LOCAL FOREST MANAGEMENT IN TANZANIA-ACASE STUDY FROM LUSHOTO DISTRICT, USAMBARA MOUNTAIN

Abstract

Forest management has been activity of national government and its various agencies, established through constitutions and regulations that reject local claims to forest resources. Primarily, administrative and political lead these activities, which have been based on economic, scientific and planning criteria. Frequently, local people heard about planning arrangements and new management regulations only after decisions were already affecting their lives directly.Over the past few decades, fundamental perceptions regarding the role, rights and responsibilities of communities in forest management have begun to change. The shift emerged from past failing policies and growing recognition of the limits of centralised decision-makingsystems. The idea of Community-based Forest Management (CBFM) itself is not clearly defined in government policies in Africa. Recent decade’s forest management in Africa has passed through these three phases: (1) management for the forest and against people; (2) forest management for and by the people; (3) forest management with the people and other actors.Particularly in Africa, due to its different historical stages, such as, pre-colonial, colonial time, and after independence, the forest policy was so changeable that local people could have followed.