Local communities’ perceptions on lantana camara and management responses in East Usambara, Tanzania
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Date
2019
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Lantana camara is one of the alien invasive species introduced to East Usambara about
100 years ago. The species is locally increasing in abundance and spatially advancing to
new areas threatening the livelihoods of local communities and biodiversity in nearby
Amani Nature Reserve. This study assessed local communities‟ perceptions on Lantana
camara focusing on its origin, pathways, socio-economic impacts and management
responses in East Usambara. Data was collected through household survey where semi
structured questionnaire was randomly administered to 130 household heads in seven
villages. Results showed that about 97% of the respondents were very knowledgeable
about invasion and pathways of L. camara but surprisingly, about 99% of respondent
regardless of age categories perceived L. camara to be a native shrub. At an early stage of
L. camara invasion, 20% of respondents perceived the species to be “bad” but the
negative perception increased to 76.2% of respondents at the late stage of invasion. About
77% of the respondents argued that L. camara invasion has harmful effects on their
livelihoods. Furthermore, 38% of respondents preferred the species to be controlled, 34%
stated nothing should be done and 22% preferred prevention of L. camara invasion and
only 7% of respondents proposed the species to be completely eradicated. study
concludes despite considerably large proportion of respondents (33.8%) were comfortable
with current L. camara cover and they had no intension of reducing the level of invasion
but generally results indicate the need for more sustainable management measures that
will see L. camara coverage not exceeding the current levels in less invaded areas while
at the same time, reduce its cover in the heavily invaded areas. The study recommends
that local communities should be empowered with knowledge on invasion pathway so
that they can control L. camara invasion to reduce the negative impacts on livelihoods.
Description
M.Sc. Dissertation
Keywords
Local communities, Lantana camara, Invasive alien species, East Usambara, Tanzania, Socio-economic development