Browsing by Author "Mbeyale, G. E."

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Assessment of fire prevalence and reduction strategies in Miombo woodlands of Eastern Tanzania
(African Journals Online, 2014-12) Katani, J. Z.; Madoffe, S.S.; Amanzi, N. S.; Amanzi, N. S.; Rija, A. A.; Midtgaard, F.; Mbeyale, G. E.; Zahabu, E.; Tarimo, B. C.
An assessment of the proximate causes, effects and factors contributing to fire prevalence was conducted in three districts covered by miombo woodlands in Eastern Tanzania. Three miombo woodlands under different management regimes and governance structures (central government forest reserve, local government forest reserve and village land forest) each were investigated in Handeni, Kilosa and Kilwa districts. Data were collected from three villages selected in each District through household surveys, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), interviews of key informants and field observations. The analysis of data involved content analysis for documentary materials, descriptive statistical analysis for household surveys and Chi square was used to test whether there were differences in responses of local communities across forest management regimes. Results indicate that the major five human activities contributing to fire prevalence across the miombo woodlands include farm preparation (34.1%), hunting (28.5%), arson (21.5%), livestock grazing (9.3%) and charcoal making (0.7%). The causes were fairly the same across forest management regimes. August, September and October were the peak fire months and they were not influenced by different management regimes but by geographical locations within Eastern Tanzania. Results further show that fires in miombo woodlands usually start inside the woodland (67.2%), around residential area (22.9%) and from farms (9.9%). The origin of fire inside the woodland becomes more serious because it combines the hunting, arson, livestock grazing and charcoal making which are usually done inside the woodland. Chi-square test indicates significant difference on origin of fires across the forest management regimes (χ² = 13.341 and p = 0.031). The local communities acknowledged fires having both positive and negative effects and these effects were the same across the management regimes. Further, across the surveyed villages, strong social ties existed between fires and the daily life of local communities. Poverty, ignorance, weak law enforcement and climatic factors were identified as underlying factors contributing to fire prevalence. Fire incidences are predicted to increase given the increasing climate change. Potential strategies to reduce fires incidence identified were awareness creation, law enforcement, making fire breaks, introduction of alternative income generating activities, and improving agriculture practises. Furthermore, the use of prescribed burning to reduce effects of late fires and developing fire management plans to enhance miombo woodland management are among the strategies worth consideration by the local communities.
Developing Fire Reduction Strategy for Miombo Woodlands as a Potential tool for Carbon Storage and Sequestration
(E&D Vision Publishing Ltd, 2016) Katani, J. Z.; Modoffe, S.S.; Midtgaard, F.; Rija, A. A.; Amanzi, N. S.; Kilawe, C.J.; Mbeyale, G. E.; Zahabu, E.; Tarimo, B. C.; Silayo, D.S. A.
World-wide, wildfires cause problems and when uncontrolled or misused they wreak havoc on society and the environment. In Tanzania, fire occurs in most parts of the Miombo woodlands, and some of them cause significant eco-logical and socio-economic impacts. Several efforts have been made in Tanzania to reduce the occurrence of fire in Miombo but their success has been constrained by underfunding and/or lack of proper strategies. Moreover, in many districts of Tanzania there are no apparent solutions to the fire problem, despite years of regulation and attempts to control fire, and in many places fire incidences are actually increasing. Therefore, this study intended to develop a fire management strategy for the Miombo woodland as a tool for climate change mitigation. This study also strived to identify causes, effects and factors contributing to fire prevalence. Spatial and temporal distribution of fires and burnt extents of wooded areas were determined from the Moderate Resolution Imanging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) active fires product and Landsat satellite images for the past 40 years (1972–2012). Vegetation and household surveys were used to capture empirical data on carbon stock and how different burning regimes and forest management scenarios influence carbon sequestration potentials. Furthermore, the role of formal and informal framework for the prevention, control and management of wild fires in the Miombo was determined. Th main output of this study is a proposed fire reduction strategy in Miombo. Th study findings show that, to a wider extent, 1.8 and 2.9 years mean fire return interval persist in western and eastern dry Miombo areas, respectively, burning up to 50.6% of the woodland. These wildfires were largely human-driven and commonly occur in all the villages surveyed whereas the existing local governance structures and institutions suffered from poor coordination, severe underfunding and poor support from the villagers. Torching of forests was largely perpetuated by weak enforcement of laws and regulations, poverty and existing local beliefs. On average, there is an indication that the central government forests have higher stock of carbon than the local government forests and village government forest reserves. However, there was no significant difference in carbon stock between forests experiencing no burning, early burning and late burning. The proposed fire management strategy for Miombo woodlands focused on the promotion of sustainable alternative land preparation methods, improved household income sources and awareness, sustainable land use management and promotion of sustainable charcoal production. The strategy indicates a number of activities to be implemented and actors responsible for each activity.
Power struggles in the management and utilization of Suledo village land forest reserve, Kiteto district, Tanzania
(African Journals Online, 2013) Magessa, K.; Mbeyale, G. E.; Kajembe, G. C.; Katani, J. Z.
Contestation among stakeholders with varying interests is common in most rural areas involving over utilization of natural resources important for livelihood which often results into power struggles. This paper presents a power struggle situation in SULEDO Village Land Forest Reserve, Kiteto district, Tanzania where contestation among stakeholders has emerged with the increase of the value of the forest resources and lack of equity in the utilization of the resources. A total of 25 stakeholders involved in the management and utilization of SULEDO VLFR were identified along with their roles and interactions in the management of SULEDO VLFR. Stakeholders identified were categorized into three groups namely regulators, facilitators and users. Likewise, three categories of power were identified namely strategic, institutional and structural. Strategic power was found to be dominant. Results showed different power struggles among stakeholders whereby power struggle between Zonal Environmental Committee and SULEDO villages was found to be dominant and resulted into resource use conflicts. It was concluded that Community Based Forest Management remains a complex and contested arena, comprising many stakeholders with different powers, varied and conflicting interests. But what is important is to have a proper guidance of the processes and improving communication among key players.
Preliminary Assessment of Forest Structure, Management and Carbon Stocking in Tanzania Miombo Woodland
(Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation Programme, SUA, 2012) Madoffe, S. S.; Rija, A. A.; Midtgaard, F.; Katani, J. Z.; Mbeyale, G. E.; Zahabu, E.; Christopher, B.
Wildfires are critical in miombo forests across the African continent causing loss of biodiversity, human properties and increasing climate change impacts. Within a broader project which seeks to develop a strategy to reduce wildfires in miombo woodlands of Tanzania, we report on the preliminary findings based on initial field data collected in situ to set a baseline for further work. The project covers three miombo biomes in three districts (Handeni, Kilosa and Kilwa) in Eastern Tanzania covering nine forest reserves managed under different authorities namely, central government, local districts and village communities. The aim of the current study were therefore, to describe species composition and structure of the forest communities, profile initial carbon stock in trees, herbaceous layer and soil within permanent survey plots, in effort to examine the potential of using fire reduction strategy as a potential tool of carbon sequestration in miombo woodlands.. The research team used permanent forest plots to collect vegetation and soil data. Simlarly available models were used to estimate carbon stocking. More than 200 species of trees and shrubs totaling 506 individual trees (dbh >4 cm) were recorded and Kilosa site contributed the largest proportion (40.7%) to the tree abundance total. This was followed closely by Kilwa (35.6%) and Handeni (20.7%). Species richness and diversity varied considerably within and between the study sites. Kilwa had the highest species richness and Handeni the lowest. Analysis of community assemblages revealed strongly distinct forest communities both at local and regional level between Kilwa and other sites. Carbon stocks in trees and soil were significantly different among sites and were higher than previously reported for other miombo woodland elsewhere in Tanzania. On the average tree carbon ranged from 21.42-44.12t/ha, the highest stock reported in Kilosa site due to assemblage of large trees. The general picture of carbon stock indicated that early burning is better for carbon storage than late burning or no burning. The lack of fire reduction strategy overrides the dynamics of forest stand structure and the potential for carbon sequestration by these forests as wildfires appear to be critical across the study area. There is dire need for a comprehensive strategy to reducing forest fires across the miombo biomes which together will help mitigate climate change impacts in Tanzania.