Community participation in sustainable forest management

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.