Frontier Tanzania Savanna Research Programme

and natural resources are generally plentiful in the area outside of the reserve. Thesituation in the northern roadside area should be monitored carefully but this is theonly potential area for concern.The low incomes in the area, the dependency on agriculture and the susceptibility offarms to damage by wildlife and unsuitable weather means that increased exploitationof the reserve to meet immediate household needs is a future possibility.If local testimony is to be believed, the deterioration of Nambiga F. R. has beencaused by timber traders operating on a large scale. This is backed up by numeroussightings of timber lorries in the area. Furthermore, the cost of timber is beyond thereach of most households and the fact that the building requirements of most housesin the area are easily satisfied by the much more accessible miombo areas.The distance from Nambiga F. R. to the communities that surround it mean that mostpeople do not regularly use the reserve. This effectively limits the potential of jointforest management options because it is difficult to see how most communities willbenefit from reserve resources. If this path to management is taken then a certainamount of imagination is required. Certainly the degree of concern expressed by localpeople would suggest that there may be potential for some form of communitymonitoring scheme.7