Participatory forest management for more than a decade in Tanzania: does it live up to its goals?
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tanzania Journal of Forestry and Nature Conservation
Abstract
In
Tanzania,
Participatory
Forest
Management (PFM) was introduced in
order to address the challenge of
deforestation which continues at alarming
rate. Equally, PFM aimed to involve
communities adjacent to forests in
management of forest resources while at
the same time accrue economic benefits.
PFM consists of Community Based Forest
Management (CBFM) and Joint Forest
Management (JFM). CBFM takes place
on village land, in forests that are owned
by the village while JFM takes place in
Central or Local Government forest
reserves (FRs) whereby owner of the FR
and adjacent communities jointly manage
and share benefits accrued from the FR.
This study aimed to assess the role of PFM
in sustainable exploitation of forest
resources, equitable economic benefits and
good forest governance. Generally, the
study concludes that PFM can and does
contribute to sustainable utilisation of
forest resources and that, households
across
wealth
categories
benefit
economically from PFM. However, there
is a slight tendency that the rich benefit
more than the poor. Similarly, the study
concludes that, while CBFM and JFM
have formally established appropriate
institutions for PFM, this has not promoted
enfranchisement and inclusiveness. The
problem of elite capture in PFM should be
addressed through information and
education.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Participatory Forest management, Tanzania, Bio-physical sustainability, Socio-economics, Governance