Implementation extent and impact of village land use planning on tree cover trends in Miombo woodland landscapes of Tanzania
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Date
2024
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Multiple social, cultural, and economic forces are causing fast land-use changes in
forests. Agriculture, logging, and other human activities cause the loss of about 6 million
hectares of primary forest per year around the world. Therefore, it is important to assess
the trend of tree cover across time and space and the extent to which the village land
use plans have been executed. The study is in line with National land policy (1995),
Village Land Act No. 5 of 1999 and National Land Use Planning Act No. 6 of 2007.
This study used the analysis of remote sensing data to assess trends in vegetation cover
10 years before and after land use planning in Ihombwe, Gole, and Kisegese villages
located in various climatic areas in Miombo woodlands of Tanzania. Additionally, the
study assessed the perception of local communities on the extent of implementation of
land use planning through interviews administered to 30 households randomly selected
in each village.
Land use planning process was carried out in Ihombwe, Gole and Kisegese villages and
remote sensing data were used to reveal the forest cover before and after the planning
process. The analysis of remote sensing data revealed that tree cover was declining by
33.31%, 36.75% and 46.17% before land use planning in Ihombwe, Gole and Kisegese
villages respectively. After the land use planning, there were mixed results. In areas
designated for village forest reserve, there was an increase in tree cover by 9.74% and
25.23% in Ihombwe and Gole respectively. However, in Kisegese, the tree cover
continued to decline, but at a slower rate of 35.42%. Outside of the forest reserves, in
areas allocated for settlement, agriculture, community service, and grazing, tree cover
continued to decline even after land use planning. The perception of survey participants
regarding the extent of implementation of the approved village land use plan was higher
in areas designated as forest reserves by 57% and 65% in Ihombwe and Gole
respectively but very poor in Kisegese with 20%. Also, there was poor implementation in
areas designated for grazing by 15%, 24% and 0% in Ihombwe, Gole and Kisegese
respectively. Poor implementation of the land use plans was mainly constrained by the
resistance of certain village inhabitants who did not approve of certain specified land use
classifications and exclusion of the communities during the drafting of the plans and
partly due to the lack of suitability of the land use categories. The level of involvement in
the planning and implementation process varies, with Ihombwe and Gole villages
showing higher participation than Kisegese to which to which the respondents were only
involved in implementation of the plan. Drivers that motivated the formulation of the land
use plans are mainly deforestation, immigration and occurrence of the land use conflicts.
There was an increase in tree cover in forest reserves and decline outside the forest in
Gole and Ihombwe, also the decline in tree cover in Kisegese, before and after land use
planning. Exclusion of the communities during the drafting of the plans led to poor plans
implementation. Effective conservation measures are needed to reverse the trend of
forest loss and promote sustainable land use in Kisegese village. Active community
engagement during planning process is needed to contribute to the alignment of land use
plans with local needs and fostering ownership.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Land cover, Forests, Remote sensing, Landscapes, Deforestation