Mama Misitu: A campaign to improve forest governance

Official launching of the Mama Misitu Campaign was done on 31st July 2012 at Karimjee hall in Dar es Salaam. The campaign was officially launched by the RCoast Regional Commissioner Hon.Ms Mwantumu Mahiza on behalf of the Minister for Natural Resources and Toursim.  In her comments, the regional commissioner called upon harmonization of sectoral policies, like Kilimo Kwanza and Participatory forest management. 


The partners for the campaign are responsible for different aspects of the campaign, each according to their expertise, geographical location and area of interest.  These are  MCDI in Kilwa, WWF in Rufiji, TFCG in Kibaha, WCST in Kisarawe,  other partners have thematic strengths LEAT which works nation-wide and has a legal focus,  Femina-HIP and JET have expertise in campaign material. 

Mama Misitu campaign is a communications campaign aiming to improve the governance of Tanzania’s forests and reduce illegal forest harvesting, so that the people of Tanzania can increasingly benefit from sustainably managed forests

The campaign comes in as a result of TRAFFIC report indentified that in the Miombo and coastal forests of southern Tanzania, there was rising on international demand for timber which was driving intense illegal harvesting. This led to a large-scale degradation of those forests. The degradation of these and other forests in Tanzania represents an ecological and economic loss to the communities that rely on forest resources and the national government. 

Dwindling Precious Water Resource: Water management institutions, irrigations and catchment forests in Kilombero - Tanzania

Water is a key driver of economic and social development while it also has a basic function in maintaining the integrity of the natural environment. However water is only imperative and that water issues are not considered in isolation. With climate variability and change, water scarcity has been a problem. Legal regulation on water management in Tanzania, has evolved a long history and its governance mechanisms. Tanzania has been experiencing water sector reforms. Among these reforms is the National Water Sector Programme (NWSDP 2006 -2025) which aims at attaining the National Water Policy of 2002, and calls for integrated water resource management through IWRM approaches which are participatory, multi sectoral and multi-displinary

In Kilombero district water is an important and precious resource for sustainable development.  All waters comes from catchments forests which are falling with territorial protected areas namely: Udzungwa National Park managed by Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Nanganje Forest Reserves and Masagati Forest Reserve. Quite recently, Masagati and Nangaje Forest Reserves have been promoted into Kilombero Nature Reserve, managed under Tanzania Forest Service (TFS).  This vertical and horizontal change in managing institutions increases the management effectiveness and monitoring capabilities but may have a significant effect on livelihoods of the surrounding communities. Within the catchments there are major rivers flowing out which are quite important for irrigation schemes. Among others these are: Kihansi, Myela, Mkula rivers and many other small rivers.

However, it was noted that, in 1970s there were about 79 permanent rivers, whereas in 2000s only 38 rivers were flowing throughout the year and surprisingly by end of 2011, only 22 rivers had water throughout the year. This is partly exacerbated by serious forest degradations and livestock carrying capacity to be exceeded in some parts of the district. The recent count of livestocks stands at 38,900 heads but the data are flawed by some authorities. In getting into solutions of some of the problems on land and natural resources, land use planning was opted but in some areas creates even more conflicts. 

Planting trees will make a contribution to reduced degradation and deforestation in Rufiji district

Launching of regional tree planting in Rufiji in pictures initiated by WWF through sustainable Dar Charcoal project

Crediting forest Carbons

An important and key aspect for determining the carbon benefits of any forest is to accurately quantify the levels of carbons changes to known levels of precisions. This determination of carbon changes requires baselines e.g. historical trends on carbon benefits or measurements of carbon through agreed and standardized methods. Again, the most possible and promising options for crediting forest carbon through reduction in emissions from deforestations, reduction in emissions from all sources and conservation of existing carbon stocks, especially from forests. 

Plant a tree now and save the world tommorow

As old as they appear, they never regret by planting trees. Communities in Bumbamsolo village in Rufiji are quite concerned with the tree cutting for charcoal making. In dealing with the problem, they realized the serious degradation and deforestation resulting from unsustainable charcoal making. Tree planting is their priority activity facilitated by partners.  

Participatory Forest Management evaluated

By early 1990,  Participatory Forest Management (PFM) was introduced in Tanzania, it is estimated to cover over 4 million ha of forests and woodlands across the country. It has two forms: Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) and Joint Forest Management (JFM).Under the arrangement of CBFM, forests are mainly miombo or acacia woodlands as these constitute the largest ecosystem type of open and unreserved forests. Whereas, JFM arrangement concentrated mostly in forest reserves which are mostly montane forests as well as mangroves, mainly are under territorial or central government. 

PFM appears to perform differently under different conditions and a range of inter-linked factors appear to influence its ability to deliver positive forest management, livelihood or governance outcomes. CBFM is gaining more participation and it has wider coverage compared to JFM. Perhaps the most important factor that determines the efficiency of CBFM at the local level is related to capacity and governance issues at the local government level and ability of the district facilitators  to work effectively with communities, through extension services and approaches.