HIV/AIDS and Environment

In biodiversity-rich areas such as East Africa, there is only recently an emerging understanding of the links between the impacts of HIV/AIDS on human populations and biodiversity conservation. This includes understanding how HIV/AIDS negatively impacts a community’s ability to manage its natural resources—i.e., as individuals die from HIV/AIDS, the community loses important local knowledge about the resources and loses the opportunity for the person-to-person transfer of skills and practices. This section highlights issue analysis, research and recent experience that examines the potential relevance of PHE approaches to field work.

Jeanne Nyirakamana: Reaching Rural Rwandans with Integrated Health and Livelihood Messages

2011 | BALANCED Project | 2

Jeanne.Rawanda final.pdf

Mrs. Jeanne Nyirakamana serves as the Head of the Health Program in rural Rwanda advancing PHE efforts for the USAID-supported "Sustaining Partnerships to Enhance Rural Enterprise and Agribusiness Development" (SPREAD) Project. She and her outreach team help improve the lives of coffee farmers and cooperative members by providing them with health information and services related to family planning, maternal and child health, prevention of HIV/AIDS and water and sanitation. Read more about Jeanne's work in her PHE champion story.

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Why Population Matters

2011 | Population Action International | 68

This publication shows how family planning and natural resource conservation improve economic development, public health and environmental sustainability. The report includes a glossary of population terms and explains how population dynamics relate to a variety of complex development issues, such as poverty reduction, food security, environmental security, climate change and migration and urbanization.

2010 | Public Health Institute | 48

SPREAD_Health_Eval_Final.pdf

The overall goal of the SPREAD Project (2006-2011) is “to provide rural cooperatives and enterprises involved in high-value commodity chains with appropriate technical assistance and access to health-related services and information that will result in increased and sustained incomes and improved livelihoods.” Implemented by USAID and the Texas A&M University Norman Borlaug Institute of International Agriculture, SPREAD is a unique example of integrated programming within USAID, a “wraparound” project that receives funding across several technical areas in Health

No Date | WWF-US | 58

CBNRM specialists initiated the Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organizations (NACSO) as an umbrella organization of non-governmental organizations (NGO) supporting CBNRM. NACSO works by building the capacity of focal persons, training peer educators within member organizations, developing HIV/AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) policies, and initiating mainstreaming activities – in conjunction with Namibia’s national prevention strategy.

2011 | Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group | 15

The Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) produced a manual on HIV/AIDS and the Environment for field level practitioners to address the links between HIV/AIDS and the environment. This presentation by Natalie Bailey of ABCG at the June 2011 Society for Conservation Biology Africa Regional Meeting provides an overview of the manual, which covers natural resource use by impacted communities; integration of HIV/AIDS into conservation programs; cost assessments; behavior change programs; multi-sectoral planning; and suggested tools & resources.

2011 | University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center | 16

This presentation by staff from the Tanzania Coastal Management Partnership provides an overview of the USAID-funded PWANI project in northeastern Tanzania. The project has integrated HIV/AIDS and coastal resources management in fishing communities through training, capacity building and community outrach. HIV/AIDS activities have focused on the need to understand and mitigate the impacts of HIV/AIDS on biodiversity, as well as promoting HIV prevention messages. PHE integration efforts in the Pwani project are also mentioned at the end of the presention.

2011 | University of Washington | 17

http://piper_HIV and environment presentation June 2010

This presentation was delivered by Ben Piper (on behalf of his colleagues at the University of Washington) at the June 2011 Society for Conservation Biology Africa Regional meeting panel on HIV/AIDS and the environment. Based on the IUCN publication, "Interactions between HIV/AIDS and the Environment: A Review of Evidence and Recommendations for Next Steps," the presentation describes the existing evidence of the links between HIV/AIDS and the environment and makes recommendations for future research and interventions.

2011 | AWF | 12

AWF's mission is to work with the people of Africa to ensure the continent’s wildlife and wild lands endure forever. AWF considers HIV/AIDS an important consideration in their work and they try to mitigate a wide-range of conservation threats. From poaching and deforestation to poor land use and pervasive poverty, AWF believes that societies need a healthy workforce. AWF is addressing a new set of challenges resulting from the scourge of HIV/AIDS and recognizes threats that HIV/AIDS pose on staff, partners, target communities, as well as on natural resource use patterns.

2011 | Organization for Conservation of Natural Resources and the Combat of HIV/AIDS (OCRA) | 13

Dr. Dwasi delivered this presentation as part of the June 2011 Society for Conservation Biology panel on HIV/AIDS and the environment. The presentation raises awareness about the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS on the management and conservation of natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa; shares findings on complex and critical linkages between biodiversity and HIV/AIDS; and provides examples of good community biodiversity response strategies and practitioner experiences.

2011 | The BALANCED Project | 2

Pascal.PHE_.Champion final.pdf

Mr. Pascal Gakwaya Kalisa has produced coffee in the densely-populated country of Rwanda for the past nine years. He also helps promote improved health practices among the coffee farmer cooperatives and community members in one of the world's most densly-popuated countries. Read more about his efforts as a PHE champion.

2011 | University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center | 35

English

This study summarizes the results of a behavioral monitoring survey (BMS) conducted in Tanzania in June 2009. The study was co-sponsored by the “Building Actors and Leaders for Advancing Community Excellence in Development” (BALANCED) Project and the Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems (SUCCESS) Project. Both projects are funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

2010 | International Union for Conservation of Nature ESARO | 62

http://iucn_hivaids and environment

The connections between HIV/AIDS and the environment are complex, multifactoral, bi-directional, and involve indirect as well as direct pathways. Recognizing the lack of a comprehensive examination of these relationships, the authors undertook a broad review of published literature regarding the potential links between HIV/AIDS and the environment. In assessing the literature, the authors identified a number of topics linking HIV/AIDS and the environment.

2007 | University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center and Population Reference Bureau | 27

This guidelines document describes the problems that lie in the interface between AIDS, gender, population and coastal biodiversity conservation and resource management. The authors describe how HIV and AIDS affect all people in a community by driving faster rates of resource extraction and use, increasing gender inequality, lowering the general health of the labor force, and impeding an individual’s ability to maintain a viable livelihood.

2007 | World Wildlife Fund [WWF]

World Wildlife Fund community action

AIDs affects 39.5 million people worldwide, and nearly two-thirds live in Sub-Saharan Africa. This fact sheet observes the links between HIV/AIDS and rural livelihoods, and impacts on conservation and natural resources. Specifically noted are the impacts on the conservation organizations, their staff in biodiversity areas, and funding. Also discussed is community resource management, how to reduce the impacts of HIV/AIDS amongst the community and on the natural resources, and scaling up responses to HIV/AIDS.

2006 | Environmental Change and Security Program

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

This Focus issue highlights Jane Goodall’s experience in chimpanzee conservation in Tanzania and the current PHE efforts of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) as part of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, supported by the US State Department with matching funds from the European Union. The Lake Tanganyika Catchment Reforestation and Education (TACARE) project began in 1994 in 12 villages in Tanzania.

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