Development of Sustainable Forest Use Strategies - Eastern Arc ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In recent years sustainability in forest resource utilization has become a major concern
worldwide. There is an expectation that forests are healthy and sustainable when biotic
and abiotic influences do not threaten the attainment of conservation objectives at
present or in the future. The Eastern Arc Mountain Forests (EAMFs) and Grasslands
provide a number of resources for the people. The value of these resources, and the
poverty of the people living in the Mountains, creates an unsustainable use of many
forest products. However, the exact nature of the unsustainable use and the species that
are targeted is not synthesized. Moreover, strategies for addressing the unsustainable
use have not been proposed. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to identify types
of unsustainable resource uses, assess the extent and severity of problems caused by
invasive species and propose strategies that would address the unsustainable use of
forest products and any invasive species found in the study area.
Information was collected through review of policies, laws and available scholarly
information on the intended issues with minimal field visits supported by interviews and
participant observations. A purposive sampling design was used to select samples of
forest blocks for ground truthing after a literature screening exercise, which helped to
identify information gaps with regard to major themes of the study (i.e., forest uses and
invasive species). In each sampled forest, groups of villagers and individual key
informants were selected on the basis of availability and willingness to discuss with
researchers during the visits. Both primary and secondary data were collected to address
the specific study objectives. These were intended to cover three major dimensions
namely social, economic and ecological. Social and economic dimensions focused on
the forest resource users whereas the ecological dimension focused on the forest land
and resources therein. The study was guided by a conceptual framework.
The review of policies and laws related to forest conservation indicates that there are
some distinct deficiencies, which make them fail to comply with sustainable use of forest
products. There is relatively big disparity between the statements and directives in
policies and laws and the actual situation on the ground. Responsibilities and
answerabilities of government officials in the field have a lot to be desired. Where the
degree of forest use is specified, the mechanism for follow-up or implementation is not
clearly stated. These flaws in policy directives and laws jeopardize the attainment of
sustainable forest use in the EAMFs.
The major types of unsustainable forest uses include illegal logging, illegal hunting or
poaching, tree cutting for commercial firewood, medicinal plants, and encroachment for
farming. Using a set of sustainability indicators, it was found that the current logging
practices in the EAMFs were illegal and unsustainable. Several incidences of illegal
logging were observed particularly in East Usambara, South Pare, Nguru, Ukaguru and
Mahenge. Trees in upper and sensitive catchment areas were harvested for timber, as
was noted in river valleys in East Usambara. It was reported that among the incidences of
poaching offences committed for a period of ten years, illegal logging (48%) was more
commonly committed in Udzungwa Mountain forest block. Major timber species that are
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