View/Open - Sokoine University of Agriculture

As a result of the ongoing REDD readiness initiative, in 2008, Tanzania and Norwaysigned an bilateral agreement of up to NOK 500 million over a period of five yearssupporting research, education and the development of pilot areas for reduceddeforestation (The Government of Norway 2009; Forconsult 2010). In august, 2009,Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) in collaboration with TanzaniaCommunity Forest Conservation Network (MJUMITA) received the first of nine pilotcontracts that were to be signed by a number of NGOs across Tanzania (TheGovernment of Norway 2009). It focuses on two project sites, one dealing withcoastal forest in Lindi, and the other is found in Kilosa, focusing on forests alongsidethe eastern arc mountains (United Republic of Tanzania 2010).Through a project called POVSUS – REDD, a project which will include research onREDD in five selected countries, we have looked at the general REDD process inTanzania coupled with the REDD pilot project led by TFCG and MJUMITA.However, in this study we look at one of the project sites - the one found in KilosaDistrict, Morogoro. Our objectives of the study were to analyze the current process ofimplementing REDD on top of existing policies and legislatures in Tanzania, andevaluate the Kilosa pilot project where we identify existing institutions of the localcommunities, assess how their livelihoods might be affected by REDD and finallylook at people‟s perception towards conservation and REDD initiatives.This first chapter gives an introduction to Tanzania and its land use and forestmanagement strategies before we provide an overview of the evolution of REDD as aconcept and how it has been approached by national policy makers. The problemstatement and aims of the study follows, before the objectives and research questionwill be presented together with the structure of the thesis.3