Pathways towards Miombo Restoration: A Lesson from Fire and Grazing Exclusion Plots at Kitulangalo Miombo Woodlands, Morogoro Tanzania

Abstract

The current Tanzanian policy guidelines regarding ecological restoration encourage total protection (enclosure system) against grazing activities, fires and wood extraction to allow regeneration in state-based Miombo woodlands. However, there is little evidence on how such treatments would promote restoration. We fetched the pieces of evidence from studies that evaluated the impact of management treatments on the lightly degraded Miombo woodlands at Kitulangalo Forest Reserve in eastern Tanzania. Plot fencing and fire exclusion constrained woody species regeneration due to competition compared to unfenced plots. Adopting quota grazing policies and controlled burning systems can be the shortest and most eco-friendly pathways towards Miombo restoration. The results pointed out that stand disturbances and silvicultural practices can promote regeneration, which is crucial to promoting ecological restoration in Miombo woodlands.