Neil D. Burgess, Paul Harrison, Peter Sumbi, James Laizer, Adam ...

MANAGEMENT ISSUES: TANZANIA’S COASTAL FORESTS 2011
village in 2010, after it was abandoned during the villagisation operation in the 1970s. Presumably,
the fire is associated with opening of new farms and settlements in this new village.
Furthermore, the forests in the landscape have been subjected to human disturbances especially on
its buffer zones and adjacent forest on the slopes of the plateau. Shifting cultivation, pole cutting
and charcoaling are other threats to forests and woodlands in the landscape.
Costs of conservation to communities
Problem animals are the main cost of conservation in the landscape. Forest adjacent communities
lose crops to elephants, monkeys, bush pigs and warthogs. There are also reports of people being
killed by animals and at least one person has been killed every year since 2009. The problem of
elephant attacks has increased recently.
Community responsibilities in management of forest resources
Communities conduct patrols against illegal harvesting, charcoaling, and help with fire fighting.
However, both patrols and fire fighting are limited by lack of facilitation including lack of transport
facilities, patrol camps, fire fighting equipment and fire watch towers.
4.12 Zanzibar landscape
4.12.1 Conservation issues, threats and drivers
All regions of Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba), and in particular the remaining patches of coral thicket
forests, are severely threatened by a very high and rapidly increasing human population (400
individuals/km 2 ). The vast majority of Zanzibar’s human population is dependent upon shifting
cultivation and forest products, such as building poles, firewood, and charcoal. Cutting trees and
bushes to supply this demand continues to be a major threat to Zanzibar’s wildlife. Zanzibar is
currently losing an estimated 1.2 percent of its forest each year. Hunting is also a major threat to
some of Zanzibar’s wildlife species; in particular to the small forest antelopes.
Rural Livelihoods and Community responsibilities in management of forest resources
Zanzibar’s wildlife survives in small habitat fragments within a human dominated landscape. Only
some of these critical wildlife habitat fragments lie within Government managed protected areas, at
least half are on community lands. Thus, conservation of Zanzibar’s unique flora and fauna is
contingent on successful conservation management of a network of protected areas not only on
government but also on community lands.
Zanzibar’s communities are highly dependent on natural resources [including firewood, charcoal,
building materials, and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs)] for their survival and for income
generation. Nutritionally, they are dependent on a wide variety of produce grown on the island, and
the vast majority of their protein requirement is provided by legumes, fish and shell fish. Although
hunting occurs, it is thought to provide a negligible and unnecessary amount to total protein intake.
Over the last decade and a half, DFNRNR has worked to bring communities into every aspect of land
use planning and management of natural resources across the island. Communities have been
empowered to manage their forests by the development of Community Forest Management
Agreements (CoFMA). CoFMAs are legally binding documents giving communities the mandate to
manage their forests. During the development of a Community’s CoFMA, all land surrounding the
village and over which the community will be responsible is zoned into high protection zones, low
impact use zones, or higher impact use zones such as agricultural and settlement zones. One of the
main benefits to communities of developing a CoFMA is that they restrict open access to their land.
In order to obtain CoFMAs, communities must also agree to a set of responsibilities which include
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