About TFS

Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) is a semi-autonomous government Executive Agency whose establishment is supported by the Executive Agency Act (Cap. 245 Revised Edition 2009), the National Forest and Beekeeping Policies adopted in March 1998 and administered through The Forest Act (No. 14 of 2002) and Beekeeping Act (No. 15 of 2002) which provides the legal framework for the management of forests and bee resources.

TFS develops and manages forest and bee resources sustainably in collaboration with stakeholders to deliver sufficient and quality goods and services to meet local and international socio-economic and environmental needs. The specific role and responsibilities of TFS are:

1. Establishing and managing national natural forest and bee reserves;
2. Establishing and managing national forest plantations and apiaries;
3. Managing forest and bee resources in general land;
4. Enforcing forest and beekeeping legislation in areas of TFS jurisdiction;
5. Providing forest and beekeeping extension services in areas of TFS jurisdiction;
6. Collecting forest and beekeeping revenues;
7. Marketing forest and bee products and services;
8. Providing high quality tree seed and other propagating materials for different end uses;
9. Conducting training to public, private individuals or institutions in the principles; procedures and techniques of nursery establishment and management, safe tree climbing, temporary seed storage and gene resource conservation;
10. Providing consultancy in matters related to the practice of the tree seed management and environmental conservation including landscaping, rehabilitation/ re-vegetation of degraded land;
11. Preparing certificate of origin of seed supplied to all export and major domestic customers; and
12. Managing, improving and developing the antiquities stations.

TFS aligns its strategic priorities with a number of the national and global development policy frameworks to ensure that sustainable management of forest and bee resources contributes to socio-economic development. These frameworks include the Ruling Party Manifesto that advocates to making Tanzania an industrial country among others, the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (MKUKUTA II), which is linked with the Tanzania Development Vision 2025 and is committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Further, MKUKUTA II as translated into the Five Year Development Plan II (FYDP II) is being linked with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as internationally agreed targets for reducing poverty. In forestry, the SDG 15 advocates on ensuring protection and sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems (forests), combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.