Abstract:
Impacts of decentralised forest management on forest resource changes were assessed.
Six contrasting forest reserves regarding management regimes, that is, Joint Forest
Management (JFM; in National Forest Reserves, owned by the State), Community
Based Forest Management (CBFM; in village lands or general lands), and ordinary
centralized state management, were selected. The forest resources were assessed by
means of systematic sample plot inventories. Number of stems, basal area, volume,
biomass, and carbon ha21 were compared with results from previous studies in the
same reserves. Harvesting activities were also assessed as part of the sample plot
inventories. In general, the results were somewhat ambiguous regarding the impacts of
different management regimes. There was, however, some empirical evidence
indicating that JFM and CBFM performed better than the ordinary state management,
although uncontrolled exploitation of the forest has continued under decentralised
forest management in the studied forests. The two regimes are promising forest
decentralisation models for Tanzania, but more research is needed to understand the
functions of different governance structures and how they may facilitate sustainability
in both forest use and livelihoods.
Description:
Forests, Trees and Livelihoods
Vol. 21, No. 2, June 2012, 97–113
