Abstract
Understanding the effects of forest management strategies is especially important to avoid unregulated natural resource extraction that leads to ecosystem degradation. In addition to the loss of crucial forest services, inefficiencies at converting these natural resources into economic gain for people ultimately exacerbates poverty. Therefore, it is important to know which conservation strategies have proven to be effective in preventing ecosystem degradation and thus be encouraged in future management plans. Here, we used a high-resolution remotely sensed dataset spanning 15 years to study forest cover dynamics across various protected areas in Tanzania. Our findings highlight particular management approaches more effective in preventing forest cover loss and promote forest cover gain, and provide valuable information for conservation efforts. Results show that National Parks have the least forest cover loss, whereas multiple-use Game Controlled Areas have the highest rates of forest loss. In fact, results suggest that these multiple use areas tend to lose more forest cover than areas with no protection or management status at all. These findings suggest the need for more effective strategies for enforcing the existing policies to ensure that socio-economic benefits to local communities are maximized and national interests are sustained.
Highlights
Widespread forest degradation, loss, and exploitation is a global problem with severe consequences and long lasting effects [1,2,3] on biodiversity [4], on climate [5]—further exacerbating species loss [6]—and livelihoods of those who rely on the resources provided by these ecosystems [7]
Aggregating the different management strategies, we found that exploitation areas (Game Controlled Areas + Village Forest Reserves + State Forest Reserves + Outside) had more than triple the forest area of preservation areas (National Parks + Conservation Areas + Game Reserves) in 2000
Regarding the RIFG, we found that the highest values occurred near the Conservation Area and close to National PSuasrtkaisna(bFiliigtyu2r0e185,b1)0, xalFtOhRouPEgEhRtRhEeVseIErWesults might be correlated given that the only Conservation7Aorfe1a6 in Tanzania is located right one of the largest national parks (Serengeti)
Summary
Widespread forest degradation, loss, and exploitation is a global problem with severe consequences and long lasting effects [1,2,3] on biodiversity [4], on climate [5]—further exacerbating species loss [6]—and livelihoods of those who rely on the resources provided by these ecosystems [7]. The United Republic of Tanzania (hereafter, Tanzania) is an extremely rich country in natural resources; facing large challenges with 28.2% of the population living below poverty level It contains six out of the 25 global biodiversity hotspots [13] but these ecosystems have been under increasing anthropogenic pressure over the last couple of decades. Weak government institutions that are unable to enforce existing policies and limited alternative income opportunities for local people have been shown to exacerbate forest loss [17] These instabilities lead to proximate causes of forest loss, which tend to be driven by clearing for agriculture expansion and associated infrastructure development [18,19,20], overgrazing and wildfires, which can be aggravated under future climate change [1,21]. 90% of the daily energy consumption in the whole country is produced by fuelwood [23,24] which places a large demand on forest products (timber, fuelwood) and exposes forests to rapid over-exploitation
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