What are the incentives and disincentives of environmental conservation in Tanzania?

Answer 1

INTRODUCTIONS

Environment is a set of natural (bio- physical) and manmade (socio- cultural) system in which man and other organisms live, work and interact. According to concise Oxford Dictionary 10th Edition, environment refers to surrounding or conditions in which a person animal or plant lives or operates.

Environment comprises of both biotic and abiotic components, the biotic components of environment comprise the living things which are; animal and plants, the side of biotic part of environment constitutes of Non - living thing that is natural and manmade features. Natural things includes land, air, rocks, sunlight, while manmade are like roads, buildings etc.

In other words environment may be defined as the things that surround anything especially the conditions that surround a person animal or plant and affect growth actions, character etc. (Website new world Dictionary),

Incentive is any factors (financial non- financial) that enables or motivates a particular course of action or counts as a reason for preferring one choice to the alternatives. While disincentive to environment conservation refers to the something that prevents or discourage actions, a deterrent or impediment

In order to conserve the environment, the government should provide different incentives that can enhance proper environmental conservation to the community. Some of the incentives may include the following;

Subsidies (government subsidizing); Subsidy- is a gift from the government to private enterprises which is considered to be more important to the public interests. these gifts whether loans, favorable tax situation, direct grants are all provided by the government to private enterprises or rebates for purchases environmental products and other monetary motives designed to reduce the cost of living that encourage environmental preservation. For example all organic produced goods in Tanzania like ALOVERA PRODUCTS for instance ALOC oil, alike herbage crystal tooth paste, soap alliteration are given relief on paying tax due to chemical they contain that cannot lead to the environment destruction.

Emission fee, taxes and charges, these fees provide incentives for environmental improvements by making environmentally damaging activity or product more expensive. Business and individuals reduces their level of pollution where there are taxed more once they pollute an environment, it is cheaper to reduce the pollution than to pay charges comes from many small sources such as vehicular emissions or agricultural runoff where direct regulations taxes contribute to the government revenue. Charges are used to fund environmental cleanup programmers. For instance, the rising cost of electricity provides a strong measure and incentives to conserve energy.

Information programs; these programs rely on informed consumer's market choices to reduce environment problem information about the environment or risk consequences of choices make clear to consumers that it is in their personal interest to change their decisions or behavior e.g. Tanzania bureau of standard, provide information on environment release by polluters like on the cigarette, it is written dangerous with incentives to improve their environment performance to enhance their public image.

Tradable emission permits, these permits gives companies the right to emit specified quantities of pollutants. Companies that emit less than specified amount can sell their permit to other firms or bank them for future use. Businesses responsible for pollutions have incentive to internalize the external cost they were previous imposing on the society. If they clean up their pollution sources, they can realize profit by selling they permit to pollute. Once a business recognizes the possibility of selling its permit it sees that pollution is cost.

Providing environmental education, this is regarded as moral incentives that exist where a particular choice is widely known as the right thing to follow or as a particular admirable or where the failure to act on in a certain way is condemned in a society. This encourage and promote the preserving the natural sources which later on influences the conservation of environment.

Apart from incentives explained above on environmental conservation, the following are the disincentives towards environment conservation in Tanzania;

Imposing tax- policythis can help to prevent people in destructing the environment, which can be operated through the imposition of high taxes, because by doing so, the ability of producing certain product which are harmful to the environment can be discouraged. For example Tanzania cigarette company (TCC) and cigarette supplies can be reduced.

Tax-policy according to Tanzania tax-policy (2004) which deals with the imposition of taxes to the commodities which are manufactured within the country, therefore there should be imposition of high taxes to producers who are producing commodities which are corrupting to the environment. Example, cigarettes, minerals, charcoal burning so as to discourage them to produce such commodities which are not environment friendly.

Charges imposition, this may include fees fines and interest rates. Government should make sure that, there is heavy imposition of changes to any activities that can lead to environmental destruction for instance illegal charcoal burning, high pollution from industries, poor mining activities, vehicles and human disposal, so as to discourage them from doing such activities.

Change property right, is the situation of changing the right of owning or doing certain activities, for example miners, dynamite fishermen, intensive farmers who are using chemicals in the agricultural activities, textile industries which produce waste materials (solid, liquid and gases), thus the government should change ownership to producers who will produces with negative externalities, hence reduction on environmental degradation.

Establishment of various principles, for example polluter pay principles (PPP). This principle helps to control and manage the extent of polluting environment so as to discourage destructive activities

Environmental tax This is the kind of incentives which influence people on environmental conservation through the motive of polluter party principle. When people are taxed for polluting environmental they tent to reduce the tendency of polluting environment as the result of conservation environment.

Conclusion

After viewing the incentives and disincentives on environmental conservation we may observed that the effort took place on environmental conservation and sustainability of living standard of a community. Those effort categorized in international, states and individual. In international efforts we look the contribution of UN agencies like UNESCO and UNEP. While in state or national level we consider developing state since 1980's where the following effort seem to take place in community level as part of associating them with environmental conservation. Associating local community under approach called community with based conservation (CBC) with interrogation of policy, acts, laws (bylaws) and education. Environmental agreements (MEA'S) among people relating to environmental conservation matter, interrogating private sector to involve on environmental conservation NGO'S and CBO'S Although the effort still existing but the challenge also still increasing day to day, here we may advocate that, more effort are needed to take place by engaging into human activities which are environmental friendly, such as proper utilization of resource, recycle end products, reducing energy consumption by applying alternative means such as, the use of fuels, wind or solar power, bio gas, instead depending much on energy from forest.

REFERENCE

Beatley Timothy et al, ( 2002). An introduction to coastal zone management (2nd Edition). Island Press. Washington DC

Eldon D. Enger, (2002), Environmental science,(8th Edition), Mc Graw- Hill Company.

Getis at al (2008), Introduction to geography.

Philip R. Berke, (2006). Urban land use planning, University of Illinois Press. North Carolina

Webster's new world Dictionary. 11th Edition