Abstract
This paper focuses on participatory testing of decision making tools (DMTs) at village level to assist in development of land use plans (LUPs) for sustainable land management (SLM) in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Data were collected using conditional surveys through key informant interviews with the project’s district stakeholders in each district, focused group discussions with selected villagers and participatory mapping of natural resources. Soil health, land degradation, carbon stock, and hydrological conditions were assessed in the seven pilot villages in all seven districts using DMTs as part of testing and validation. Results indicated soils of poor to medium health, and land degradation as portrayed by gullies and wind erosion in lowlands and better in uplands. Carbon and forest disturbance status could not be assessed using one-year data but hydrological analysis revealed that water resources were relatively good in uplands and poor in the lowlands. Challenges with regard to land use include increased gully erosion, decreased stream flow, reduced vegetation cover due to shifting from coffee with tree sheds to annual crops farming, cultivation near water sources, and overgrazing. Empowering the community with decision making tools at village level is essential to ensure that village land uses are planned in a participatory manner for sustainable land and natural resources management in Kilimanjaro and other regions in Tanzania.
Highlights
Tanzania experiences deficiency in capacity, on knowledge, information and decision making for land use planning at all levels [1]
These problems are compounded by the absence of a comprehensive monitoring system and decision making tools (DMTs) to guide village land use planning for natural resources management (NRM) at local level
Some districts in Tanzania have been conducting isolated monitoring of environmental variables, there are no specific tools at village level to assess land degradation dynamics, carbon stock, soil health, or hydrological information, thereby limiting the application of adaptive management based on early detection of negative impacts
Summary
Tanzania experiences deficiency in capacity, on knowledge, information and decision making for land use planning at all levels [1]. The links between research and extension service are weak and research findings remain in shelves without being put into practice These problems are compounded by the absence of a comprehensive monitoring system and decision making tools (DMTs) to guide village land use planning for natural resources management (NRM) at local level. The project is in response to the fact that despite its local and global significance, the Kilimanjaro ecosystem is experiencing extensive degradation and deforestation driven by a set of complex interrelated factors, such as rapid population increase, land-use change, poor land-management practices, unsustainable harvesting of natural resources, declining commodity prices, and climate change [3]. Examples of degradation include completely deforested patches, removed vegetation cover and intense soil erosion in many areas that has resulted in big gullies Such areas require some form of intervention to promote a favourable environment for the establishment of plants and to increase soil protection, thereby arresting further soil/land degradation. Its purpose is to provide local land-users and managers with the enabling environment (policy, financial, institutional, capacity) necessary for the widespread adoption of sustainable land-management practices
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