Resource Use Conflicts and Biodiversity Conservation in Jozani Ecosystem, Zanziba

Resource Conflicts are the major challenge to the responsible Institutions in the management and conservation of biodiversity in Zanzibar due to the existence of multiple and interactive reasons that lead to conflicts. This paper intends to reveal the less known current status of resource conflicts in the management of biodiversity in Jozani ecosystem, Zanzibar. The study employed descriptive survey research design of the causal comparative research design to collect data from 280 respondents which constitute the study population. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, mean, frequency, standard deviation and Pearson correlation were used for data analysis. The outcome of the study showed that there is significant relationship existed between resource conflicts and the management of biodiversity conservation in Jozani ecosystem. The study has implications for environmental policy makers. The study concludes by asserting that unemployment, poverty and scarcity of environmental resources are the major causes of conflict, therefore the call is directed to policy makers to strengthen efforts on resolving conflicts by establishing overall strategies such as establishment of participatory community-based approaches to natural resource management, conflict resolution capacity building measures among the stakeholders, amendment of Laws and expansion of employment to reduce direct relying on using natural resource assets for livelihood

Historical and Current Perspectives

In many tropical developing countries such as Tanzania, modern forest management has been characterized by top-down state-centric governance. But the growth of participatory management forms, with multiple stakeholders is leading to a plethora of changes to laws and organizational structures and more complex interplay between international interests and local decision making. Participatory management is generally thought to be more sustainable in terms of both local livelihoods and environmental outcomes. But research here is limited. This background paper provides the contextual background required for the New Partnerships for Sustainability (NEPSUS) project’s work on new partnerships in forestry. The background paper examines the historical trajectory in Tanzania as well as at the international context that has led to the current makeup of forest management systems in Tanzania

How elephants utilize a miombo-wetland ecosystem in Ugalla landscape, Western Tanzania

African elephants are ‘keystone’ species with respect to biodiversity conservation in Africa since they maintain habitats that support several animal communities by changing vegetation structure through foraging and by dispersing seeds between landscapes. Elephants are also ‘flagship’ species because, given their impressive size, they can make people sympathetic and stimulate local and international concerns for their protection. Economically, elephants contribute to national revenues as tourists are willing to pay to watch them. Despite all these factors, little is known however about elephant movement and how they utilize resources, especially in miombo-wetland ecosystems. This thesis investigates how elephants utilize resources in a miombo-wetland ecosystem in the Ugalla landscape of Western Tanzania over different protected areas containing different resource users. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) collars fitted to six elephants, it was observed that some elephant families are not confined in one protected area in the Ugalla landscape. Rather, they moved readily between different protected areas. Elephant movements were restricted to areas near the rivers, especially the Ugalla River, during the dry season and were dispersed widely during the wet season. As they move, elephants in the miombo woodlands of Ugalla selected the most abundant woody plants for browsing. Common to many woody plants, the browsed plants were short of mineral nutrients (e.g., sodium, calcium). Elephants obtained additional minerals by eating soils from certain termite mounds. Soils from termite mounds are richer in mineral elements (e.g., sodium, calcium, iron) compared to soils from the surrounding flood plain or compared to the browsed plants. However, the recorded termite mounds from which elephants eat soils were not evenly distributed in the landscape but confined mainly to the flood plains in the Ugalla Game Reserve. The Ugalla River, which is the main source of water for the elephants and other animals and also supports fishing activities by the local people in Ugalla during the dry seasons, is infested by the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). Such infestation potentially limits access to these precious surface water supplies. In addition at the regional level, the Ugalla River is among the major rivers that flow into the Lake Tanganyika which is shared by the countries of Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. Thus, the spread of water hyacinth if left unchecked threatens to impact Lake Tanganyika, affecting many countries and ecosystem services. This thesis highlights that sustainable conservation of biodiversity in different protected areas in the Ugalla landscape requires an integrated management approach that will embrace conservation of different interrelated landscape resources required by both wildlife and the rural poor populations for their livelihoods. Regular coordinated wildlife anti-poaching patrols should be initiated across the entire Ugalla landscape because the elephants, among other wildlife, utilize different protected areas in Ugalla. Local communities should also be engaged in conservation initiatives (e.g., controlling the spread of the water hyacinth) as these directly impact local livelihoods.  At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMEN