Environmental and Social Due Diligence (ESDD) Process for the Udzungwa Mountains Landscape in Tanzania

The Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF) is a charitable foundation dedicated to financing key conservation activities within and around legally recognized Protected Areas in globally significant, developing regions. To inform a major financial support decision, AAE partnered with LLF to conduct a comprehensive Environmental and Social Due Diligence (ESDD) study for the landscape that applied for funding, the Udzungwa Mountains landscape in Tanzania. This highly biodiverse project area encompasses the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, the Kilombero Nature Forest Reserve, parts of the Nyanganje Forest Reserve, sections of the Uzungwa Scarp-Kilombero and Nyerere-Udzungwa wildlife corridors, and surrounding village lands.

The ESDD study plays a critical role in LLF's funding process. The consultancy includes evaluating whether the existing environmental and social (E&S) safeguard procedures for managing the landscape comply with relevant international standards. The objective is to ensure that any potential environmental, social, or human rights risks resulting from landscape management are effectively avoided, mitigated, managed, or compensated. To achieve this, the work includes an inclusive stakeholder consultation process involving local communities, alongside a gender-sensitive risk assessment and gap analysis. The team is also conducting a high-level human rights risk and significance assessment, paying close attention to sensitive issues such as land-use planning, access restrictions, and human-wildlife coexistence.

Based on these findings, an Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) is developed outlining concrete measures to close identified gaps. This plan provides a clear roadmap (including budgets, responsibilities, and timelines) with specific considerations integrated to mitigate the identified risks. Finally, the work culminates in a comprehensive ESDD report that provides LLF with the vital insights needed to finalize their funding decision.

Main outputs:

• Methodology and work plan for the assignment
• Risk assessment and gap analysis
• Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP)
• ESDD report