Morogoro region curbs livestock grazing in forests

Morogoro Regional Commissioner, Fatma Mwassa(pictured) said on Friday last week while speaking to journalists from different media outlets who visited in her office to see the impact of "Conserving Forests through Sustainable, forest-based Enterprise Support in Tanzania (CoForEST) project funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

In a bid to prevent cattle  encroaching  on village and government forest reserve,  livestock keepers will be  required to be registered by the  village government, get plots for grazing and find experts to see if the obtained  area has enough space to accommodate  cattle or not.

" We have decide to  embark on this campaign after discovered that  vegetation in other forests has been disappeared due to  environmental degradation,  water sources is also  being destroyed while   conflicts between  farmers and livestock keepers is very high and people's death is also very high.

"As region, we want to protect our forests because 67 percent of water used for power generation at Kihansi Hydroelectric power station and Kidatu hydro power plant come fromMorogoro and 97 percent of water used for power generation at Julius  Nyerere  Hydro Power station is  also come  from Morogoro, Region.

Elaborating on CoForEST project, she lauded Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) and Tanzania Community Forest Conservation  Network (MJUMITA) to join government's efforts  to conserve forest in Morogoro Region.

She called on MJUMITA and TFCG to scale- up their training programs and  educate  people living adjacent to government forest reserve on forest Conservation and management, the  benefits it has for them to save our forests that is now disappearing due shifting agriculture, illegal charcoal production, fire and cattle grazing  that cause  environment degradation and loss of animal habitat.

Also, it provides training  to livestock keepers on forest Conservation in areas where they are  to help them understand the importance of forest Conservation. 

"As region we are very glad for what has been achieved in our region through CoForESTptoject, the project has transformed people,'s life,  majority of people are now  aware of what is forest Conservation, the  benefits it has for them and are now taking serious measures to conserve it something that was not the case in the past.

For her part, Mvomero District Council acting  district  executive director, DrPhilpinaPhilipo lauded TFCG and MJUMITA to introduce CoForEST project in Mvomero District Council, the project has brought in positive changes to the community and the forests is now safe.

The project has helped  villages to  improve health services,   help schools to get conducive learning environment and allow villages to earn cash to implement village development projects.

She said, they still need more support from TFCG, MJUMITA and other stakeholders especially in tree planting activities  " As district we are required to plant 1.5 million trees per year, without involving other stakeholders we could not make it.