JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT IN THE KATAVI-UGALLA CORRIDOR

AREAS OF INTERVENTION

Joint forest management, Income-generating activities (beekeeping, gathering wild mushrooms), Capacity building of local partners, Environmental education

MAIN PARTNERS

• Natural Resources Committees of the municipalities of Uzega, Mgombe, Kanoge, Wachawaseme, Mtakuja, Kaulolo, Nsenkwa, Masigo and Uruwira.
• ADAP Tanzania

IN COLLABORATION WITH

• Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS)
• Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT)
• Mlele District Council
• Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI)
• University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland- (HEPIA Geneva)
• Adansonia Consulting

GOALS

The rights of the communities living in the Mlele Forest Reserve are secured, their livelihoods are improved and sustained, and the long-term conservation of the ecosystem and the sustainable provision of the services it generates is thus ensured.

SECOND PHASE OBJECTIVES

• 9 villages are involved in a process of joint forest management for the Mlele Forest Reserve and implement school agroforestry programmes
• The development of added-value chains leads to the marketing of the first mushrooms and the marketing of beekeeping products on the retail market, with a focus on the support to women producers.

DESCRIPTION

Deforestation and poaching rapidly degrade the region’s forests. To help counter these pressures, ADAP has supported community management of 850km² of the Mlele forest reserve (see the previous project) for several years. The forests in the Mlele forest reserve are the ones in the region that have not suffered significant degradation over the past decade.
The results of socio-economic development and the preservation of forests and fauna were good. The Ministry of Environment and its local partners have therefore asked ADAP to use its socio-economic development model and preservation practices for the joint management of the whole Mlele reserve (2350km²).

The project is based on a clause in the forest law that allows villages bordering a government reserve to set up a system of joint management with the Forest Service. Benefits of this participatory process are:

• A better chance to secure the rights of riparian communities over the forest and its resources in the long term
• Governance and management with the villagers occupying a central place

This project of joint management will help establish village management committees and ensure capacity building for their members. It will also start an environmental education program for schools in eight villages to discover the reserve and its management methods.
Besides the revenue from the reserve management, financial support will be available for the income-generating activities of beekeeping and the gathering of wild mushrooms.