Bridging the Gap: linking timber trade with infrastructural ...

STUDY AREA OVERVIEW
The study area covered by this project included seven districts belonging to three regions, namely Rufiji
District (Coast Region), Lindi, Kilwa, Liwale, Ruangwa and Nachingwea Districts (Lindi Region), and
Mtwara District (Mtwara Region). The total population in the study area was estimated at over 1.3
million people in 2000. Selected social indicators are shown in Table 7. Rural people’s livelihoods are
heavily dependent upon woodland and forest resources in the form of food, housing, fuel, medicines and
income. The transport and communications infrastructure are poor in relation to the rest of the country.
For example, out of a total 5596 km of road networks in Mtwara Region, only 135 km are tarmac. The
study area holds only one major road linking to Dar es Salaam, one airport capable of handling large
aircraft, and one marine port capable of handling deep berth cargo. There are no railway networks, and
telecommunication and electricity services are few and unreliable. Major rivers flowing through the
study area include the Mbewekuru, Matandu and Rufiji (Figure 1).
Table 7
Regional ranking of selected social indicators in study area
Social indicator Coast Lindi Mtwara
GNP per capita regional ranking (1997) 7 10 9
Food security regional ranking 4 5 9
Nutrition level regional ranking 11 6 9
Health status regional ranking 9 4 8
Gross enrollment (primary school) 9 2 13
Note: Rank ‘1’ implies most deprived region and ‘20’ least deprived region.
Source: Poverty and Welfare Monitoring Indicators, Vice President’s Office, November 1999.
A significant proportion of the study area is covered by miombo woodland, which disperses into coastal
forest and thicket to the east (Figure 6). Open woodland, wooded grassland and bushland dominate the
landscape of Lindi Region. A detailed vegetation map of the study area is shown in Figure 1 and further
information on the study area is given in Annex 4.
The study area contains some of the largest remaining wild stands of miombo woodland in Tanzania, with
among the highest indices of forest density, quantities of forest per capita and unprotected woodland in
the country (Table 8). Lindi Region has the third highest forest area of any region in the country, 4.3
million ha, following Tabora (5.3 million ha) and Rukwa (4.9 million ha).
Coast, Lindi and Mtwara Regions, along with others in eastern Tanzania, are characterised by having a
high proportion (over 85%) of forests as unreserved, public land. Lindi Region has the largest forest area
on public land in the country, estimated at 3.75 million ha, and also has the largest forest cover per capita
(5.4 ha per inhabitant). Based on 1998 records from the MNRT, Coast Region also had a higher forest
cover per capita (3.0 ha per inhabitant) than the national average of one ha per inhabitant (Figure 4b;
Anon., 1998a). Despite the high percentage of unreserved forest in Lindi and Coast Regions and the high
forest cover per capita, community-based management efforts are largely undeveloped.
29