Lessons learnt from a collaborative management programme in coastal Tanzania

The Tanga Coastal Zone Conservation and Development Programme, initiated in 1994, was among the first such projects to make livelihoods improvement a key objective, and to use a community-based approach. It developed an approach to coastal management planning that is broadly satisfactory to both communities and the government. Six fisheries management areas and two mangrove management areas were established. Institutional arrangements for the collaborative approach were strengthened and community leaders and local government officers were trained in a range of relevant skills. A coastal environmental education programme for primary schools involved several thousand schoolchildren, and a gender programme built the confidence of women. Implementation of the management measures was noticeably harder than planning, particularly elimination of destructive fishing methods. Fishers and coastal communities now however have a much greater involvement in, and understanding of, coastal management and consequently a greater sense of ownership.