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in their respective areas of jurisdiction” (Mniwasa and Shauri 2001, p.4.) the RegionalAdministration Act of 1997 initiated the decentralisation process by now allowingurban and district authorities to have direct authority over issues and interests in theirareas of jurisdiction. In addition, adjustments resulting in the Local Government Actsin 1999 facilitated this transfer and increased the management responsibility byestablishing an Economic Affairs, Works and Environment Committee under DistrictAuthorities. It was stated that “it shall be the objective of the local authorities inperforming their functions to provide for the protection and proper utilisation of theenvironment for sustainable development” (Mniwasa and Shauri 2001, p.9.)Further, in 1999, the Local Government Reform Programme was introduced with theview that public services facilitated by local government authorities would improvethe quality and access of said services, and that by reorganizing and allowing greaterfreedom in organising their own activities it would increase the local communities‟accountability and responsibility for their own development (Ibid.).As a result of these policies, acts and programmes listed above the LGAs nowconsists of councils at Village, Ward and District levels, elected by the localpopulation for a five year period, and also includes a parallel set of civil servantsappointed by PMO-RALG, namely a District Executive Director (DED), a WardExecutive Officer (WEO) and Village Executive Officer (VEO).Intended to facilitate more sustainable natural resource management some havehowever pointed out the opposite, stating that the new institutional structure hasplayed a big part in the declining role of local institutions and traditional values interms of natural resources management as the traditional system of chiefs and clanelders, previously responsible land allocation and forest management has beenreplaced by the new Village Government. Therefore, as local beliefs about the valueof protecting forests and traditional property rights have gradually eroded, it hasinfluenced the use of common resources (Akida and Blomley 2007).100