The Impact on Woodland of Refugee camp in Kigoma Region, Western

Tanzania

Case study of Mtendeli camp and two villages Kasanda and Kazilamihunda in Kibondo District. Presented by Joseph Kihaule – on the IAIA07 Conference

in Seoul, Korea 7th June 2007

Presentation outline

• Background• Study area and methodology• Methods and data collection• Limitations of the study• Methods of data presentation • Results and discussions• What is the impact of resources use and sharing in

area?• What is the damage caused by resources use and

sharing?• Rehabilitation and Conservation efforts• Recommendations and• Conclusions

Background

• Tanzania had experienced a number of environmental problems caused by activities, such as overgrazing, shifting cultivation, illegal logging etc

• Currently the country experiencing number of environmental degradation causes by influx of refugee

• This situation has caused environmental degradation and shortage of resources for local communities and refugees

• Such destruction of natural resources may lead to the extinction of certain flora and fauna species, which are of importance for local communities, such as medicine plants, wild animals, edible insects, edible fruits etc

Background cont…

• The situation is getting worse when the limited existing resources are shared between refugees and local communities.

• As a resulted conflict arises between the groups over the use of resources.

Aims and objectives of the study

• The study aimed to assessing the impact on woodland as resources shared between refugees and local communities in Mtendeli refugee camp and the surrounding villages of Kasanda and Kazilamihunda

• To compare the extent of damage resulting from over use of the resources

• To evaluate the conservation efforts and rehabilitaion programmes, carried out in the past and present in the area

Study area• This study was carried out in Mtendeli camp and two villages;

Kasanda and Kazilamihunda in Kasanda ward, Kibondo district, in Kigoma region;

• The Kasanda village and Mtendeli camp are 40 kilometers whilst Kazilamihunda is 37 kilometers from district head office;

• The total areas of the study consisted of 12km sq for Mtendeli camp, 141 km sq for Kasanda and 137 km sq of Kazilamihunda

• The population size of the study areas; Mtendeli ranges from 50,000-30,000; Kasanda and Kazilamihunda 10,275 and 3,575 respectively;

• The forest covered in the study area is miombo woodland, which is important for timber extraction as it contain valuable wood species;non- forest product such as wild animals, honey etc; forest reserve in particular areas is important as a sources of water for surrounding villages and Kibondo district

• The camp sampled for this study was located within to Buyungu forest reserve while the villages closed to the camp;

• This makes economic activities based in the camp and surroundings villages increase the rate of consumption of forest resources as well as the problem of resource sharing between local communities and refugees;

Study area and methodology cont..

• The camp sampled for this study was located within to Buyungu forest reserve while the villages closed to the forest reserve;

• This makes economic activities based in the camp and surroundings villages increase the rate of consumption of forest resources as well as the problem of resource sharing between local communities and refugees;

• The total sample size for the study area was 80 respondents;

• A sub sample of 40 refugees and 40 villagers, 20 from each of two villages, was selected at random from three areas;

• The sample size was made more random because of a widely space distribution of the population in the village and camp.

Methods and data collection

• The data were gathered by means of personal field observation;

• Interview using a semi- structured questionnaire (both open ended and close-ended questions);

• Information obtained through informal interview and discussion with major stakeholders responsible for environment and management within and out the camp and surrounding villages;

• Secondary data in the study area were obtained from NGOs based in the study area, government institutions and universities.

Limitation of study area

• The time used for data collection was short;• It was difficult to get full information and access some

areas because of security reasons;• Lack of information on the tree species found in the area; • Lack of unit used for measures of fuelwood used in

households, distance travelled and time spent for fuelwood gathering;

• The language barrier between refugees and enumerators;

• Lack of secure a setelite imagery limit the information while compared the past and present situation in the area.

Methods of data presentation

• The data were coded and fed to a statistical program (Excel Microsoft word) for analysis and data presentation;

• The analysis resulted from simple measurements like frequencies and percentage for qualitative and average for the quantitative data.

Results and discussion

• Household performance

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0-4 5--9 10--14 15-19 20-55 >55

Age class interval

Households age distribution in the study area Kasanda/Kazilamihunda villages

No. of femalesNo. of malesTotalPercentage

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Percentage

0-4 5--9 10--14 15-19 20-55 >55

Age class interval

Households age distribution in the study area (Mtendeli camp)

No. of femaleNo. of males

Total

Percentage

Results and discussion cont…

• Form of environmental degradation in the study area

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Percentage

1 2 3 4 5

Interval

Form of environmental degradation in the study area (Kasanda/Kazilamihunda villages)

Soil erosion

Loss of soil fertility

surface and ground waterdepletionDepletion of woodland

Depletion of wildlife

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Percentage

1 2 3 4 5

Interval

Form of environmental degradation in the study area (Mtendeli camp)

Soil erosion

Loss of soil fertility

surface and ground waterdepletionDepletion of woodland

Depletion of wildlife

What is the impact of resources use and sharing in the area ?

The influx of the refuges and natural growth, establishment of refugees camp within the forest reserve area and very closed to local community , widespread of poverty in the area and lack of alternative means of livelihood for both refugees and local community creates conflict of resources use and sharing in the area.

This conflict was because of the depletion of the resources (water, wild animals and fuelwood) in the area

What is the damage caused by resources use and sharing?

Depletion of forest in surrounding area which provides fuel wood and timber for both local community and refugees

Degradation of forest designated areas for religious, customs and spiritual which were used by local communities for worship

Destruction of woodland (catchments) in the camp resulted to decrease of water flow into downstream river

Depletion of surface water along the river bank caused by establishment of garden by refugees along the riverbank

Depletion of wild animals which provides game meat to local community and refugees

Problems associated with fuelwood collection in the camp

s/n Problems encountered Frequency %

1 Robbers and rapists 26 22.4

2 Snake and wild animals 4 3

3 Swollen feet due to long dist 51 44.0

4 Chased by locals from their farm 24 20.7

5 Personal injuries 1 0.9

6 Bitten by tsetse liers 0 0

7 Rain and cold weather 0 0

8 Thorns 5 4.3

9 Lack of fuelwood in the forest 5 4.3

10 Total 116 100

Rehabilitation and Conservation efforts

• Establishment of the trees nurseries and planting of trees in degraded areas in the camp and surrounding villages

• Natural forest protection and natural vegetation conservation

• Environmental education, training and awareness rising• The introduced and the use of improved stove to reduce

the amount of firewood used by refugees and local communities with the aim to protecting environment

Recommendations

• There is need enforcement of laws and by laws in the area to stop refugees being involved in any production activities which increase the pressure of environmental degradation;

• The government should avoid ad- hoc exercises and learn the lesson from the establishment refugee camps close to local residents;

• A continuous awareness creation campaign and education programme for the local people in the surrounding area to make clear the forests‘ function and values to improve their knowledge of the forest. They will then be in a position to conserve and look after the forests in a sustainable manner;

Recommendations cont..

• Put policies in place which address rural poverty problems and poverty in general in order to reduce livelihood dependency based on natural resources only;

• There is a need to develop a clear plan and refugee settlement policies in terms of size and location of the camps, types of shelter,water sources and energy sources;

• The measures to reconcile and promote dialogue between refugees and local communities are important and should be continued and strengthened to enhance accruel of mutual benefitis to the refugees and local communities in the sustainable use of the natural resources;

Recommendations cont…

• Environemntal Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategy Environmental Assessment (SEA), are important for decision making, the use of EIA and SEA in refugee situations is very much in its infancy, particular on planning of refugee settlement areas.

Conclusions

• There is a need to link factors which accelerate the cause of woodland depletion and resource sharing conflicts between local communities and refugees;

• Research-based information policies should be formulated that will promote human welfare in the affected area while protecting and conserving the environment for future generations;

• The degraded resources can be rehabilitated with the involvement of local communities in the surrounding area in the use of their local and newly-improved knowledge.

• International support is also needed to make sure that the degraded environment is rehabilitated.

THANK YOU!!