Three technicians from the Micaia Foundation and 15 interns from the Chimoio Agricultural Institute (IAC), participating in the Biodiversity Conservation and Community Development Project in the Chimanimani Conservation Area (CBDC), benefited from training on biodiversity surveys focused on priority flora species for community development, held from July 8 to 15, 2022.

The training was led by the Micaia Foundation and aims to identify and map areas of existing flora species in Chimanimani that can contribute to the implementation of income-generating activities to ensure the development of communities living around this Conservation Area.

The training will enable the creation of a fundamental tool for conducting flora inventory, which will support the Micaia Foundation in determining the quantities of available species, especially the priority species selected for experimental trials, in the buffer zone and within the Park, advancing new value chains of non-timber forest products.

This training falls under Component 3 of the CBDC program, implemented by the Micaia Foundation, which aims to strengthen and develop value chains to increase local communities’ income, based on the creation of management plans for the development of products derived from natural resources. The CBDC Project, funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) through the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI), has as its main objective to promote more sustainable environmental management in Chimanimani National Park and its Buffer Zone, and is implemented by the Biodiversity Conservation Foundation (BIOFUND) and the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), in coordination with Fauna & Flora International and the Micaia Foundation.