Calling for landscape-level assessments of participatory forestry's role in improving forest biophysical conditions

Abstract

Participatory forest management (PFM) has been applied to address declining tropical forest conditions. In the literature, there is a mixed evidence on PFM's role in improving forest conditions. However, most assessments ignore a relationship between household distance from PFM forests and impacts to non-PFM forests albeit being an essential aspect. Some PFM assessments show that distance matters in determining an individual's participation But, sparsely discussing the distance in relation to forest biophysical conditions in a landscape context. Drawing on the landscape approach and insights from Miombo forests of Kilwa in southern Tanzania, we illustrate the importance of studying PFM schemes in a landscape context to illuminate the relationship between household distance from PFM forests and impacts to non-PFM forests. Our study villages have forest abundances in areas between households and PFM forests. The average distance between households and PFM forests is 7.8 km. The long distances and forest abundances produce an ‘outbound effect’, whereby degrading and deforesting activities shift from PFM to non-PFM forests. Our analysis calls for landscape-level assessments that include forests under different governance regimes even those in unreserved landscapes – non-PFM forests. This is important for two reasons. First, for generating locally grounded contextual insights necessary for developing understandings of global forest conservation efforts from the ‘ground up’. Second, for revealing correct forest conditions in the entire landscape critical in the light of ongoing national and international interests to manage trees inside and outside designated forest reserves for both carbon sequestration and landscape restoration.