Traditionally protected catchment forests and ecosystem services in semi-arid, East African highlands

In resilient communities, locally-developed management strategies based on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) maintain the flow of ecosystem services from common-pool resources despite perturbations to the social or ecological system. In rural East Africa, communities are heavily dependent on the consistent supply of water and forest products. The Sonjo, an ethnic group in the highlands of Northern Tanzania, have developed a unique system for protecting catchment forests that maintain these services. This study discusses the value of catchment forests to the Sonjo and examines their management for important ecosystem services. Vegetation and water quality data support the claim that TEK provides increased benefits over government strategies. A discussion of how this management can be integrated into a larger forest conservation scheme is then provided. Incorporating local resource management practices into formal conservation policies will help provide a voice to local populations without taking authority away from regional governments.