Developing Fire Reduction Strategy for Miombo Woodlands as a Potential tool for Carbon Storage and Sequestration
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Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
E&D Vision Publishing Ltd
Abstract
World-wide, wildfires cause problems and when uncontrolled or misused they
wreak havoc on society and the environment. In Tanzania, fire occurs in most
parts of the Miombo woodlands, and some of them cause significant eco-logical
and socio-economic impacts. Several efforts have been made in Tanzania to
reduce the occurrence of fire in Miombo but their success has been constrained
by underfunding and/or lack of proper strategies. Moreover, in many districts
of Tanzania there are no apparent solutions to the fire problem, despite years of
regulation and attempts to control fire, and in many places fire incidences are
actually increasing. Therefore, this study intended to develop a fire management
strategy for the Miombo woodland as a tool for climate change mitigation.
This study also strived to identify causes, effects and factors contributing to
fire prevalence. Spatial and temporal distribution of fires and burnt extents
of wooded areas were determined from the Moderate Resolution Imanging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) active fires product and Landsat satellite images
for the past 40 years (1972–2012). Vegetation and household surveys were used
to capture empirical data on carbon stock and how different burning regimes
and forest management scenarios influence carbon sequestration potentials.
Furthermore, the role of formal and informal framework for the prevention,
control and management of wild fires in the Miombo was determined. Th
main output of this study is a proposed fire reduction strategy in Miombo. Th
study findings show that, to a wider extent, 1.8 and 2.9 years mean fire return
interval persist in western and eastern dry Miombo areas, respectively, burning
up to 50.6% of the woodland. These wildfires were largely human-driven and
commonly occur in all the villages surveyed whereas the existing local governance
structures and institutions suffered from poor coordination, severe underfunding
and poor support from the villagers. Torching of forests was largely perpetuated
by weak enforcement of laws and regulations, poverty and existing local beliefs.
On average, there is an indication that the central government forests have higher
stock of carbon than the local government forests and village government forest
reserves. However, there was no significant difference in carbon stock between
forests experiencing no burning, early burning and late burning. The proposed
fire management strategy for Miombo woodlands focused on the promotion of
sustainable alternative land preparation methods, improved household income
sources and awareness, sustainable land use management and promotion of
sustainable charcoal production. The strategy indicates a number of activities
to be implemented and actors responsible for each activity.
Description
Keywords
Fire reduction strategies, Miombo woodlands, Climate change mitigation, Carbon storage, Carbon sequestration, Fire management strategies
Citation
Katani, J.Z., Madoffe, S.S., Midtgaard, F., Rija, A.A. Amanzi, N.S., Kilawe, C.J., Mbeyale, G.E., Zahabu, E., Christopher, B.T. and Silayo, D.A. (2016). Climate change mitigation and adaptation through development of fire reduction strategy for the miombo woodlands: A potential tool for carbon storage and sequestration. In Kulindwa, K. A., Silayo, D., Zahabu, E., Lokina, R., Hella, J., Hepelwa.,Shirima, D., Macrice, S and Kalonga, S. (eds). Lessons and Implications from REDD+ Implementation: Experiences from Tanzania. CCIAM-SUA, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. E&D Vision Publishing Ltd., Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. pp 3-24