Land Use Policy 35 (2013) 8–15 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Land Use Policy jou rn al hom epage : www.elsevier.com/locate/landus epol How characteristics of wetlands resource users and associated institutions influence the sustainable management of wetlands in Tanzania Felister Mombo a,b,∗ , Stijn Speelman a , Joseph Hella b , Guido Van Huylenbroeck a a Department of Agricultural Economics, Gent University, Coupure Links 653, Gent, Belgium b Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O.Box 3007 Morogoro Tanzania a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 4 October 2012 Received in revised form 9 January 2013 Accepted 18 April 2013 Keywords: Wetland management Rules and regulations Knowledge Institutional analysis a b s t r a c t Natural resources management has been an issue of global concern due to the ongoing deterioration in the stock of natural resources worldwide. This problem has often been linked to the rules governing the management of these resources. The current study was conducted in Kilombero wetlands, a Ramsar site in Tanzania, to determine whether variations in knowledge of the rules and regulations governing man- agement of wetlands amongst the resource users can explain the current degradation of the wetlands. The results show the existence of such variations. Awareness of environmental problems and participation in conservation projects were found to have a positive influence on the knowledge of rules and regula- tions. The study therefore, recommends an immediate and meaningful harmonization of the framework of various institutions, which together with environmental education would result in a common under- standing of the constitutional rules amongst the primary and secondary wetland resource users. Such an arrangement would lead to participatory and sustainable wetland management. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Natural resources management has been an issue of grow- ing global discussion for the past three decades. The ongoing deterioration in the stock of these resources all over the world seems to suggest that the current management and use of natural resources is unsustainable (De Leo and Levin, 1997; Healy, 2006) In many parts of the world, forest stocks have been declining, fish- ery harvests have been decreasing significantly and flooding due to wetland degradation has now become a common phenomenon (Mayer, 2002; Carlsson et al., 2003; Schulte-Hostedde et al., 2007; Birol et al., 2009). The causes of mismanagement and use of natural resources are many, and have been amply documented (Kangalawe and Liwenga, 2005). One such cause, suggested by scholars such as North (1990), Williamson (1995), Ostrom (2005) or Hagedorn (2007), may lie in the existing rules and regulations which are used in accessing and/or managing these resources. Tanzania is endowed with natural resources such as forests, minerals, natural gas, wild animals and wetlands. Wetlands cover about 10% of the land surface in Tanzania and range from lakes, ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +255 785 252550. E-mail addresses: fmombo@yahoo.com, felister.mombo@ugent.be (F. Mombo), Stijn.Speelman@Ugent.be (S. Speelman), jp hella@suanet.ac.tz (J. Hella), Guido.VanHuylenbroeck@Ugent.be (G. Van Huylenbroeck). rivers, and floodplains, to deltaic mangrove formations. Wetlands are potentially suitable for economic activities such as agriculture, fishing and tourism and if well managed they have the potential to contribute highly to the country’s economy. Moreover, already now the contribution of wetlands in terms of direct income is signif- icant for rural communities, as most of these communities depend entirely on crop and livestock production (United Republic of Tanzania, 2007). Because Tanzania’s agriculture is highly depend- ent on rain, and the use of farm inputs is low, agricultural activities are often carried out in wetland areas so as to exploit the natu- ral soil fertility and soil moisture that prevails throughout the year (United Republic of Tanzania, 1997a). The degree, methods and extent of wetlands use in Tanza- nia varies across environmental and socio-economic conditions. This variation in the pattern of use of wetland resources from one area to another has a substantial impact on the state of wetlands in these places. In some areas, the impact is very profound while in others it is minimal; and additionally, some wetlands are still in fairly pristine conditions. Some of the most degraded wetlands in Tanzania are located in the Pan- gani River basin, the Kilombero valley and the Usangu plains in the Upper Great Ruaha River, where ecological alterations have been palpable (United Republic of Tanzania, 2007). Accord- ing to Schuijt (2002) such alterations are often linked to the exploitation of the life support services and resources provided by wetlands. 0264-8377/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.04.010