A review of the role of institutions in participatory forest management in Tanzania

Tanzania is among the first African countries to formally recognise the role of communities in the governance of forest resources. Some pilot activities were carried out in the early 1990s in the forests of Duru-Haitemba, Migori and Suledo that resulted in the forest policy and legislation to support participatory forest management (PFM). The local communities are involved in joint forest management (JFM) and community-based forest management (CBFM). This paper attempts to assess the performance of the PFM institutions in Tanzania in terms of its goals of improving the livelihood of local people, environmental and forest conditions and governance. The term 'institution' implies the set of rights, rules and processes of decision making in governing the use and management of forests. The study revealed that despite the potential of PFM in improving forest resources and livelihoods of forest communities in Tanzania, there are limitations in the existing practices and institutional arrangements.