| They said “there are some villages that willingly accepted PFM and REDD+ pilot while others resisted REDD+ project. |
| In Kisese-Disa village the resistance was very strong because of political influence from their Parliamentary |
| representative member. At first instant a team for REDD+ promoters at Kolo Hills called an audience with district |
| administrative staff of different fields including the parliamentary representative member and explained their plan to |
| implement REDD+ pilot project at Kolo-Hills forests. Their proposal was agreed after putting clear the project |
| objectives and the overall framework for implementation that would involve villages bordering the forests. The |
| meeting participants agreed to encourage people to adopt the project for their economic benefit from anticipated |
| carbon credit for conserving the forests. Contrarily that Member of Parliament went back to Kisese-Disa village and |
| start advocating hateful issues attributed to REDD+ pilot project and the promoters. For that reason this village |
| resisted REDD+ at their village forest management area. |
| |
| However REDD+ project administration in collaboration with Kondoa district authority forced this village to accept |
| and collaborate with other villages in REDD+ project forest management activities including sending representatives |
| to joint forest guard team. This team is directly accountable to REDD+ pilot project and it is responsible to ensure |
| protection of overall forests at Kolo Hills. Though Kisese-Disa village maintained their resistance to the REDD+ project, |
| the forest guard team composed of members from all villages persistently conduct patrol over the whole forest area |
| under REDD+ pilot including forest areas of villages who refused the project. |
| |
| Kisese-Disa village wanted to show their disagreement to those who conduct patrol activities at their forest area and |
| some youngsters of the village were sent by elders to kidnap one of female forest guard member of the joint team |
| while the team was patrolling at Kisese-Disa forest area. The rest of the team conveyed the kidnapping information to |
| REDD+ project administration (AWF) and Kondoa district. Immediate support from Kondoa district including the two |
| of us and armed professional guards from TARANGIRE National park sent by AWF arrived at the event site and start to |
| search for the guard who was kidnapped. Following that, the Kisese-Disa youngsters immediately decided to release |
| the guard safely to the forest. When the team tried to communicate to her, she told them she was free and safe. |
| |
| However the team continued to search for the kidnap suspects up to the evening. Around 8:00pm the armed |
| Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) guards from Tarangire National Park together with us started to ambush the |
| suspects in their home dwellings, forcing whoever found there to hand the suspects. We managed to catch few |
| suspects and TANAPA staff taught them a lesson. They commanded them to do severe physical exercises to the |
| extent that some suspects released bowel materials to their clothes unconsciously. Noticing that after taking them |
| onto their truck, the TANAPA guards ordered them to drop out of the truck and wash it thoroughly and after that they |
| released them without any court case proceeding on the matter”. |
| |
| Explaining more on the set strategies to force the village to accept REDD+, they said “we believe it will reach a point |
| where the troublesome villages will surrender and accept the project since there is a planned persistent silent |
| punishment of isolating and neglecting them from various social and economic development support from the |
| district. For instance currently Kisese-Disa village is obliged to participate in protection of Kolo-Hills forests in |
| collaboration with other villages but it is excluded from beneficiaries of carbon credit and other economic incentives |
| expected to come through REDD+ programme and PFM”. |
