Local farmers’ place-based forest benefits and government interventions behind land and forest cover transitions in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Abstract

Forest transitions cannot be separated from the overall changes in land uses and land cover patterns. On a local scale, these changes relate closely to values and preferences which people set on different land use strategies. We have analysed the dynamics of forested land cover over the last 50 years in Zanzibar, Tanzania, in relation to farmers’ material and non-material place-based forest benefits. Our results show that forest change patterns are emerging from the adaptations of farmers’ traditional land use practices to prevailing physical site conditions and accessibility and availability of resources. External forces, such as government intervention in the form of planting and gazetting, have had a substantial influence on the increase in forest cover during the last couple of decades but also challenged farmers to adapt to changing land use regimes. Our study implies that forest management and land use planning efforts, such as community forest management processes implementing REDD+, would substantially benefit from a place-sensitive interpretation of forest transitions on a local scale. This would enhance genuine participation of the locals in producing place-based forest benefit maps and expressing their values and preferences in terms of land use planning.