ABSTRACT
Worldwide, approaches to involving people in forest management have multiplied over the past two decades. Adopting a range of names and strategies, and variously called participatory forestry, community forestry, joint forest management or collaborative forest management, all have tended to emphasize the decentralization or devolution of forest management rights in return for mutually enforceable responsibilities, with the aim of producing positive ecological, social and economic outcomes (Ingles et al, 1999; Cater and Grownow, 2005). Decentralization of natural resource management rights and responsibilities revolves around three key themes: accountability, discretionary power and security (Ribot, 2002, 2004). While much of the momentum and impetus for this movement started in Asia, most notably India and Nepal, since the mid 1990s similar changes have been witnessed on the African continent (Wily, 2002). In Africa, the moves towards more devolved forms of forest management have been strongly supported by parallel reforms in both local government legislation and land reforms that have strengthened customary rights, devolved decision-making on land tenure and adjudication, and, in many cases, formalized traditional collective land tenure arrangements (Wily, 2000). Nowhere in Africa has this been stronger than in Tanzania, where a unique blend of political history and bold legislative reforms has created one of the most advanced community forestry jurisdictions in Africa (Wily, 2000).
