Bakery

Journal

Stories From the Field.

Insights, lessons, and updates from our work in marine conservation, community empowerment, and environmental project management across Tanzania.

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The EU's €110 Million Blue Economy Programme — And What It Means for TanzaniaMarine Conservation
May · 20268 min read

The EU's €110 Million Blue Economy Programme — And What It Means for Tanzania

From Tanga to Mtwara and across Zanzibar — Tanzania's coral reefs, seagrass, and seaweed ecosystems are being surveyed for the first time in a single, nationally coordinated effort. We are leading that work, and here is what we are finding, how we are doing it, and why it matters.

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All field notes.

5 essays — practitioner writing on the work shaping coastal Tanzania.

What 8,893 Seabed Photographs Tell Us About Tanzania's OceanMarine Conservation
March · 20266 min

What 8,893 Seabed Photographs Tell Us About Tanzania's Ocean

8,893 photographs. Six districts. Two marine parks. Combining our northern Dar es Salaam and southern coast benthic surveys under the USAID Heshimu Bahari programme produced the most detailed picture of Tanzania's underwater world ever created. Here is what the data showed and why it matters.

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Training 750 People Is Not a Project Output — It Is the PointCommunity
January · 20265 min

Training 750 People Is Not a Project Output — It Is the Point

When we trained over 750 coastal community members across Dar es Salaam and Mtwara, the numbers were the least interesting part. What mattered was what changed — in knowledge, in confidence, and in how communities now relate to the ocean they depend on.

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How to Write a Proposal That Actually Wins — Lessons From the FieldFund Mobilisation
November · 20257 min

How to Write a Proposal That Actually Wins — Lessons From the Field

Most NGOs in Tanzania have good ideas. Very few consistently win the funding to act on them. After helping secure grants from USAID and the European Union, here are the practical lessons we have learned about what separates proposals that win from those that do not.

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Why Tanzania's Seagrass Matters More Than Most People RealiseMarine Conservation
August · 20256 min

Why Tanzania's Seagrass Matters More Than Most People Realise

Coral reefs get all the attention. But Tanzania's seagrass meadows are quietly doing some of the most important work in the ocean — storing carbon, feeding fish, and supporting the dugongs and sea turtles that coastal communities have depended on for generations. Here is why we should be paying more attention.

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Community Conservation Works — But Only If Communities Are Actually in ChargeCommunity
April · 20255 min

Community Conservation Works — But Only If Communities Are Actually in Charge

For decades, conservation in Africa was done to communities rather than with them. That approach failed. Our experience working with fishing communities across Tanzania's coast has reinforced a simple truth — when communities lead, conservation lasts.

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