Forest Reform in Tanzania: A Review of Policy and Legislation

Community participation in forest management has existed in the United Republic of Tanzania for a long time, but on a small scale. It is common to find trees of certain species are being protected and managed for  traditional reasons. It has been observed that forests and woodlands that are managed using traditional knowledge and practices are accorded high respect by concerned communities. Thus, fires or encroachment does not affect them. While the strategy of setting aside forests and woodlands for protection remains the centerpiece of management of these resources in the United Republic of Tanzania, this has been the result of evolutionaryprocess from a conventional to a participatory approach of forest  management. In this regards, Tanzania has been considered among successful countries in African in implementing Participatory Forest  Management (PFM) as promoted through both Community-Based ForestManagement (CBFM) and Joint Forest Management (JFM). Policy provisions and legal framework has been important stepping stones for involvement of different players in forest conservation. In addition, legal reforms have tried to invert the colonial approach that excluded local communities from management and ownership of most resources in their vicinity. PFMtypically has been implemented on a forest-by-forest or village-by-village basis, rather than using a landscape approach. But protecting one forest through PFM may displace villagers’ Non Timber Forest Product (NTFP) harvest into other less protected forests, possibly causing greater ecological damage. A landscape approach to PFM would take into account even those forests that are not used by villagers before PFM is introduced but that might be once PFM reduces or eliminates access to alternative forests.Keywords: Participatory Forest Management, Policies, legislation, Forest, degradation, deforestatio

Fishing Business Arrangements and Sustainability in Lake Victoria Fishing

Fishing is an important activity for communities living adjacent to rivers and lakes—it is an economic activity that generates income and provides sustenance to those engaged in fishing as an occupation. Majority of the crewmembers of the fishing vessels, though small scale, are not the owner of the vessels. Majority are hired and their payment is made in-terms of the share of the catch. The main fish species are Tilapia, Nile perch  (sangara), Dagaa, nembe, gogogo and furu. In this article an attempt is made to analyse the existing production relations between the owners of the vessels and the crewmembers and the concern for sustainability. Our results found that the existing sharing system in Lake Victoria poses a big challenge in as far as sustainability is concerned. Some of the system such as the percentage of catch after deducting operation costs are to some extent seems to be exploitative since majority of the owner of the fishing vessels assign high costs. Hence large percentage of the catch will go to the owner of the fishing vessels. Thus, fishermen are compelled to use any means to ensure that they have enough catch. The most favoured sharing model is the ratio in days, in which case each fishing unit is assigned aday, that’s owners’ day, crews day, and vessels day. Regression results further shows that type of fishing gears, in particular mesh size, net length, Boat size, method of propulsion significantly influence the value of catch and the quantity harvested. Mounting of fishing nets is found to negatively influence the quantity of catch in each fishing trip. Suggesting that given the current stock mounting of nets is not an efficient way of catching large quantity of fish.Keywords: Lake Victoria, Inland Water, Sustainability, Overfishin