Mrua, Joha Karagwe2026-03-122026-03-122011https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/20.500.14820/7389DissertationKingege Village Land Forest Reserve (KVLFR) was formed from general land forest, fundamentally under open access regime which led to change in power relations over the forest resources use. At present in Tanzania, Villages which have responsibilities to manage Village Land Forest Reserves are facing management problems as they adjust to balance the new power relations for sustainability of the forest resources. Little is known about the broader institutional context underlying power relations in KVLFR. The overall objective of the study was to determine the power relations underlying KVLFR and their influence on forest governance. Data collection was done through Participatory Rural appraisal techniques, Focus group discussions, Participant observations and questionnaire survey. Data were analyzed through content analysis, stakeholder’s power analysis and descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Findings showed that users and regulators were key stakeholders identified in KVLFR. Users were interested on utilization of forest resources while forest conservation was the main interest of the regulators. Among the stakeholders, there existed complementary, cordial and conflicting relationships. The socio-economic factors enabling the strategic power include distance to the resource base (p = 0.000), wealth category (p = 0.001), household size (p = 0.012) and residence duration (p = 0.073), while education level (p = 0.021) was constraining the strategic power. Institutional factors enabling the strategic power includes gender equity (p = 0.032) and forest access rules (p = 0.82), while membership in VNRC (p = 0.722) and participation in politics (p = 0.245) are constraining the strategic power. The study concluded that complementary, cordial and conflicting relationships led to poor governance of KVLFR. The study recommended that more studies on power relations should be done in village land forest reserves and compare forests under Community Based Forest Management and forests under Joint Forest Management. The emphasisiii should be on power regulation mechanisms to ensure the community surrounding the forests benefit from resource utilization regardless of their power relations.enPower relationsKingege villageland forestreserveMfindi districtTanzania.Thesis