Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the entire landscape) and the scale of project interventions (Figure 3.2d).
Project interventions were focused in a smaller part of the mountain that
had the greatest problems in terms of forest and biodiversity loss (Figure
3.3), and where there was the highest rate of commercial agriculture and
impact from outside interests. During the design of the third phase of
activities on the mountain, ef orts were made to expand activities to cover
the entire landscape. However, funding remains insui cient to fully tackle
the whole area.
There is real local ownership
The earliest phases of project input into
the Ulugurus were designed and implemented in collaboration with
regional government partners, who managed the programme as their own.
However, these earlier phases did not adequately involve the people living
around the mountains and apart from studies, training, and some tree
planting ef orts, no signii cant impacts of project interventions were felt in
the villages on the mountain.
The second and third phases of this ICDP engaged with district govern-
ment oi cers, village governments, farmers' groups, tree planting groups,
women's groups and government forestry oi cers based in the mountains.
By working at these levels the project has found greater resonance with
local people, but has also experienced some problems of 'partnership',
especially within the elements being coordinated by CARE. By working at
the local level, the communities agreed to set aside patches of both natural
forest and human-made woodlots as Village Forest Reserves. Towards
the end of the second phase, the project started to work closely with the
traditional chiefs as well as with a broader range of government-appointed
staf in the villages (Figure 3.4). This has further improved the perception
and ownership of project interventions among the local communities, and
has also raised awareness of the project and the conservation issues of
these mountains at the national level. Changes to a more people-focused
approach to forest conservation in the Ulugurus have been facilitated
by the publication of a new
Forest Policy
(GOT, 1998),
Guidelines for
Community-based Forest Management
(GOT, 2001), and a new Forest Act
(GOT, 2002). These legal changes provide the mechanisms to empower
local populations to manage forest resources, either in collaboration with
the central government, or alone.
Project targets are clearly formulated
The initial project, starting in
1993, was designed using the traditional approaches - teams from outside
working with government authorities in the nearby towns developed
project proposals based on their best-available understanding of the situa-
tion on the ground, and some targeted case studies (Lyamuya et al., 1994).
