Overview of the FJT Project
The Forest Justice in Tanzania initiative, is a partnership project between the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) and Community Forest Conservation Network of Tanzania (MJUMITA). FJT is a demand-driven process that reflects a growing call for change within the forest sector from Participatory Forest Management (PFM) stakeholders, including village governments, Members of Tanzania Forest Working Group, and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) established by villages participating in Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) in Tanzania.
Phase 1 of the project was implemented between 2011 and 2015, and phase two will be implemented for the period of 24 months, 2020 to 2021. The project is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) through Accountability in Tanzania phase 2 (AcT 2) program, managed by KPMG.
Why Forest Justice in Tanzania Project Phase 2 (FJT2)?
Forest Justice in Tanzania Project phase 2 was driven by the existing challenges facing forest sector in Tanzania specifically the unreserved forests within the village land. Some of the challenges to be addressed by the project are as follows:
- More than 17.6 million hectares of forest cover which is equivalent to 80% of forests found in the village land are not legally reserved;
- More than 469,000 hectares of forests are cleared every year in Tanzania with most deforestation occurring on unreserved forests within the village land, mostly due to small-scale, slash-and-burn agriculture and illegal/unsustainable harvesting of forest product;
- New government regulations attempting to recentralize control of decisions on forest-based enterprises in the Village land Forest Reserves (VLFRs). Example, the GN 417 of 24th, May 2019 has recentralized decision on preparation of harvesting plan and approval of buyers of forest products from VLFRs. This is disincentivizing communities to conserve more forests on the village land.