Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
Open Access

Review Article

Monitoring Costs and Benefits under Conventional and Community-based Approaches used in Forest Management in Iringa District, Tanzania

Department of Forest Economics, Faculty of Forestry and Nature Consevartion, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O Box 3011, Morogoro, Tanzania

*Corresponding Author:

Nyamoga GZ
Department of Forest Economics
Faculty of Forestry and Nature Consevartion
Sokoine University of Agriculture
P.O Box 3011, Morogoro, Tanzania
Tel: +255757105247
E-mail: nyamoga26@yahoo.co.uk

Received date: October 06, 2015 Accepted date: January 19, 2016 Published date: January 25, 2016

Citation: Nyamoga GZ, Ngaga YM (2016) Monitoring Costs and Benefits under Conventional and Community-based Approaches used in Forest Management in Iringa District, Tanzania. J Ecosys Ecograp 6:177. doi:10.4172/2157-7625.1000177

Copyright: © 2016 Nyamoga GZ, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Involvement of local communities in monitoring forest resources is perceived to lower monitoring costs and reduce burden to the government and ensure sustainability of those resources. This paper compared monitoring costs and benefits under conventional and community-based monitoring methods used in forest management in Tanzania. Specifically the paper intended to identify activities undertaken in conventional and community-based monitoring approaches, explore the perceptions of the local communities and experts on the two approaches, assess and compare monitoring costs in each approach and hence suggest the most effective approach for monitoring forest resources. Data were collected in eleven villages adjacent to Kitapilimwa and Nyang’oro forest reserves, Iringa district. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences and excel computer programs. Results show that under community-based monitoring approach the frequently performed activity was patrolling while in conventional monitoring was boundary consolidation. The average payment for patrolling was Tshs. 1445.46 (≈ 1.45 USD)/person/day while escorting researchers was Tshs. 2522.73 (≈ 2.52 USD)/ person/day. About 39% of the respondents perceived that people use much of their time in monitoring activities with little payments. Under community-based monitoring approach the average monitoring costs was Tshs. 11153.85 (≈ 11.15 USD)/person/year and Tshs. 114.78 (≈ 0.11 USD)/ha/year while under conventional monitoring was Tshs. 25755.73 (≈ 25.76 USD)/person/year and 392.08 (≈ 0.39 USD)/ha/year. Conventional monitoring was perceived to be more effective than community based monitoring approach in data collection activities. To ensure sustainability of forest resources in the villages, we suggest the use of both monitoring approaches than a stand-alone approach to complement each other and maximize the potentials. Mainstream it into the existing government structure to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure sustainability of conservation activities. We recommend further research to assess the effectiveness of community based monitoring system on data collection and its quality.

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