Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
measure whereby the success of the project at conserving biological
elements of value can be assessed. Rates of extraction, levels of distur-
bance and habitat 'condition' provide a further tranche of data whereby
conservation impact can be determined. Measuring the ef ect the project
has, such as reduction of threatening activities, increased protection, fewer
purchases of illegally hunted animals, and so forth links the response of
society to the state of the resources. Surveys of the knowledge, attitudes
and practices of the local population provide an indirect measure of the
success of a project at changing practices and perceptions - which can be
repeated to assess change over time.
Measuring development impact is also possible, for example using
measures such as numbers of people within the project area who are short
of food, do not send their children to school, or have very poor levels of
agricultural productivity. As income levels increase, then the number of
people making a living from the sustainable use of the forest resource,
or forest-related activities (for example, tourism) can also be used as a
measure of development impact. Measuring the combination ef ect of
conservation and development interventions within an ICDP is the most
challenging issue of all. We are not aware of any attempt to measure the
synergistic ef ects of dif erent interventions.
Building success in ICDPs in the forests of Africa
Here we look at two case-study ICDPs from African forests and assess
how well they have addressed, or are addressing the issues we outline
above as fundamental concerns in improving the performance of ICDPs in
the region. These projects are ones with which we have had a long personal
involvement, hence our comments are certainly not unbiased. However,
due to this involvement we also know some of the failures that the projects
have experienced, and have seen in some cases how these have later been
solved.
The Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania
The Uluguru Mountains are located in eastern Tanzania (Figure 3.1)
and comprise a forest-capped area covering 1500 sq km of highlands,
with forested areas found discontinuously from 150 m up to 2630 m
above sea level. The main ridge runs almost north-south, and there are
a number of smaller outlying hills that are broadly regarded as a part of
the Uluguru Mountains landscape. Administratively the area falls within
two Tanzanian rural districts and a part of one urban municipality. More
than 50 villages have a border with the larger forests of the area, which are
found in 22 government Forest Reserves (Figure 3.2a). Over 100 villages
cover the entire Uluguru Mountains landscape, and these often have their
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