The conservation of the forest resources of eastern Africa: past influences, present practices and future needs - Biogeography and Ecology of the Rain Forests of Eastern Africa - page 314

They believe that buffer zones should be pro-
viders of goods and services to a multiple land use
development, and that it is a lack of policy and
management capability that has prevented such
development to date. Whilst MAB reserves have
been created in East Africa (Serengei,
Ngorongoro, Manyara, Selous, Kulal), it is only
the latter in the deserts of North Kenya that has
funcioned as a planning, research and develop-
ment oriented unit. Suggesions for the whole of
the Usambara Mountains to be a Biosphere
Reserve have not been followed up. There will
need to be a much greater level of understanding
of the role of Biosphere Reserves if the concept is
to succeed. The case of Tai Forest in Ivory Coast
illusrates the potenial beneficial role of Bio-
sphere Projects (Dosso, Guillaumet & Hadley,
1981).
These concepts ofbuffer zone development are
not merely part of MAB; they are a conerstone of
the World Conservaion Strategy's Theme 16 for
Tropical Forests, wherein the forests of East
Africa igure as a coninental priority. The Trop-
ical Forestry Acion Plan of F AO also sees
ecodevelopment in rural areas as of major import-
ance for long-term conservaion.
But these are all words; how do these translate
into action? Oldfield (1987) and Sayer (1991)
provide field examples. Shepherd (1991) discus-
ses both policy and pracice of communal
management in Africa. First, there is a need for a
national conservaion strategy which recognises
the need for such development and associated
educational inputs. Development will not take
place ovenight, there will be much need for
experimentaion of approaches, much rial and
error. There will be a great need for extension
experise and funding. People must see beneit
from conservaion, in the form of some improved
supply of requirements, principally water and
fuel. Educaion should show both the need to
conserve and how conservaion can produce
beneits. Joint paricipatory management must
evolve.
The past few years have shown that conserva -
ion of forest resources based on legal protecion,
a policeman 'keep out' srategy, has not worked,
and cannot work in the face of a growing

resource-dependent rural people and an
inadequate resource base. Such policies may in
some cases have exacerbated the conservaion
situaion. More and more resource conservaion-
ists are acceping that without the involvement of
local communiies, and without addressing he
underlying problems of subsistence agricultural
producion, encroachment on the forest resource
will continue. Tanzania has several integrated
forest conservation-sustainable development
projects under way; in lringa District, parts of
Morogoro District, West Usambaras and East
Usambaras. Most inputs are planned. Iniial les-
sons are very clear, however. Input has to be long-
term: the acceptance of input is slow by people
used to the stick not the carrot approach. People
participaion in management and in planning the
management is the key, along with an assured
stake in the alternaive resources on development.
Wardell (1990) gives an overview of the East
Usambara experience.

Consevation education
The long-term conservation of Eastern Africa's
natural resources is totally dependent on per-
suading local communiies to reduce their press-
ures of direct exploitaion. This could in theory
be done by greater use of force - more parol-
ling, stiffer penalties, etc. - but this stratey is
not proving effective in the consevaion of
wildlife populaions (e.g. rhino and elephant in
easten and central Africa: Bell, 1985). Poten-
tially more viable strategies include educaion
inputs to persuade people to reduce exploitaion
to sustainable levels and show them how to
develop agriculture along ecologically appropri-
ate lines (the goal of ecodevelopment) and the
provision of alternaive resources such as village
woodlots.
These latter aspects are themselves dependent
on their acceptance by local people, again a func-
ion of educaion inputs. Forest conservaion edu-
caion programmes have many potential
components, ranging from compulsory school
curriculum inputs at primary, secondary and pro-
fessional or vocaional levels, to ilmstrip, radio
and political slogan messages, to specifically
designed extension and demonstraion educa-