*4.2.2 Knowledge of the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves*

The question of wheather the community members were knowledgiable of the forest reserves was also asked in the course of establishing the level of community attachment. The findings on knowledgiability levels on Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves which partly tells on their attachment as as summarized **Figure 3**. The levels of knowledgiability was analyzed against sex of respondents.

The study revealed considerable contrast on forest knowledgiability levels among men and women in the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves. Accordingly; males are generally revealed to be more knowledgiable of the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves as compared to their female counterparts (**Figure 3**). Whereas a third (1/3) of female respondents were deduced to be less knowledgiable of the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves, about a third (1/3) of males claimed to have complete knowledge of the reserves. The sex difference on knowledgiability on forest reserves also featured during the FGDs. It was explained that most men could get along the forest reserves with easy as compared to men. In a FGD at Nzasa, one female participant in a FGD expressed herself this way...

*…In this forest reserve (Kzimzumbwi forest resrve) although both male and female access the reserves for gendered distinguised interests, males are more familier with the forest reserve. This is partly because men spends more time in the forest extracting resources for the living as compared to women….*

The variable of knowledgiability of the forest reserves was further correlated with the variable ' I know where all the paths leads to'. The correlation score for the two variables was 0.8 signifying that there were strong relationship between general knowledgiability of the forest reserves and the knowledge of where paths leads to in the forest reserve.

#### *4.2.3 Thoughts about the present and the future of the forest reserves*

Thoughts and feelings about the present and future of something tells the extent at which one is linked and/attached to the same**.** In this regard, the feelings and/thoughts about the present and the future of the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves by the adjacent communities were examined. The findings on

**Figure 3.** *Knowledge of the forest reserves by the community (%: N = 150). Source: Field work 2018.*

*Community Attachment and Environmental Stewardship: A Peri-Urban Perspective DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99495*

**Figure 4.**

*Present and future thoughts about the forest reserves (%: N = 150). Source: field work 2018.*

**Figure 4** summarizes the stutus-quo on thoughts and feelings about the present and the future of the forest reserves.

The analysis on community thoughts and feelings about the present and the future of the forest reserves were done against the residence status.The study revealed that there was substantial relationship between residence status and the level of thoughts and feelings on the forest reserves. In nutshell, the study has shown that natives have more thoughts and feelings of the present and the future of the forest reserves as compared to those who migrated from other parts of the country. More than a third (1/3) of the natives claimed to *always* think about the present and the future of the forest reserves and there was non of the migrants who always had a thought about the present or the future of the forest reserves. On the other hand about half of the migrants from Dar es Salaam and those from upcountry had *some times* thought regarding the present and the future of the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves. These findings on thoughts of the present and the future of the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves suggests that the more one stays with a natural resource the more one becomes with feelings and thoughts about their present and their future prospects. This in turn tells on the extent at which one is attached to the particular resource and in this case the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves.

### **5. Conclusion**

This chapter questions the negligence of attachment scholarship in the context of environmental stewardship with a specific focus in peri-urban areas. Peri-urban being inhabited by a mixture of migrant populations and pressured by urban externalities poses unique attachment characteristic features in the context of environmental stewardship unlike the urban counterparts. This chapter has illuminated the imperatives of considering place attachement as an important factor in realizing environment stewardship in peri-urban areas. Whilist the empirical evidence are drawn from the peri-urban areas of Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves of Dar es Salaam city, the message thereoff is representing a broad reality in the peri-urban areas of the Global South. The inclusion of community attachment perspective in negotiating environmental stewardship is advocated for as it might contribute in addressing the growing degradation of natural resources in peri-urban areas which has been increasingly declining. Researchers and policy makers alike should take
