Incentives for wetlands conservation in the Mufindi wetlands of the Great Ruaha River Tanzania

Abstract

Sustainable wetland management has to some extent become a high  priority for world’s environmentalists. Achieving sustainable wetland  management may require an increase in the voluntary adoption of best  management practices by both local communities and the government. This may be preceded by more tailored suite of incentive measures which  are effective in encouraging local people to adopt proper management practices. This study presents results from a study done in the Little Ruaha catchment of the Great Ruaha River Basin. Household surveys were done to assess the relevant incentives for wetlands management and how local  communities perceived the incentive and incentive mechanisms for sustainable wetland management. It was revealed that not every member of the community was motivated to conserve wetland and thus the  perceived wetland conservation incentives also vary greatly. Among  preferred incentives were; joint management, privatization, alternative
income generating activities and land use rights/legal land ownership. Government policies and regulations were not perceived as real incentives. This study recommends a ‘tool-box’ of incentives which will encourage a range of local people in different situations to conserve wetlands. However, the tool box of incentives and their programs should be implemented with extra cautions as it may result into perverse incentives and consequently lead into unequal benefit sharing becoming disincentives to conservation and further degradation of wetlands.

Key Words: Incentives; Disincentives; Wetlands; Great Ruaha River