ARCOS Network

ARCOS is pleased to welcome Mr Théodore Munyuli and Mr Claudien Nsabagasani, as new ARCOS’ “Development and External Relations Manager” and “Monitoring and Fundraising Officer” respectively. Théodore joins ARCOS at the end of his PhD on “biodiversity, ecosystem services and conservation science” at the University of Makerere in Uganda. He has worked in the NGO sector for many years, as well as Researcher for the Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles (CRSN, Lwiro, DRC). Claudien is an ornithologist by training at the National University of Rwanda and has worked several years with Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International/Karisoke Research Center as Research Assistant and joins ARCOS from Kitabi College of Conservation and Environmental Management (KCCEM) where he was working as Academic Staff. The email addresses for Théodore and Claudien are tmunyuli@arcosnetwork.org and cnsabagasani@arcosnetwork.org  respectively. All our best wishes to Théodore and Claudien in the promotion of ARCOS Collaborative Action for Nature and People in the Albertine Rift.

As part of the MacArthur funded project  “Albertine Rift biodiversity information management system and NGOs Capacity building for sustainable development”, a regional training is being organize by ARCOS in “Organizational Development, Fundraising and Business Planning, Policy and Advocacy”. The four day training is being conducted at La Joie Plaza Hotel in Goma, DRC from 23rd to 26th June 2010. The workshop was officially opened by Hon. Chantal Rugenera Kambibi, Minister for Environment, North Kivu Province, DRC.
More than 18 Government and Non-Government Organisations from Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda & Uganda are being trained by the experts from ARCOS and its Partners in Organizational development and management, partnership and networking, fundraising and business planning and implementing a joint policy and advocacy strategy.

Participants at the Regional NGO Workshop Training Workshop (Goma 23-26 June 2010) with Hon Chantal Rugenera Kambibi, Provincial Minister for the Environment, North Kivu, DRC.

 The main objectives of the training are:
• To improve NGOs/CBOs capacity in managing their organizations
• To provide mechanisms for NGOs partnerships and networking on joint ventures
• To provide skills in proposal writing, fundraising, business planning.
• To enhance NGOs/CBOs capacity in policy and advocacy work in the region.
At the end of the training, the trained NGOs are expected to be able to operate effectively and harmoniously, and also be able to sustain their organizations in operation.

The year 2010 has been designated by the international community as the International Year of Biodiversity and Saturday 22nd May 2010 is the International Day for Biological Diversity. This year is dedicated to a global campaign to help people understand how crucial biodiversity is, to discover the connections between themselves and the natural world around them and to highlight the unprecedented loss of biodiversity we face. The Convention on Biological Diversity encourages people to take time throughout the year and beyond to appreciate the natural world around them, and join in the worldwide action on a local level.

Impatiens Stuhlmannii, Nyungwe Forest (Photo S. Kanyamibwa)

Events throughout 2010 include the CBD COP10 to be held in Aichi Nagoya, Japan in October 2010, with the theme “Life in Harmony, into the Future” The 193 Parties to the CBD will make a final assessment of progress toward the 2010 Biodiversity Target, create new biodiversity targets for 2020 and 2050, finalize a comprehensive post-2010 Strategic Plan, and establish an international regime on access and benefit-sharing. The International Year of Biodiversity coincides with the 15^th Anniversary of ARCOS and ARCOS is celebrating its achievements, including the production of the Albertine Rift State of Biodiversity Report. Contact us if interested in contribution.

ARCOS is looking for a dynamic person to take the position of Development and External Relations Manager. The holder of this position will be responsible for a wide range of activities promoting the institutional capacity and reputation of ARCOS and in particular to lead on the development, funding and management of key programmes and initiatives, the production of ARCOS outputs and the strengthening and management of relationships with partners within and outside the Albertine rift region, as well as providing leadership in managing the Albertine Rift Regional Biodiversity Monitoring and Information System (ARBMIS), to ensure quality and timely production of ARCOS outreach materials and information services through ARCOS website and its bilingual regional Newsletter Backbone/Le Pilier.

For more details and submitting application, click here

Butare, 29^th April 2010

Participants attending a meeting in Butare, Rwanda on 28^th-30^th April 2010 on the Albertine Rift Data Management, Sharing and Reporting organized by ARCOS commit to work together in promoting data collection, storage and information sharing at local, national and regional levels in the Albertine Rift region, through enhanced role of focal national data centres and agreed mechanisms of data sharing protocols and collaboration in biodiversity reporting. “Data and information sharing should not be for individual or institutional interests. It is a value we should all share for the benefits of conservation decision-making about our environment”, said Dr Sam Kanyamibwa, Executive Secretary, ARCOS in his introductory remarks.

 Click here for Butare Declaration

ARCOS in collboration wil the CGIS/NUR and ACNR will organise a regional meeting on data management, sharing and reporting in the Albertine Rift. The meeting will be held at Hotel Petit Prince in Butare, from 28^th to 30^th April 2010. In collaboration with other organizations in the region, ARCOS has consolidated the regional monitoring and information sharing framework into the Albertine Rift Regional Biodiversity Information System (ARBMIS). ARCOS has facilitated the establishment of a Regional Database and National Data Centres and this meeting will discuss strategies for further enhancement of data management and institutional capacity building in the region. This will build on the new membership of ARCOS to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and role of GBIF nodes in the region.  As we celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity and ARCOS 15th Anniversary (1995-2010), ARCOS is planning to produce the first Regional State of Biodiversity Report for the Albertine Rift.  The meeting will have three objectives: 1) To develop a participatory plan for the Regional State of Biodiversity Report; 2) To endorse the framework for data sharing protocols in the region; and 3) To identify needs and mechanisms for strengthening data management capacity and sharing in the region.

As part of the MacArthur funded project on “Albertine Rifft Biodiversity Information Management Systems and NGOs capacity building for Sustainable Development”, ARCOS is pleased to call for applications for small grants. The Small Grant Programme targets local NGOs and CBOs operating mainly in the Greater Virunga and the Congo Nile Divide landscapes, with the aim to enhance their engagement in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the region. These grants are competitive, and will be vetted using a suitable criteria developed by ARCOS. Proposed projects may cover but not limited to some of these areas:

• Nature based enterprises;
• Community ecotourism;
• Sustainable land resources management;
• Policy and advocacy.

If you are interested, send your application not later than 30 April 2010.

Click here for more details

Key Area Surveys and Assessment (KASA) is an initiative targeting to undertake biodiversity monitoring and survey activities with a focus on key priority issues associated with a particular site. The main goal of “KASA” is to initiate and encourage regular environmental assessment and biodiversity monitoring activities on selected sites of regional importance, and specifically, KASA aims at:

1. Encouraging focused and priority driven biodiversity assessment activities in the region,
2. Enhancing collaboration between different institutions with different background and expertise to partner with local NGOs for biodiversity monitoring and assessment activities,
3. Building the capacity of NGOs involvement in the scientific data and information generation
4. Promoting quality research and excellence in the Albertine Rift region.

The deadline for submitting applications is 30 April 2010.

Click here for more details if you are interested

As part of the MacArthur funded project on “Albertine Rift biodiversity information management system and NGOs Capacity building for sustainable development”, ARCOS is planning to facilitate a regional training in “Organizational Development, Fundraising and Business Planning, Policy and Advocacy”. The training will be conducted for four days from 24th to 27th May 2010 and the venue is tentatively Goma in DRC or Gisenyi in Rwanda. ARCOS will cover all the costs associated to the workshop.

 Click here for more details and/or to express your interest to attend the workshop as soon as possible, places are limited…

Both the Tanzanian and Zambian elephant proposals to down list their elephants from Appendix I to Appendix II and to sell their ivory have been DEFEATED at CITES CoP15 Conference in Doha, Qatar. If the vote after the Tanzanian and Zambian proposals to allow them selling their stocks of 112 tonnes of ivories was not lost, we were about to assist to a Legalized Elephants Extinction in the Albertine Rift region to which belong both Tanzania and Zambia. Elephant is one of the threatened big mammals and has seen its number extremely lowering in the Albertine Rift due to intensive poaching, favored by weak law enforcement and insecurity created by endless wars within the region. ARCOS highly supports the CITES CoP15 Conference decision over the Elephants proposals.

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