UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN FACULTY OF SCIENCE
Understanding conservation impacts of CBFM in Tanzania Forest condition and management of Kidunda Kiyave and Gangalamtumba Village Land Forest Reserves
Authors: Jens Friis Lund 1 and Francis Moyo 2 1
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark of Life Sciences and Bio-Engineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania 2 School
Abstract This brief describes the results of research on forest management and use in two forests managed under CBFM in Tanzania. Results are based on forest inventories, remote sensing imagery analyses and interviews and observations. Findings are that both forests are in good condition and that current use patterns are in alignment with overall resources sustainability. CBFM has resulted in more control with types and extents of forest uses and village-level managers appear highly knowledgeable of their forests and able to manage them sustainably.
1. Introduction This dissemination note describes the results of research on forest condition and management of Kidunda Kiyave and Gangalamtumba Village Land Forest Reserves managed by Kiwele and Mfyome villages, respectively, Kalenga Division, Iringa District, Tanzania. The note is based on research described in more detail in: Lund, J.F., N.D. Burgess, S. Chamshama, K. Dons, J. Isango, G. Kajembe, H. Meilby, F. Moyo, E.E. Mwakalukwa, Y. Ngaga, S. Ngowi, M. Njana, K. Skeie, I. Theilade and T. Treue 2015. Mixed methods approaches to evaluate conservation impact: evidence from decentralized forest management in Tanzania. Environmental Conservation 42(2): 162-170. For more information about the study, contact Jens Friis Lund,
[email protected].
2. Study area The neighboring study villages of Kiwele and Mfyome are located in Iringa District, Tanzania (see Fig. 1), and set in a relatively flat landscape, lying 850–1500 m above sea level. Kiwele has 1200 and Mfyome 2400 inhabitants, average rainfall in the area is c. 600 mm yr−1, and the mean annual temperature is c. 21 °C. People in the villages depend on small-scale farming of various crops for subsistence and cash, as well as livestock keeping, businesses, and many derive a substantial portion of their livelihood from forests and other non-managed areas. Iringa town with around 200,000 inhabitants is situated 20–25kmfrom the villages and connected to these by an always accessible dirt road with regular bus service. Since around the year 2000, the villages have managed the 4,904 ha of Kidunda Kiyave Village Land Forest Reserve (Kiwele village) and the 6,065 ha of Gangalamtumba Village Land Forest Reserve (Mfyome village). The two villages also manage the nearby Kitapilimwa National Authority Forest Reserve jointly with other villages in the area and Tanzania Forest Service. All the forests in the area can be characterized as dry miombo woodlands. Community-Based Forest Management was introduced in the villages during 1999– 2003 via a donor-supported project (known as MEMA Projects) that provided support to community awareness campaigns, delineation and demarcation of VLFR boundaries, establishment of village natural resources committees (VNRCs), and formulation of forest management plans. Mfyome and Kiwele were established as tobacco-growing villages during the 1960s resettlement programmes. During the 1980s, the livelihoods of farmers in the area came under pressure owing to reductions in tobacco credit and extension services following Tanzania’s structural adjustment programme. This, and growing demand for wood products from Iringa town, created increasing livelihood reliance on forest use. Some villagers in Mfyome, in particular, specialized in the production of charcoal and timber because they were living inside the forest with little access to water and agricultural extension services. In Kiwele, conversely, more villagers specialized in collection of dry firewood for sale because tobacco farmers 1
only use the tree trunks and leave behind the crowns to dry, thereby providing a ready source of dry firewood. Thus, over time, Mfyome VLFR has become increasingly known for charcoal and, to a lesser extent, timber production, whereas Kiwele VLFR produces firewood for tobacco curing and sale. Since 2015, however, tobacco production has ceased in both villages.
Figure 1: The location of the two villages and their VLFRs
3. Methods The study has three overall components: (1) an assessment of current forest condition and growth and use levels based on forest inventories (Fig. 2); (2) an assessment of change in forest disturbance from before the implementation of decentralized management based on Landsat imagery analyses; and (3) an analysis of changes in forest management and types and intensity of use based on interviews, personal observations, and a review of records conducted by Jens Lund. Component (1) of our study informs the resources sustainability under current decentralized management practices, whereas component (2) reveals whether forest disturbance has changed as compared to the period before decentralization was implemented. The role of component (3) is to provide understanding of changes in the use and 2
management of the two forests over the period since before implementation of decentralized management, with a view to understanding the role of the decentralization policy in changing local use and management. More details on the methods can be found in the underlying research paper. Map of permanent plots in Kiwere and Mfyome 9169 9168 9167 9166 9165
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Diameter of symbols proportional to basal area
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Figure 2: Map of forest inventory plots in the two VLFRs illustrating variation in basal area (diameter of symbols being proportional to basal area). Basal area is an indicator of the denseness of the woody vegetation, i.e. trees, in the forest.
4. Results 4.1 Current forest condition, and growth and use levels Mfyome and Kiwele VLFR had tree volumes of 47 and 63 m3/ha, respectively, the higher volume of Mfyome VLFR resulting from a greater stem density (Table 1), whereas tree sizes in the two forests were similar. There is large variation in volumes across the forest (Fig. 2). The diameter distributions of both forests show a proliferation of individuals in the smaller classes (Fig. 3). Browsing was observed in 45% and 38% of the plots in Kiwele VLFR and Mfyome VLFR, respectively. The re-measurement of 15 permanent sample plots in 2008 showed a mean annual growth rate of 1.6 m3/ha. Table 1: Basic data (tree dbh ≥ 5 cm) for the two forests: Mean values with standard errors in parantheses.
Forest
Forest area (ha)
Stem number (#/ha)
Basal area (m2/ha)
Volume (m3/ha)
Crown cover (%)
Kiwele
4,900
779 (38)
9.1 (0.6)
47 (4)
43 (2)
Mfyome
6,000
988 (51)
11.6 (0.7)
63 (4)
50 (2)
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Stumps were found in 25% and 22% of the plots in Kiwele VLFR and Mfyome VLFR, respectively, and the conversion of stump diameter into harvested biomass results to estimated annual extraction levels of 706 m3/yr and 607 m3/yr for Kiwele and Mfyome VLFRs, respectively. This is much lower than the estimated growth of the total forest volume, but the harvest can, of course, be concentrated on a few species that, as a consequence, could disappear in large size classes. However, not taking species composition into account, the harvesting is much lower than the growth of the resource.
Figure 3: Stem diameter distributions (number of stems per ha, logarithmic scale).
4.2 Change in forest disturbance Forest disturbance before (1999–2001) and after (2004–2006) the introduction of decentralized forest management reveals divergent patterns between the two forests (Fig. 4). In Mfyome VLFR, the area of forest disturbance decreased from 193.1 ha (3.2% of the total forested area) in the period 1999–2001 to 147.2 ha (2.4%) in the period 2004–2006, yet there was substantial variation within the forest. In the southern part of Mfyome VLFR (Fig. 3, M1 and M2) located close to the main village, the area disturbed was reduced from 47.0 ha (M1) and 100.5 ha (M2) in 1999–2001 to only 12.7 ha (M1) and 53.1 ha (M2) in 2004– 2006, while disturbance increased in more remote parts of the forest and along the northern forest border (M3). In Kiwele VLFR, the area disturbed increased from 33.1 ha in 1999–2001 to 92.8 ha in 2004–2006. However, this includes disturbance attributable to a planned expansion of a settlement in the northwestern part of the forest in 2002 (Fig. 3, K2), as well as disturbance on the southern border of the forest (Fig. 3, K1) that is not part of the VLFR.
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Figure 4: Patterns and extent of forest disturbances in (a) 1999–2001 and (b) 2004–2006.
4.3 Changes in forest management, and in types and intensity of use With the implementation of Community-Based Forest Management, forest use and management changed as a consequence of the implementation of the more intimate setting with village-based forest managers
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and patrol guards. From a situation of very little enforcement targeting activities in the forests under the previous district-led management regime, the change implied a quota, up-front payment of fees for certain forest uses, and detailed rules on forest use, specifying, among other items, what species and size of trees could be felled, as well as a maximum distance between trees that were left behind after the felling. This was all tightly enforced through frequent patrols and reliance on local informers. The VNRC members were monitoring extraction levels relative to the quota through the issued licenses. Forest patrols by villagers were being carried out in different parts of the forests between one and four times per month by a team of two to four patrol guards, who monitored forest condition and human activities, legal or illegal. Forest patrols were repeatedly observed, and the patrol guards possessed precise knowledge of on-going forest extraction in the forests. Furthermore, VNRC members were accompanying traders in forest products to the forest to oversee the sale and loading of forest products, reducing the risk of clandestine selling of illegal produce. The VNRCs were also cooperating with neighboring villages to control access roads to the forests, and obtained information on forest disturbances from fellow villagers.
5. Discussion and conclusion The basal area estimates from the inventory of the two forests are comparable to estimates found in other dry miombo woodlands. The crown cover and evidence of disturbance found in the plots indicate that the two forests are used, and the diameter distribution indicates that the intensity and type of use leave room for regeneration. Overall, the two forests thus appear in good condition. Given this, a harvest level that roughly equals growth appears to be a reasonable criterion for resource sustainability of management. And the analysis of stumps indicates that harvesting is much lower than growth and, thereby, sustainable, although we cannot say anything about changes in species composition. Our results from the disturbance analysis corroborates this impression. In Gangalamtumba VLFR (Mfyome village) we see the expected decrease in overall disturbance levels, whereas the increase in Kidunda Kiyave VLFR (Kiwele village) is explained by (i) an imprecise georeferencing of the VLFR boundaries including an area that is considered outside of the VLFR by Kiwele villagers and (ii) a planned expansion of a settlement in the northern part of the forest. In terms of knowledge and management processes, our results illustrate clearly that the village-level managers are knowledgeable about their forests and exert control with forest the types and extents of forest use. Thus, the forests are now actively managed for sustainability in ways they have not been before and would not have been in the absence of the CBFM intervention. The results are, in all likelihood, a consequence of legal reform (the devolution of rights to the village level), a supportive environment (donor funded support and supportive district forest officers), and a favorable location (the forests are located relatively close to the district forest offices and have, consequently, frequently been visited by forest officers, researchers and others).
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