner. A stakeholder workshop was held in Dar es Salaam in 2017 to clarify the need for improved green space information in the metropolitan region. The Atlas and the maps were developed in an iterative manner in consultation with the city council, researchers from Ardhi University, NGOs, initiatives in the field, data experts, topic experts and other relevant stakeholders. The draft Atlas was discussed in a validation workshop with a wide range of stakeholders before being finalised.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Type of actor involvement:

Co-planning or co-design of instrument (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Expert task force consultation

Civil society consultation through e.g. workshops, surveys

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The Atlas is primarily aimed at public authorities across different sectors and shows that urban green space in Dar es Salaam is highly relevant to sectors such as health, transportation, coastal protection, tourism development and others. The maps provide spatial evidence and deliver arguments for implementation of nature-based solutions to benefit from delivery of ecosystem services. At the time of the design it was intended that the Atlas would be used for cross-sector consultations that can serve to explore how the capacities and resources currently applied across different activities and programmes in various policy areas can be brought together if multifunctional solutions are implemented. The Atlas was also meant to support collaboration between public authorities and NGOs in maintaining green spaces in the region.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Financing

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

The funding to develop the Atlas was provided by a grant from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through SwedBio at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. The total budget is unknown.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

Seven detail thematic maps were created, providing spatial information on how the development and management of urban green space can be used to address different challenges in Dar es Salaam. Concretely, the maps included in the Atlas were used by the city council in climate change presentations; the World Bank office in Dar es Salaam has used some of the Atlas maps in their in-house training programs in urban greening; the Atlas stimulated the idea among stakeholders to establish a cross-sectoral forum to discuss and coordinate greening efforts in the City; the Atlas was used to identify priority sites for practical demonstration projects to be implemented as part of an international research project; recommendations from the Thematic Atlas were used in the allocation of project funds to develop a biodiversity catalogue for Dar es Salaam; and the Atlas information provided complementary knowledge and maps to the Ilala Municipality (in Dar es Salaam) Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The Atlas is locally appropriate as it was developed in a highly participatory manner through multiple consultation, feedback and validation rounds with various relevant local stakeholders. The Atlas enables the identification of solutions that can provide benefits to the work of the various actors of the city administration, promoting multifunctional nature-based solutions, and providing opportunities to pool and save costs. The information and maps in the Atlas facilitate evidence-based decisions on where to invest in greening to achieve social outcomes. With this approach, the city can build a rationale for the selection of sites for greening investments to achieve the multiple benefits that relate to societal well-being, protected and enhanced economies and the reduction of urban risks such as heat islands.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Urban Nature Atlas (2022), Thematic Atlas of Nature’s Benefits in Dar es Salaam, Available at: https://una.city/nbs/dar-es-salaam/thematic-atlas-natures-benefits-dar-es-salaam

Koehorst, M. (2020), A Thematic Atlas of Nature’s Benefits to Dar es Salaam: Critical reasons for greening the city and for keeping urban and peri-urban ecosystems intact. Available at: https://panorama.solutions/en/solution/thematic-atlas-natures-benefits-dar-es-salaam-critical-reasons-greening-city-and-keeping

Karutz, R. (2018), A thematic atlas of urban ecosystem services for enhanced greenspace management in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Available at: http://www.aboutvalues.net/data/case_studies/values_case_study_atlas_tanzania.pdf

Karutz R., Berghöfer A., Moore L.R., and van Wyk, E. (2019). A Thematic Atlas of Nature’s Benefits to Dar es Salaam. Leipzig and Cape Town: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and ICLEI Africa Secretariat. Available at: https://cbc.iclei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Atlas_DSM_2019-10-11_final_DIGITAL_med-res.pdf

Further documents

Documents:

Atlas_DSM_2019-10-11_final_DIGITAL_med-res.pdf

Photos

Comité Coordinador @INTERACT-Bio Dar Es Salaam