Assessing The Influence Of Participatory Forest Management Approach On Poverty Alleviation Among Locals: A Case Study Of Pugu Forest Reserve.

Arcard, Egla (2020) Assessing The Influence Of Participatory Forest Management Approach On Poverty Alleviation Among Locals: A Case Study Of Pugu Forest Reserve. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

Participatory forest management is one way of preventing forest resources degradation while benefiting local community’s livelihoods. The study was conducted at Pugu forest reserve located at Kisarawe district Pwani region with the aim of assessing the influence of PFM approach on poverty alleviation among locals. Data were collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews with district natural resource officers as well as TFS officers. Findings show that socioeconomic statuses of the community living around Pugu forest reserve have significant influence on conservation of the forest. Pearson’s chi-square showed that, the % of people who thought the forest deserves careful stewardship was statistically different among the four villages of the participants, 24.2% perceived the forest as an important source of income, and of these, most were young and middle-aged men who perceived forest as source of income. While 25.8% of the respondents perceived that the forest did not have any importance at all. Also, the findings reveal that communities have negative influence towards sustainable conservation due to extreme restriction to extraction of forest resources. Community members recommended more conservation education to be provided to the locals and they should be active players in decision making as locals are the main beneficiaries, which signify the desire of the community for the participation in management of Pugu forest. finally, PFM contribution to livelihood improvement in the study area was almost negligible, the study recommends concerted efforts to proper management and creates more income generating projects like beekeeping so that community involved can receive tangible profits. Keywords: Community, Livelihood, Evaluation and Participatory Forest Management.

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