In the implementation of the Local Government Reform Program, the district is facing some problems. Further, the local government structure is examined and LGRP implementation is discussed on the case of Songea District.
Origin s and Meaning of Community Based Natura l Resource
In addition, recent experiences with programs and initiatives in decentralization and community-based natural resource management are analyzed. In the case of Community Based Conservation, community-based natural resource management is further explored.
Community Based Conservation in Africa
Concluding Remarks
The fundamental purpose of decentralization is to bring government closer to the people, in the interest of increasing efficiency and democratic accountability. Privatization refers to the transfer of all responsibility for government functions and services to private enterprises or non-governmental organizations that are independent of the government (Reddy 1999b).
Local Government
Benefits and Shortcom ings of Decentralisation
Democratic decentralization also increases, although to a lesser extent, the flow of information from government to citizens. And as the quality of responses from government institutions tends to improve in the sense that they are more in line with locally felt needs, people naturally identify more strongly with development projects. For the reasons outlined above, and because positions of power are obtained through election, democratic decentralization tends to improve the accountability of elected representatives to citizens.
Manor (1999) argues that decentralization often helps in the case of poverty faced by remote, underdeveloped and underrepresented sub-regions. The establishment of elected authorities within such arenas often gives vulnerable groups a stronger voice and a fairer share of the resources distributed by the state.
Decentralisation and Local Governance in Africa
In the early 1960s, when most African countries achieved political independence, they inherited centralized political and administrative structures of government and. The decentralization programs of the 1960s and 1970s were mostly aimed at top-down deconcentration of central government institutions and failed to empower citizens. Uganda stands out as one of the most radical and ambitious examples of decentralization in the African context.
Similar problems exist in Ghana, where district actors do not have the required knowledge. More problems can be traced back to a lack of political restraint, as Kullenberg and Porter (1999) describe in the case of the UNCDF-supported District Development Project in Uganda: keeping expenditure within approved budget limits, the rules and regulations for financial comply with management.
Concluding Rema rks
10 However, there was an appearance of decentralization in the forestry sector, in which decentralization went down to the highest level of the local government structure, that is, the district council. The WPT recognizes the country's endowment with wildlife and its potential in the economy and development of local communities. Since 1984, most technical staff (for example in the education or natural resources sectors) report directly to the District Council.
In 1999, the agricultural staff was also made accountable to the district council, the remaining sectors will follow in the course of the local government reform. In the Parliamentary session that ended on 13 February 1999, the Bill proposing substantial amendments to the Local Government Act was approved.
Selous Conservatio n Programme
Furthermore, with its vast area of Miombo forest, Selousi is one of the largest continuous forest areas under protection (Ndunguru and Hahn 1998, Siege 2000). It is estimated that up to one fifth of the food crops produced in the area are destroyed by animals (Masunzu 1998). The Witdlife Division is one of the four main divisions in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.
Villagers carried out most of the poaching because they had knowledge of the area and the distribution of the game. To protect the existence and ecological integrity of the Selous Game Reserve as a protected area; And.
L ocal Government Institutions and Leve l of Loca l Participation in
Unlike the Village Council or the District Council, the district does not have a democratically elected leadership or body. There are officials who manage the ward under the guidance of the Ward Development Committee (WDG). The officials in charge of the district are the chairman and the district director.
The Ward Development Committee consists of Ward Councillor, Ward Executive Officer, Village Headmen and nominated members. The main functions of the WDC are to organize and generally oversee the issue of peace and stability in the Neighborhood.
Management Institutions Establ ished
Both the village scouts and village officials are trained at the Community Based Conservation Training Center (CBTCC) in Likuyu-Sekamaganga, Song ea District. A District Natural Resource Management Committee (DNRMC) for villages with WMAs has been established to facilitate district level involvement in the programme. The committee consists of the district's natural resources officer, district game officer, forestry and beekeeping officer, fisheries officer, agriculture and livestock officer, the district's managing director and the SGR sector warden as a representative of the game reserve.
Most villagers openly raise their questions and express their problems to the district officials and the project team. As the above analysis illustrates, participation in the villages studied can best be characterized as functional, according to Barrow and Murphree's typology (see Table 1.2).
Issues of Land and Natural Resource Tenure
34;All land within the boundaries of a village registered under section 22 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act, 1982; and all land designated as a village under the Land Tenure (Village Sett/ements) Act, 1965;. The Village Land Act allows villages to declare as common land a portion of their land designated as WMA. So far, 50 villages out of 85 SCP districts have developed village land use plans (VLUP) with the help of the relevant land offices.
Experience in assisting villages to prepare and implement village land-use plans has been gained in several GTZ and other donor-supported projects and has been summarized in a village planning manual available in both Kiswahjli and English. Respondents at the district and village levels said that villagers were generally eager to participate in village boundary demarcation and most of the community members recognize the identified areas.
Regulations and By-laws fo r Natura l Resource Use
These by-laws are binding on all persons, regardless of whether they belong to the community or not. In general, village councils lack the policy orientation and training needed to prepare their own bylaws. Furthermore, district and municipal councils generally do not create an enabling environment to encourage village bodies to adopt their own bylaws.
Village councils, much less village assemblies, are hardly involved in drawing up village ordinances. Statute enforcement IS fraught with problems such as lack of resources, impartial adjudication, and inadequate collection and local retention of fines.
Apart from the Gonabis Game Controlled Area north of the Selous, companies have paid much less. The money paid is supposed to be transferred to the district natural resources committee, which transfers the money to the villages. In the case of Songea district, the money from the 1999 hunting season was virtually distributed by a Member of Parliament who tried to use the money for his district-wide election campaign.
In the end, and only through the pressure of the District Game Officer, most of the money reached the villages participating in CBC. Major changes and an increase in financial income are expected with the approval of the government's guidelines for the establishment of wildlife management areas and in the future with the entry into force of the revised WCA.
Development of Wi ldlife Population
District Planning and Local Government Reform
A close reading of the local government reform program makes it clear that the thinking on local government reform was directed at the district level and that the reform was not placed below the district. The sub-district level was not included in the LGRP nor conceived as an integral part of the reform programme. The administrative and management framework at village level remains as set out in the Local Government (County Authorities) Act 1982.
In addition, the line ministries do not really accept that they no longer have the powers at district level that constitute opposition to the municipal reform." Some of the ministries felt robbed, as money was now supposed to go directly to the districts.
District Planning and Natural Resource Managemen t
The municipal reform has been placed on top of other sector reform programmes, which has created bad feelings and resistance in the sector ministries. From the inception of the LGRP it was recognized that local authorities would not be able to raise sufficient revenue on their own to fund the delivery of the improved services planned under the programme. Program component 7 on natural resources and the environment is of central importance to this paper.
Songea District Council sets the sustainable management of natural resources and the environment as one of its development priorities. This recognition of the importance of natural resources is absolutely essential to the future success of BNK initiatives in the district.
Donor Assista nce
Even some of the donors involved perceive this ineffective financial contribution as a serious problem resulting in a lack of national ownership. In the case of CBC, bilateral and multilateral donors support almost all CBC activities in the country. For the start-up phase, the main funding sources for some of the pilot CBC programs include GTZ, DFID, Frankfurt Zoological Society, USAID, NORAD, Sida and others include local funds through TANAPA.
The amount of external funding exceeds the domestic component, and the duration of funding can range from one year to several years, funding different components and phases of the project, but generally tapers off as a CBC initiative becomes more self-sustaining. In general, in most cases external funding is over 80 percent of the total funding, a situation that calls into question the sustainability of the programs.
Concluding Remarks
The importance of the natural resource base has been recognized and sustainable management of natural resources has been put on the district's development agenda. The nature of benefits and the benefits of nature: Why wildlife conservation has not economically benefited communities in Africa. Presentation at the 2nd Regional Meeting 'CBNRM in Southern Africa' held at the School of Government, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, 16-17 October 2000.
Presentation at the regional meeting 'CBNRM in Southern Africa' held at the School of Government, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, 41pm - 51pm October 2000. The Village Democracy Initiative: A Review of the Legal and Institutional Framework of Governance at Sub -District level in the context of the local government reform programme.
