Both Finland and Tanzania have in some ways a similar forest management history, when both were under foreign rule, the forest resources were placed under top-down state control that undermined customary forest management and created de facto ‘open access’.

In both countries this top-down control and de facto open access contributed to forest destruction, rampant uncontrolled forest clearance and destructive use practices. At one point Tanzania had the 5^th highest global rate of deforestation, and in Finland at the time ‘slash and burn’ practices in the forest were rampant.

After independence, it became increasingly clear to both governments that the only way to save the forest and the livelihoods of local people that rely on forest resources, was through reengaging the local communities as partners in forest management and use.

This has been done through providing formal rights and responsibilities over the forests for rural people and by the governments working with the local people, rather than against them, when it comes to natural forest management.

In Finland today 60 percent of the forests are owned by small scale private owners and their families, and these forests produce 80 percent of the country’s timber. Finland’s forest sector is considered one of the most successful in the world, both in terms of generating significant income - generating around €20 billion in 2022, as well as ecologically, with the forests expanding, they are sustainably managed and improving in biodiversity.

Finland provides a great example of how use and protection can go hand in hand when forests are under local control, and very importantly of how rural people and small scale forestry can be the backbone of a thriving forest economy. Very important to note too, that at the time of independence Finland was a poor country and the handover of forest resources to rural people for them to take control of, was also to provide more livelihood security.

In Tanzania, forests are also of key importance to livelihood security of rural people, and there was an urgent need to end de facto ‘open access’, so the Government of Tanzanian over the last few decades has been one of the leaders in Africa in devolving forest control back to communities, around 50 percent of natural forests are now under community control.

Although the approach has proven successful in terms of promoting protection by communities who now again have a sense of ownership of the forest, the challenge has been to generate an attractive balance of burdens and benefits, which is essential to the success of Community Based Forest Management in the long run.

In Miombo woodland under community control under FORVAC, communities harvest way below the sustainable off-take, leaving the forest in good condition but generating significant income which motivates communities to protect the forest. In effect losing a tree but saving the forest. PHOTO | COURTESY

With this aim, the Government of Tanzania through the Forest and Beekeeping Division under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland since 2018 together designed and jointly implemented the Forestry and Value Chains Development (FORVAC) programme. FORVAC has worked with 128 communities who manage 470,000 ha of miombo woodland to help strengthen forest management and improve the benefits they generate from the forest from sustainable use.

This forest has been protected from conversion to other land uses, and from illegal activities, with community members themselves patrolling the forests. The communities harvest timber very conservatively, currently only around 7 percent of the calculated sustainable off-take. The miombo forests are fascinating ecosystems because they regenerate naturally after any disturbance, and compared to elephants crashing through the forest, the harvesting of one tree per hectare has no significant long term negative impact on the forest condition.

However, with the communities getting a significant income from the wood sold, in effect ‘a tree lost, means a forest is saved’ through the motivation it generates within the community to protect the forest resource.  

So far since the beginning of FORVAC communities have generated over Tsh8.5 billion and provide paid employment for over 1,500 community members annually, with funds not only covering forest management costs but also being used by communities for various services, schools, pharmacies, helping the vulnerable etc.

Not only is timber supported but a wide range of other forest based enterprises, including honey, bamboo and mushrooms.

Community members harvest only mature trees, and only around 1 tree per hectare according to an agreed sustainable off-take. Miombo woodland is incredibly resilient and natural regeneration bounces back quickly to replace the felled trees. PHOTO | COURTESY

Deforestation monitoring of the community forests is now ongoing, comparing and contrasting with other forest types. The results will be in, in the coming months, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the community forests are doing better than other types of forest management and also that the forests that generate the most benefits are the best protected.

Still there are many challenges and opportunities to work on, and luckily a successor programme to FORVAC is in the pipeline. Challenges include that although FORVAC has provided 4 mobile sawmills and other equipment to communities, still too many of the trees are sold as standing trees without added value, something FORVAC is working with the communities to address, and the successor programme will work on too.

Also the communities are not currently coordinated, so in another parallel with Finnish forestry where small forest owners joined together in associations, FORVAC is now helping villagers join together in associations to create economies of scale. Other challenges include low market awareness of the diversity of timber species available in the forests and also bureaucratic challenges to community forest enterprises, some ironically a legacy from the ‘top down’ colonial past. These still need to be ironed out.

Community members processing sustainably harvested wood to maximise returns, the ‘use it or lose it’ approach not only enables communities to cover forest protection and management costs but also generate significant social funds for the community. The forest that pays is the forest that stays. PHOTO | COURTESY

However, one of the biggest challenges according to the Chief Technical Advisor of FORVAC, Peter O’Hara is a misunderstanding of the ‘use it or lose it’ approach itself. ‘Although community members clearly see the link between benefits from the forest and protecting the forest, many people including some conservationists find it hard to understand that banning use is actually a huge threat to the forest and that promoting sustainable use in community forestry is the best way to save the forest.

It is a complicated message to sell, to save the forest by cutting trees! However, it is really true, both for Finland and Tanzania the evidence speaks for itself, that once the forests are under local control and sustainable management, the forest that pays is indeed the forest that stays’.

Highlights of the FORVAC Programme

•    128 communities supported in sustainable forest management activities and related value chains development.
•    73 villages supported in the preparation of forest management plans, meaning that over 470,000 ha of miombo forest are sustainable managed and protected.
•    The supported communities have earned through sustainable and legal timber harvesting (including standing and processed volumes) over Tsh8.5 billion. Approximately Tsh5 billion of the income they have used to improve social services such as schools and health centers in the villages.
•    Around 180 forest-related micro-businesses, which involve 1,500 entrepreneurs supported to improve their businesses through business mentoring and investment support.
•    Once the communities have legal control, formal use rights and management responsibilities through CBFM they harvest timber very conservatively, utilizing only about 7 percent of the calculated sustainable off-take.

Learn more about the FORVAC programme and community-based sustainable forest management of natural forests by following FORVAC on Facebook (https://web.facebook.com/FORVACTanzania) and Instagram (@forvac_tz), Website: https://forvac.or.tz/ Email: [email protected] Phone number: +255 735 155 661