Abstract
In Tanzania, well-defined land tenure and resource protection apply in forest reserves which account for 30% of forested land, while the remaining 70% (mostly miombo woodlands) are village and general lands with very limited protection. The aim of this study was to determine local people’s ownership rights, knowledge and institutional capacity for sustainable management of resources in forest reserves and general lands. Data were collected using participatory rural appraisal, structured and semi-structured interviews, as well as aerial photographs and landsat images. In general lands, woodlands declined by 50% between 1964 and 1996, bushlands and croplands increased by 599%, and settlements and homegardens increased by 277%. These land use and vegetation structure changes are attributed to harvesting for charcoal production and shifting cultivation. The continued decline in aerial woodland cover in the general lands suggests that common property regimes do not function in the area. Local institutional capacities are weak in enforcing control mechanisms to check the overuse of resources, which tends to approximate open access conditions. The issues of land tenure and village empowerment are not only institutional, but also political in nature. Government institutions should provide and motivate for an enabling environment, including acknowledgement of traditional knowledge, well-defined property rights and operational village by-laws. In order to ensure equity and sustainable development of natural resources, the paradigm shift in management is important whereby communal goods are to be managed for the benefit of the local society.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
A.J. Ahlbäck (1995) ArticleTitleMobilizing rural people in Tanzania in tree planting: Why and how? Ambio. 24 304–310
Alden-Wily L., Mbaya S. (2001). Land, people and forests in eastern and southern Africa at the beginning of the 21st century. The impact of land relations on the role of communities in forest future, IUCN EARO, Nairobi
J.E.M. Arnold W.C. Stewart (1991) Common Property Resource Management in India, Tropical Forestry Papers 24 Oxford Forestry Institute Oxford
Anon. (1990). Participatory rural appraisal handbook: Conducting PRAs in Kenya. World Resources Institute, Centre for International Development and Environment, Washington DC
F. Berkes (1989) Common Property Resources: Ecology and Community-based Sustainable Development Belhaven Press London.
J. Bruce L. Fortmann C. Nhira (1993) ArticleTitleTenures in transition, tenures in conflict: Examples from Zimbabwe social forestry Rural Sociology. 58 626–642
B.M. Campbell R.N. Cunliffe J. Gambiza (1995) ArticleTitleVegetation structure and small scale pattern in miombo woodland, Marondera, Zimbabwe Bothalia. 25 121–126
B.M. Campbell R.F. du Toit (1994) ArticleTitleVegetation patterns and the influence of small scale farmers in a semi-arid savanna area of Zimbabwe Kirkia. 15 10–32
A.P. Castro (1991) ArticleTitleThe southern mount Kenya forest since independence: A social analysis of resource competition World Development. 19 1695–1704 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0305-750X(91)90013-8
E.N. Chidumayo (1993) Silvicultural characteristics and management of miombo woodlands G.D. Pierce D.J. Gumbo (Eds) The Ecology and Management of Indigenous Forests in Southern Africa Proceedings of an International Symposium. Zimbabwe Forestry Commission and SAREC Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe 124–133
B. Child (1996) ArticleTitleThe practice and principles of community-based wildlife management in Zimbabwe: The CAMPFIRE programme Biodiversity and Conservation. 5 369–398 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00051780
J.M. Clarke W. Cavendish C. Coote (1996) Rural household and miombo woodlands: Use, value and management B.M. Campbell (Eds) The Miombo in Transition: Woodlands and Welfare in Africa. Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Bogor 101–135
Y. Dème (1998) Natural Resources Management by Local Associations in the Kelka Region of Mali Issue Paper No. 74. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) London.
D.B.K. Dovie C.M. Shackleton E.T.F. Witkowski (2002) ArticleTitleDirect-use values of woodland resources consumed and traded in a South African village International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology. 9 269–283
D.B.K Dovie E.T.F. Witkowski C.M. Shackleton (2003) ArticleTitleDirect-use value of smallholder crop production in a semi-arid rural South African village Agricultural Systems. 76 337–357 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0308-521X(02)00124-5
Dovie D.B.K., Witkowski E.T.F., Shackleton C.M. (Monetary valuation of livelihoods for understanding the composition and complexity of rural households. Agriculture and Human Value (in press)
D.A. Gilmour G.C. King M. Hobley (1989) ArticleTitleManagement of forests for local use in the hills of Nepal: Changing forest management paradigms Journal of World Forest Resource Management. 4 93–110
I. Grundy J.K. Turpie P. Jagger E.T.F. Witkowski I. Guambe D. Semwayo A. Solomon (2000) ArticleTitleImplications of co-management for benefits from natural resources for rural households in north-western Zimbabwe Ecological Economics. 33 369–381 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0921-8009(00)00146-4
G. Hardin (1968) ArticleTitleTragedy of the commons Science. 162 1243–1248 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:CCaD3sfosFc%3D
C. Ham F. Theron (1998) ArticleTitleCommunity Forestry: Project implementation through communities as a whole or through interest groups? South African Forest Journal. 181 45–49
T. Hilhorst A. Coulibaly (1998) Elaborating a Local Convention for Managing Village Woodlands in Southern Mali Issue Paper No. 78. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) London.
B.T.B. Jones (1999) Community Management of Natural Resources in Namibia Issue Paper No. 90 International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) London.
A.R.S. Kaoneka B. Solberg (1994) ArticleTitleForestry related land-use in west Usambara Mountains, Tanzania Agriculture Ecosystem and Environment. 49 207–215 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0167-8809(94)90008-6
G.C. Kajembe (1994) Indigenous Management Systems as Bases for Community Forestry in Tanzania; A Case Study of Dodoma Urban Area and Lushoto District Tropical Resource Management Papers Wageningen Agricultural University Wageningen.
Y. Katerere E. Guveya K. Muir (1999) Community Forest Management: Lessons from Zimbabwe Issue Paper No 89. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) London.
I.S. Kikula (1986) Environmental Effects of Tanzanias Villagisation Programme Unpublished Ph.D. thesis School of Australian Environmental Studies. Griffin University Griffin.
C. Lane I. Scoones (1993) Barbaig natural resources management M.D. Young O.T. Solbrig (Eds) The World’s Savannas: Economic Driving Forces, Ecological Constraints and Policy Options for Sustainable Land Use, Man and Biosphere series Vol. 12. UNESCO and the Parthenon Publishing Group Paris 93–119
T. Letsela E.T.F. Witkowski K. Balkwill (2002) ArticleTitleDirect use values of communal resources in Bokong and Tsehlanyane in Lesotho: Whither the commons? International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology. 9 351–368
E.J. Luoga E.T.F. Witkowski K. Balkwill (2000) ArticleTitleDifferential utilisation and ethnobotany of trees in Kitulanghalo Forest Reserve and surrounding communal lands, eastern Tanzania Economic Botany. 54 328–343
E.J. Luoga E.T.F. Witkowski K. Balkwill (2000) ArticleTitleEconomics of charcoal production in miombo woodlands of eastern Tanzania: Some hidden costs associated with commercialization of the resources Ecological Economics. 35 243–257 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0921-8009(00)00196-8
E.J. Luoga E.T.F. Witkowski K. Balkwill (2000) ArticleTitleSubsistence use of wood products and shifting cultivation within a miombo woodland of eastern Tanzania, with some notes on commercial uses South African Journal of Botany. 66 72–85
E.J. Luoga E.T.F. Witkowski K. Balkwill (2002) ArticleTitleHarvested and standing wood stocks in protected and communal miombo woodlands of eastern Tanzania Forest Ecology and Management. 164 15–30 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0378-1127(01)00604-1
Luoga, E.J., Witkowski, E.T.F., Balkwill, K. (2003). Regeneration by coppicing (resprouting) of miombo (African savanna) trees in relation to land use. Forest Ecology and Management (in press)
F. Matose L. Alden-Wily (1996) Institutional arrangements governing the use and the management of miombo woodlands B.M. Campbell (Eds) The Miombo in Transition: Woodlands and Welfare in Africa. Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Bogor 195–219
B.J. McCay J. Acheson (1987) Human ecology of the commons B.J. McCay J. Acheson (Eds) The Question of the Commons: The Culture and Ecology of Communal Resources. University of Arizona Press Tucson 1–34
A.S.M. Mgeni (1992) ArticleTitleFarm and community forestry (village afforestation) programme in Tanzania: Can it go beyond lipservice? Ambio. 21 426–430
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT). (1989). Tanzania Forestry Action Plan 1990/91–2007/8. Division of Forestry & Beekeeping, Ministry of Lands, Dar-es-Salaam, Natural Resources and Tourism
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT). (1998). National Forest Policy, The United Republic of Tanzania, Dar-es-Salaam, Government Printer
Ministry of Water, Energy and Minerals (MWEM). (1992). The Energy Policy of Tanzania, The United Republic of Tanzania, Dar-es-Salaam, Government Printer
G.C. Monela A. O’Kting’ati P.M. Kiwele (1993) ArticleTitleSocio-economic aspects of charcoal consumption and environmental consequences along the Dar-es-Salaam–Morogoro highway, Tanzania Forest Ecology and Management. 58 249–258 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0378-1127(93)90148-G
G.C. Monela R.E.L. Ole-Meiludie (1997) Review of Forest Policies in SADC region, Consultancy Report Department of Forest Economics Sokoine University of Agriculture Morogoro.
H.P. Msanga (1998) Seed germination of indigenous trees in Tanzania Including notes on seed processing, storage and plant uses Canadian Forest Service Edmonton, Alberta.
B.B. Mukamuri (1989) Rural conservation strategies in south central Zimbabwe: An attempt to describe Karanga thought patterns, perceptions and environmental control R. Grove (Eds) Conservation and Rural People in Zimbabwe. African Monographs and Baobab Press Cambridge
J. Nduwamungu (1996) Tree and Shrub Diversity in Miombo Woodlands: A Case Study at SUA Kitulanghalo Forest Reserve, Morogoro, Tanzania, Unpublished M.Sc. dissertation, Faculty of Forestry Sokoine University of Agriculture Morogoro.
A. O’Kting’ati (1984) An Analysis of the Economics of Agroforestry in Kilimanjaro Tanzania Unpublished Ph.D. thesis Faculty of Forestry. Sokoine University of Agriculture Morogoro.
A. O’Kting’ati Z.S.K. Mvena (1992) ArticleTitleForestry extension research needs in Tanzania Proceedings. Joint Seminar/Workshop in Forestry Research in Tanzania under SUA and AUN cooperation, Morogoro, Tanzania. Faculty of Forestry Record Morogoro, 53 116–124
W.A. Rodgers (1996) The miombo woodlands T.R. McLanahan T.P. Young (Eds) East African Ecosystems and Their Conservation. Oxford University Press New York
W.A. Rodgers J. Saleh (1996) Community resource use in the miombo woodlands of Tanzania, Box 8.1. In: Campbell B ( M. (Eds) The Miombo in Transition: Woodlands and Welfare in Africa. Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Bogor
S.J. Scherr (1995) ArticleTitleEconomic factors in farmer adoption of agroforestry: Patterns observed in western Kenya World Development. 23 787–804 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0305-750X(95)00005-W
C.M. Shackleton (1996) ArticleTitlePotential stimulation of local rural economies by harvesting secondary products: A case study of the central Transvaal Lowveld, South Africa Ambio. 25 33–38
C.M. Shackleton S.E. Shackleton (2000) ArticleTitleDirect use values of secondary resources from communal savannas in the Bushbuckridge lowveld, South Africa Journal of Tropical Forest Products. 6 28–47
A.J. Shayo-Ngowi B.M. Msanya D.N. Kimaro (1995) Socio-economics of land development for sustainable agricultural production in some villages in Mikese division, Morogoro district, Tanzania A Report Prepared by the Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture Sokoine University of Agriculture Morogoro.
F.C. Shechambo (1986) Urban Demand for Charcoal in Tanzania: Some Evidence from Dar-es-Salaam and Mwanza Institute of Resource Assessment (IRA) Research Report No 67 (New series) University of Dar-es-Salaam Dar-es-Salaam.
H. Sjoholm L. Alden-Wily (1995) Finding a Way Forward in Natural Forest Management in Tanzania: The Emergence of Village Forest Reserves, International Rural Development Centre, IRDC currents No. 10 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala.
Tanganyika African National Union (TANU): 1967). The Arusha Declaration and TANU’s Policy on Socialism and Self-reliance, Dar-es-Salaam, Government Printer
C.G. Trapnell (1959) ArticleTitleEcological results of woodland burning experiments in northern Rhodesia Journal of Ecology. 47 129–168
J. Tuxill G.P. Nabhan (1998) Plants and Protected Areas A Guide to In Situ Management A People and Plants Conservation Manual Stanley Thornes Ltd London.
R.G Wild J. Mutebi (1997) ArticleTitleBwindi impenetrable forest, Uganda: Conservation through collaborative management Nature and Resources. 33 33–51
Yanda, P.Z., Mung’ong’o, C.G. (1997). The Farming Systems of Kasulu District, Western Tanzania. A Case Study of Buhoro, Ruhita and Titye Villages. Consultancy report to ENRECA’s joint research committee, Institute of Resource Assessment, Dar-es-Salaam, University of Dar-es-Salaam
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Luoga, E.J., Witkowski, E.T.F. & Balkwill, K. Land Cover and Use Changes in Relation to the Institutional Framework and Tenure of Land and Resources in Eastern Tanzania Miombo Woodlands. Environ Dev Sustain 7, 71–93 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-003-4013-8
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-003-4013-8