Contribution Of Joint Forest Management In Improving Conservation And Local Livelihood In Rufiji District, Tanzania

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the Contribution of Joint Forest Management in Improving Conservation and Local Livelihood in Rufiji District. The study was carried in three villages, namely Mkupuka, Mangwi, and Muyuyu which are administratively in Rufiji District. Data were collected by using household survey, key informants interviews, observation, focus group discussions, and archive information. A total of 90 households, 10 key informants, and focus group discussion (FGD) of 9 members were involved in this study. The results indicate that 57.1% of the respondents had the view that local communities living around Ngumburuni Forest Reserve (NFR) did not realize direct benefits from JFM practices. The findings have also revealed that 82.2% of the respondents perceived the trend of deforestation was increasing even after the introduction of JFM, a feature that does not promise sustainability of the forest reserve. The findings indicate number of the challenges hindered effective management of forest reserve in the study area, including human population increase, poaching of forest resources, poverty of the surrounding communities, insufficient forest protection, and insufficient fund which hampered the performance of the JFM to achieve the set up objectives. The study concludes that, JFM has failed to show substantial contributions towards enhancing conservation and livelihood of local communities in the study area. It is recommended that for sustainable management of the forest resources there is a need to strengthen the JFM in improving conservation and enhancing local livelihood through conservation awareness, involvement of local community in implementation of JFM strategies, to ensure equal distribution of benefits realized from forest conservation, and strengthening protection of forest resources in Rufiji district and elsewhere.