Tropical rainforest deforestation, biodiversity benefits and sustainable landuse: analysis of economic and ecological aspects related to the Nguru mountains, Tanzania.

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to identify the main landuse and landuse problems with reference to agriculture and forestry in the Nguru mountains, and the main factors causing these problems, and analyze ways to reduce them in order to prevent forest degradation and deforestation. Based on data collected in villages in the Nguru mountains using interviews, field observations, and secondary sources it seems that ecological and socio-economic factors have played an important role in shaping the existing landuse practices, landuse problems and factors causing landuse problems in the Nguru mountains. The major landuses are agriculture and forestry. The agriculture is dependent on rainfall, growing mainly subsistence food crops using traditional farming practices. Forestry is for water conservation but also supplies local communities with both timber and nontimber forest products. Relative to other landuses such as settlements and grazing, agriculture and forestry have contributed most to the prevailing landuse conflicts in the Nguru mountains. The main landuse problems in the Nguru mountains are: deforestation pressure through encroachment for agriculture and settlements, forest degradation through excessive forest product exploitation, frequent and uncontrolled bush fires, land degradation and soil erosion, declining crop harvests, squatters inside the Forest Reserve, farming in the buffer zone around the rainforest and non-adherence to forest control measures. The impact of these landuse problems on the rainforest have been more severe on lowland rainforests where high rates of rainforest conversion to agriculture and other landuses were observed. These landuse problems are a consequence of many interrelated factors acting as local agents or beyond local boundaries. These factors are caused by complex processes resulting from human social dynamics. From survey results in the area these factors range from social, economic, cultural and political forces which are related to each other in multilineal causal chains. The main ones are: growing population, land scarcity, search for market goods, increased domestic demand for food and forest products, poverty, lack of knowledge, lack of an effective extension service, market failures such as breakdown of traditional management systems due to commercialization of demand for resources, government failures such as inefficient government policies, risks and uncertainty in farming (pests, diseases and vagaries of climate) insecure land rights under customary land tenure system, traditional or cultural barriers, conflicting objectives between land users, failure to control protected areas such as Forest Reserves and decline in forest product supply and lack of income from outside agriculture and forestry. It seems the government has not been able to control landuse problems through policy measures or coercion. Also the market has not been able to do so, due to its failure to provide negative feedback loops to check landuse problems. Widespread market and government failures largely account for this situation since, they provide incentive for poor landuse practices. Rural poverty and efforts to adapt to economic hardships at the local level have a significant influence on landuse problems. Vaguely defined, unequitable and uncertain land tenure conditions, lack of knowledge and traditional barriers have added a complicating dimension to landuse problems. The poor local people, the direct agents of degradation and deforestation pressure, have been made to rely on unreliable access to credit markets due to the absence of guarantees (collateral), caused by lack or uncertainty of tenure. The effect has been to increase landuse problems. Since the welfare and survival of the local people in the Nguru mountains, are inextricably linked with agriculture and the environment, they must improve current landuse practices, in order to come to terms with the reality of resource limitation and carrying capacity of their ecosystem. Wise management of land and forest resources requires appropriate landuse practices, to alleviate landuse problems in order to improve the standard of living and preserve the biological systems, especially the tropical rainforest upon which they depend. The strategy recommended requires landuse planning for efficient use of resources and integrated planning to harmonize conflict between land uses. Other measures include family planning to control population growth, education to enhance change of attitude on resource use, by overcoming communication breakdown between resources users and protectors through direct dialogue and community involvement, giving some specific rights to property in reserved forests, and benefits to villagers to meet their needs while protecting the resources, improving traditional landuse systems and traditional knowledge, incorporating agroforestry in farming systems, removal of institutional barriers to wise landuse by government through appropriate policy changes, and improvement of rainforest management methods to enhance forest protection.