PRESS RELEASE - REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON LAND USE AND COVER CHANGE SCENARIOS IN LAKE ZONE
1.0:
Introduction
WWF Tanzania through
REDD+ Pilot project has planned a series of regional workshop on land use/cover
changes scenarios in six zones of Tanzania. Land use/cover change is one of the
main drivers of environmental change in the lake zone. Therefore understanding
pattern of land use changes with its associated drivers are necessary step
towards formulating appropriate policies for sustainable development.
REDD+ Project team is
conducting regional scenario workshop in Mwanza for Lake Zone starting on 20th
to 22nd March, 2014. The Lake zone comprises five regions namely
Mwanza, Mara, Simiyu, Geita and Kagera.
The workshop brings
together different stakeholders from various institutions including Central and
Local government, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Private sectors,
Cooperative society and Government agencies. It is important to have wide
representatives of different stakeholders because
The main purpose of the
workshop is to determine possible future land use and cover changes for year 2025
based on business as usual and green economy scenarios through involvement of
different stakeholders from Lake Zone. Results from the workshop in combination
with socio-economic data are important for generating maps of potential future
land use/cover.
The two scenarios
represent two possible evolution of current situation in Tanzania. In the
Business as Usual scenario, current trends are projected over the next 10
years, there is increasing competition among different land uses and economic
growth is pursued without taking into account neither social nor environmental
sustainability. In particular this means: 1) population growth will continue at
the rate (2.7% per year); 2) small scale agriculture will remain the first
source of income for the majority of the population, with low productivity due
to lack of technology improvement and relevant capacity building, and so there
is an increase in demand for new land to be converted to agricultural uses; 3)
at the same time there is an increasing amount of land leased to foreigner
investors for commercial agriculture; 4)
biomass (charcoal and fuel wood) remains the main source of energy for the
growing population (particularly for the main city of Dar es Salaam); 4)
schemes for supporting sustainable management of forest and safeguard of
biodiversity and ecosystem services fail to be implemented (including REDD+);
therefore deforestation and impact on biodiversity, soil and water increase.
In the Green Economy
scenario, environmental concerns including deforestation and Carbon emissions
are integrated at different levels in national and subnational policies,
strategies and interventions, so to optimize the trade-off between socio-economic
development and sustainable use of resources. In particular this means: 1)
population continues to growth but 2) there
is an increase of agriculture productivity thanks to technology and know-how
improvement, and so less demand for new land; 3) biomass remains the main
source of energy for cooking, but alternative energy sources are developed; 4)
schemes for supporting sustainable management of forest and safeguard of
biodiversity and ecosystem services, and for reducing the drivers of
deforestation and Carbon emissions are succesfully implemented (including
REDD+).
Specific
objectives
1.
To identify main sectors affecting land
use and cover change
2.
To assess the current situation of main
sectors focusing on Economy and Environmental aspects and trajectories into two
different scenarios ( Business as Usual (BAU) and Green Economy) for year 2025.
3.
To identify drivers/factors for possible
land use changes
4.
To determine possibility of change in
each identified land use/cover existing in southern zone.
2:
Relevance of land use/cover change map
It is anticipated that
developed maps of land use/cover change under business as usual and green
economy scenarios would enable policy maker to see possible future impact of
land use changes on natural resource management, in particular on ecosystem
services (e.g. carbon sequestration and biodiversity). Consequently, the
outcome of this project can be used as a tool to analyse the impacts of
different possible policies and interventions, and then to review existing policy
and investment regulations to attain sustainable development.
