Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and has resulted in the loss of over 20 sq km of non-reserved forest
on the Ulugurus over the past 20 years (Burgess et al., 2002a, 2002b).
Some of those people involved in this activity would like to expand
their production into the reserved forest, which would provide even
greater i nancial rewards.
For most people farming on the Ulugurus, their crop yields are very
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low, typically only one to three bags of maize per acre of cultivated
land (Hymas, 2000, 2001). Much better yields can be obtained from
newly cleared areas of forest - at least for a few years. Hence many
farmers have a desire to obtain 'fresh' land from the forest, and
some manage to obtain 'permissions' to cultivate on the edge of the
Forest Reserve from village authorities.
Pitsawyers regarded their extraction of high-value timber from the
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forest as benei cial as it generated money, did not destroy the forest
and was a better option for using the forest than converting it to
farmland. In areas being cleared for banana farming the pitsawyers
were actively sawing up felled trees, and expressed regret at the loss
of their future work opportunities through the clearance. However,
they also wished for greater legal access to the reserve so that they
could extract more trees and sell them - activities that were currently
illegal.
Other villagers sought the right to access the forest to collect i re-
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wood and other woody products that they need (and already obtain
illegally) from the forest (Hymas, 2000). Even the issue of crossing
the mountain through the forest was a vexed one - the paths across
the forests are essential lifelines for villagers, saving days of travel-
ling in some cases, but they do not have the oi cial right to use the
paths, even though they are centuries old in some cases.
The biggest compromise during the design process from the side of
those wishing to retain the reserves was to agree to explore methods of
collaborative management of the forest resources with forest-adjacent vil-
lages. Devolution of power and authority from district and national gov-
ernment level to village and traditional authorities would be required for
this, and its ef ective implementation will need a period of negotiation and
formalization through signed agreements (bye-laws). Currently ICDPs on
the Ulugurus have only been gathering experience on the potential ways to
achieve this goal by working in remaining patches of non-reserved forests
to establish Village Forest Reserves. The experience provides some models
that can be applied to the village communities living around the oi cial
government Forest Reserves.
