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Background: Countries around the world are increasingly becoming aware of the need to protect and especially to manage the coastal and marine resources. In Tanzania, the government’s commitment is both state sponsored and through bilateral agreements with international donor agencies that advocate sustainable development through sustainable management of natural resources. To fulfil this commitment, a number of initiatives have been commissioned in Tanzania over the last couple of decades. One of these initiatives is exemplified by the Blueprint 2050 which substantially reviewed and drew a road map of management of coastal and marine resources for the present and the coming couple of decades. The Marine and Coastal Environment Management Project (MACEMP) was crafted as one of the various efforts to realizing this vision. This comprehensive project aimed at strengthening the sustainable management and use of coastal and marine resources in the territorial seas and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The objectives of MACEMP was to enhance revenue collection, reduced threats to the environment, better livelihood for coastal communities and improved institutional arrangements for effective management of Marine Managed Areas (MMAs) in the country. MACEMP extended its support to the legal and institutional structures so that effective management of MMAs is realized through establishing a supported comprehensive system of MMAs in the territorial sea built on Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) strategy that empowers and benefits coastal communities.
Objectives: The aim of this task was to study the legal and institutional framework and make recommendations for effective management of marine managed areas in Tanzania. This report has as a point of departure, a synthesis report on options for a national system of MMA networks for the United Republic of Tanzania, as well as a report on the legal and institutional framework for MMA management in Zanzibar.
Findings: This report presents an analytical review from a study of the legal and institutional framework for MMAs in the mainland Tanzania for effective management of MMAs in the country. The documentation reviews field consultations with policy and decision makers, conservation practitioners, local communities and private investors on the existing legal and institutional framework. It assesses how these can be improved to enhance effective management and conservation of coastal and marine resources for sustainability in development through amalgamation of various models including legally stated MPAs, and other community-based conservation MMA arrangements where applicable. The review revealed that coastal and marine resources in Tanzania are under increasing threats due to ever increasing numbers of resource users with competing interests. It is from this understanding that a number of coastal and marine resource management initiatives have been advocated and implemented in the last couple of decades in Tanzania. To address these threats, the concept of MMAs in Tanzania is coined within an ecosystem-based management approach that covers different models of protection for biodiversity conservation, resource management for sustainable biological productivity, ICM and adherence to regional and international conventions on conservation practice. In mainland Tanzania specifically, conservation and management initiatives of coastal and marine resources are governed by three main legislative mechanisms: the Fisheries Sector Policy and Strategy Statement of 1997, Fisheries Act of 2003, and MPR Act of 1994. At present MMAs in Mainland Tanzania are divided in two major forms namely; Marine Parks and Reserves commonly referred to as MPAs, which are legally binding forms of protection, and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) initiatives that include various forms of collaborative fisheries and mangroves management arrangements. Institutionally, the Fisheries Act of 2003 provides for the formation of village marine resources management units namely, Beach Management Units (BMUs).
Although the overall management of MMAs in the country is generally considered to be positive, challenges do exist to effective enforcement of both legal and community-based (collaborative) MMA agreements. For instance, there is a lack of a common vision and mission for the systems of MMAs in the country. The over-riding trade-offs involve issues of resource management, resource use patterns, and poverty reduction. As such misconceptions and misunderstanding are common between stakeholders and even partners in conservation. Legal and institutional frameworks need to be designed to reflect these challenges and may require specific mechanisms to address them. Some operational challenges involve the focus on fisheries resources and industry for development rather than biodiversity conservation and the lack of explicit legal provisions for co-management arrangements. While understanding and recognition of the importance of involving local communities in conservation and management is growing, several problems still exist as a result of conflicting interests among stakeholders and overlapping jurisdictions over marine resources among government institutions and agencies. The institutional framework for MMAs in Mainland Tanzania is both multi-sectoral and multi-scaled across the central government and local government authorities.
Conclusions: This review of the legal and institutional framework for MMA management in mainland Tanzania highlights a variety of key challenges. The existing framework does not explicitly cater for management objectives of different management models of both formal and informal MMAs. Although there is a general positive trend in the reform and development of laws and policies at the national level to support ICM and MPAs, most of the legislative provisions are essentially still sectoral and largely uncoordinated. Options for addressing the challenges in the current legislation include: i) modifying/harmonising some of the legal instruments for MMA management; and ii) establishing a mechanism for coordination of different authorities, organisations and community groups around MMA networking. Developing an overarching ocean policy that would provide impetus and means for enabling greater cohesion in marine management by mainland Tanzania, may be useful. The development of policy, can however, be a costly and extended process and may be less practical than development of a strategy for supporting practical implementation. The synthesis report that informs both this report and the Zanzibar MMA report, proposes the initiation of a process for development of a framework to establish a National Network System. Such a framework would provide an overarching strategy and vision for managing the country’s MMAs as a cohesive whole rather than on an isolated, ad hoc manner.
The absence of clear mandates among institutions reduces the effectiveness of coastal and marine management as institutions largely operate in an isolated manner. This fragmented operational system results in a climate of uncertainty and inconsistency in law enforcement. Lack of coordination and cooperation among government institutions further hampers the process of promoting integrated fisheries, coastal, and marine resources management often results in conflict among stakeholders. Conflicting power relations and competing sectoral jurisdictional interests were apparent during field consultations. Outside the legal frameworks, other arrangements such as the formation of committees to oversee the management of collaborative management areas in non-MPA areas were reportedly acceptable as they received support from communities. It is recommended that establishment of technical forums would be relevant to serve as coordination arms to address sectoral legal conflicts amongst different authoritative institutions at all administrative levels.
Stakeholder consultations for this study revealed a lack of implementation of a common vision and mission for the systems of MMAs in the country. The MMAs are currently managed on an individual basis rather than as a cohesive network. While the network approach is a relatively recent phenomenon and while the country is still grappling with managing existing areas effectively, it would be useful to develop a framework providing overarching guidance for selecting MMAs and managing them as a cohesive whole. |
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