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Forum on International Social Policy:
Helsinki,17th March 2010
Social Policy in a Globalizing World:
Voices From Tanzania
TANZANIA IN 2010 AND BEYOND:
RURAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Paper presented by Josiah Severre; Executive
Director, Green Arusha Society, Tanzania and
TACOSODE EXCO Member
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSERVATION
1.
INTRODUCTION.
•
Environmental issue is a global crisis as one of the basic
human rights is to live in a safe environments. In the
past few decades, environmental conservation became
an issue all over the world as the population growth is
highly increasing with time.
Such an increment is accelerating human pressure on
natural resources exploitation and utilization through
daily activities and consumption as well as
technological innovations.
•
Introduction Cont….
• Deforestation in Tanzania, as the case may be,
became more environmental issue as the forests
provide a wide range of human potentials for
daily livelihood including timber for furniture and
multi-construtional purposes, fuel wood,
traditional medicines (herbs), beeswax, animal
homes, watershed protection, climate
stabilalization, animal fodder, biological diversity,
soil conservation, etc..
….Introduction continues
The fast population growth in Tanzania has been
alarmingly increasing preassure of human hands into
natural forests without effective replacemet, thus
creating a big gap between wood consumption and
production; that means, the natural forests are
diminishing at a rate of 10% per year; unlike in the
developed countries having an icrement of about 2.7
% per year. (FAO,report 1997)
2. FORESTRY SITUATION IN TANZANIA
Tanzania had about 38.8 million hactares of forests and
woodland accounting about 39% of the total land area of the
country. Out of that, 13 million hactares are gazetted as forest
reserves and 29% of the forest are categorized as watershed
protection areas. The rest 71% of the forests are used as
production forests as the source of timber, traditional medicines,
honey, fruits and nuts, fuel wood etc.
In Tanzania, it is estimated that more than 90% of local people
living in urban and rural communities use wood for domestic
consumption as a source of energy and accounts for 91% of all
energy consumption; the rest 9% are electricity, biogas, natural
gas, and kerosene which are relatively expensive for most
Tanzanians to afford and have access to.
3. COMMUNITY FORESTRY IN TANZANIA
As it has been previously discussed in the past section
about forets situation in the country, Tanzania now is
experiensing a serious impact of deforestation, that,
some of its areas are turning into deserts. Moreover,
there is an increase of global warming as there is no
proper absorption of poisonous gases through carbon
emissions by chemical industries, vehicles and other
human activities.
Forests have been descriminately cleared off without
serious replacements that has created a big gap
between forests production and consumption.
…community forestry in Tanzania continues…
Tanzania loses about 92,000 ha of its forests per year
and this destruction has mainly been caused by
human activities including extensive and mechanised
agriculture, fuel wood collection, illegal charcoal
burning, human settlement expansion, livestock
overgrazing, miscellaneous fires and other much
more activities.
The consequences of such destructions are the
barren lands exposed to soil erosion, soil
infertility, diminishing of watershed areas, loss
of biodiversity, shortadge of fuel wood, timber
etc.
This kind of mishandling of natural resources is
one of the factors contributed to poverty crisis
in the country in the sense that investing on
the poor environments results into poor
production hence poverty visious as well as
global warmimng.
…community forestry in Tanzania continues…
Afforestation in Tanzania dates back to colonial time when most
of forest plantations were established to provide raw materials
for colonial wood industries. Tree planting by then was regarded
as government's activity and not citizens, that, community
participation was through provision of labour without prior
involvement from planning process. The laws were then
established to protect the forests, restricted access to the
resources by local people unless permitted by the government.
This state of affair, brought about the negative attitudes of the
local people towards the natural resources management, thus, in
turn, they had a feeling that tree planting and management
belong to the government.
…community forestry in Tanzania continues…
Community Forestry in Tanzania emerged in 1972
when the governmet started to raise awareness to the
local communities and involve them in tree planting,
but still it was not much successful because there was
no proper involvement of the local communities from
planning stage, there was some sort of top-down
approach; tree nurseries were centralized and tree
seedlings were distributed to the local people to be
planted without considering their priorities, no
followups made while tree planting was of less priority
to the local people. As a result, the survival % was poor
because no one was taking care of the planted trees.
'WHO OWNS THE TREES?
…community forestry in Tanzania continues…
Environmental awareness in Tanzania is currently an issue
where the government proposes a rational and holistic
approach to the sustainability and development of forests in
Tanzania through involvement of the local communities from
the grassroot level. Many steps have been taken by the
government to involve local communities to close the existing
wood consumption gap.
The 'MISITU NI UHAI' (Forests are life) campaign was launched
in 1980 where a large number of trees was planted and in
early 1999 the government changed gear and launched a new
campaign 'GREEN CAMPAIGN' where 1st January of every year
was officially declared as a national tree planting day.
4. THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS
(NGO's) IN ENVIRONMETAL CONSERVATION.
Tanzania government through TFAP (Tanzania Forest Action Plan)
has been raising awareness among the local communities through
involvement of local communities, individuals and local institutions
such as Community Based Organisations (CBOs); Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs) and Non-Governmental Organistions (NGOs)
which are primarily mushrooming from the grassroots.
These institutions do play a big role in raising awareness among the
local communities as they do connect the grassroot with the
government or partners in development, promoting government's
accountability and responsibility; enhance local people's
participation in identification of problems, planning and
implementation in sustainable environmental development and
management through education.
4.1. GREEN ARUSHA SOCIETY IN BRIEF AS PART OF NGOs
OPERATING IN TANZANIA AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Green Arusha Society (GAS) is a registered NonGovernmental Organisation operating largely in Arusha
region established in 1996 on the basic concept of
environmental conservation and eco-development in local
communities.
It is a non-religious, non-political and non-profit making
organisation rendering services within the urban and rural
communities, it is such an indigenous organization that
works basicaly on balancing the interests of the local
people and the government as far as environmental
conservation is concerned.
♣ GENERAL OBJECTIVES
To CREATE awareness within local communities on
environmental destruction impacts.
To SUPPORT environmental activities within local
communities.
To MOBILIZE urban and rural people in different groups
to fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS crisis.
To PROMOTE environmental conservation among
women and youth groups.
To FACILITATE trainings on eco-development, cultural
tourism, and conservation of natural environments to
different groups.
♣ ACTIVITIES
Our activities include raising awareness among
the local people through trainings and seminars
on environmental conservation, tree nursery
operation, soil conservation programmes and
motivation for forestry interests to individuals and
groups in local communities, advocacy on women
rights in possession, management and utilization
of resources in pastoral community particularly
Maasai community.
♣ CURRENT PROJECTS
Women and Environments Programme
Green Arusha Society is currently working on environmental
conservation awareness in different areas in the region and has
its focus on women in pastoral community particularly the
Maasai, considering that women and children in the pastoral
communities are the most vulnerable groups affected by
shortage of fuel wood and water that makes it necessary to
travel a long distance searching for fuel wood and water.
Women Environ contin……
• They sometimes make use of dry cow dung for
cooking as an alternative to fuel wood that
would otherwise be used as manure on the
farms, the cow dung’s smoke is rather harmful
to their health particularly on eyes and
respiratory system. Apart from that, also
Green Arusha Society is highly concerned on
the time spent out for the activity having no
enough time for other developmental
activities and caring of the families.
…Women and Environments Programme
continues…
The Objective of WEP is to encourage women in
rural communities to become involved in
environmental conservation by planting trees
around their homesteads and farmlands as well
as growing vegetables for the improvements of
their environments and nutrition for their
families, also other developmental and social
activites.
School Environmental Development Project (SEDP)
This project has been operating since 2002 in some of the local
primary schools where school children are involved in
environmental conservation activities.
SEDP aims at raising awareness on environmental conservation
believing in capability of children to easily grasp and practice the
knowledge and skills. The project involves various activities such
as establishment of an environmental club in each school
commonized by the name ‘GREEN MAZINGIRA CLUB’ ; tree
nursery operations and provision of tree nursery equipments;
tree planting and caring; trainings and seminars to both teachers
and students by audio vision and study visits; inter-school
competition; inter-school exchange programme; motivation by
giving prizes to winner individuals; as well as regular visits for
encouragements.
…School Environmental Development Project (SEDP)…
SEDP objectives are;
To create awareness through education, among
primary school children on environmental
conservation and involve them in various
activities related to environments.
To improve environments around the target
schools to minimize environmental pollution,
wind destruction and soil erosion to bring back
the conducive studying environments.
Maasai women’s rights awareness
Accomplishment of environmental projects in local societies
especially the gender sensitive ones, mostly face many problems
against customs and traditions. It has been noted that, in
pastoral societies, the Maasai in particular, women are lagged
behind by customs and traditions upon possession, management
and utilization of resources, as well as access to education. In
fact, women are forced to accept the situation as a lifestyle that
being inherited form one generation to another.
Maasai Women Right contin…..
• The organization is concerned on fighting
against violation of women’s rights in the
societies on possession, management and
utilization of resources. Activities include
sensitizing local government, traditional and
political leaders; training and workshops to
the newly formed women groups in 10 villages
of the Maasai community.
The MWRAP’s Objective.
The project’s objective is to raise
awareness among the Maasai women on
their rights on possession, management
and utilization of natural resources,
environmental conservation and access to
formal education and life skills.
Community environmental awareness project (ceap)
The concept of environmental conservation in the local
communities does not really based on specific groups
as mentioned above, the government, through
environmental committees has its role in involving the
whole community regardless of gender, age, title and
race. The project includes mobilization and
strengthening of village environmental committees
through capacity building trainings and seminars, intervillage exchange program, excursions and much more.
Tree planting in rural communities is of high concern to
mitigate environmental problems including the
prevailing global warming.
CEAP Objective
The CAEP objective is basically aimed at helping
the entire local communities to identify,
understand and solve the prevailing
environmental problems that are facing them
around the villages.
‘MAZINGIRA NI RAFIKI KWA HIYO
TUJITUME’
(ENVIRONMENT IS FRIEND, LETS
CONSERVE IT)
Let us conserve the Environment, It is our Friend
J.L.Severre
DIRECTOR
[email protected]
[email protected]
Tell.+255 754/84/15-383 262
www.greenarushasociety.org