Abstract:
This study concerned community participation in sustainable forest management in Hai
District, Tanzania. The study employed the cross-sectional research design. A representative sample
of 200 respondents was drawn from the community members using the Rao soft sample size
calculator formula to fill the questionnaire. Other methods of data collection included focus group
discussions, interview and document analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive
statistics while qualitative data was analyzed through the content analysis approach. The study
established that the most important community members' area of participation was
implementation. Community members were somewhat dormant in terms of forest harvest,
community meetings, benefit sharing, emergencies and individual initiatives. Additionally, they were
never engaged in idea conception and planning. Among other recommendations, there is a need to
create strong bonding social networks, meetings, groups or associations and village-wise campaigns
to awaken the community members’ participation in the sustainable management of forests.
