Planting Seeds in Tanzania with Mazingira Plus
Combining this global citizen action with a safari adventure in Tanzania shows us how tapping into hyperlocal solutions can be the best responsible travel tip.
Tanzania, home to the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, gateway to Tanzania's northern safari parks, and the neighboring Zanzibar archipelago is a country many families’ dream to experience together.
Hiking around the Ngorongoro Crater (the world's largest intact volcanic caldera), witnessing the ever-moving circular migration of over a million animals across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, and visiting Zanzibar’s Stone Town are just a few experiences that will live in our kids’ senses forever.
But if you’ve been reading Heyterra for a while, you know travel just as great an opportunity to learn and think beyond experiencing a place’s epic highlights— it’s a way to help shape us all into better global citizens, our kiddos included. Seeking out hyperlocal solutions in our travels is one of the most direct ways to help both the communities we visit and educate us at the same time.
That’s why we’ve chosen to spotlight an incredible organization set in Dar es Salaam (or simply, “Dar”), Tanzania’s largest city and a hub for travelers, depending on where you’re coming from and going to. Nestled along a natural harbor on the Indian Ocean, Mazingira Plus is leading the charge of beach cleanups, mangrove restoration, youth education around the circular economy in the area. And they would be happy for families coming through to stop by and learn about their programs.
We caught up with the dynamic Mazingira team, including a self-described “mangrove disrupter” and countrywide representative for the Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project to tree-planting heroes, about all of the work they’re doing in Dar— and how you can visit them when you plan to visit Tanzania next, too.
HT: We’re so happy to have you here! How did the inspiration for Mazingira originate?
MP: We are living in a world where the ecosystem’s divide is escalating. So, we aim to create a society that values nature and connects with it through innovation. People with good nature connectedness can generate many positive impacts in the community to foster socio-economic development. We believe that our interventions will empower next generation to consider the sustainability principles that are Planet, People, and Profit (PPP) and not vice versa.
Can you tell us about the people who make Mazingira Plus come to life?
Our multifaceted and talented youth team with diversity of backgrounds are the ones who make Mazingira Plus come to life. We are inspired by the Greek proverb that says, “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they may never sit.” Our team is often motivated by the positive changes and impact we see in nature, sustainability, and livelihood.
What kind of programs does Mazingira Plus focus on (cleanups, circularity, etc.), and how do they work together?
Community/beach cleanups is the program that advocates for trash blindness and illegal littering in the community, open spaces, wetlands, urban streams, and water bodies like rivers and seas. Through that program, we raise awareness among community groups, CBOs, the private sector, and LGAs to take action and create responsible beings. We also gather data through waste assessment and brand audits (WABA) that helps the government make decisions like the use of single-use plastics in the country and hold polluters accountable.
Our Green Schools Program was designed in collaboration with our partner, TCCI, to educate students on climate literacy and waste management in schools. In the past six months, we reached 10 schools (primary and secondary) from three municipalities in the Dar es Salaam region. We target the next generation of students to understand the role of nature based solutions in adapting to climate change, urban ecosystem restoration, and waste management.
In our waste management model, Mazingira Plus focuses on zero-waste model by educating community to segregate and sort waste at source. This encourages waste diversion, transformation, and value chain addition. We train locals to practice backyard composting and recycling to reduce the volume of waste transported to landfills.
All these programs align with one another since they contribute to the organization's vision, which is a clean, healthy, and well-conserved environment. All these programs contribute to greenhouse emission reduction through tree planting, reduction of organic waste in landfills through composting, urban nature restoration that leads to carbon sequestration, and youth employability.
What is the Climate Reality Project?
The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change, founded by the former vice president of US, Al Gore. Our Executive Director (Abdallah Mikulu) was trained through the Climate Reality Leadership Corps program and has been a Climate Reality Leader since October 2020. Apparently, Abdallah volunteers as country representative through African Climate Reality Branch. Therefore, the Climate Reality Project helps to get the tools, training, and network to fight climate change and together build the Africa we want.
If our readers were to visit Dar Es Salaam, could they come and visit you?
Yes, we will take them to see our work and projects that we are working on, further showing them the beauty of Dar es Salaam city through evening walks and beach spots, Swahili food, and culture.
What you have created is not only inspiring and forward-looking, it also looks like a lot of fun! What would you say to people interested in forming their own program and the benefits of working as a community for the health of the planet?
We are open to collaborating and engaging with people, changemakers, and organizations from everywhere in the world as long as it aligns with the organization's values, purpose, and vision, plus the country's codes of conduct, laws, and regulations. Thus, a partner might execute a program, and the organization will provide all necessary conducive environments, facilities, and human resources. We invite south-north collaboration with the international community, multilateral organizations, entrepreneurs, experts, researchers, and activists to prioritize Mazingira Plus as their next partner.
