The role of fire in the Miombo forest : And the adaptation of the Community-based forest management to meet local needs

Abstract: The Miombo forest is represented in seven countries in the subtropical area of Africa and is an example of ecosystem adapted to the disturbance of anthropogenic fire. The forest yields a number of different ecosystem goods and services including fuelwood, honey and soil protection. Fire has found a worldwide acceptance during the last decade due to deeper understanding of their role in the ecosystem. The presence of fire prevents up-building of fuel and big fires, therefore a new fire management is now seen. In general the Miombo forest is threatened by overexploitation. A similar situation was represented in Duru-Haitemba forest where the case study was situated in northern Tanzania. To conserve the forest and give the tenure of the forest to the villages in Duru-Haitemba a community-based forest management was established in the middle of 1990’s. The management succeeded to save the forest with a fire management including several methods of fire preventions and now there is a well grown Miombo forest in the area. This essay deals with the topic how the fire is affecting the Miombo forest. From there, this paper examines how the current community-based forest management is formed concerning the role of fire and the objectives of the locals. The conclusion of the essay indicates that the fire has an important role in the ecosystem of the Miombo forest and favour ecosystem dynamics and diversity of the Miombo forest. The result of the case study showed that the fire management was poorly adapted to the disturbance of fire and was not widely based on local knowledge or specific needs and objectives of the different villages.