Subsistence wood use in western Tanzania with considerations for resource conservation

Based on human ecological theory I constructed a framework to investigate human decision-making and behaviors regarding (i) household wood use and (ii) conservation attitudes among horticulturalist Pimbwe and agropastoralist Sukuma, living adjacent to Katavi National Park (KNP) in the Rukwa Region of Western Tanzania, East Africa. In chapter one, I identified factors associated with interest in gaining access to KNP's wood resources. I found that interest in gaining access was primarily associated with increased wealth. This suggested that resource-use interests were largely dependent upon expected individual gains, which vary according to household needs and ability to process the Park's wood resources for potential local sale or trade. In chapter two, I examined support for degazetting KNP relative to Park outreach, wildlife conflict, household wealth, and residency status. I then related reported attitudes to fuelwood extraction patterns. Only recognition of village-level Park services associated with positive attitudes toward KNP, after controlling for ethnicity, with people opposing KNP degazettment also demonstrating more ecologically sustainable wood extraction. In chapter three, I tested hypothesized relationships between perceived future value of local wood resources and individual decisions regarding fuelwood use. I then related variation in this perceived value to the existence of working rules that monitor extraction practices. I found evidence for greater future devaluation of fuelwood resources among the more recently arrived Sukuma, reflected in decreased wood selectivity and increased use rates. Evidence of rules that monitor fuelwood extraction practices did not, however, relate to future devaluation of fuelwood resource, but rather to the cultural identities of the two populations.; In the broadest sense, this dissertation addresses issues deeply rooted in the history of human-protected area dynamics that have shaped conservation in East Africa. Using an environmentally homogeneous, yet culturally dichotomous study system this research has elucidated the importance of distinguishing between people's interest(s) in using specific resources and their conservation attitudes, emphasizing the need to recognize intra-community variation in both use interests, as well as rules of management. Such assessment is critical in locations where human populations live in close proximity to areas of ecological importance, and community integration into conservation grows in practice.