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 317

to opimism for the future, some does not. This
secion is largely about Tanzania but much, I am
sure, is appropriate to Kenya as well.
Firstly is the change in 'knowledge'. We know
much more about the biological values of the for-
ests of eastern Africa. We have developed
methodologies for survey and study. There is in
Tanzania a body of experise in the forestry divi-
sion, the universiies and, a welcome addiion, in
the NGO · conservaion socieies. This experise
still has a core of expariates but it is spreading.
The Wildlife Conservaion Society of Tanzania,
through its magazine Miombo, addresses many
issues of forest wildlife and forest consevaion.
The biggest gap, and this is crucial, is in forest
botany. There is a dearth of idenificaion skills.
This skill is essenial if we are to understand the
forest, as Hall (1984) pointed out in a symposium
relaing biology to development in Tanzania.
Tanzania's two most knowledgeable field and
herbarium taxonomists reire in the coming few
years. There is no one to replace them.
Secondly this knowledge has been directed to
conservaion issues and Govenment has become
aware of the importance of orest conservaion.
No longer is there the feeling of fighing an un-
interested bureaucracy. Conservaion inputs and
proposals have been welcomed. The Forest Policy
(FORPOL) is changing. The Tanzania Forest
Acion Plan (TF AP) recognises the importance of
conserving the Easten Arc forests and the coastal
forests for catchment and biological values. The
role of people in conservaion is acknowledged.
The will to conserve is now there.
But, and this is the last point I wish to make, the
means to conserve have become sadly depleted,
or two reasons. First is the economic situaion
and the grave fact that field staff salaries do not
permit a full day's work. The infrastructure to
support work has collapsed. Staff need incenives
in order to work; they are willing, given the sup-
port mechanisms. Secondly, the changes in
govenmental administraion have affected con-
servaion aciviy. Twenty years of experimening
with decenralisaion and a reducion of hier-
archical control has resulted in less discipline, less
supervision and less commiment to long-term
programmes. The huge increase in illegal forest

use and the almost total lack of prosecuion indi-
cate the collapse of effecive conservaion.
This, we lean, may change. FORPOL sug-
gested that foresry should revert to a centralised
Ministerial system with direct chains of command
to all field staff. This has been made a major
plank of a large forest aid project (World
Bank/OD/F AO, 1990) but it has not been
accepted. Total change is unlikely, but advanta-
geous changes in the way that disrict and naional
forest cadres operate are expected. Conservaion-
orientated management and aggressive policies of
forest reservaion and encroachment raionalisa -
ion can lead to long-term success. This will
require expensive financing. Tanzania is aware of
the economic linkages between forest main-
tenance and the more producive sectors of agri-
culture, energy, and water. Tanzania seeks to
invest more into the foresry sector, but has
limited intenal funds. Forest conservaion will
need foreign financing. In August 1989 I was
associated with a FINNIDA/IUCN mission to
consider funding forestry inputs for the East
Usambaras. We esimated needs at over US $2
million for the 3-5 year project period which is
now under way.
In September 1990 I paricipated in a Tanzania
Forestry Acion Plan Seminar to prepare
guidelines for anicipated donor support to the
Eastern Arc Block Mountain Forests. Two sets of
results are encouraging. First, there is great donor
interest; Denmark, EEC, Finland, Germany,
IUCN, Norway and Sweden indicated future
financial support. Secondly, much is already tak-
ing place on small and large scales: Germany in
the West Usambaras, EEC and now Finland in
the East Usambaras, Denmark in Iringa, Sweden
in part of Morogoro, Norway to overall catchment
forest support and new interest in the important
coastal forests. Some of this input involves
Tanzanian NGOs, such as the Tanzania Wildlife
Conservaion Society. Some is directed at Dis-
rict, or Regional, or Naional level governmental
organisaion. Much is broad based, aiming at
sustainable development of people as well as
sustainable conservaion.
Some aspects give cause for concen. There is
a need for donor project coordinaion to prevent