Community Perceptions of Mangrove Ecosystem Services and Their Determinants in the Rufiji Delta, Tanzania

Mwita M. Mangora,Martin Gullström,Håkan Berg,Baraka P. Nyangoko,Mwanahija S. Shalli

doi:10.3390/su13010063

Abstract

Understanding how local communities perceive and depend on mangrove ecosystem services (MES) is important for translating and incorporating their benefits, priorities, and preferences into conservation and decision-making processes. We used focus group discussions, key informant interviews, household questionnaires, and direct observations to explore how local communities in the Rufiji Delta perceive a multitude of MES and factors influencing their perceptions. Sixteen MES were identified by the respondents. Provisioning services were the most highly identified services, accounting for 67% of the overall responses, followed by regulating (53%), cultural (45%), and supporting (45%) services. Poles for building, firewood for cooking, coastal protection, and habitats for fisheries were perceived as the most important MES to sustain local livelihoods, although the perceptions differed between sites. Distance from household homes to mangroves and residence time were significant predictors of the local communities’ awareness of all identified MES. Gender of household heads and performance of local management committees also determined the local communities’ awareness of provisioning, regulating, and cultural services. We conclude that perceptions of MES are context-specific and influenced by multiple factors. We believe a deeper understanding of local stakeholders’ preferences for MES can help strengthen the link between local communities and conservation actors and can provide a basis for sustainable management of mangrove forests.

Highlights

The interaction between people and mangroves is not a new theme at the global scale, but the attention on “ecosystem services” as a core concept over recent decades has provided tools to apprise policymakers and managers on preferences and priorities of benefits they provide to local people [1]
Both distant from mangrove forests (DM) and close to mangroves (CM) were composed of mangrove-dependent rice farmers, and almost the entire communities in the CM relied on mangroves for fuelwood (Table 1)
It was observed that 53% of the respondents in the DM lived more than 1.5 km from mangrove forests, while the majority of the CM residents lived much closer to the mangrove forests than the DM residents (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

The interaction between people and mangroves is not a new theme at the global scale, but the attention on “ecosystem services” as a core concept over recent decades has provided tools to apprise policymakers and managers on preferences and priorities of benefits they provide to local people [1]. Mangroves provide many ecosystem services, which are premised on ecological functioning but in sustaining livelihoods and well-being of coastal communities, who often are poor and marginalized [2,3]. These services are primarily characterized as provisioning services, such as poles, firewood and traditional medicines [4], cultural services, such as spiritual values and education [5], regulating services. Despite the well-recognized benefits of mangrove ecosystem services (MES), mangroves are exposed to degradation and loss due to the massive demand placed by humans to secure livelihoods through, for example, unsustainable aquaculture, agriculture, and overharvesting [9,10].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion