Tanzania's land, local government and forest laws mean that rural communities have well defined rights to own, manage and benefit from forest and woodland resources within their local areas through the establishment of village forests. This approach, known by practitioners as Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) results in the legal establishment of village land forest reserves, community forest reserves or private forests. By 2008, 1,460 villages on mainland Tanzania1 were involved in establishing or managing village forests covering a total of over 2.345 million hectares.
A further 863 villages are currently involved in Joint Forest Management (JFM) approaches within government forest reserves, in which management responsibilities are shared between government and local communities. 1.78 million hectares of forest reserve under central or local government jurisdiction are now under JFM arrangements. Since 2008, the Tanzanian government has been making preparations for the establishment of systems and structures for REDD Plus (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).
Tanzania is being supported in its preparations by the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), UN-REDD plus and the Norwegian Forests and Climate Initiative as well as a number of local and international Non Government Organizations (NGOs). This report has been prepared to provide inputs to the development of policy processes currently evolving in Tanzania regarding REDD plus.
This review draws on almost two decades of experience within Tanzania on the development and establishment of Participatory forest management (PFM) an approach which (like REDD plus), aims to achieve the combined objectives of sustainable forest management with secure rights, improved local forest governance and secure livelihoods for forest-dependent communities.
World Bank.Document Date: 2011/10/01.Document Type: Working Paper.Report Number:65880.Volume No: 1 of 1
Participatory forest management and REDD plus in Tanzania
Participatory forest management and REDD plus in Tanzania policy note
World Bank.Document Date: 2010/10/01.Document Type: Working Paper.Report Number: 65878.Volume No: 1 of 1
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Participatory forest management and REDD plus in Tanzania policy note
Tanzania's land, local government and forest laws empower rural communities with well-defined rights to own, manage and benefit from forest and woodland resources within their local areas through the establishment of village forests. This approach, known by practitioners as Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) leads to the legal establishment of Village Land Forest Reserves, Community Forest Reserves or Private Forests.
A second approach called Joint Forest Management (JFM) takes place in government forest reserves, where management responsibilities are shared between local communities and the state. Spread of these two approaches has been relatively rapid over the past 15 years.
By 2008, 1,460 villages on mainland Tanzania were involved in establishing or managing village forests covering over 2.345 million hectares. Additional 863 villages are currently involved in Joint Forest Management (JFM) approaches within government forest reserves, in which management responsibilities are shared by government and local communities. 1.78 million hectares of forest reserve under central or local government jurisdiction are currently under Joint Forest Management.
World Bank.Document Date: 2010/10/01.Document Type: Working Paper.Report Number: 65878.Volume No: 1 of 1
Reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation plus (REDD+) has been developing in Tanzania since 2008 and the government is working on the development of a national strategy and action plan, as well as institutions that will enable it to implement a national REDD+ scheme. A number of studies are currently underway to help inform the detail of a future REDD strategy. Ten pilot projects are in development (REDD strategy 2010). All of these processes are overseen by a National Climate Change Steering Committee, which includes a REDD+ Working Group. The Forestry and Beekeeping Division will play a major role in REDD+ implementation. The framework document (Government of Tanzania, 2009) which has served as an initial basis for REDD+ strategy development, and various scoping studies (Katoomba, 2009) outline criteria for selecting appropriate REDD+ sites and activities.
One of the policy approaches that is emphasized in draft policy strategies is the use of Participatory Forest Management (PFM) applied through Joint Forest Management (JFM) and Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) as one of the main ways to address deforestation and degradation drivers through REDD+ in Tanzania. Although it is not completely clear how this would be managed in practice, the implication is that REDD+ funding will be used to speed up the rate of expansion of land area under PFM (currently only 12.8 percent of the country's forests are under PFM) and as a potentially new finance stream within community forestry systems.
If benefit sharing occurs via the distribution of finance by the government (received in accordance with performance against a national reference level) to local levels, the 'vertical' benefit sharing arrangements (i.e., between government and communities) might be expected to differ between these two community forestry approaches. This is because the government retains forest ownership rights in the case of JFM, whilst in CBFM, communities are the rights holders and duty bearers. Studies on benefit sharing in these systems indicate that there are still challenges in ensuring benefits for the poorer members of communities.
Author: Peskett, Leo.Document Date:2010/10/01.Document Type:Working Paper.Report Number:65861.Volume No:1 of 1
