Are We Getting There? Evidence of Decentralized Forest Management from the Tanzanian Miombo Woodlands

Published Date
December 2008, Vol.36(12):2780–2800, doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2008.01.014
Special Section: Social Movements and the Dynamics of Rural Development in Latin America (pp. 2874-2952)

Author 

Jens Friis Lund

Thorsten Treue

University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark

Accepted 8 January 2008. Available online 24 July 2008.

Summary

Based on a village study in Tanzania, the effects of decentralized forest management on forest conservation, rural livelihoods and good governance are evaluated. Tree growth is estimated to exceed harvest, and forest utilization appears effectively controlled. Forest revenues cover the costs of management and finance local public services, but the underlying taxes and regulations have made the poorest worse off. Governance outcomes are also ambiguous. Revenues are administered transparently, but village leaders are coercive toward forest dependent minorities. The case provides a rare example of how decentralized forest management works in Africa when meaningful powers are devolved to local communities.

Key words

Africa

Tanzania

decentralized forest management

participatory forest management

poverty

forest conservation

governance

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