| dc.description.abstract | Forests and woodlands remain under threat in tropical Africa due to excessive exploitation
and inadequate management interventions, and the isolated success stories of tree retention and tree
cover transition on African agricultural land are less well documented. In this study, we characterize
the status of tree cover in a landscape that contains forest patches, fallows, and farms in the southern
part of Uluguru Mountains. We aimed to unveil the practices of traditional tree fallow system which
is socially acceptable in local settings and how it provides a buffering effects to minimize forest
disturbances and thus represents an important step towards tree cover transition. We assessed land
cover dynamics for the period of 1995 to 2020 and compared tree stocking for forest patches, fallows,
and farms. We found that tree biomass carbon stocks were 56 ± 5 t/ha in forest patches, 33 ± 7 t/ha
in fallows, and 9 ± 2 t/ha on farms. In terms of land cover, farms shrank at intensifying rates over
time for the entire assessment period of 1995–2020. Forest cover decreased from 1995–2014, with the
reduction rate slowing from 2007–2014 and the trend reversing from 2014–2020, such that forest cover
showed a net increase across the entire study period. Fallow consistently and progressively increased
from 1995–2020. We conclude that traditional tree fallows in the study site remain a significant
element of land management practice among communities, and there appears to be a trend towards
intensified tree-based farming. The gains in fallowed land represent an embracing of a traditional
land management system that supports rotational and alternate uses of cropping space as well as
providing a buffering effect to limit over-exploitation of forests. In order to maximize tree cover and
carbon stocks in the farm landscape, this well-known traditional tree fallow system can be further
optimized through the incorporation of additional innovations. | en_US |
