Evolution and Diversification of Community Forestry Regimes in Babati District, Tanzania

Abstract

Since the 1980s many tropical countries have promoted community forestry (CF). Gradually, various forms of community forest management regimes were developed in response to decentralization processes in the forest administration or the government administration. The emergence of community forestry regime (CFR) complexes and their evolutionary pathways have still been little explored. In Tanzania, Babati District is a pioneer in the development of CF. This paper assesses how emergence of a CFR complex is related to dynamic institutional interactions at local community level and bureaucratic level. It is demonstrated that evolution and diversity of CF regimes is associated with (a) a partial bureaucratic deconcentration of the government’s administrative authority over forests from national level to district level, and (b) democratic decentralization in the form of a partial devolution of formal management authority over forests from governmental authorities to local communities and individual people. Also, it is shown that endogenous changes in the norms and principles of the traditional systems of indigenous forest management occurred, calling for formulation of policy objectives that help to sustain local management practices.