A grant of 70 million dollars has been allocated for Tanzania's Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project, which will support the government's national programme for HIV/AIDS over five years up to 2008.

"This project will support activities in the priority areas of prevention and mitigation of the health and socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS at individual, household and community levels, as well as strengthening the national capacity to respond to the epidemic," Albertus Voetberg, the World Bank's team leader for the project, said in a statement.

The Tanzanian government's programme is aimed at reducing the spread of the HIV through multi-sectoral action involving the government, non-governmental organisations, civil society and community organisations, the statement said.

The remaining seven million dollars grant will go towards financing conservation and management of the country's forests.

It will establish an endowment fund to provide long-term dependable financing for conservation activities in Tanzania's Eastern Arc mountains.

The Eastern Arc forests have the highest known number of plant and animal species of any region in Tanzania and represent one of the oldest and most stable terrestrial ecosystems on the continent.

Globally these forests are recognized as one of 25 biodiversity hotspots with high concentrations of endemic species under considerable threat.

TERRA.WIRE