* l - | ~~~~227 ,. ~~Volume 2 i ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ 4r0", A F1 ; . LI'.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AFRICAN FOREST POLICY FORUM Nairobi, August 29-30, 1996 PROCEEDINGS Volume II: Full Text Presentations The World Bank Africa Region Environment Group DISCLAIMER The material published here has been kindly made available by the participants to the African Forest Policy Forum. If anyone wishes to use this material, in full or in part, we request that a direct contact be made with the respective authors for further information and permission. The authors' contact addresses and numbers can be found in the List of Participants at the end of this document. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the World Bank, or any of its affiliated organizations. The case studies presented at the Forum have been included here for the learning they contain on the experience gained with forest policy implementation in sub-Saharan Africa. This does not imply that all approaches used are endorsed as such by the World Bank Group. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and any other information shown on the accompanying map do not imply on the part of the World Bank Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. ii CONTENTS Volume I Volume II Disclaimer ............................................................... ii ii Foreword ...............................................................v Acknowledgments .............................................................. vi Preamble .............................................................. vii Listing of Country Papers by Theme ......................................................... ix v Opening Address ............... ............................................... xi Statement on the Intergovermmental Panel on Forests ............ ................... xiv Country Papers Forest Management Planning Based on Successful Pilot Operations-Benin (1,2,3,4)'/ ..................I...........................................1 A Pilot Operation To Develop a Community-Based Woodland Management Model-Burkina Faso (2, 4) ....................4 1 Agroforestry as a Tool to Improve Natural Resources Management--Central African Republic (2) .......................... ............................1....... ............ 6 15 Forest Resources Management to Sustainably Satisfy National Household Energy Requirements-Chad (1, 2, 3, 4) ...........................8.......................... .... 8 Collaborative Management of State-Owned Gazetted Forests-Cote d'lvoire (1,2,4) ......................... 10 29 The Private Sector in sub-Saharan Africa--Is it Able to Take up the Challenge of Sustainable Forest Management? -With emphasis on Gabon- (3, 4) .................. 13 67 Eliciting People's Support to Fight Poaching-Gabon (1, 2) ... 16 79 Processing and Marketing of Non-Traditional Wood Species-Ghana (3) .......... . 7 89 Putting Forest Policy Into Practice: Interim Measures to Control Illegal Timber Harvesting Outside Forest Reserves--Ghana (1, 2) ...... 19 103 Coordinated Management of Forest Reserves and Peripheral Agricultural Lands-Guinea (1, 2, 4) .................................. 21 125 Rehabilitation of Cement Factory Quarries-Kenya (3) .... 23 137 Private Sector Participation in the Govemment Woodfuel and Afforestation Program--Kenya (3) .............................................................................................. 25 Using Butterfly Biodiversity for Income Generation--Kenya (2) ............ ............. 27 143 Transmara Forests: Conservation and Management Issues--Kenya (1, 2) ........... 29 149 1/Numbers between parenthesis indicate the theme(s) of the case studies: 1. Policy and Legislative Reforms 2. Farmer/NGO/Local Community Participation 3. Private Sector Participation 4. Capacity Building 111 Volume I Volume H Participatory Conservation of Coastal Indigenous Forests-Kenya (2, 4) ............ 30 Community Participation in the Introduction and Establishment of Multipurpose Tree Species-Kenya (2) ................ ........................................... 33 Integrating Tree Cash Crops in Agricultural Production Systems--Kenya (3) ..... 35 157 Spontaneous Growing of Trees by the Private Sector Responding to Market Demand-Madagascar (1, 3) .................... ....................................... 37 Participatory Formulation of the National Forestry Policy-- Madagascar (1, 2, 3) ........................................................... 39 Environmental Rehabilitation of Refugee Impacted Areas-Malawi (2) .............. 41 163 Stakeholder Participation in, and Restructuring of, Forestry Research Management-Malawi (1, 2, 3, 4) ............................... ............................ 43 173 Capacity Building in Local Communities for Sustainable Resource Management-Mali (4) .............. ............................................. 45 181 Participatory Natural Resource Management-Mali (2, 4) ................. ................... 47 197 Restoration of Highly Degraded and Threatened Native Forests-Mauritius (2). 49 219 Household Energy Strategy: One Element of the Overall Forestry Policy- Niger (1, 2) ........................................................... 51 229 Participatory Forest Land Use Planning - Cross River State-Nigeria (2, 4) ........ 53 239 Participatory Forest Policy Reform-Senegal (1, 2) ............................. ................. 56 255 Community-based Youth Participation in the Rehabilitation of Fragile Areas- Sierra Leone (2, 4) ........................................................... 58 Public Sector Management of Indigenous Forests for Sustainable Timber Harvesting-South Africa (1) ........... ................................................ 60 Integrated Industrial Forestry: The Case of The Usutu Pulp Ltd.-Swaziland (3). 62 275 Adopting a Farming System Approach to Facilitate Participatory Forestry- Tanzania (2, 4) .............................................................. 64 281 The Role of NGOs in Facilitating Community Participation in Forest Conservation-Tanzania (2, 4) ................................... ............................ 66 291 Community-Based Natural Forest Management--Tanzania (1, 2) ........... ............ 68 305 Donor Coordination in the Forestry Sector-Tanzania (1, 4) ............. .................. 71 Reforestation of Refugee Camps -West Nile- Lessons Learned from Implementation-Uganda (2, 4) ............................... ............................... 73 323 Local Participation for the Conservation and Management of Natural Forests- Uganda (2) .............................................................. 75 329 Promoting Community-based Reforestation and Agroforestry-Zaire (1, 2) ....... 77 Local Participation and Benefit Sharing in Wildlife Management - The CAMPFIRE Experience-Zimbabwe (2, 4) ........................................................... 79 339 Institutional Reformns and Activities to Allow Local Participation in Forest Management-Zimbabwe (1, 2, 4) .................................................. ............ 81 357 The Role of the Private Sector in the Sustainable Management and Development of Forests in Sub-Saharan Africa (1, 3) ................... ..................... 83 371 Synopsis of Participants' Comments ...................................................... 87 List of Participants ...................................................... 89 Map of Sub-Saharan Africa: Major Agroclimatic and Forest Zones ......... 95 381 iv Listing of Country Papers by Theme 1. Policy and Legislative Reforms Forest Management Planning Based on Successful Pilot Operations--Benin Forest Resources Management to Sustainably Satisfy National Household Energy Requirements-Chad Collaborative Management of State-Owned Gazetted Forests-Cote d'Ivoire Eliciting People's Support to Fight Poaching-Gabon Putting Forest Policy Into Practice: Interim Measures to Control Illegal Timber Harvesting Outside Forest Reserves-Ghana Coordinated Management of Forest Reserves and Peripheral Agricultural Lands-Guinea Transmara Forests: Conservation and Management Issues-Kenya Spontaneous Growing of Trees by the Private Sector Responding to Market Demand-Madagascar Participatory Formulation of the National Forestry Policy--Madagascar Stakeholder Participation in, and Restructuring of, Forestry Research Management-Malawi Household Energy Strategy: One Element of the Overall Forestry Policy-Niger Participatory Forest Policy Reform-Senegal Public Sector Management of Indigenous Forests for Sustainable Timber Harvesting-South Africa Community-Based Natural Forest Management-Tanzania Donor Coordination in the Forestry Sector-Tanzania Promoting Community-based Reforestation and Agroforestry--Zaire Institutional Reforms and Activities to Allow Local Participation in Forest Management-Zimbabwe The Role of the Private Sector in the Sustainable Management and Development of Forests in Sub-Saharan Africa 2. Farmer/NGO/Local Community Participation Forest Management Planning Based on Successful Pilot Operations-Benin A Pilot Operation To Develop a Community-Based Woodland Management Model-Burkina Faso Agroforestry as a Tool to Improve Natural Resources Management-Central African Republic Forest Resources Management to Sustainably Satisfy National Household Energy Requirements-Chad Collaborative Management of State-Owned Gazetted Forests-Cote d'Ivoire Eliciting People's Support to Fight Poaching-Gabon Putting Forest Policy Into Practice: Interim Measures to Control Illegal Timber Harvesting Outside Forest Reserves-Ghana Coordinated Management of Forest Reserves and Peripheral Agricultural Lands-Guinea Using Butterfly Biodiversity for Income Generation--Kenya Transmara Forests: Conservation and Management Issues-Kenya Participatory Conservation of Coastal Indigenous Forests--Kenya Community Participation in the Introduction and Establishment of Multipurpose Tree Species-Kenya Participatory Formulation of the National Forestry Policy-Madagascar Environmental Rehabilitation of Refugee Impacted Areas-Malawi Stakeholder Participation in, and Restructuring of, Forestry Research Management-Malawi Participatory Natural Resource Management-Mali Restoration of Highly Degraded and Threatened Native Forests-Mauritius Household Energy Strategy: One Element of the Overall Forestry Policy--Niger Participatory Forest Land Use Planning - Cross River State-Nigeria Participatory Forest Policy Reform-Senegal Community-based Youth Participation in the Rehabilitation of Fragile Areas-Sierra Leone Adopting a Farming System Approach to Facilitate Participatory Forestry--Tanzania The Role of NGOs in Facilitating Community Participation in Forest Conservation--Tanzania Community-Based Natural Forest Management-Tanzania Reforestation of Refugee Camps -West Nile- Lessons Learned from Implementation-Uganda Promoting Community-based Reforestation and Agroforestry--Zaire Local Participation and Benefit Sharing in Wildlife Management - The CAMPFIRE Experience-Zimbabwe Institutional Reforms and Activities to Allow Local Participation in Forest Management-Zimbabwe v 3. Private Sector Participation Forest Management Planning Based on Successful Pilot Operations--Benin Forest Resources Management to Sustainably Satisfy National Household Energy Requirements-Chad The Private Sector in sub-Saharan Africa-Is it Able to Take up the Challenge of Sustainable Forest Management? -With emphasis on Gabon- Processing and Marketing of Non-Traditional Wood Species-Ghana Rehabilitation of Cement Factory Quarries--Kenya Private Sector Participation in the Government Woodfuel and Afforestation Program-Kenya Integrating Tree Cash Crops in Agricultural Production Systems-Kenya Spontaneous Growing of Trees by the Private Sector Responding to Market Demand-Madagascar Participatory Formulation of the National Forestry Policy-Madagascar Stakeholder Participation in, and Restructuring of, Forestry Research Management-Malawi Integrated Industrial Forestry: The Case of The Usutu Pulp Ltd.-Swaziland The Role of the Private Sector in the Sustainable Management and Development of Forests in Sub-Saharan Africa 4. Capacity Building Forest Management Planning Based on Successful Pilot Operations-Benin A Pilot Operation To Develop a Community-Based Woodland Management Model-Burkina Faso Forest Resources Management to Sustainably Satisfy National Household Energy Requirements-Chad Collaborative Management of State-Owned Gazetted Forests-C6te d'Ivoire The Private Sector in sub-Saharan Africa-Is it Able to Take up the Challenge of Sustainable Forest Management? -With emphasis on Gabon- Coordinated Management of Forest Reserves and Peripheral Agricultural Lands-Guinea Participatory Conservation of Coastal Indigenous Forests--Kenya Stakeholder Participation in, and Restructuring of, Forestry Research Management--Malawi Capacity Building in Local Communities for Sustainable Resource Management-Mali Participatory Natural Resource Management-Mali Participatory Forest Land Use Planning - Cross River State-Nigeria Community-based Youth Participation in the Rehabilitation of Fragile Areas-Sierra Leone Adopting a Farming System Approach to Facilitate Participatory Forestry-Tanzania The Role of NGOs in Facilitating Community Participation in Forest Conservation-Tanzania Donor Coordination in the Forestry Sector--Tanzania Reforestation of Refugee Camps -West Nile- Lessons Learned from Implementation--Uganda Local Participation and Benefit Sharing in Wildlife Management - The CAMPFIRE Experience-Zimbabwe Institutional Reforms and Activities to Allow Local Participation in Forest Management--Zimbabwe vi Country Papers (Full Text) i MINISTERE DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT BURKINA FASO ET DE L'EAU LA PATRIE OULA MORT. NOUS VAINCRONS * ** * **** * **** * OPERATION PILOTE POUR DEVELOPPER UN PLAN D'AMMENAGEMENT COMMUNAUTAIRE DE FORETS Presentation par Issouf SOULAMA Inspecteur des Eaux et des Forets Aofit 1996 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings OPERATION PILOTE POUR DEVELOPPER UN PLAN D'AMMtNAGEMENT COMMUNAUTAIRE DE FORETS INTRODUCTION Le Burkina Faso est un Pays sahelien enclave situe au coeur de l'Afrique occidentale. II est caracterise par des variations pluviometriques considerables : les ressources naturelles notamment la terre, l'eau et la vegetation sont limitees et fragiles. La degradation de ces ressources s'accentue sous l'effet combine de la surexploitation resultait des pratiques culturales, pastorales, de la consommation de combustibles ligneux et de l'occupation de nouvelles terres est due a une forte demographie. Sa superficie est de 274 000 km2, et sa population estimee en 1991 a plus de 9 millions d'habitants (Enquete demographique de Juin 1991). La densite moyenne est de 33 habitants au km2. L'economie du Burkina Faso est caracterisee par la forte predominance de l'Agriculture et secteur tertiaire. L'agriculture represente environ 35 % du PIB et occupe plus de 5 % de la population. Quant au seul secteur tertiaire, il est fortement domine par des activites commerciales et occupe la majorite des populations urbaines. La periode 1984-1995 a ete marquee par 4 programmes de developpement et de politique economique qui sont: - Le Programme Populaire de Developpement (PPD) 1984-1986 - Le Premier Plan de Developpement 1986-1990 - Le Second Plan de Developpement 1991-1995 - Le Programme d'Ajustement Structurel approuve en Mars 1991. Ces differents programmes de developpement constitues de programme sectoriels et transectoriels sont reparties selon leur typologie en matiere de population, secteurs de soutien a la production, secteurs sociaux et secteurs a l'organisation et des equipements administratifs. Pour ces programmes, les ressources naturelles ont ete considerees comme moteur de la relance economique. C'est dans ce contexte qu'a ete elabore le document de politique forestiere nationale. I. JUSTIMICATION ET FONDEMENT DE LA POLITIQUE FORESTIERE._ NATIONALE Le document de Politique Forestiere Nationale se veut une reforme pour le Burkina Fas dans toute decision a prendre et toute action a entreprendre dans les trois (3) sous-secteurs que sont les for8ts, la faune et les peches. II represente un outil de negociation de l'assistance exterieure et un moyen d'evaluation du developpement des activites en terme d'unicide et de coherence. Notre politique Nationale Forestiere trouve ses fondements dans les elements tels que exprimes dans: 2 Country Paper-Burkina Faso - la constitution nationale promulguee en Juin 1991 qui en tant qu'ordrejuridique de premier ordre est la principale base institutionnelle sur laquelle s'edifie la Politique Forestiere Nationale. - Le Conseil National pour la Gestion de l'Environnement (CONAGESE) notamment en ce qu'il vise a maltriser les pressions sur le milieu Naturel, favoriser la regeneration des ressources naturelles, proteger la biodiversite, ameliorer le cadre et les conditions de vie des populations et amorcer le processus d'un developpement durable. Le code de l'Environnement qui se veut un elargissement des principes fondamentaux de gestion et de protection de l'Environnement dans le but precis de valoriser les ressources naturelles, de lutter contre les formes de pollution et de nuisance et d'ameliorer les conditions de vie des populations dans le respect de 1'equilibre du milieu ambiant. La politique de developpement economique et socio-culturel a long terme du pays, en particulier au r6le devolu au secteur primaire auquel appartient les trois sous-secteurs ainsi que la necessite de leur apporter des transformations positives. Les engagements pris sur le plan international quant aux politiques et a la gestion rationnelle des ressources naturelles a l'echelle globale. HI. COMPOSANTE ET MISE EN OEUVRE DE LA POLITIQUE FORESTIERE NATIONALE La Politique Forestiere Nationale du Burkina Faso se definit comme etant le reflet global des objectifs qu'elle poursuit, des options qu'elle prend en compte, de la strategie et d'approches operationnelles qui sous-tendent les activites programmees dans le cadre qu'elle constitue. Elle est de par sa specificite, completee par des textes legislatifs qui orientent et facilitent son application, ainsi que des mecanismes et des instruments de gestion administrative et technique. 2.1. Les objectifs La politique forestiere nationale a essentiellement pour objectifs: de traduire la place et le r6le des sous-secteurs forets-faune et peches et de preciser les options du gouvernement a travers les axes prioritaires de developpement qui s'y rapportent en fonction des missions du Ministere de tutelle; de rationaliser la gestion des ressources des trois sous-secteurs forets, faune et peches a travers la mise en coherence et en synergie des interventions dans les trois sous-secteurs avec de nettes ameliorations; de conferer une base conceptuelle pour l'elaboration de la legislation afferente a la gestion de ces trois sous-secteurs; 3 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - de constituer un outil de negociation et un cadre de reference quant aux concertations avec les partenaires du developpement pour la coordination et l'harmonisation des interventions menees dans les trois sous-secteurs; 2.2. La strategie globale et les approches operationnelles Pour toutes ces interventions prevues au titre de cette politique, la strategie adopt6e est basee essentiellement autour de quatre approches qui sont: - L'approche participative - L'approche programme - L'approche gestion des terroirs - L'approche par zone socio-economique L'approche participative sera erigee en principe directeur pour l'ensemble des interventions dans ces trois sous-secteurs. Le caractere participatif a conferer aux interventions suppose la concertation, a chacune des phases des actions envisagees avec les parties concernees, surtout les populations rurales riveraines des ressources prises en consideration. Pour les autres approches, les choix seront determinds par les realites socio- economiques, culturelles et ecologiques propres A chaque sous-secteur, en fonction des priorites nationales et des mecanismes de coordination et d'harmonisation essentiellement requis. 2.3. Les principes d'Action Les principes d'action de la politique forestiere nationale reposent essentiellement sur deux (2) axes principaux: - Une participation accrue des operateurs economiques et des populations rurales organisees en groupements ou structures appropriees. - Une affectation des contributions exterieures en priorite A l'acquisition de connaissances et de technologies nouvelles et a l'amelioration des capacites des ressources humaines impliquees dans la gestion des trois sous-secteurs et des activites qui y sont developpees (populations rurales, agents du service forestier, operateurs economiques, ONG). 2.4. Les moyens de mise en oeuvre L'application efficace de la politique forestiere nationale necessite un certain nombre de mesures que l'on pourrait repertorier de la maniere suivante: - Une reconsideration du cadre institutionnel afin de le debarasser de certaines insuffisances; - L'utilisation judicieuse de toute les ressources humaines notamment la participation des populations en general, des femmes, des ONG et du secteur prive; 4 Country Paper-Burkina Faso - La prise des mesures d'accompagnement en ce qui concerne la readaptation des textes 1egislatifs, la promotion de la recherche d'accompagnement, la poursuite des experiences du programme cadre de gestion des terroirs, la poursuite du processus de decentralisation; Le financement des actions par un amorcement de la contribution nationale, une orientation en direction du milieu prive et des populations; L'instauration d'un systeme de communication etablissant un dialogue entre les populations a la base et les structures de gestion aux echelons local et national. Afin d'integrer toutes les strategies, un programme national d'amenagement des forets (PNAF) a et e1abore et qui se fonde sur les experiences deja acquises a travers l'execution du Projet PNUD/BKF/93/003 "Amenagement des forets Naturelles." IH. PROJET AMENAGEMENT DES FORETS NATURELLES 3.1. Antecedents Le projet "Amenagement des Forets" est ne suite a la crise en ressources energetiques notamment le Bois dans les annees 1974-1975 et 1995. Depuis deux phases se sont succedees. Le Projet "Amenagement et Exploitation des Forats pour le Ravitaillement de la Ville de Ouagadougou en Bois de Feu" PNUD/BKF/85/011 finance par le PNUD et execute par le FAO sous la tutelle de la Direction Gdnerale des Eaux et Forets de Novembre 1986 a Juin 1990 a permis de mettre en amenagement la foret classee du Nazinon d'une .superficie de 24.000 ha et de mettre au point un modele d'amenagement participatif. Ce modele, developpe et consolide lors de la Deuxieme phase du Projet PNUD/FAO/BFK/89/0 11, a ete execute dans le meme cadre administratif que le precedent de Juillet 1990 A Aouit 1994 principalement dans les forets protdgees. Cette 3eme phase "PNUD/BKF/93/003"qui se ddroule de Septembre 1994 A Septembre 1998 executee par le gouvemement du Burkina Faso avec comme agence de cooperation la FAO, utilisera les acquis techniques et socio-economiques des phases anterieures pour la realisation de ses objectifs.. 3.2. Objectifs Objectifs globaux - Contribuer A la finalisation du Programme National d'Amenagement des Forets Naturelles et A la mise en place des organes et structures de pilotage et de mise en oeuvre. Renforcer les capacites nationales de formulation d'execution et de suivi des actions d'amenagement des formations forestieres naturelles. 5 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Contribuer au retablissement des equilibres socio-ecologiques a travers l'organisation de l'espace rural et l'assistance a l'utilisation optimale des ressources naturelles. d'elaborer une approche technique pour la restauration des systemes ecologiques degrades et son application sur le terrain a titre experimental et pilote dans le bassin versant du Nakambe au nord de Ouagadougou avec la participation paysanne. Mettre en amenagement 100.000 ha additionnels de forets naturelles avec la participation effective des populations rurales riveraines pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine forestier et le ravitaillement soutenu des populations rurales et urbaines en combustibles ligneux et consolidation des 100.00 ha amenages au cours des phases anterieurs. Objectifs specifiques Les objectifs specifiques de la mise en amenagement d'une zone s'articulent autour de: La sauvegarde de l'environnement par le reajustement des besoins des populations et les ressources disponibles. La promotion de la prise de conscience sur la gestion du patrimoine forestier par la concertation, le regroupement afin de creer une dynamique de decisions et d'actions A entreprendre pour une gestion rentable et durable des ressources forestieres. La limitation de l'exode rural. La creation d'une espace economique viable et rentable. - L'accroissement de la qualite de la participation aux activites de sauvegarde et aux actions de developpement par l'organisation et la formation. L'introduction de nouvelles connaissances (stabilisation de pistes, exploitation forestiere, amelioration des conditions d'exploitation agricole et pastorale ...). 3.3. Situation de la zone d'intervention Le Projed s'execute principalement dans la region circonscrite dans les zones qui ont une contribution quelconque au ravitaillement de la ville de Ouagadougou en bois de feu. La region s'etend sur un rayon de 150 km autour de Ouagadougou. Un schema directeur d'amenagement des formations forestieres est deja elabore pour la region de Ouagadougou et couvre actuellement 17 provinces. Le financement PNUD couvre les provinces suivantes: La Sissili, le Bazega, le Zoundweogo, le Sanguie et le Ziro. Au total 219 villages sont impliques dans les activites d'amenagement qui sont en cours dans cette region. 6 Country Paper-Burkina Faso II faut ajouter A cette zone une extension au Nord de la ville de Ouagadougou dans les provinces d'Oubritenga et du Sanmatenga d'une superficie de 50 000 ha entierement cartographies oui le projet interviendra sur une superficie experimentale de 5 000 ha. 3.4. Strategie d'intervention La demarche elaboree par le Projet peut etre scindee en 2 parties: la mise en amenagement avec participation paysanne; la mise en autonomie de gestion forestiere. Le prealable a la mise en amenagement est la definition claire des conditions de collaboration avec les populations concernees A travers des missions d'animation d'echange d'information et de communication. 3.4.1. La mise en amenagement La mise en amenagement s'articule autour des etudes techniques, de la concertation entre acteurs-beneficiaires et acteurs-encadreurs, de la reorganisation de l'espace rural, de l'exploitation forestiere, de la protection, du reboisement par le semis direct, de l'organisation sociale, de la construction d'un reseau de pistes forestieres. Elle dure 2 ans et est finance par le Projet. La strategie developpee par le Projet s'inspire des approches preconisees par le Programme National d'Amrnagement des Forets Naturelles (PNAFN) a savoir l'Approche Programme, I'Approche par Zone Socio-Ecologique, I'Approche Terroir et l'Approche Participative. La strategie est basee sur la participation reelle des populations cibles a l'identification des ressources, des problemes, des contraintes et des solutions : a la prise de decisions, A 1'execution, au suivi et a l'evaluation des actionsa travers l'approche participative. Deux demarches methodologiques sont utilisees pour la mise en amenagement: la demarche socio-economique et la demarche technique. i) la demarche socio-economique consiste en I'implication des autorites administratives et coutumieres, des populations et en une collecte de donnees socio-economiques du site A amenager. Elle se realise en plusieurs rencontres avec les populations et les autorites administratives locales. ii) La demarche technique consiste en la collecte de donnees qualitatives et quantitatives sur les potentialites humaines, organisationnelles et forestieres techniques : a l'application du modele lors des phases precedentes pour la mise en amenagement de surfaces additionnelles de forets villageoises ; a la conception ou A I'adaptation de paquets techniques adaptes A chaque situation; a l'identification et A la mise en oeuvre de micro-realisation generatrices de revenus et au suivi-evaluation des actions developpees. 7 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Afin de limiter les pressions d'ordre anthropique et animale, des actions sont developpees en vue de contribuer a l'organisation de l'elevage traditionnel, ai l'accroissement de Ia productivite des cultures vivrieres par unite de surface cultivee. 3.4.2. La mise en autonomie de gestion A partir de la premiere annee de gestion, un fonds est constitue a partir du prelevement de 31% des recettes d'exploitation de bois de feu afin d'assurer l'autonomie de financement. La duree d'un cycle de gestion renouvelable, est de 15 ans. 3.5. Acquis realises par le Projet En 9 ans d'execution, le Projet a imprime dans sa zone d'intervention des faits et des changements importants. Parmi lesquels on peut citer: * Au plan technique - L'elabomtion d'un modele d'amenagement qui comprend des normes et des techniques d'exploitation avec pour outils d'exploitation, du materiel traditionnel; le modele developpe jette les bases d'une meilleure utilisation de 1'espace rural par sa reorganisation en vue de son utilisation optimale. - Le modele developpe assure la gestion post-projet a travers un cle de repartition du prix du stere qui comprend la part du buicheron, fruit de la labeur du producteur, le fonds de roulement du groupement afin de donner un fonds d'investissement aux villageois, le fonds d'amenagement forestier pour assurer les charges de la gestion post-projet et enfin le permis de coupe comme taxe a reverser au tresor public de l'Etat. Le stere est vendu a 1610 f CFA (= 3,22 $ US) repartis de la maniere suivante. Remuneration du buicheron ........... .............. = 610 f cfa (=1,22$US) Fonds de Roulement du Groupement ......................... = 200 f cfa (=0,40$US) Fonds d'Amenagement Forestier ......................... = 500 fcfa (=1,00$US) Permis de Coupe ......................... = 300 f cfa (=0,60$US) - Le modele developpe permet le prelevement d'environ 50% du potentiel ligneux sur pied; il permet en oeuvre le repeuplement des zones degrades, 1'enrichissement des parcelles soumises a l'exploitation et la protection contre les feux de brousse tardifs par la protection preventive: application des feux precoces. - L'application du modele 'd'amenagement a permi de mettre a la disposition du departement charge des forets d'elements cartographiques, d'un schema directeur d'amenagement pour la region de Ouagadougou et un personnel qualifie pour la formulation, 1'execution, le suivi et l'evaluation des actions d'aamenagement forestier a travers la valorisation et la formation de 1'expertise nationale. - L'implication d'autres partenaires pour la reproduction du modele aussi bien a l'interieur du pays comme dans les pays de la sous-region. On peut citer a l'interieur du pays le PNGT, le PDIZ, le FED a travers le PDRtSissili et bient6t le RPTES qui s'est inspire 8 Country Paper-Burkina Faso enormement du modele developpe et promet de l'ameliorer a travers une forte implication des communautes A la base et des propositions de mesures A prendre pour une plus grande durabilite des actions entreprises ou a initier. * Au plan social - Le systeme d'amenagement des terroirs a permis aux responsables villageois de retrouver leurs prerogatives dans la gestion de leurs terroirs notamment les rapports avec les migrants. - La delimitation des terroirs en secteurs agricole et forestier dans les forets protegees et les esquisses d'articulation entre agriculteurs, eleveurs et exploitants forestiers ont permis la reduction de plus de la moitie en nombre des conflits entre agriculteurs et eleveurs. - Sur la base de l'exploitation forestiere des structures et ouvrages d'interet communautaire ont ete realises. On peut citer: puits, ecoles et banques de cereales. II faut noter egalement les contributions diverses (entretien des forages, des ecoles, des Centres de Sante, des pistes intervillages ...) et les achats d'equipements d'interet collectif (charettes, pics, pioches, et des animaux de traits ....). - Les groupements au sein des villages et entre les villages sont un atout important pour aborder les problemes de developpement. Sur 102 groupements (2eme phase), il s'est constitue 28 sections permanentes de bucherons afin d'executer les plans d'amenagement et de gestion par unite d'amenagement forestier. Ces sections permanentes se sont A leur tour erigees en 4 superstructures paysannes (Unions de Groupements). A tout cela il faudra ajouter la formation de moniteurs forestiers, agricole, d'elevage et d'Apiculture (I a 2 par groupement villageois en fonction des activites specifiques). *Au plan economique - L'amelioration des revenus par l'activite de gestion forestiere qui procure un revenu annuel moyen par buicheron de 50.000 FCFA (=1 00$US) equivalent au revenu dui A I'activite agricole. - 5.000 bficherons (2eme phase) dont environ 150 femmes beneficient directement de ce revenu supplementaire. - L'exploitation forestiere a procure aux populations plus de 600 millions de francs CFA (1,2 millions de $US) au 31 decembre 1995. - La mecanisation progressive de la production agricole avec les revenus provenant de la foret. Un grand nombre de producteurs ont acquis du materiel aratoire moderne (houes modernes, charrues). - L'installation du Projet a permis le developpement des marches ruraux grace au desenclavement des zones concernees A l'essor economique et au developpement des echanges commerciaux notamment les produits de rente (coton, ignames, ...). 9 African Forest Poliy Forum-Proceedings RECAPITULATIF DE LA CONTRIBUTION DES ZONES AMENAGEES OU EN COURS D'AMENAGEMENT AU RAVITAILLEMENT DELA VILLE DE OUAGADOUGOU PRODUCTION EN STERES CHANTIERS 1987-1994 1995 TOTAL VALEUR (F CFA) Nazinon 250.000 77.406 327.406 527.123.660 Bougnounou-Neviel 110.000 10.260 120.260 193.618.600 Cassou 180.000 31.310 211.301 340.194.610 Nazinon-Nord/ 25.000 2.926 27.926 44.960.860 Nakambe-Sud Nakambe Nord - - - - Silly-Zawara-Pouni - 3.517 3.517 5.662.370 Sapouy-Bitha 20.000 38.830 58.830 94.716.300 TOTAUX 585.000 164.240 749.240 1.206.276.400 (2.412,552,8$ US) Ces recettes se repartissent ainsi qu'il suit: LIBELLE VALEUR EN FCFA Rdmuneration du BGcheron 457.036.400 914.072,8 $US Fonds de Roulement du Groupement 149.848.000 299.696,0 $US Fonds d'Amenagement Forestier 374.620.000 749.240,0$US Permis de Coupe 224.772.000 449.544,0$US TOTAL 1,206.276.400 2.412.552,8$US La commercialisation du bois de feu a permis au cours des phases anterieures aux membres des groupements des 102 villages de beneficier de 473.850.000 FCFA (947.700$US). Elle a permis au cours de cette 3eme phase a 205 villages (103 villages pour la presente phase) de beneficier de la somme de 149.848.000 FCFA (299.696$US). *Au plan ecoiogique Le Projet a contribue a stabiliser et a ameliorer 250.000 ha de forkts naturelles, dont la disparition etait certaine a cause du phenom,ne migratoire et des pratiques nefastes d'exploitation. Les acquis se traduisent par: - la limitation en nombre et en intensite des feux de brousse et l'amorce de la gestion de leurs terroirs dans plus de 200 villages; 10 Country Paper-Burkina Faso la reduction en nombre et en intensite des defrichements non conservatoires; la contribution au ravitaillement de la ville de Ouagadougou en bois de feux de plus de 150.000 steres par an. la disparition progressive de 1'exploitation frauduleuse; I'autoformation en technique de valorisation et de sauvegarde des ressources forestieres. LES CHANTIERS AMENAGES CHANTIER SUPERFICIE NOMBRE DE NOMBRE ETAT GLOBAL AMENAGEE GROUPEMENTS D'ADHERENTS DU CHANTIER Nazinon 24.000 26 820 en autonomie de gestion Cassou 31.000 25 1.257 en autonomie de gestion Bougnounoul 24.000 30 2.015 en autonomie de gestton Nebidlianayou Nkamb-Sud 21.000 19 715 transfert a la Direction Nakambe-Nord Regionale du Centre et Extension en superficie TOTAL 100.000 102 4.806 L'autonomie de gestion est financee par le Fonds d'amenagement qui est un fonds alimente par le prelevement de 500 FCFA (I$US) sur le prix de stere vendu a 1.610 FCFA (3,22$US). 3.6. Etat d'avancement Trois composantes essentielles sont a considerer pour apprecier l'etat d'avancement: - la composante consolidation qui concerne l'achevement des Chantiers d'amenagement des 2 phases precedentes; la composante extension du modele d'amenagement sur 100.000 ha additionnels; la composante restauration de systemes ecologiques degrades dans la zone Nord de Ouagadougou. Composante consolidation Au titre de cette composante, les actions suivantes ont pu etre menees: 11 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 1'elaboration et l'adoption d'un document de base de transfert des Chantiers autonomes aux Directions Regionales des Eaux et Forets (DREF) du Centre et du Centre-Ouest; I'adoption des projets de budgets previsionnels des Chantiers d'amenagement forestiers; l'ouverture d'un compte bancaire pour chaque chantier dont les co-signataires sont: le Directeur Regional de l'Environnement et des Eaux et Forets territorialement competent et le Tresorier de l'Union Precooperative des Groupements de Gestion Forestiere du Chantier concerne. La ventilation des recettes s'est effectuee en debut 1995; la reconnaissance officielle des Unions precooperatives de Groupements de Gestion Forestiere est en cours. Composante extension On regroupe sous cette appellation l'ensemble des activites visant A creer de nouveaux Chantiers sur la base du modele d'aminagement elabore par le Projet. L'extension a ete orientee suivant les prescriptions du schema directeur d'amenagement et de conservation de 300.000 ha de forets naturelles dans la region de Ouagadougou. ZONES EN AMENAGEMENT SUPERFICIE NOMBRE DE ZONE CARTOGRAPHIEE VILLAGES ASSOCIES (ha) Sapouy/BihEa 335 000 43 Silly/Zawara 1 300 0000 48 Sud-Ouest Sissili 300 000 52 Nakamb4-Sud/ Nazinon-Nord 50 000 14 TOTAL 1 985 0000 154 12 Country Paper-Burkina Faso Composante restauration Au titre de la composante restauration des systemes ecologiques degrades, notamment dans la zone Nord du Nakambe, il s'agit de Les actions qui ont pu etre menees sont: - un diagnostic global de la zone de 50.000 ha; - le choix d'une xone experimentale de 5.000 ha; - 1'elaboration d'une strategie d'intervention; - l'inventaire et l'analyse des techniques et outils utilises par les intervenants locaux dans la zone; - demarrage des actions de restauration dans deux villages tests avec la participation des populations rurales. 3.7. Contraintes et difficultes * La production des forets amenagees (150 000 steres par an) represente 24 % de la consommation totale de la ville de Ouagadougou, ce qui pose un probleme de concurrence negative sur la production organisee. * Les bases de la decentralisation sont encore embryonnaires au Burkina Faso; ce qui fait du programme gestion des ressources naturelles un pionnier expose a toutes les lourdeurs administratives, sociologiques, ethniques et aux pr6jug6s divers. * Le taux d'alphabetisation et le niveau technologique est tres bas. Ce qui ralentit le taux de penetration des nouveaux concepts et le transfert technologique. * L'inexistance de reponses techniques claires dans les domaines de l'agriculture et de l'elevage est une menace permanente contre l'integrite des forets amenagees ou non amenagees. * La precarite du reseau de pistes est un facteur tres defavorable pour l'ecoulement des produits et le developpement des collectivites rurales. IV. CONCLUSION L'incidence du caractere socio-economique et ecologique de la Politique National Forestiere (Participation, interaction optimale entre 1'economie nationale et la valorisation des ressources des trois sous-secteurs et leur durabilite) doit etre recherche dans les modes d'intervention pratique sur le terrain. C'est ce qui a quoi le projet "Amenagement des forets naturelles" s'attele depuis pres d'une decennie avec comme cadre essentielle la participation des communautes rurales a la base et comme orientation la perennisation des acquis obtenus a travers le renforcement des structures de gestion mises en place. 13 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Pour ce faire, le gouvernement a deja engage des reflexions notamment en ce qui concerne la revision du prix du stere de bois qui est touj ours de 1610 FCFA (=3,20$US) depuis plus de 10 ans, et partant le relevement du fond d'amenagement afin de contribuer au plan economique a assurer la p6rennisation des actions entreprises en phase d'autonomie de gestion. Toujours dans le meme cadre, il y a la fixation d'un prix differentiel du stere de bois issus des zones amenagees oiu 1'exploitation se mene de facon anarchique et incontr6lee. 14 REPUBLIQUE CENTRAFRICAINE LE VOLETAGROFORESTIERIPARN: UN PR OJET PILOTE EN REPUBLIQUE CENTRAFRICAINE AGROFORESTRY AS A TOOL TO IMPROVE NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT E~~~~~~~~~~~~~~D _OH _ '.."~ BANGGUI, Aout 1996 PRESENTE PAR Gustave DOUNGOUBE et Pierre GEBA - MANO DIRECTEUR GENERAL DE DIRECTEUR GENERAL DES L 'EN VIRONNEMENT SER VICES REGIONAUX B.P. 830 B.P. 830 TEL (236) 61.89.08/61.15.99 TEL (236) 61 02.16/61.55.33 FAX (236) 61.5Z41 FAX (236) 64.57Z41 BANGUI BANGUI REPUBLIQUE CENTRAFRICAINE REPUBLIQUE CENTRAFRICAINE 15 African Forest Poliwy Forum-Proceedings PLAN DE L'EXPOSE 1 - Conditions actuelles et les corrections necessaires; 2 - Objectif de I'intervention; 3 - Activites principales; 4 - ProblImes de rehabilitation et solution; 5 - Resultats; 6 - Lecons tirees et leurs consequences sur les etapes suivantes. 16 Country Paper-Central African Republic LE VOLET AGROFORESTIER/PARN: UN PROJET PILOTE EN REPUBLIQUE CENTRAFRICAINE RESUME Le finage de Yombo, situe dans la Commune de Bimbo, en zone periurbain de Bangui, subit depuis les deux dernieres decennies de pressions de plus en plus croissantes. L'importance demographique de Bangui, la capitale qui compte environ six cent mille habitants (600.000) et la conjoncture economique des demnieres annees ont accelre le processus de degradation du milieu forestier de Yombo ; phenomene dui essentiellement A l'exploitation intensive du bois de chauffage et de terres agricoles. En outre, il conviendrait de noter que le besoin en nouvelles terres agricoles se faisait de plus en plus sentir au fur et A mesure que les non-residents s'installent. L'enjeu etait grand dans la mesure oii le systeme de culture itineraire, bien que destructeur, est probablement ce qui permet le mieux A des exploitants mal equipes de degager une rentabilite A court terme eleve. Dans ce contexte, le Ministere de l'Environnement, des Eaux, Forets, Chasses et Peches, grace au financement de la Banque Mondiale et A l'appui technique de Poulin (THERIAULT et de l'ONG OXFAM-OCSD), initie en 1992 le Volet Agroforestier au Projet d'Amenagement des Ressources Naturelles (PARN) qui a pour objectif de definir une approche et un programme integre d'activites de foresterie rurale axes sur l'agroforesterie et bases sur la participation active de la population afm d'inflechir le processus de degradation qui prevaut dans la zone. Ce processus est essentiellement dui a l'exploitation excessive du bois de feu, A l'agriculture itineraire et aux feux de brousse. Pour repondre A ces preoccupations, le projet comprend quatre (4) composantes ou axes d'intervention qui sont: - la gestion des pepinieres et plantations; - les dispositifs agroforestiers; - la conservation des ressources naturelles et; - la diffusion des foyers ameliores. Plusieurs etudes biophysiques et socio-economiques ont ete realisees dans le cadre du projet. La participation des populations A chacun des axes d'intervention a et essentielle pour les resultats obtenus, grace A l'animation, A la communication constante entre le projet et les populations du Finage. 17 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Aussi, il conviendrait de souligner que le debut du projet a ete relativement difficile au cours de cette premiere phase faute de comprehension de la part des paysans, qui continuent a considerer les forestiers comme des oppresseurs. Grace a l'approche participative developpee par le projet, un climat de confiance progressif a ete ne et a permis d'obtenir des resultats tres encourageants ces deux dernieres annees. Le seul probleme qui persiste reste avant tout le reamnenagement des textes sur la priorite fonciere et le statut des populations, leurs droits, leurs obligations et leur r6le dans la gestion des ressources naturelles. L'Etat doit faire une certaine concession aux populations pour ce qui concerne le droit de regard sur la gestion du patrimoine forestier. II devra s'assurer que sa releve par les paysans se fasse dans les bonnes conditions. 18 Country Paper-Central African Republic 1. INIRODUCTION 1.1 Presentation du finage de Yombo Le finage de Yombo est situe dans la Commune de Bimbo, au Sud-Ouest et dans la zone periurbaine de Bangui. II compte une trentaine de villages pour trente (30) terroirs. Les terroirs sont de taille variable selon qu'ils appartiennent aux populations autochtones ou non. L'ensemble du finage couvre une superficie de 50.000 ha avec une population flottante mal definie. Toutefois les resultats du recensement effectue en 1995 par le PARN aupres des menages dans sept villages temoins du finage donnent un chiffre de 4.528 habitants pour l'echantillon explore, soit plus de 33% de l'ensemble de la zone du projet. On y trouve sept (7) groupes culturels differents, avec de mode de vie allant des chasseurs-cueilleurs (autochtones) aux agriculteurs, qui, sont issus pour lerapport des communautes non-residentes. 1.2 Contexte du Projet La complexite de l'environnement socio-culturel et la position du fmage de Yombo a proximite de Bangui la capitale lui font subir, depuis au moins deux decennies de pressions de plus en plus importantes. Ainsi, l'importance demographique de la ville de Bangui qui compte environ 600.000 habitants et la conjoncture economique des dernieres annees ont favorise une exploitation plus intensive du bois de chauffe et des terres agricoles, entraminant ainsi une degradation tres rapide du milieu forestier de la zone car l'agriculture itineraire sur bruilis et l'exploitation du bois de chauffe font disparaitre environ 2.500 ha de foret chaque annee. Pour paillier a cet etat de chose, il faudrait necessairement ralentir le rythme de deboisement cause par l'exploitation spontanee de forets pour le bois de feu et par les pratiques d'exploitation nouvelle et des techniques economiquement viables pour les populations rurales. L'enjeu le plus important etait d'essayer de ralentir ou freiner le systeme de cultures itineraires, bien que destructeur, etait probablement celui qui permettait le mieux a des exploitants mal equipes de degager une rentabilite A court terme eleve. Dans ce contexte, le Ministere de l'Environnement, des Eaux, Forets, Chasses et Peches, grace au concours financier de la Banque Mondiale et A l'appui technique conjugue de Poulin THERAULT et l'ONG OXFAM-OCSD, a initie et execute le Volet Agroforestier du Projet d'Amenagement des Ressources Naturelles (PARN). 2. Objectifs de P'intervention Etant convaincu qu'il ne peut A lui seul inverser la forte tendance a la degradation des ressources forestieres dans la zone periurbaine de Bangui qui constitue le finage de Yombo, I'Etat a mis en place des 1992 le Volet Agroforestier qui a pour objectif de definir une approche et un programme integre d'activites forestieres rurales axes sur l'agroforesterie et bases sur la participation active de la population afin d'inflechir le processus de degradation qui prevaut dans 19 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings la zone periurbaine de Bangui. Cette grande ville etant largement tributaire des localites de l'interieur du pays, en ce qui concerne les vivriers et le gibier. 3. Activites Principales Le processus de degradation qui sevit dans le finage agroforestier de Yombo provient essentiellement de l'exploitation du bois et de feu, de I'agriculture itineraire et des feux de brousse. Pour parer A cette situation, il faudrait creer des activites qui corrigent les differentes tendances et qui puissent amener les populations A modifier leur comportement vis-a-vis de la nature. Ainsi, les activites du Volet Agroforestier ont ete divisees en quatre (4) axes d'intervention qui sont: - la gestion des pepinieres et plantations; - les dispositifs agroforestiers; - la conservation des ressources naturelles et, - la diffusion des foyers ameliores. La realisation des objectifs du projet a ete rendue possible grace a une demarche participative basde sur l'animation par etape, elle meme comportant: - I'elaboration des programmes negocies avec les populations; - les rencontres de sensibilisation, vulgarisation; - 1'etablissement des plans d'action villageois; - le suivi des activites et, - la formation lors des rencontres specifiques. Cette formation a porte specifiquement sur l'elaboration des statuts et reglements interieurs des comites de gestion et groupements, la gestion et la comptabilite des groupements, les techniques de gestion des pepinieres et des plantations, les dispositifs agroforestiers, la fabrication des savons et des confitures; Les autres aspects de l'animation ont porte sur l'auto-evaluation des paysans la monographie des outils participatifs tels que la flanellographie, les cartes, les documents pedagogiques sur les pratiques culturales, les demonstrations en milieu paysan et la communication comprenant les prestations de la radio rurale de la television et du videogramme. En definitive, quelque soit la demarche ou les outils privilegies, le plus important demeure l'etat d'esprit avec lequel ils sont utilises. Tous les choix concernant les modes d'animation ont ete faits dans un esprit d'equipe et de partenariat oui paysans, animateurs et responsables ont eu a exprimer librement leurs opinions, dans l'intdret du projet. 4. Problemes de Rehabilitation et Solutions Les problemes rencontres lors de l'execution du Volet Agroforestier sont de plusieurs ordres: 20 Country Paper-Central African Republic 4.1 Sur le plan institutionnel La plupart des partenaires (administrations et organisations privees) ne se sont pas sentis concernes par l'execution du projet car, ils considerent qu'il s'agit d'un projet forestier. L'image du forestier comme policier de la chasse a developpe et nourri un certain sentiment de mefiance a l'egard des responsables du projet. Certaines populations ont purement et simplement rejete la presence des agents du projet de leurs terroirs, les traitant d'oppresseurs et de sans-coeur. Tout ce sentiment est ne du fait que les Eaux et For8ts n'ont jamais d6veloppe l'approche participative dans la zone concernee, avant l'installation du PARN. 4.2 Sur le plan juridigue La Loi ne reconnait pas de facon formelle le droit de priorite des populations locales sur les forets en particulier et sur 1'espace rural en general. Cette preoccupation est tout simplement evoquee et non formalise. Le nouveau code forestier est l'unique document de l'heure qui evoque de fa,on subtile cet aspect du probleme. Cependant le manque des textes d'application maintient le paysan a la case de depart. L'autre realite est l'environnement socio-culturel du projet selon lequel les membres des clans avaient un droit de propriete sur les terres de leurs ancetres, alors que cela n'est plus le cas a I'heure actuelle. Un certain nombre de reformes est en cours d'6laboration avec les specialistes des domaines concernes en vue d'integrer toutes les preoccupations soulevees. 4.3. Sur le plan technologique Certains textes reglementant la priorite fonciere sont devenus caduques ou inadequats. La solution serait de les adapter aux realites du moment. Une serie de plans d'action a ete elaboree avec la participation des paysans pour chaque terroir. La forte dependance de la population Banguissoise pour le bois de feu comme source essentiel d'energie reste le plus grand probleme pour le projet a qui echappe l'application de la politique energetique du pays. Des propositions seront adressees a toutes fins utiles en vue de trouver une solution durable au probleme. 4.4. Sur le plan m6thodologigue Certains paysans restent encore timides a la methode participative. D'autres parlent peu en public. Cependant le projet a connu une forte participation des femmes et des jeunes qui sont les principaux detenteurs d'enjeux en matiere d'environnement. Les multiples rencontres effectuees lors de la premiere phase ont eveille plus d'un paysan au problme de durabilit6 de ressources naturelles, car sa vie en depend. 21 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 5. Resultats Les resultats du projet sont tires du bilan des activites du PARN de 1993 a 1995 et les perspectives pour l'annee 1996. 5.1 Gestion des pepinieres et plantations Prbs de 90% des villages de la zone d'intervention ont participe soit a une pepinibre collective soit, soit individuelle ou scolaire. Le nombre de plants produits par pepiniere a diminue par rapport a l'annee dernibre. Par contre le nombre de plantation a augmente de 39% et elles sont majoritairement des plantations individuelles. Le marai^chage a connu un grand essor au cours de cette campagne. Au total, 20% de pepinieres ont associe le maraichage afin de se procurer un revenu a court terme. La pepinibre du PARN a essentiellement servi a experimenter certaines essences afin de connaitre le calendrier de production. Des formations ont ete offertes aux groupements pour permettre a ceux-ci de se structurer et d'ameliorer les techniques de pepinibres. Les principaux problbmes rencontres cette annee, ont ete la mauvaise qualite de certaines semences, les attaques d'insectes, le mauvais entretien des pepinibres. Malgre ces probl6mes, les resultats de la campagne ont ete trbs satisfaisants. Les perspectives pour l'annee 1996 sont: - de maintenir le nombre de partenaires; - de favoriser l'autonomie des groupements en intrants; - de sensibiliser les partenaires a l'entretien des plantations; - de former les groupements aux techniques de greffage et d'entretien. 5.2 Dispositifs agroforestiers Le nombre d'essais agroforestier a augmente de 8% cette annee. Les cultures en couloirs ont ete trbs demandees (augmentation de 118%). La moitie de ceux-ci a ete realis6e avec du Gliricidia Sepiim. Les autres essais ont ete semes avec du Calliandra Calothyrsus (25%) et du Leuceana Leucocephala (25%). Le nombre de champs ayant ete amenage avec le dispositif d'arbres sur parcelle de cultures a diminue de moitie alors que pour les autres dispositifs le nombre n'a pas change. Le suivi des essais agroforestiers 1993 - 1994 a ete realise 4 fois au cours de cette annee. 11 a consiste au calcul des taux de survie et des auteurs. Trois nouvelles parcelles ont e introduites au site de demonstration et d'experimentation. Une culture en couloirs associee aux bananiers, une jachbre arbor6e amelioree et un verger a graines de Gliricidia Sepium ont ete amenages. Des visites du site de demonstration ont ete organisees pour les paysans qui etaient interesses a realiser une culture en couloir dans leurs champs. 22 Country Paper-Central African Republic Des semences de varietes am6liorees d'arachide de mais et des boutures de manioc ont ete diffuses aux paysans de la zone d'intervention. Les principaux problemes rencontres ont ete la mauvaise gerrnination des Calliandra et le sarciage des arbres par les manoeuvres. Les perspectives pour l'annee 1996 sont: de maintenir les memes dispositifs agroforestiers; de diminuer le nombre de cultures en couloirs realisees; de continuer le suivi des essais. 53 Conservation des ressources naturelles Cet axe d'intervention a connu beaucoup de succes cette annee. Les Comites Villageois de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles sont presents dans toute la moitie des villages de la zone d'intervention. Plusieurs rencontres de sensibilisation contre les feux de brousse ainsi que des mises en ddfens autour des villages et des champs ont eu lieu. Un inventaire des origines et des causes qui ont provoques a ete fait par le Comite. Des activites concretes d'amenagement des rives de cours d'eau ainsi que des reglements concernant certaines ressources ligneuses ou non ligneuses ont ete instituees par les Comites en accord avec les Chefs de Villages. Les principaux problemes rencontres ont ete la secheresse qui a favorise beaucoup de feux, 1'etablissement de la legalitd des Comitds. Les perspectives pour 1996 sont: - de legaliser les Comites de Gestion de l'Environnement; - d'augmenter le nombre de Comites Villageois; - de rendre les Comites plus representatifs de la population; - d'assister les Comites dans la mise en vigueur des reglements. 5.4 Diffusion des foyers ameliores La diffusion des foyers ameliores touche presentement 30% des menages residents dans la zone d'intervention de Volet Agroforestier. C'est dire l'interet que porte les villageoises a utiliser les foyers ameliores. Cette annee, les ventes ont augmente de 109% par rapport a l'ann6e demiere. Les principaux problemes rencontres ont ete le remboursement du credit, I'approvisionnement chez les artisans et l'usure prematuree de certains foyers. Les perspectives pour l'annee 1996 sont: de maintenir la vente de foyer; de vendre les foyers au comptant; 23 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - d'encourager les femmes A acheter les foyers directement chez les artisans. 5.5 Services d'appui Les services d'appui comprennent l'animation/vulgarisation et le credit villageois. Animation/vulgarisation : I'augmentation des realisations et du nombre de partenaires ont conduit le projet A revoir sa politique d'encadrement. Cette annee, les Animateurs ont exige la presence et la participation active des paysans dans l'installation des parcelles agroforestieres et dans les plantations fruitieres ou forestieres. L'Animateur a donc repris son r6le d'animateur et de vulgarisateur. Les emissions de Radio Rurale ont connu une ecoute toute aussi grande que la precedente annee. Les partenaires se sentent directement concernes par les emissions car, celles- ci ont ete realisees A partir des experiences de nos partenaires. La participation aux differents rencontres d'animation et de sensibilisation a et tres bonne. La presentation des video realisee par le Volet a permis d'egailler les rencontres. Le principal probleme rencontre a ete la difficulte de manipuler le materiel video par les animateurs et les pannes techniques. Perspectives pour l'annee 1996: - adaptation du nouveau flaneollographes, - nouvelles emissions de Radio Rurale. 5.6 Credit villageois Le credit villageois a augmente de 83% cette annee a cause de l'augmentation des ventes de foyers amdliores. Apres une campagne de sensibilisation aupres de partenaires, le pourcentage de credits rembourses a atteint 69%. Le principal probleme rencontre a ete de faire rembourser les credits aux femmes qui ont achete un foyer ameliore. Les perspectives pour l'annee 1996 sont: - de maintenir les credits pour les equipements des pepinieres; - de vendre au comptant les foyers ameliores. 5.7 Autres activites connexes Les micro-projets permettent de financer des activites dont le projet ne dispose pas de fonds necessaires a leurs realisations. Cette annee, sept projets ont ete finances par l'Ambassade du Canada. 24 Country Paper-Central African Republic Une Table Ronde de concertation des intervenants en developpement de la Sous- Prefecture de la Commune de Bimbo a ete mise en place sous l'initiative du PARN. Un Protocole de Collaboration a ete signe avec le CARUB. Les principaux problemes ont conceme les forages des puits. Les perspectives pour l'annee 1996 sont: - de financer quatre micro projets (puits, magasins, ecoles); - d'etablir un protocole de collaboration avec l'ICRA. 5.8 Etudes Plusieurs etudes socio-economiques et biophysiques ont ete finalisees au cours de l'annee 1995. Ces etudes ont conduit a l'elaboration d'un Plan Directeur d'Amenagement dont la version preliminaire a ete elaboree. Pour la prochaine annee, les perspectives sont: - de financer le rapport sur le recensement de la population dans les villages temoins; - de financer le rapport et la cartographie de l'inventaire forestier; - de financer les Plans Directeur d'Amenagement. 6. Leyons tirees et leurs consequences sur les etapes suivantes La premiere phase du projet a ete riche en enseignement. En ce qui conceme la gestion des pepinieres villageoises, les groupements ont poursuivi la production des plants alors qu'on craignait un relachement. Tous les villages du finage disposent d'une pepiniere collective par rapport aux plantations qui sont faites individuellement. Les plantations ont connu des problemes d'entretien, lesquelles ont occasionne des taux de mortalite assez eleves. II conviendrait alors de mettre un accent particulier sur ce type d'activites en organisant des rencontres regulieres avec les paysans. II a ete egalement constate que les plantations agroforestieres, notamment celles qui ont des dispositifs en couloirs, sont de plus en plus acceptees par les paysans alors qu'ils etaient reticents au depart. Ce changement d'attitude resulte des succes obtenus dans certains champs de demonstration. Les diverses campagnes de sensibilisation ont permis aux partenaires (paysans) du finage de mieux comprendre l'importance de l'arbre comme etant un element moteur pour l'environnement en general et pour la communaute villageoise en particulier. La diffusion des foyers ameliores a ete un reel succes. Le nombre de foyers vendus a double en deux ans. Cependant, cette filiere connait de petits problemes de remboursement de credits par les paysans. II serait alors souhaitable de mettre en place un mecanisme de suivi pouvant inciter les paysans a honorer leurs engagements vis-a-vis de la communaute villageoise et du projet. 25 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings En conclusion, la premiere etape a ete celle de la collecte d'information et de l'elaboration de divers plans 'd'amenagement et de gestion de terroirs. La prochaine phase sera celle dite d'activites concretes acces sur la mise en place d'un cadre juridique approprie et le renforcement des capacites des paysans afin de leur permettre de se prendre en charge. Par consequent, une approche systemique serait appropriee en vue de permettre une synergie d'actions pour une protection effective de l'environnement et du bien-etre du paysan. BIBLIOGRAPHIE Rapport no. P-5225-CA L'Agroforesterie en Afrique (Paul KERKHOF) Demarche d'animation du Volet Agroforesterie/PARN: Concept, Etape et Outils (Poulin THERIAULT INC & OXFAM-OCSD), Decembre 1995. Animation/SensibilisationNVulgarisation/PARN: Bilan de la campagne 1993-1994 (Poulin THERIAULT INC & OXFAM-OCSD), Avril 1995. Suivi des plantations/PARN: campagnes 1992-1993 et 1993-1994 (Poulin THERIAUT INC OXFAM-OSCD), Janvier 1996. Rapport trimestriel d'activites/PARN: Octobre-Decembre 1995 (Poulin THERIAUT INC & OXFAM-OCSD), Janvier 1996. Bilan des activites 1995/Perspectives 1995/PARN: (Poulin THERIAUT INC & OXFAM- OCSD), Janvier 1996. Document de strategie environnementale (Banque Mondiale, Avril 1995). Recensement de la population des villages temoins: Resultats/PARN (Poulin THERIAUT). 26 Country Paper-Central African Republic LISTE DES PRINCIPAUX DOCUMENTS PRODUITS DE 1992, 1996 PAR ORDRE CHRONOLOGIQUE DE PARUTION * Projet pilote agroforestier. Region periubaine de Bangui. Le choix de la zone pilote. Note technique (NT-5). Mars 1992, 71 p. annexes. * Compte rendu. Stage deformation/selection des animateurs. 10juin - 4juillet 1992. Juillet 1992, pag, mult., annexes. * Complement de formation aux animateurs. 6 Aouit - 3 Septembre 1992. Compte rendu. Octobre 1992, 3p., annexes. * Tournee de prise de contact dans les villages de la zone d'intervention. 11 aozut - 30 septembre 1992. Rapport. octobre 1992, 17p., annexes. * Guide d 'enquite exploratoire. Novembre 1992, 22 pages, annexes. * Bilan des activites 1992. Perspectives 1993. Janvier 1993, 19. * Animation villageoise. Campagne 1992-1993. Janvier 1993, 6p., annexes. * Atelierfeu de brousse. Document d'accompagnement. [Fevrier 1993], 7p., annexes. * Plans d'action villageois 1992-1993. Mars 1993, s.p. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Janvier-Mars 1993. Avril 1993, 1 Op. * Rapport d'enquete exploratoire (version priliminaire). Avril 1993, 101 p. * Enquetefoyers ameliores. Methodologie. Juin 1993, 12 p. * Auto-e'valuation paysanne. Pepiniere et reboisement. Formation. Septembre 1993, li p. * Recensement de la population des villages temoins. Methodologie et instructions. Septembre 1993, 7p., annexes. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Juillet-Septembre 1993. Novembre 1993, 9 p. * Sensibilisationfeu de brousse. Bilan 1992-1993. Perspectives 1993-1994. Novembre 1993, 7p., annexes. * Diffusion defoyers ameliores. Bilan de la campagne 1992-1993. Decembre 1993, I lp., annexes. * Campagne 1993-1994. Strategie d'intervention. Version finale. Janvier 1994, 14 p. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Octobre-Decembre 1993. Fevrier 1994, 18p. * Bilan des activites 1993. Perspectives 1994. Fivrier 1994, 25 p. * Dispositifs agroforestiers. Campagne 1993-1994. Fevrier 1994, s.p. * Etude sur le bois defeu. Enquete trafic - Methodologie. Mars 1994, 9p., annexes. * Plans d'actions villageois 1993-1994. Avril 1994, s.p. * Enquete sur les exploitations agricoles. Resultats. Avril 1994, 40 p., annexe. * Culture maraichere. Guide pratique. Avril 1994, 18.p. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Janvier-Mars 1994. Mai 1994, 14 p. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Avril-Juin 1994. Septembre 1994, 13p. * Pepinieres et reboisement. Bilan campagne 1992-1993. Septembre 1994, 29 p. annexes. * Etude sur la commercialisation des fruits, legumes et produits forestiers non ligneux dans la zone periurbaine de Bangui. Septembre 1994, 30 p., annexes. * Diffusion de foyers ameliores. Bilan de la campagne 1993-1994. Octobre 1994, 12 p., annexes. 27 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings * Comites de sauvegarde de 1 'environnement. Resultats d 'enquete. Octobre 1994, 5p. * Culture maraich&re. Fiches techniques. Octobre 1994, 2I p. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Juillet-Septembre 1994. Novembre 1994, 1I p * Campagne 1994-1995. Strategie d'intervention. Decembre 1994, 15p. * Lutte contre lesfeux de brousse, bilan de la campagne 1994-1995, Perspectives 1994-1995, D&cembre 1994, 16 p., annexes * Pepiniares et plantations. Formation villageoises - Campagne 1994-1995. Janvier 1995, 7p., annexes * Pepinieres et plantations. Formation villageoises - Campagne 1994-1995. Janvier 1995, l6p., annexes. * Le bois defeu dans la zone periurbaine de Bangui. Fevrier 1995, 36 p. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Octobre- Dcembre 1994. Mars 1995, 14 p. * Bilan des activites 1994. Perspectives 1995. Mars 1995, 16p. * Animation/sensibilisation/vulgarisation. Bilan de la campagne 1993-1994. Avril 1995, 2Ip. * Plans d'actions villageois 1994-1995. Mai 1995, s.p. * Site de demonstration/experimentation.. Bilan 1994-1995. Mail 1995, 21 p., annexes. * Formation aupres des groupementsfeminins. Fiches techniques. Mai 1995, lOp. * L'approvisionnement de Bangui en bois energie en provenance du Sud-Ouest. Juin 1995, 42p., annexes * L'approvisionnement de Bangui en bois energie en provenance du Sud-Ouest. Annexes statistiques. Juin 1995, 42 p., annexes. * Rapport trimestiel d 'activites. Janvier-Mars 1995. Aozut 1995,15 p. * Culture maraichare. Bilan des activites 1993-1994. Aozut 1995, 7p. * Suivi des plantations. Campagne 1992-1993. Septembre 1995, 14 p., annexes. * Etude sur l 'ouverture de champ enforet. Septembre 1995, 19p, annexes. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Avril-Juin 1995. Septembre 1995, 19p,. * Cultures maraich&re. Bilan des activites 1994-1995. Octobre 1995, 26 p., annexes. * Diffusion de semences ameliorees de vivriers. Bilan de la campagne 1994-1995. Novembre 1995, 9p., annexes. * Rapport trimestriel d'activites. Juillet-Septembre 1995. Novembre 1995. 16 p., annexes. * Selection des villages temoins. Novembre 1995, 15 p., annexes. * Enquete aupres des menages dans les villages temoins. Novembre 1995, 39p., annexe. * Resultats de 1 'enquete exploratoire. Donnees generales. D,6cembre 1995, 69p., annexes. * Resultats de 1 'enquite exploratoire. Fiches diagnostic par village. DIcembre 1995, 60 p. * Deimarche d'animation du Volet agroforestier/PARN: concepts, etapes et outils. Dicembre 1995, 23 p., annexes. 28 _ 28 SODEFOR CENTRE DE GESTION DE GAGNOA LA GESTION DES FORETS CLASSEES DU DOMAINE FORESTIER PERMANENT DE L'ETAT EN COTE D'IVOIRE L'Exp&rience de la Societe de Developpement de Forets (SODEFOR) a travers la participation des populations riveraines COLLABORATIVE MANAGEMENT OF STATE-OWNED GAZETTED FORESTS Presente par: Me. Kouame Martial Ingenieur des Eaux et Forks SODEFOR - GANOA 29 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings RESUMIE La foret ivoirienne connalt depuis 1960 une degradation qui s'est nettement acceleree au cours des 20 dernieres annees sous 1'effet conjugue de 1'exploitation forestiere et d'une agriculture traditionnelle consommatrice de terres. Malgre les nombreuses mesures correctives prises par le gouvemement depuis lors pour inverser la tendance la situation ne s'est pas notablement amnlioree. C'est veritablement a partir de 1988 que des dispositions radicales et harmonieuses dans leur application vont etre prises pour une gestion rationnelle des forets. Ainsi au cours de I'annee 1988 dite 'Annee de la Foret" plusieurs actions majeures ont et menees: une vaste campagne de sensibilisation a ete decretee et a permis d'agir sur la conscience collective des Ivoiriens vis-a-vis des problemes environnementaux. un plan directeur forestier, veritable pari sur l'avenir pour la foret ivoirienne a et redige et adopte par le gouvernement pour la periode 1988-2015. en application de ce plan directeur le projet sectoriel forestier (1990-1996) concu pour apporter des solutions concretes aux problemes du secteur a et initie puis financd par la Banque Mondiale et l'Etat ivoirien. Pour 1'execution de ce projet et dans le cadre de la rehabilitation des forets classees du domaine forestier permanent, la SODEFOR a initie une approche nouvelle de gestion de ces for&s basees sur la participation effective des populations riveraines. Cette participation qui a pour finalite la rehabilitation durable des forets classees doit faire en sorte que que les populations en s'impliquent tirer profit de la gestion des forets situees sur leur terroir traditionnel. La participation des populations se situent a trois niveautx: la realisation des travaux forestiers pour le compte de la SODEFOR par la sous traitance. C'est dans ce cadre que des structures commes les cooperatives des travailleurs forestiers, les groupements informels de Jeunes descolarises, les petites entreprises locales, et les comites de lutte contre les feux de brousse ont et mis sur pied., 30 Country Paper-COte d'Ivoire Ces organisations sont d'un grand apport pour la SODEFOR car elles permettent de realiser des travaux de bonne qualite a moindre couit. Par la m8me occasion la SODEFOR leur assure un revenu substantiel qui permet aux populations de se faire une idee beaucoup plus positive de la foret. Ainsi l'ensemble de ces partenaires ont realise pres de 2,800 milliards de FCFA de chiffre d'affaires pour la periode 1993-1996. - la participation A l'exploitation des ressources forestieres dans le respect de la possibilite des for8ts. I1 s'agit de faire beneficier directement les populations qui assurent la protection de la for8t des bendfices de L'exploitation suivant des modalites qui reste ar mieux preciser. la realisation de projet d'amenagement ruraux au profit des populations riveraines en compensation de l'accueil sur leur terroir des paysans deplaces des for8ts. Grace a ces diff6rentes actions en leur faveur dans le cadre de la gestion concert6e des forets, les populations riveraines peuvent desormais percevoir la for8t conune sources de revenu, comme facteur et initiatrice de developpement et non comme un obstacle au developpement. 31 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings TABLES DES MA TIERES INTRODUCTION 1 - SITUATION DES FORETS IVOIRIENNES JUSQU'EN 1988 1.1 Presentation de la C6te d'Ivoire 1.2 Situation de la foret ivoirienne jusqu'en 1988 1.2.1 Superficie et degradation 1.2.2 Quelques mesures essentielles de gestion de la foret ivoirienne 2 - LES NOUVELLES ORIENTATIONS DE LA POLMQUE FORESTIERE IVOIRIENNE A PARTIR DE 1988 2.1 L'annee de la foret (1988) 2.2 Le plan Directeur Forestier 2.3 Le Projet Sectoral Forestier 3 - LA NOUVELLE STRATEGIE EN MATIERE DE GESTION DES FORETS CLASSEES: L 'EXPERIENCE DE LA SODEFOR 3.1 La SODEFOR 3.2 Les grands principes de gestion des forets classees 3.2.1 L'Unicite de gestion 3.2.2 La gestion des forets avec la participation des populations 3.2.3 Plan d'amenagement des forets 3.3 Les structures de gestion des forets classees 3.3.1 Le Conseil d'Administration 3.3.2 La Direction Generale 3.3.3 Les Centres de Gestion 3.4 Les activites de prise en main des forets classees : resultats et difficultes rencontrees 3.4.1 Installation des structures de terrain 3.4.2 Equipement des services de terrain 3.4.3 Activites prealables aux amenagements 3.4.4 Procedure de redaction et d'adoption des plans d'amenagement 3.5 Participation des populations a la Gestion des forets classees 32 Country Paper-Cote d'Ivoire 3.5.1 Les objectifs 3.5.2 Les differents niveaux de participation 3.5.3 Les differentes organisations des Populations pour la realisation des travaux forestiers 3.5.4 Les consequences de la participation des populations riveraines sur le coft des travaux 3.6 Politique de reinstallation des populations infiltrees dans les forets classees 3.6.1 Les objectifs vises par la reinstallation 3.6.2 Les grands principes de la reinstallation des populations deplacees 3.6.3 De la reinstallation a la stabilisation de l'Agriculture 3.6.4 Quelques exemples de reinstallation pilote CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHIE 33 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings LA GESTION DES FORETS CLASSEES DU DOMAINE FORESTlER PERMANENT DE L'ETAT EN COTE D'IVOIRE fINRODUCTION La for8t tropicale ivoirienne etait au debut de ce siecle l'une des plus importantes et des plus productives du continent puisqu'elle couvrait plus de la moitie du pays (16 millions d'ha environ). Sous l'influence conjuguee de l'exploitation forestiere, d'une pratique agricole artisanale et d'une forte pression demographique (3,8 %/an), cette fore qui a tant apporte a l'conomie du pays s'est retrecie au fil des ans comme une peau de chagrin. Aujourd'hui la foret succeptible de jouer un role ecologique certain ne represente plus que moins de 3 millions d'ha. Devant cette situation le gouvemement a pris plusieurs decisions de protection qui n'ont pas toujours ete efficaces puisque la tendance A la degradation n'a pas fondamentalement change depuis lors. C'est A partir de 1988 que l'Etat ivoirien a veritablement pris la mesure de la situation en prenant des dispositions plus radicales et plus novatrices en matiere de protection et de gestion forestiere. La presente communication a pour objectif de foumir A l'auguste assemblee du forum de NAIROBI un apercu des dispositions en vigueur en Cote d'Ivoire en matiere de gestion forestiere en insistant particulierement sur l'exp6rience de la SODEFOR (Societe de Developpement des Forets) en matiere de gestion des forets classees de Cote d'Ivoire. 1- SITUATION DES FORETS IVOIRIENNES JUSQU'EN 1988 1.1 Presentation de la Cote d'Ivoire Situ&e en Afrique de l'Ouest, et dans la zone intertropicale, la Cote d'Ivoire est inscrite dans un quadrilatere de 322000 km2. - le relief est peu accidente le plus haut sommet se trouve a l'Ouest du pays (1 800m). - le climat est de type subtropical avec une pluviometrie variant entre 2000 mm/an A 900 mm du Sud au Nord - sa population est d'environ 14 millions d'habitants marquee par une forte immigration des populations des pays voisins et un taux d'accroissement de 3,8 %/o/an. - l1'conomie relativement florissante repose sur l'agriculture avec comme production essentielle d'exportation le cacao, le cafe, le palmier a huile, I'hevea, la banane,l'ananas etc... Le bois a apporte et continue d'apporter des revenus substantiels au pays. 34 Country Paper-Cdte d'Ivoire 1.2 Situation de la foret ivoirienne jusqu'en 1988 1.2.1 Superficie et degradation La zone ecologique propice a la foret dense sempervirente et a la foret semi-decidue couvre en Cate d'Ivoire environ 16 millions d'ha soit la moitie du territoire national. Cette zone etait effectivement couverte de foret jusqu!en 1960. Malgre une exploitation forestiere soutenue pendant 1'epoque coloniale cette superficie s'est relativement conserv6e puisqu'elle s'est maintenue autour de 14 millions d'ha. Mais A partir de 1960 sous 1'effet conjugue d'une exploitation forestiere effrenee et peu rationnelle, d'un developpement agricole encourag6 A dessein par le gouvemement et d'une forte immigration dans le Sud forestier de la CMte d'Ivoire des ressortissants des pays voisins, la couverture foresti6re s'est considerablement reduite tant en superficie quten qualite. - Ainsi entre 1960 et 1970, la superficie forestiere est passe, de 14 millions a 11 millions d'ha. - Entre 1970 et 1980 cette superficie forestiere est tombee A 6 millions d'ha soit un taux de disparition de 500 000 ha/an. - En 1988 la superficie forestiere nWtait plus que de 4,5 millions d'ha. - Aujourd'hui la superficie forestiere ecologiquement viable ne depasse pas 3 millions d'ha. 1.2.2 quelques mesures essentielles de gestion de la foret ivoirienne Devant cette situation preoccupante de la foret I'autorite administrative a reagi meme si les mesures n'ont pas toujours et efficaces. Ainsi: * a l'epoque coloniale, de 1900 A 1960, plusieurs massifs forestiers ont et constitues en forets classees. Quelques rares autres massifs seront classes apres 1960 pour porter le nombre de forets classees et de parcs nationaux A plus de 250. La superficie totale pour ce domaine est d'environ 6 millions d'ha. * En 1965 le code forestier, ensemble de textes de lois et de textes reglementaires regissant l'activite forestiere a ete adopte. * En 1966 la Societe de Developpement des Plantations Forestieres (SODEFOR) a ete creee pour participer au developpement rationnel de la foret en Cate d'Ivoire. * En 1974, le gouvemement procede A la constitution d'un domaine forestier permanent de l'Etat et d'un domaine forestier rural. Ces deux domaines ont connu des gestions differentes. 3 5 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings a) le Domaine Forestier Pernanent de l'Etat (DFPE) II est constitue d'une part par les forets classees et d'autre part par les parcs nationaux et reserves. La superficie totale de ce domaine (DFPE) est estimee A 6 millions d'ha. Ce domaine a et exclusivement gere jusqu'en 1990 par l'Administration forestiere et connait un etat de degradation assez avance (en moyenne 30 % de la couverture forestiere). Les causes de cette degradation sont liees au peu de moyens de l'Administration pour assurer une surveilance efficace contre les defrichements agricoles. b) Le Domaine Forestier Rural (DFR) II est constitue de toutes les formations forestieres en dehors du domaine forestier permanent de L'Etat de la zone forestiere (environ 10 millions d'ha). Ce domaine est destine a I'agriculture et A l'exploitation forestiere. C'est ce domaine qui a et largement entame en raison du manque d'un code domanial bien etabli et d'une exploitation forestiere peu rationnelle. La gestion de ce domaine releve de plusieurs administrations: l'administration agricole pour les aspects de reglementation de mise en valeur agricole - des structures de developpement agricole - de l'administration forestiere pour les aspects d'exploitation forestiere 2 - LES NOUVELLES ORIENTATIONS DE LA POLITIQlE FORESTIERE IVOIRIENNE A PARTIR DE 1988 En 1988, compte tenu de la situation alarmante que connaissent les forets ivoiriennes, l'Etat ivoirien a decide de prendre des dispositions plus radicales et plus harmonieuses dans leur application; Ces dispositions vont de la sensibilisation des populations (annee de la foret ivoirienne), a la redaction de document de reference (plan directeur forestier) jusqu'A 1'execution de projets specifiques rentrant dans le cadre de l'application du plan directeur (projet sectoriel forestier). 2.1 L'annee de la foret (1988) En 1988, l'opinion nationale a ete sensibilisee aux effets nefastes d'un deboisement inconsidere du manteau forestier ivoirien. A l'issue d'un seminaire tenu A Yamoussoukro, le President de la Republique a decrete 1988, annee de la foret ivoirienne. Au cours de cette annde plusieurs actions d'envergure ont et menees: reboisement populaire avec un accent particulier sur l'implication de lajeunesse scolaire et rurale A cette action; sensibilisation A la lutte contre les feux de brousse et les feux de foret par l'activation des comites villageois de lutte contre les feux; 36 Country Paper-Cote d'Ivoire lutte contre les defrichements en forets classees avec des operations coup de poings de la police forestiere etc... Plus d'1 milliard de francs CFA ont et affectes a ces operations et ont permis: - d'equiper l'administration forestiere en moyens de deplacement (vehicules et mobylettes) - de realiser plus de 10 000 ha de plantations forestieres villageoises - d'organiser plusieurs conferences et reunions populaires sur differents themes de la foret. - de concevoir, d'editer et de diffuser plusieurs supports de sensibilisation (pancartes, film, emission radio plus.etc...) 2.2 Le plan Directeur Forestier Appliquant les recommandations du PAFT (Plan d'Action pour la Foret Tropicale), initie par la FAO, le gouvemement a redige et adopte en 1988 son plan directeur forestier 1988-2015. Ce plan d'une importance capitale pour la foret ivoirienne fixe les objectifs de la gestion forestiere en C6te d'Ivoire pour les 27 prochaines annees. Il s'agit: - de mettre en oeuvre une politique visant A retablir A terme un potentiel exploitable d'environ 4 millions de m3 de grumes; - d'engager des actions nouvelles qui permettent d'amenager sur une grande echelle les forets classees, tout en poursuivant les efforts de reboisement industriel; - d'etendre le programme d'extension des reboisements dans les zones preforestieres et des savanes; - de rationaliser l'exploitation forestiere en respectant les possibilites d'une production soutenue de la foret; - de mener des actions visant a promouvoir une industrie forestiere efficiente soutenue par une strategie qui favorise le developpement de la filiere bois. - d'engager d'importantes actions de conservation des parcs nationaux. La strategie retenue pour atteindre ces objectifs consiste: - A renforcer les actions de sensibilisation et d'education des populations pour les amener A proteger la foret et A participer a la reforestation. 37 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - A intensifier la presence sur le terrain de l'Administration forestiere avec les moyens adequats propres a une action efficace d'encadrement et de police forestiere. - A concentrer les efforts sur I'amrnagement total de massifs forestiers determines en combinant l'amelioration des peuplements naturels dans les zones les plus riches et les reboisements industriels destin6s a rehabiliter les zones les plus degradees. - A rationaliser l'exploitation forestiere en fonction des possibilites de la foret en encourageant le professionnalisme par des incitations et des mesures fiscales adaptees A la rarefaction de la ressource. - A prolonger les actions de l'Etat par une participation du secteur industriel prive (interessement aux amenagements sur la base de concessions A long terme) et des collectivites rurales et des particuliers (reboisements populaires). - A renforcer la protection des parc nationaux et reserves avec la participation des populations riveraines A travers des projets de conservation integrant leurs interets socio-economiques. - a promouvoir une reelle strategie d'amenagement de 1'espace rural conciliant au mieux les imperatifs de developpement tant agricole, pastoral que forestier pour le benefice optimal des populations locales concernees. Ce projet finance par la Banque Mondiale et la CDC a demarre en 1991 et a pris fin le 30 juin 1995. Avant la redaction d'un document de fin, on peut dejA affirmer que bon nombre des objectifs de depart sont atteints. Dans le meme esprit que le projet sectoriel forestier, plusieurs autres projets complementaires sont en cours de realisation. II s'agit notamment: - du projet de reboisement en zone de savane finance par la Banque Africaine de Developpement (BAD) - du projet d'amenagement des forets de l'Est finance par la GTZ et la KFW - du projet d'amnenagement parc National de TAI finance egalement par la KFW - du projet d'amenagement des forets du Sud Est finance par la CFD (caisse francaise de developpement) - de l'amenagement des forets de la zone c6tiere financee par le FED (Fonds Europeen de Developpement) 38 Country Paper-Cote d'Ivoire 2.3 Le Projet Sectoriel Forestier Afm de mettre en application les objectifs du plan Directeur Forestier 1988-2015, le gouvemement ivoirien a concu en collaboration avec les bailleurs de fonds intemationaux le projet sectoriel forestier. Ce projet qui couvre cinq (5) ans (1991-1995) vise les objectifs suivants: - delimiter 1 500 000 ha de forets classees - doter 700 000 ha de forets classees d'un plan'd'amenagement - entretenir 55 000 ha d'anciennes plantations - creer 9 000 ha de nouvelles plantations - creer des infrastructures dans le cadre de l'amenagement du parc national de la Comoe (1300 000 ha) - realiser des recherches en sylviculture en foret naturelle, dans les techniques de plantations industrielles et en agroforesterie - renover et equiper les ecoles forestieres du Banco et de Bouafle - donner un appui institutionnel au Ministere charge des forets pour des taches de planification et de suivi du Projet et de la definition de la politique forestiere. - donner un appui a la SODEFOR dans le cadre des inventaires forestiers, de la redaction des plans d'amenagement de la commercialisation. 3 - LA NOUVELLE STRATEGEE EN MATIERE DE GESTION DES FORETS CLASSEES: L'EXPERIENCE DE LA SODEFOR 3.1 La SODEFOR La SODEFOR (Societe de Developpement des Forets) est l'agence gouvemementale de gestion des forets classees du domaine forestier permanent de l'Etat. Creee en 1966, elle etait a l'origine exclusivement specialisee dans la creation et la gestion des plantations forestieres. Ses attributions ont ete elargies depuis 1990 a la gestion de toutes les forets classees a vocation de production de bois soit un domaine de pres de 3 800 000 ha. Elle a pour objet de participer et de mettre en oeuvre la politique du Gouvemement en matiere d'enrichissement du patrimoine forestier national, de developpement de la production forestiere, de valorisation des produits de la foret, de sauvegarder des zones forestieres et pour ce faire: 39 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - de gerer et equiper les forets et terres domaniales qui lui sont confiees par l'Administration aux termies de conventions generales et particulieres - de concevoir et mettre en oeuvre les modeles de gestion aptes a permettre l'ex6cution du plan forestier puis, progressivement, son autofinancement et le fmancement d'actions de developpement regional - d'executer ou faire executer tous travaux relatifs A l'entretien, l'equipement ou la restauration des domaines forestiers publics ou prives - de contribuer a l'organisation des zones rurales voisines des zones forestieres qu'elle gere - de valoriser son savoir-faire a l'ext6rieur de la C6te d'Ivoire - et d'une facon generale, de participer A toute activite et etude se rattachant A l'objet social tel que decrit ci-dessus. A ce jour la SODEFOR gere environ 1 00 000 ha de plantations forestieres et 3 800 000 ha de forets class6es dont 1 500 000 ha prises en main et dotees d'un plan d'aamenagement. 3.2 Les grands principes de gestion des forets classees La nouvelle strategie de gestion des forets classees initiee par la SODEFOR est basee sur les principes suivants: - l'unicite de gestion - la gestion participative avec les populations - la dotation des forets prises en main d'un plan d'amenagement 3.2.1 L'unicite de gestion Il s'agit pour une foret donnee d'avoir un gestionnaire unique qui puisse proposer un amenagement aux differents partenaires afm d'eviter les conflits de competence avec d'autres intervenants sur la meme foret. Pour ces raisons, l'Etat a choisi la SODEFOR comme la structure unique de gestion des forets classees du domaine forestier permanent. 3.2.2 La gestion des forets avec la participation des populations Pendant longtemps, la gestion des forets classees a ete du seul ressort de l'Administration qui a beaucoup plus privilegie l'aspect repressif. A l'analyse l'on s'est rendu compte que c'est parce que les populations riveraines n'ont pas suffisamment tire profit des forets dont elles etaient les gardiennes naturelles qutelles ne se sont pas senties concernees par leur preservation et leur developpement. 40 Country Paper-C8te dI'voire Aujourd'hui, la SODEFOR a pris l'option d'associer effectivement les populations A la gestion des forets. Cette association vise: a recueillir a travers "les commissions paysans-forets" locales (CPFL) leur avis sur tous les actes de gestion de la for8t afm de trouver des compromis durables pour l'amenagement soutenu de celles-ci. A creer des structures d'execution (cooperatives forestieres, groupement informel de paysans) a travers lesquelles ces populations pourront tirer profit des retombees financieres generees par la gestion des for8ts (travaux forestiers, benefice de l'exploitation forestiere, amenagements ruraux a leur profit). 3.2.3 Plan d'amenagement des forets La grande majorite des for8ts classees ont connu une gestion tres sommaire. L'on ne s'est pas soucie en effet du principe de la production soutenue. Ces forets ont ete plutot livrees a une exploitation de type minier. Dans le cadre de l'execution du vaste programme de rehabilitation entrepris par la SODEFOR toutes les forets classees prises en main seront dotees d'un plan d'amenagement. Dans ces plans, generalement d'une duree de 10 ans, il est consigne: - les grandes orientations de l'amenagement au cours de cette periode. - le programme des travaux (plan de gestion) et le plan financier de ces operations pour la periode. 3.3 Les structures de gestion des forets classees Dans le cadre de l'ex6cution du projet sectoriel forestier (1990-1995), la SODEFOR a ete choisie par le gouvemement pour gerer les for8ts classees selon une vision novatrice telle que definit plus haut. Afin de permettre a la SODEFOR d'avoir les capacites reelles de gestion un audit organisationnel de la Societe a abouti a la proposition d'un nouvel organigramme qui met l'accent sur la deconcentration des services. Ainsi la structure SODEFOR est organisee comme suit: - un Conseil d'Administration - une Direction Generale - les services decentralises que sont les centres de gestion 41 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 3.3.1 le Conseil d'Administration 11 est compose de huit (8) administrateurs dont I president designe par les Ministeres specialises et les differents partenaires de la gestion forestiere. Ainsi on note: - le representant du Ministere charge des forets - le representant du Ministere de l'Economie et des finances - le representant du Ministere de l'Interieur - le representant du Ministere de l'Environnement - une personnalite connue pour ses merites et sa notoriete au plan scientifique et ecologique - un representant des professionnels du bois - un representant des populations riveraines 42 Country Paper-Cote d'Ivoire ORGANIGRAMME GENERAL DE LA SODEFOR CONSEIL D'ADMINISTRATION DIRECTEUR GENERAL DIRECTEUR GENERAL ADJOINT CONSEILLER DU D.G. Departement Audit Interne D6partement Informatique * Conseil Juridique et de Biometrie * Service Info de Gestion * Service info technique * Auditeurs Techniques Forestiere * Service techno. info * Auditeurs Financiers exploitation Direction Direction Direction Dvso projets et Ressources Financier dev. Eu""aines Direction S/D Dev. S/D Ressources S/D Amenagement Technique S/D Finance S/D Projets Humaines S/D Reboisement Sce. promotion S/D Compt. S/D Proj ets ~~~~~~~~~~Sce Ventes SDCnrl S/D Logistique Sce Product. et Gestion Sce. Statist. e eto CENTRES DE SECTEURS GESTION Ingenieur des Tech-niciens * ABENGOUROU DIVISIONS Moniteurs et * AGBOVILLE _ . agents * BOUAKE Ingneurs Prospecteurs * DALOA des eaux et * GA forets 43 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings ORGANIGRAMME FONCTIONNEL ORGANIGRAMME DU CENTRE DE GESTION DE GAGNOA DIRECTEUR DU CENTRE DE GESTION EXPERT |AMENAGISTE I SECRETAIRE DE DIRECTION INGENIEUJR INFORMATICIEN CHEF SERVICE ADMINISTRATIF CHEF DE DIVISION ET FINANCIER TECHNIQUE ET COMMERCIALE |TARIAT COMIS/ SCE SCE TOPOGRAPHIE RADIO PRODUCTION CARTOGRAPHE MAGASI- ET COMMER- ET ETUDES NIER CIALISATION BGECT. SECT. |ADM.A TLrDGES COMPTABI- GE. TRESOE LITE DUPER ET DRF CNRL DE GEST. LITE DIV. DIVISION DIVIS. DIVIS. DIVIS. DIVIS. DIV. |DIVIS. TENE SANGOUE NIEGRE OKRO- CO- R. GRAPH HAUTE R. GRAPH 2 3 3 MODOU TIERE SAN-P. DODO SOUBRE SECT. set. SEC. 4 3 3 3. SET3. SECT. SECT. SECT. SECT. SECT. |SECT 44 Country Paper-C8te d'Ivoire 3.3.2 La Direction Generale Outre le Directeur General, elle compte: - 1 Directeur General Adjoint - 1 Direction Technique - 1 Direction commerciale - 1 Direction financiere - 1 Direction des Ressources Humaines et de la Logistique Departement de la Biometrie et de l'Informatique - I Departement de l'Audit Inteme - 1 Service de Communication 3.3.3 Les Centres de Gestion A la faveur de l'Audit Organisationnel de la Societe conduit par l'Office National des Forets (ONF-France) et Uniconseil (cabinet d'Audit comptable en C6te d'Ivoire) une organisation des services d6concentres a ete proposee A la SODEFOR. Ainsi cinq (5) centres de gestion ont et crees sur 1'ensemble du territoire national. Les Centre de Gestion sont les directions regionales de la SODEFOR. Ces Centres sont localises A Daloa (Ouest et Centre Ouest), Gagnoa (Centre Ouest et Sud Ouest), Agboville (Sud Est), Abengourou (Est) et Bouake (Centre et Nord). Ils comportent: 3.3.3.1 La Direction du Centre Elle est structuree autour de deux principaux services: - la division technique et commerciale (DTC) - le service administratif et financier (SAF) les cellules d'appui que sont la cellule des amenagements, la cellule ecologie et la cellule informatique soutiennent les actions de ces deux services et des divisions Le Centre de Gestion gere dans l'etat actuel des choses 300 000 ha A 1 000 000 d'ha de forets et un personnel variant entre 100 et 350 agents. Il propose a la direction Generale des programmes annuels d'activite (PAA) dont il suit et contr6le l'execution sur le terrain. Le PAA et le budget constituent les elements essentiels du contrat d'objectifs entre les Centres de Gestion et la Direction Generale. 45 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings ORGANIGRAMME TYPE D'UNE DIVISION CHEF DE DIVISION COMIS RADIO RE MAGASINIER AGENT ADM. ET FINANCIER INFIRIE CHEF SECTEUR SECTEUR Adjoint Chef SECTEUR Secteur Agents (5) Chauffeurs 46 County Paper-Cote d'Ivoire 3.3.3.2 Les Divisions Ce sont des unites operationnelles qui gerent en moyenne entre 60 000 et 100 000 ha de foret et coordonnent les activites de 2 a 4 secteurs. Elle est structuree autour d'une administration tres 1lgere comprenant un chef de division, un agent administratif et financier, un secretariat, un commis radio et un chauffeur (5 agents). La SODEFOR compte au total 27 divisions. 33.3.3 Les secteurs Les secteurs constituent le maillon de base de l'organisation de terrain. Cette unite de base gere en moyenne 30 000 ha de foret et se compose d'une equipe de 8 agents polyvalents dont I chef de secteur (ingenieur des techniques forestieres), 6 agents techniques et I chauffeur. La SODEFOR compte 76 secteurs Le personnel de la SODEFOR est de 1 758 agents dont 82 % exercent dans les services decentralises sur 1'ensemble du territoire national. 3.4 Les activit6s de prise en main des forets classees : resultats et difficultes rencontrees II s'agit de decrire ici la chronologie des actions qui conduisent a la prise en main effective des forets par les agents de terrain. 3.4.1 Installation des structures de terrain Le territoire de chaque Centre de Gestion est defini par la Direction Generale et mandat est donne au Directeur de Centre d'organiser la prise en main des forets de son ressort territorial. Les actions suivantes sont menees pour l'installation des services. identification en collaboration avec les autorites administratives locales des sites devant abriter: - la Direction du Centre - les divisions - les secteurs Par la meme occasion les limites territoriales des divisions et des secteurs sont defmis. selection ou proposition de selection du personnel technique et administratif de la direction du Centre, des divisions et des secteurs. Debutee en 1990, l'installation complete des divisions et des secteurs de 4 Centres de Gestion entierement terminee (soit 2 700 000 ha de forets classees). Pour le cinquieme centre qui gere les forets de savanes (1 226 000 ha) l'installation des divisions et des secteurs va se poursuivre. 47 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 3.4.2 Equipement des services de terrain Un programme d'equipement des services a et defini et execute. Ainsi: - 76 bases-vie de secteur ont ete construites - 27 divisions ont et installees dans les batiments construits ou renoves de l'Administration - 5 Centres de Gestion ont ete installes dans des batiments renoves - chaque secteur a et dote de 2 vehicules (tout terrain) et de velomoteurs (3 a 5 en moyenne) - chaque division a ete dotee d'un vehicule pour le Chef de division - chaque direction de centre a et dotee de 5 vehicules pour le suivi des travaux des divisions et des secteurs - un lot de materiel technique a complete l'equipement technique de chaque secteur (boussoles, clisimetres etc...) du materiel informatique a ete affecte aux directions des centres de gestion et aux divisions pour le traitement des informations. Ainsi: les directions de centre ont ete dotees de reseaux locaux d'ordinateurs les divisions ont et equipees de deux ordinateurs pour la bureautique et le traitement des inforrmations techniques (inventaires, enquetes etc...) les informations des secteurs sont traites dans les divisions. 3.4.3 Activites prealables aux amenagements Les activites qui conduisent a la consolidation de la prise en main des forets et A la realisation des amenagements sont multiples et diverses. II s'agit par ordre chronologique de leur execution: 3.4.3.1 sensibiliation des differents partenaires Cette sensiblilisation est d'autant plus fondamentale que dans la gestion anterieure des forets classees, I'administration forestiere avait privilegie la repression vis-a-vis des paysans clandestins et des populations riveraines. Ainsi de 1990-1992 plusieurs reunions d'information et de sensibilisation ont ete organisees par les Centres de gestion A l'intention des autorites administratives (Prefets, sous-Prefets, directeurs regionaux des structures decentralisees de l'administration et des societes de developpement), des autorites politiques, des populations riveraines et des paysans clandestins a l'interieur des forets classees. 48 Country Paper-Cote dI'voire Au cours de ces reunions, les themes suivants sont developpds. importance de la for8 comme support ecologique, comme base de l'industrie forestiere, comme reservoir d'emplois; - la situation geographique, juridique et la definition des limites des forets classees en question; - la notion de cogestion des forets avec les populations Ces seances d'information ont ete generalement bien accueillies pour clarifier surtout les problemes de limite et ont permnis aux populations d'exprimer leurs griefs vis-a-vis de l'Administration et leurs points de vue sur les problemes forestiers. 3.43.2 Mise en place des commissions paysans-foret locales La "commission paysans-foret" est une instance nationale (CPFLN) qui a des representations locales (CPFL) pour chacune des forets prises en main. Elle a e concue comme un cadre de dialogue et de concertation dans la recherche des compromis pour la gestion durable des forets classees. Au plan national, la "Commission Paysan-Foret Nationale" se compose comme suit: - un representant du Ministre de l'Agriculture et des Ressources Animales(President) - un representant du Ministre de l'Interieur (vice-president) - un representant du Ministre de l'Environnement - un representant du Ministre de la Recherche Scientifique - un representant de l'Assemblee Nationale - un representant du Conseil Economique et Social - le Directeur General de l'Agriculture - le Directeur General des Eaux et Forets - le Directeur General des Ressources Animales - le Directeur General de la SODEFOR - le responsable du Service des Affaires - un representant des Industriels du Bois - un representant des Exploitants Forestiers - un representant des Exploitants Agricoles 49 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Son r6le est d'enteriner toutes les decisions prises dans les CPFL et faire des arbitrages en cas de besoin pour l'adoption d'un plan de remembrement ou d'un plan d'amenagement donne. Au plan local, la CPF d'une foret donnee est composee des membres suivants: - le Prefet du departement abritant la foret (President) - les sous-Prefets relevant du departement - les services administratifs et parapublics de developpement agricole du departement - les responsables politiques du departement - les representants des populations riveraines de la foret - les representants des paysans clandestins vivant a l'interieur de la foret - la SODEFOR (Centre de Gestion et Division concernms). Le r6le des CPF locales est de faire participer effectivement l'ensemble des partenaires ci- dessous cites aux differentes actions de gestion de la foret concemee. Pour cela quatre (4) reunions importantes sont necessaires pour deliberer des grandes decisions: - reunion de constitution de la CPF - reunion pour l'approbation du plan de remembrement - reunion pour l'approbation du plan de reinstallation - reunion pour I'adoption du plan d'amenagement 3.4.33 Cartographie Les forets confiees en gestion a la SODEFOR ne disposait pas generalement de cartes fiables. Des cartes de vegetation au 1/200 000 foumies par la DCGTX et des survols aeriens ont permis d'avoir une situation cartographique grossiere de ces forets. Pour la suite un vaste programme de cartographie sur la base de photographies aeriennes a ete engage sur l'ensemble des forets concernees par le PSF. 3.43.4 Delimitation Les operations de delimitation constituent les premiers sujets de conflits entre la SODEFOR et les populations. En effet malgre les decrets et les arretes precisant les limites des for&s, les populations les contestent soit par ignorance, soit par mauvaise foi. Dans ces cas la CPF est la structure appropriee pour trouver le compromis necessaire. 50 Country Paper-COte d'Ivoire Pour lever tout equivoque les nouvelles limnites ouvertes repondent aux caracteristiques suivantes: - ouverture manuelle ou mecanisee sur 6 A 10 m de large - plantation de ces limites avec des essences extratiques (teck ou gmelina et bambou de chine) - bomage et panneautage - cartographie de la limite et proces-verbal de delimitation A ce jour plus 2.605 km de limite representant 1.756.098 ha de foret ont e ouverts. 3.4.3.4 Enquetes socio-economique : recensement des biens et des personnes dans les forets classees Ces enqu8tes marquent un acte important dans le processus de prise en main des forets par la SODEFOR. En effet, les enquetes socio-economiques permettant aux agents de la SODEFOR gestionnaire des forets d'avoir une bonne connaissance de celles-ci avant le demarrage de tous les autres travaux et permnet d'identifier clairement les differents partenaires paysans en position illegale. Au cours de ces enquetes les informations suivantes sont recueillies pour chaque chef d'exploitation. - la date d'implantation - les cultures pratiquees et les superficies utilisees - le nombre de personnes a charge - la position geographique par rapport a la foret - le mode de cession de la terre (gratuite, onereuse) - I'age et le sexe des exploitants - leur avis vis-a-vis du depart de la foret (abandon, participation aux travaux forestiers, participation au programme toungya etc ... ). Pour l'ensemble des forets prises en main a ce jour les principaux resultats suivants ont et obtenus: 46.903 Chefs d'exploitation dont 40 % Ivoiriens et 60 % Etrangers 44.869 superficies cultivdes ou en jachere soit 26 % des forets. Ces resultats indicatifs sont res utiles pour la redaction des plans de remembrement. Beaucoup de difficultes ont ete rencontrees au cours de ces enquetes: - mefiance des paysans vis-a-vis des agents de la SODEFOR charges de l'enquete; 51 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - acces tres difficile aux campements clairsemes dans les forets; - information souvent errones (superficie mal estimee) donnee par les paysans etc... 3.4.4 Procedure de redaction et d'adoption des plans d'amenagement La redaction des premiers plans d'amenagement repond A un double souci: - produire un document simplifie mais complet au plan technique valable pour une duree moyenne (10 ans) compte tenu de la connaissance encore sommaire des forets. - produire un document qui soit le produit consensuel de tous les partenaires (adm., paysans, SODEFOR). Par consequent le plan d'amenagement suit les etapes suivantes: - redaction et adoption du plan de remembrement (soit 1 A 3). - redaction des autres titres (4 a 6) et du plan de gestion (titre 7) et adoption general du plan de d'amnnagement. 3.4.4.1 Redaction et approbation du plan de remembrement Le plan de remembrement est un document qui: decrit la situation geographique, ecologique etjuridique de la foret avec carte a l'appui fait I'analyse socio-economique de la fore - propose la repartition de la foret en plusieurs series selon les analyses faites. Le plan de remembrement tout comme rensemble du plan d'amenagement est redige par la division conceeme. Il est ensuite valide respectivement par le Centre de Gestion et la Direction Generale de la SODEFOR avant d'etre propose a la reunion de la CPF locale. Dans le processus de redaction du plan de remembrement ltexistence ou non d'une serie agricole (serie oui les activites agricoles sont tolerees et mieux organisees) constitue l'element determinant dans le consensus A trouver entre paysans et gestionnaire de la for8t. Ainsi l'approbation du plan de remembrement constitue une etape essentielle dans la prise en main des forets et dans le processus de redaction du plan d'amenagement. Certains plans de remembrement n'ont pu etre adopte en CPF locale qu'apr6s deux (2) ou trois (3) reunions qui ont donnd lieu A plusieurs reajustements des propositions initiales (exemple des for8ts de Monogaga et Duekoue). 52 Country Paper-Cote d'Ivoire Les deliberations sur I'adoption du plan de remembrement sont portees a la connaissance de la commission paysans-foret nationale (CPFN) qui en prend acte ou apporte son arbitrage si necessaire. 3.4.4.2 Le plan d'amenagement Le plan d'amrnagement est un document de description, d'orientation et de decision pour la gestion rationnelle des forets prises en main. II compte 7 titres repartis en deux fascicules. Le 1 er fascicule traite des titres 1 a 6. Le 2e fascicule traite du plan de gestion qui definit sur la duree de l'amenagement les travaux a realiser annuellement. La redaction des plans d'amnenagement est confiee aux chef de division ou aux chefs de secteurs qui proposent avec leurs equipes la premiere version du plan. Apres correction cette version est validde respectivement par la Direction technique et du developpement et la Direction Gen&ale. Le document valide est presente en CPF locale et nationale pour approbation. II est ensuite portee a la connaissance du Ministere charge des forets qui valide le document sous forme d'un arrete ministeriel. 3.4.4.3 Les travaux forestiers Certains travaux forestiers sont executes dans la phase de diagnostic de la situation de par des forets prises en main. II s'agit notarnment: des inventaires forestiers des inventaires de faunes des reboisements de reconversion a - les inventaires forestiers Afin de mieux connaitre le potentiel ligneux en qualite, quantite et la repartition geographique de 75 essences commercialisables dans les forets des inventaires generaux a 1,25 % sont realises. Les inventaires sont en effet realises sur des placeaux de 0,5 ha de long de layon distant de 2 km les uns des autres. A cejour plus de 700 000 ha de foret en un inventaire general. Les resultats obtenus indiquent que plus de 80 % de ces forets sont dans un etat de degradation avance. Les difficultes rencontrees dans la realisation de ces inventaires ont ete principalement l'insuffisance des prospecteurs botanistes charges de l'identification et du comptage des essences. Ce qui a fait trame en longueur les operations d'inventaires. Des formations accelerees ont di etre organisees a l'intention d'anciens prospecteurs botanistes de societe d'exploitation forestiers pour surmonter ces difficultes. 53 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings b- Les inventaires faunes Les inventaires qualitatifs ont pour but de se faire une idee sur la presence ou non et la repartition des grands mammiferes dans les for8ts. Les inventaires ont ete realises le long des layons ouverts pour les inventaires generaux. II s'agit de noter les cris, les empreintes et la vision des animaux de jour comme de nuit. Les rdsultats obtenus indiquent que plusieurs grands mammiferes (elephant, cephalopes, singes, buffles etc...) existent encore dans les foret classees malgr6 un braconnage intensif de la part des riverains. L'insuffisance des prospecteurs faunes a ete le principal handicap dans la bonne progression de ces inventaires. Mais ces difficultes ont e surmontes en reconvertissant et en formant d'anciens chasseurs des villages riverains. c- Reboisement de reconversion Les reboisements de reconversion ne sont pas A prprement parler des travaux prealables a redaction des amenagements mais constituent un acte important de reconquete de l'espace forestier degrade par l'infiltration clandestine des paysans. Les essences utilisees sont des essences A croissance rapide plantees a une densite d'environ 340 plants/ha et qui couvrent en moins de deux (2) ans le sol. En effet ces reboisements qui couvrent A ce jour plus de 4 000 ha dans l'ensemble des for8ts a permis a la SODEFOR de marquer sa presence effective dans les forets. 3.5 Participation des populations a la Gestion des for8ts classees Depuis le classement des massifs forestiers par l'administration forestiere, les forets classees ont ete gerees sans la participation reelle des populations riveraines. Cette gestion s'est beaucoup plus basee sur la repression. L'ignorance relative de ce partenaire naturel dans la protection des forets par I'administration a cree des frustrations qui ont eu des consequences nefastes sur l'integrite territoriale des massifs. II s'agit en effet: - du non respect des limites qui se traduisent par le deplacement des bornes et des panneaux de signalisation par les paysans; - la vente massive A des populations allogenes de parcelles de forets classees dont elles revendiquent la propriete. Face a ce peril la SODEFOR a initie depuis qu'elle est gestionnaire unique des forets classees du domaine forestier permament de l'Etat une nouvelle strategie de gestion qui vise A associer de plus en plus les populations riveraines aux differents decisions d'amenagement. 54 Country Paper-Cote d'lvoire quels sont les objectifs vises par cette strategie ? quels sont les differents niveaux de participation ? Quelles sont les organisation mises en place par les populations pour profiter de cette cogestion ? quels avantages comparatifs de l'utilisation des populations pour la realisation des travaux forestiers ? 3.5.1 Les Objectifs La participation des populations riveraines A la gestion des forets classees visent: a leur faire prendre conscience de l'importance de la chose environnementale et de la foret en particulier a les impliquer dans toutes les grandes decisions d'amenagement des forets afin de trouver un consensus et environnement social favorable A une gestion durable de celle-ci - a leur faire profiter des retombees financieres liees A la gestion de ces forets: participation A des travaux forestiers remuneres emploi fourni par la foret (surveillance) beneficiaire de l'exploitation forestiere beneficiaire des arnenagements ruraux realises A leur profit 3.5.2 Les differents niveaux de participation La participation des populations a la gestion des forets classees se situe A differents niveaux: 3.5.2.1 Participation A la commission paysans-foret (CPFL) La Commission paysans-foret est l'outil par excellence de gestion participative des forets avec les populations. Car elle se prononce sur les grandes decision d'amnenagement (plan de remembrement, plan d'amenagement) avec leur application dans la composition des membres, les populations riveraines et les populations A l'interieur des forets sont majoritaires et tiennent par consequent une place importante dans les prises de decision. 3.5.2.2 Participation des populations a la realisation de travaux forestiers L'objectif de cette participation est de montrer aux populations que la foret est une source de revenus pour elle et non un ennemi qu'il faut necessairement defricher. Ainsi les populations sont utilisees comme: 55 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings agents de la SODEFOR pour certains travaux specifiques (prospecteurs de faune, prospecteurs botanistes, boussolier etc...) sous traitants pour les travaux forestiers. Ces travaux concernent: - la delifimtation - la surveillance des forets - la production de plants - le reboisement etc... 3.5.2.3 Participation des populations a l'exploitation des ressources de la foret et au developpement socio-economique de la zone periphirique des forets Jusqu'a une epoque tres recente les populations et particulierement les populations riveraines ont toujours considere les forets classees comme des proprietes qui leur a et "arrachee" par l'Administration. Pour les interesser reelement a sa protection et A son developpement il est necessaire qu'elles en tire des benefices financiers substantiels. Ces benefices portent sur: 1'exploitation des ressources forestieres a leur profit les amenagements ruraux realises A leur profit. a - Exploitation des ressources forestieres Cette exploitation concerne les produits secondaires et le bois d'oeuvre: - les produits secondaires Ces produits secondaires concement, le bois de chauffe, les bois de services, les feuilles, les plantes medicinales etc... Pour ces produits, l'idee est de faire en sorte qu'en meme de qu'elles jouissent de leur devoir d'usage, les populations participent A leur developpement et a leur gestion durable en favorisant: - leur culture (plantes medicinales...) - leur elevage (escargjot, petit gibier...) Les populations riveraines de la foret de Bossematie (Est de la Cote d'Ivoire) ont tente cette experience qui donne des resultats tres encourageants. 56 Country Paper-Cote d'Ivoire - le bois d'oeuvre L'exploitation du bois d'oeuvre en C6te d'Ivoire est assez reglementee et ne laisse pas suffisamment de profit direct aux populations riveraines des forets classees exploitees. L'idee est de faire en sorte que les populations organisees dans certaines structures prennent une part active aux activites de la filiere de valorisation du bois exploites. Un critere hypothese est de penser que des dividentes substantielles issue de la vente annuelle du bois des forets concernees puisse etre reversees aux populations qui auront le plus participe a la protection, au developpement et au respect de l'integrite des fores de leur terroir traditionnel. Pour cet aspect de l'exploitation du bois d'oeuvre aucune experience conrete n'a encore ete .mnais l'idee quit son cours afin de trouver le meilleur systeme de redistribution des fonds generes aux populations. b - Amenagements ruraux au profit des populations L'une des actions qui incite les populations riveraines a participer effectivement a la gestion des fores classees est la realisation de certains amenagements ruraux a leur profit. Ces amenagements ruraux concement: - les infrastructures sociales (ecoles, puits, centre de sante, magasin de stockage) - les pistes et ponts - parcellisation de site de reinstallation - encadrement agricole etc... Dans le cadre de la reinstallation de certains chefs d'exploitation a la peripherie des forets classees. La SODEFOR participe en collaboration avec d'autres structures gouvemementales (fonds regionaux d'amenagements ruraux) a la realisation de certaines de ces infrastructures en compensation de terres cedees. C'est ainsi que la reinstallation des chefs d'exploitation de la foret classee de TENE le village de Kimnoukro qui cede plus de 100 ha de terres pour l'operation ; beneficier de certains travaux en compensation: reamenagement de l'Ecole primaire du village construction d'une cantine scolaire Ces compensations se sont elevees a pres de 30 millions de francs CFA. 3.5.3 Les differentes organisation des Populations pour la realisation des travaux forestiers 57 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Pour mieux participer A la realisation des travaux forestiers, les populations ont adopte plusieurs organisations encouragees le plus souvent par la SODEFOR. Ces organisations sont: - les cooperatives des travailleurs forestiers - les groupements informels de jeunes ou de paysans - les petites entreprises locales de travaux - les comit6s de surveillance des forets et de lutte contre les feux 3.5.3.1 Les cooperatives des travailleurs forestiers (CTF) Ce sont les partenaires privilegides de la SODEFOR pour la realisation des travaux forestiers. Leur creation a ete initiee et encouragee par la SODEFOR en 1990. L'experience a commence avec deux cooperatives des travailleurs forestiers dans les forets de TENE et MOPRI grace A un financement de l'ACDI (Agence Canadienne de Developpement Industriel). La creation de ces cooperatives repondait a trois (3) objectifs principaux: - former des ouvriers forestiers capables de maitriser les techniques sylvicoles et doter en en anont la filiere fore et bois d'un maillon essentiel qui lui manquait. faire baisser les couts de realisation des travaux forestiers et des reboisements en particulier. - initier et encourager la participation des populations A la gestion des forets. A ce jour quatre (4) coopratives forestieres exercant dans les forets de TENE (cooperative des travailleurs forestiers d'Oume CTFO 1990) de MOPRI (cooperative forestiere de Mopri CFM 1990), de Dougbafla (CTFD -1994), de Bouafl6 (CTFB - 1996) ont et creees. La CTFD n'a ete creee qu'en 1996. Les cooperatives realisent toute la gamme de travaux participant A la mise en place et A la gestion des plantations forestieres (preparation de terrain, production de plants, plantation, entretien, travaux de sylviculture etc). Les membres de ces cooperatives ont une moyenne d'age de 18 a 20 ans et sont des jeunes gens descolarises riverains des forets classees. Ces cooperatives emploient A ce jour 259 personnes. Les organes de gestion de ces coperatives sont I'Assemblee generale, le Conseil d'Administration, le Comite de gestion dirige par un gerant. Dans l'ensemble les objectifs vises et les resultats obtenus sont encourageants. 58 Country Paper-Cdte d'Ivoire Le tableau ci-dessous presente le resultat obtenu par ces cooperatives de 1991 a 1996. C.A.A (1) 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Total Coop6ratives CTFO 7 506 851 26 211 538 37 759 129 53 608 583 78 112 781 103 000 000 306 199 182 CTFM 10 323 631 25 290 106 29 438 174 23 492 467 52 403 076 44 964 620 185 912 000 CTFD - - - 29 985 292 58 420 475 81 562 600 169 683678 Total 17 830 482 51 501 694 67 197 303 107 086 345 108 936 332 229 527 220 662 079 623 (1) C.A.A. = Chiffre d'Affaires annuel Les trois cooperatives en activite totalisent un chiffre d'affaires cumules sur les 6 ans de plus de 662 millions de francs CFA dont 308 millions (soit 46,5 %) representent la masse salariale versee aux coopeatives. Ce qui est tres encourageant pour des jeunes du milieu rural. Un plan national pour l'emergence et le developpement de nouvelles cooperatives a ete edite et vise A definir les conditions ideales de creation d'autres cooperatives dans les forets classees prises en main. II definit egalement les conditions d'une bonne diversification des activites des cooperatives. 3.5.3.2 Les groupements informels de jeunes ou de paysans Les groupements se mettent spontanement en place pour realiser des travaux A la demande de la SODEFOR. Ces travaux concernent generalement: - les production de plants - les reboisements de reconversion - l'ouverture de layons pour les inventaires Pour les carnpagnes 93/94, 94/95 et 95/96 les chiffres d'affaires realises par ces groupements dans le centre de Gagnoa est de 57 025 425 FCFA. Ces groupements peuvent evoluer vers des cooperatives A court termne. 3.5.3.3 Les petites entreprises locales Elles realisent avec les cooperatives de travailleurs forestiers, 1'essentiel des travaux forestiers donnes en sous traitance A des tiers. Ces entreprises sont generalement dirigees par des hommes ou les femmes qui ont perdu leurs emplois, salaries et qui n'ont que ces activites comme occupations principales. 59 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings A la difference des cooperatives, elles offrent de moins bonnes conditions de travail a leur employes. Par ailleurs ces employes sont moins specialises et ne beneficient pas de formations appropriees. Le chiffre d'affaire realisd pour les quatre (4) dernieres annees depassent 2.100 milliards FCFA. 3.5.3.4 Les comites de surveillance des forets contre les feux Chaque annee les plantations forestieres r6alis6es et certaines forets existant dans les zones de savane ou de transition foret/savane sont exposes au feu. En 1983, la SODEFOR a connu des sinistres importants dans ses plantations. Plus de 4.000 ha ont ainsi ete bruiles. Pour lutter contre cette situation une strategie complexe impliquant l'utilisation d'engins lourds a e mie en place. Les resultats sont relativement satisfaisants mais le systeme de lutte assez onereux. C'est pour cette raison que dans le cadre de la participation des populations riveraines a la gestion des forets, la SODEFOR a initie depuis 1992 une nouvelle strategie qui implique un peu plus ces populations dans les operations de surveillance. Dans la pratique les forets concemdes sont subdivisees en secteurs de surveillance et confiees a chacun des villages riverains. Une equipe de 20 personnes par secteur est constituee pour organiser la surveillance du secteur contre les feux et les nouveaux ddfiichements pendant la periode seche de l'ann6e (decembre a avril). La remuneration est liee a 1'efficacite de la surveillance. Ainsi cette remuneration est composee de deux volets : le salaire de base qui est fixe et la prime qui est donnee de facon degressive en fonction des superficies sinistrees (10 a 15 ha bruilee ou defrichees dans un secteur annule la prime). Le chiffre d'affaires annuel des comites du Centre de Gestion de Gagnoa est d'environ 84.000.000 FCFA Les resultats obtenus depuis 1994 sont assez satisfaisants et cette organisation va bient6t toucher toutes les forets des zones sempervirentes dans le cadre de la lutte contre les nouveaux ddfrichements. 60 Country Paper-Cote d'Ivoire 3.5.4 Les consequences de la participation des populations riveraines sur le cout des travaux L'utilisation des populations riveraines pour les travaux a permis de baisser les couts de certains travaux. II s'agit notamment des travaux de creation de plantation et de delimitation dont les couts de realisation sont nettement moins eleves par rapport aux travaux mecanises. (cf tableau ci-dessous) Cofit des Cout des travaux Travaux travaux realises Ecart mecanises par des cooperatives FCFA/IHA ou populations Preparationdeterrain 284 722 175 500 +109 722 Delimitation de forets 1 256 000 625 000 +631 000 3.6 Politiques de reinstallation des populations infiltrees dans les forets classees La reinstallation est une consequence de l'adoption du plan de remembrement. Si le remembrement indique les mouvement possibles des populations infiltrees dans les forets; le plan de reinstallation quant a lui definit les zones d'accueil et les modalites de depart de ces populalions. Pour l1ensemble des populations riveraines des forets du centre de gestion de Gagnoa, le chiffre d'affaires realise depuis 1991 s'eleve a pres de 2,800 milliards FCFA. 3.6.1 Les objectifs vises par la reinstallation Le plan de reinstallation vise les objectifs suivants: organiser un depart en douceur des paysans infiltres dans les forets classees des seies non agricoles vers la sdrie agricole ou la peripherie des forets. encourager par des projets compensatoires les populations riveraines a accueillir sur leur terroir les paysans sortis des forets. initier la stabilisation de l'agriculture avec les populations deplacees sur les nouveaux sites de reinstallation. 61 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Ces objectifs concourent a consolider la strategie de participation des populations a la gestion des forets classees. Les riverains ayant pris tres souvent une part preponderante dans la penetration des for8ts, par les allogenes, il estjuste que ces populations apportent leur concours et prennent leur part de responsabilite dans la recherche de solutions pour la reinstallation sur leur terroir des paysans deplaces. 3.6.2 Les grands principes de la reinstallation des populations deplacees Ces principes ont ete precises dans "la charte entre l'administration et les populations rurales pour la gestion des for8ts classees ivoiriennes" en 1992 et on ete reajustees lors de l'atelier de Yamoussoukro (1995) sur les amenagements socio-economiques. Ces principes se fondent sur les considerations suivantes: la reinstallation des paysans doit etre percue comme un probleme national et d'amenagement du territoire. En effet tous les chefs d'exploitations deplaces ne peuvent pas 8tre accueillis a la peripherie des forets. Il faut envisager d'encourager certains d'entre eux a retoumer dans leur departement d'origine ou les terres existent afin de s'inserer dans des terres projets de developpement inities pour resoudre en partie le probleme. - La SODEFOR n'est pas le seul partenaire habilite a rechercher des terres et des sites de reinstallation. - Tous les autres partenaires (administration, autorites politiques et les populations) doivent foumir le meme effort de recherche de terres d'accueil pour les paysans a deplacer. - le calendrier de depart des paysans des autres series vers la serie agricole ou cers la peripherie doit etre respectee. - Les cultures perennes en production continueront d'etre recoltees en meme temps que les parcelles concernees sont repris par la SODEFOR pour &re reboisees progressivement a grand ecartement. - Les paysans beneficiant de terres de reinstallation doivent se soumettre au programme de stabilisation de l'agriculture encourage par la SODEFOR et encadre les structures specialisees (Instituts de Recherche (IDESSA,IDEFOR); (ANADER). 3.6.3 De la reinstallation a la stabilisation de l'Agriculture 3.6.3.1 zones de reinstallation La reinstallation concerne aussi bien les blocs de serie agricole que la zone peripherique des forets. 62 Country Paper-COte d'Ivoire reinstallation en serie agricole Elle consiste: a confirmer les exploitations de cultures perennes en production existant deja dans la serie agricole. A reinstaller dans la serie agricole dans la mesure des terres disponibles, les chefs d'exploitation venant des autres series notamment les serie de production et de protection. r6installation A la peripherie des forets D'autre part a reinstaller a la peripherie des forets les paysans deplaces apres negociation de terres avec les populations riveraines. Les terres disponibles sont rares et les negjociations sont assez longues et difficiles. reinstallation dans d'autres zones de la C6te d'Ivoire Dans le cadre general de l'amenagement du territoire les regions d'origine de ces populations (Centre, Est, Nord de la C6te d'Ivoire) constituent egalement des zones naturelles de reinstallation pourvu que des projets attrayants de developpement y soient realises. 3.6.3.2 La neessite d'une stabilisation de l'Agriculture D'apres des etudes recentes sur l'occupation du sol en C6te d'Ivoire il a et demontre que pres de 70 % des terres cultivables sont en jachere. Cela est le resultat d'une pratique agricole devoreuse de terres et une legislation en matiere fonciere presque inexistante. Les forets classees ne sont malheureusement pas epargnees par cette pratique. Ilest donc evident que si l'on veut sauver les forets, il est primordial de creer dans le monde rural les conditions d'une agriculture stable, moderne et A forte productivite. C'est pour cette raison que la SODEFOR a obtenu de ses partenaires que toute reinstallation (en serie agricole ou a la peripherie) de paysans soit accompagnee par des programmes de stabilisation et de modernisation des systemes agricoles A mettre en oeuvre. Pour reussir ce programme la SODEFOR s'est attachee les services de certains instituts de recherche et des structures de developpement agricoles. L'IDESSA (Institut des Savanes) s'est vu confie l'etude et l'application des systemes de cultures surjachere chez les paysans reinstalles sur des jachere. Le Departement Foret de l'IDEFOR (Institut des Forets) quant A lui s'est vu confie 1'6tude de l'association legumineuses arborees/cacaoyers surjachere. L'ANADER (Agence Nationale d'Appui au Developpement Rural) devrait prendre la releve des instituts de recherche pour vulgariser les methodes de stabilisation de l'agriculture a la peripherie de toutes les forets gerees par la SODEFOR. 63 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 3.6.4 Quelques exemples de reinstallation pilote Afm de maltriser tous les problemes lies a la r6installation des paysans a la peripherie des forets classees et dans les series agricoles, la SODEFOR a mis en place A travers toute la Cote d'Ivoire un reseau d'observatoires dans differentes zones ecologiques. Il s'agit: - des forets de TENE, SANGOUE et HAUT-SASSANDRA en zone de transition et de fore semi decidue; des forets de NIEGRE, SCIO et GOIN DEBE en zone de foret sempervirente. 3.6.4.1 Reinstallation pilote de paysans a la peripherie de la foret classee de Tene La fore classee de TENE est la premiere foret classee qui a experimente la reinstallation de paysans dans sa peripherie. D'une superficie de 29 700 ha, elle a et infiltree par pres de 472 chefs d'exploitation cultivent 1 970 ha le plan de remembrement adopte en 1992 nra pas retenu lacreation d'une serie agricole. En consequence les chefs d'exploitation infiltres dans cette foret devront a terme sortir de la foret. Cette reinstallation a suivi les phases suivantes: - identification d'une zone de reinstallation a cette zone a ete cedee par le village de Kimoukro, village riverain de la for8t; - enqu8te de commodo et incommodo relative a la zone; - cession traditionnelle par les chefs de terres; - delimitation et parcellisation de la zone; - occupation de la zone par les paysans selectionnes. En effet 20 paysans ont retenu pour cette premiere phase de l'op6ration chaque paysan s'est vu attribue une parcelle de 5 ha dont 2 ha sont destines au cacaoyer ou en cafe et 3 ha aux cultures vivrieres. L'IDESSA (Institut des Savanes) a pris une part preponderante dans l'encadrement des paysans. II leur enseigne les techniques de defrichement sur brulis, la mise en place de billon antierosif et a indique I'assolement a adopter sur les 3 ha detruis aux cultures vivrieres. L'IDEFOR/DFO (I'Institut des For8ts) a initie avec les paysans l'association legumineuse arboree/cacaoyers. Ce qui leur a permis de cultiver le cacaoyer (culture perenne de leur choix) dans une zone ecologique ou les conditions s'y pretait que passablement. realisation de travaux d'amenagement de l'Ecole primaire et construction d'une cantine scolaire au profit du village. 64 Country Paper-COte d'Ivoire Ces travaux se sont eleves a plus de 30 millions FCFA. Pour cette operation pilote les resultats obtenus sont encourageants. Des negociations sont en cours pour la reinstallation d'une autre vague de 40 paysans sur les terres du meme village. 3.6.4.2 Reinstallation en serie agricole Le plan de remembrement de la foret classee de NIEGRE a et adopte en 1993. 11 a et retenu une serie agricole de 6 650 ha situ&e dans le Nord de la foret. La serie foret naturelle de production couvre 46 250 ha.la serie de reconstitution couvre 19 900 ha.la serie de protection couvre 19 700 ha. 1 214 chefs d'exploitation vivent dans cette foret et devront partir des series de production; et de constitution vers la serie agricole. Depuis 1995, une operation pilote de reinstallation dans la serie agricole de 5 paysans residant dans la serie de reconstitution. Le programme va toucher progressivement les autres chefs d'exploitation de la serie de reconstitution. CONCLUSION Depuis 1990, la SODEFOR a initie la gestion participative des forets avec les populations A travers des structures et des realisations concretes (cooperatives des travailleurs forestiers, comite de lutte etc...) sur la base de principes claires et consensuels. L'experience est certes nouvelle, donc sujette A beaucoup de critiques mais elle reste perfectible et promoteuse. Les premiers resulttas obtenus dans cette experience sont en effet encourageants et non confortent dans la certitude que seule la strategie ainsi developpee peut assurer une rehabilitation durable des forets classees du domaine forestier permament de l'Etat en proie A une degradation acce1lree au fil des ans. 65 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings BIBLIOGRAPHIE PLAN DIRECTEUR FORESTIER 1998 - 2015 (Ministere de I'Agriculture et des Eaux et Forets 1988) ACCORD DE PRET PROJET SECTORIEL FORESTIER (3186 IV (avril 1990) "LES PARTENARIATS POUR UNE GESTION FORESTIERE DURABLE" Actes du premier forum intemationnal d'Abidjan sur la foret (24-27 Mai 1994) "PLAN NATIONAL POUR L'EMERGENCE DES COOPERATIVES DES TRAVAILLEURS FORESTIERS (1994)" - PLAN D'AMENAGEMENT DE TENE SODEFOR (1992) - PLAN D'AMENAGEMENT DE NIEGRE SODEFOR (1993 - "CHARTE ENTRE L'ADMINISTRATION et les POPULATIONS RURALES POUR LA GESTION DES FORETS CLASSEES" (Ministere de I'Agriculture et des Ressources Animales (Novembre 1992) - "STRATEGIE DE DEVELOPPEMENT D'UN RESEAU DE COOPERATIVES DE SODEFORISOCODEVI (Janvier 1996). 66 RCI - BM/PNUE --LES COMPAGNIES PRIVEES EN AFRIQUE-- POURRONT-ELLES RELEVER LE DEFI DE L'AMENAGEMENT DURABLE ? THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA-- IS IT ABLE TO TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT? Dr. B. MARTIN* *Dr B. MARTIN, expert consultant en foresterie tropicale. 67 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings -LES COMPAGNIES PRIVEES EN AFRIQUE- POURRONT-ELLES RELEVER LE DEFI DE L'AMENAGEMENT DURABLE ? 1 - OBSTACLES k L'AMENAGEMENT DURABLE EN AFRIQUE L'amenagement des forets naturelles tropicales productives rencontre de nombreux obstacles, en general bien connus, et qu'il faut d'abord rappeler: 1.1 - Forets pauvres. Les forets africaines sont pauvres en bois d'oeuvre commercialisable. Guere plus de 10 % des especes ont un bois apprecie sur le marche international. On ne coupe qu'un ou deux arbres a I'ha. Par contre, les grumes correspondantes sont souvent de tres haute valeur (gros diametres, peu de defauts), mais cette ressource est tres dispersee et l'exploitation reste chere a cause des travaux routiers et du transport, toujours tres importants. 1.2 - Gestion tres extensive. Selon les experts, la productivite des forets denses africaines, en essences commerciales, ne depasse pas 0,4 m3 /halan. II s'agit donc de forets economiquement tres extensives. Cela signifie que la rentabilite des operations forestieres (exploitation, amenagement, sylviculture), ne pouvant etre trouv6e qu'en amortissant les frais sur de gros volumes de bois, necessitera de grandes surfaces. 13 - Lenteur de la reconstitution. Les ecosystemes complexes, que sont les forets denses africaines, freinent la reconstitution du stock de bois d'oeuvre initial. On estime, qu'il faudrait respecter un temps de repos de 40 ans entre 2 passages de l'exploitation (rotation). 1.4 - Petites concessions et faible duree des permis. Une mauvaise habitude en Afrique a et, jusqu'ici, de donner des concessions de surfaces reduites et de courte duree (10-15 ans). Les exploitants forestiers ne se sentent pas responsables des peuplements qu'ils exploitent et reglent leur capacite d'exploitation sur la duree de leurs permis, apres quoi ils demandent une nouvelle concession. C'est la "fuite en avant". Apres retour au domaine, les permis sont a nouveau allou6s, de plus en plus rapidement. On peut donc affirmer que les rotations actuelles sont inferieures a 25 ans. Les arbres etant plus jeunes, le nouvel exploitant a, de plus, tendance a ne pas respecter les diamntres d'exploitabilite. 1.5 - Manque de competence des Societes d'exploitation pour la gestion forestiere. Contrairement A ce qui se passe dans les autres continents (Asie, Amerique), la gestion forestiere en Afrique, est un domaine entierement reserve de l'Etat, et de ce fait, ce secteur est reste souvent tres peu developpe. Les Societes d'exploitation forestiere ne disposent pas en Afrique du savoir faire en matiere de gestion forestiere. 1.6 - Insuffisance des administrations. En Afrique centrale, la tache est immense, les administrations, sont faibles, et ne disposent generalement pas des moyens et de l'autorite suffisante (ou de la volonte), pour faire respecter la reglementation. Les services amenagements sont sous-equipes et les plans d'amenagement quasi inexistants. 68 Country Paper-Gabon 2 - POUSSER LES ENTREPRISES A S'INTEGRER EN AMONT DE L'EXPLOITATION 2.1 - Societes forestieres. acteurs priviliggi6s mais fragiles L'opinion mondiale s'emeut facilement de l'avenir des forets tropicales et l'expertise internationale conclut rapidement A la necessite d'amenager les forets. Dans ce domaine, il est cependant plus facile de dire que de faire. En Afrique centrale, parmi les acteurs possibles, 1'exploitant forestier tient une place privilegiee. C'est en effet le seul a etre present en permanence sur le terrain et a disposer de moyens importants et en particulier de l'infrastructure indispensable a la prise en main des fores, en vue d'une gestion convenable. Pourtant, rien n'a ete fait pour en arriver A cette solution. En Afrique, ni les Etats, ni les instances internationales n'ont l'habitude de confier une telle responsabilite aux entreprises. Pourtant, il ne semble guere y avoir d'autre altemative et il est grand temps d'agir, tant que les forets ont encore un peu de valeur commerciale. Quelques initiatives privees existent mais elles restent tres fragiles. Pour ne pas les decevoir, il est indispensable que les administrations soient cooperatives et que les aides exterieures puissent s'appliquer aux entreprises. 2.2 - Implication obligatoire des entreprises forestieres Pour les Societes, la durabilite de la production forestiere est l'element essentiel qui conditionne non seulement leur developpement mais leur existence meme. Etant donne la carence actuelle, certaines compagnies commencent a se poser des questions sur leur avenir (et avec lui, les rares chances de d6veloppement des regions forestieres en Afrique). L'amenagement forestier devrait donc, A 1V6vidence, faire partie de l'activite des entreprises qui doivent necessairement integrer ce nouveau savoir faire. II leur faudra recruter peu a peu leurs cadres, parmi les ingenieurs ou les techniciens ayant une formation mixte (foret-bois). Les plus importantes se constitueront un bureau specialise dans lamenagement forestier. Toutes pourront dialoguer plus facilement avec l'Administration forestiere. Les entreprises devront stabiliser (ou reduire) leur recolte, la diversifier et en transformer localement une bonne part. A une augmentation des volumes preleves (arbres de moindre qualite, essences de bois "divers"), devra correspondre une reduction de la vitesse d'avancement des chantiers d'exploitation, une industrialisation plus poussee, une meilleure technicite. L'amenagement des forets de production consiste a rechercher un equilibre, et c'est aux entreprises A trouver chacune le leur. II leur en couitera environ 2 a 3 % de leur chiffre d'affaires. C'est loin d'etre negligeable mais c'est la meilleure offre du marche car les entreprises disposent sur place de toute leur infrastructure. Soulignons cependant quren dehors de quelques economies venant d'une exploitation plus rationnelle, I'amenagement ne peut pas procurer de benefices immediats. L'interet pour l'Entreprise est sur le long terme, dans la constance de l'approvisionnement d'un ensemble 69 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings industriel de plus en plus performant. Amenagement et industrialisation apparaissent bien comme les deux bases indissociables de la gestion des for8ts productives. Enfin, certaines mesures d'int6ret plus general (conservation de la biodiversite, protection de la faune, volet social..), sont a ajouter aux aspects strictement forestiers, mais rien ne se fera sans les aides exterieures. En definitive, 1'exploitant forestier doit devenir un acteur privilegie de l'amenagement durable mais ce sera pour lui une veritable mutation. Les chances de succes existent, mais pour y parvenir, sans tuer les entreprises, il faut A la fois la confiance des administrations et l'aide des organisations internationales. 2.3 - Developpement indispensable des industries du bois Bien que les reglementations locales obligent de plus en plus les Societes d'exploitation forestieres a investir localement dans des unit6s industrielles de transformation, de telles decisions restent difficiles. II est vrai que le marche du bois n'est pas toujours porteur et que les industriels du bois en Afrique, evoluent dans un climat general de plus en plus hasardeux. Cela freine enormement leur dynanisme et pese sur leurs decisions. La possibilite de creer une industrie de transformation est liee a la garantie d'approvisionnement en bois. Les concessions etant de plus en plus restreintes, la durabilite de la production est un point capital pour une telle decision. La transforrnation sur place doit etre l'occasion de reduire les dechets en foret et d'exploiter les arbres de basse qualite. Il s'agit d'un facteur essentiel, visant a augmenter la possibilite nette, sans accroitre l'intensite de la coupe en tiges de qualite superieure. Cette prise en compte des << sous-produits > doit faire partie des objectifs de l'amenagement. Le volume maximum de bois A prelever A chaque passage (possibilite), ne saurait passer avant l'accroissement des coefficients d'utilisation. Beaucoup de contraintes de l'amenagement peuvent etre levees par un double effort de transformation et de commercialisation des bois. Au lieu d'embargo commercial, les entreprises forestieres africaines auraient, au contraire, bien besoin de promotion du bois dans la construction, et en particulier a partir des essences secondaires. 2.4 - Renforcement des administrations et confiances aux entreprises Parallelement a l'integration des entreprises en matiere de gestion des forets, on doit assister a un renforcement des administrations forestieres. II faut creer, en particulier, un "bureau national des amenagements" (BNA), aide par un cabinet d'experts exterieurs, reconnus au plan international, apte a concevoir, analyser et contr6ler l'application des plans d'amenagement des societes. II manque aussi une commission regionale d'agreement des amenagements, pour examiner ces plans, les discuter, les agreer ou les rejeter. Parmi les difficultes actuelles, la plus importante a notre avis est la perte de confiance entre Administration et Entreprises. Aucun amenagement durable n'est concevable dans ces conditions. Tout doit etre fait pour retablir un climat de confiance permettant de jeter les bases d'une collaboration efficace entre l'Etat et les Societes. 70 Country Paper-Gabon Une societe qui decide d'investir dans l'amenagement de sa concession, doit etre consideree avec bienveillance par l'administration forestiere et une etroite collaboration doit s'etablir aussitot. Des mesures doivent etre prise rapidement pour placer la concession "sous amenagement durable" a titre provisoire, puis definitif. La Societe ne peut en effet s'engager a investir, que si elle obtient des garanties de duree de ses permis. 2.5 - Appui massif des organisations internationales Une telle mutation peut 8tre largement souhaitable, elle ne se fera pas sans les aides exterieures qui doivent comprendre: * une aide morale, conduisant a l'etablissement d'un large consensus quant a la reconnaissance des societes forestieres comme acteurs privilegies de I'amenagement durable. * des aides techniques permettant l'acquisition du savoir faire moderne en matiere de gestion des forets tropicales aussi bien par les Entreprises que par les BNA. * des aides financieres permettant de soulager les entreprises et les administrations pour les travaux lies a l'amnenagement durable (inventaires d'amenagement, equipements, contr6les etc..). Des dispositions doivent etre prises afin que les entreprises puissent beneficier des aides financieres venant des organisations intemationales. Les pratiques actuelles ne l'admettent generalement pas, et on risque de decevoir bien vite les quelques initiatives en cours. 3 - OBJECTIFS ET CONTRAINTES DE L'AMENAGEMENT PAR LES ENTREPRISES 3.1 - Objectifs Cette gestion a long terme des concessions forestieres par les entreprises elles-memes se fera obligatoirement en accord avec les normes nationales, et restera ouverte aux contr6les de l'Administration. Mais, prealablement, deux conditions essentielles doivent etre reunies: * garantie de longue duree des permis par les Gouvernements (au moins une rotation, soit de 30 a 40 ans), avec procedure d'inscription sous amenagement durable. * mise en place rapide d'aides adapt6es, par les organisations intemationales (aussi bien pour les entreprises, chargees du travail, que pour les administrations, responsables du controle). La durabilite de la production sera le resultat de l'equilibre, trouve dans l'ajustement des prelevements, a la capacite industrielle de 1'entreprise d'une part, et aux potentiels de reconstitution des peuplements d'autre part. C'est le but majeur de l'Amenagement durable. Les objectifs suivants en dependent directement: 71 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings objectifs principaux de l'entreprise: * developpement des industries de transformation et r6duction des dechets en foret. * consolidation sociale de 1'entreprise (emplois, formations, qualifications, environnement) objectifs secondaires (aides indispensables!: * amelioration des conditions de vie des populations riveraines (incitations au respect des forets, utilisation ecologiques des ressources locales, gestion de forets villageoises). * maintien de la biodiversite (mesures de protection particuliere selon les sites) La stabilisation des entreprises forestieres en Afrique dependra donc 6troitement de leur capacite a gerer durablement leur concession ; c'est a dire a concevoir un plan rationnel d'exploitation (amenagement), et a le respecter. 3.2 - Contraintes II faut de grandes concessions, mais celles-ci ne pourront pas etre demesurement agrandies. L'allongement des rotations diminue fortement la capacite annuelle des entreprises. Certaines pourraient meme se trouver alors en dessous de la taille limite pour permettre un investissement industriel rentable. Pour les essences commerciales classiques, faire respecter systematiquement des rotations de 40 ans, reviendrait A reduire de pres de moitie, les cadences d'exploitation actuelles. Ce serait faire payer a l'exploitant la mauvaise gestion de l'Etat. II serait preferable de doubler la surface des concessions, equivalant a confier a l'exploitant la mise en attente des peuplements pour reconstitution. Ce doublement des surfaces allouees se ferait avec des surfaces deja exploitees, ce qui reviendrait a confier A l'exploitant la mise en attente de ses anciens permis. Le plan de gestion imposerait une limitation des assiettes annuelles de coupes a 2,5-3% (1/40e a 1/33e), seulement de la surface totale productive. Des operations sylvicoles seront souvent necessaires. Certaines eclaircies, bien adaptees seront A inscrire aux plans d'amenagement, (afin de compenser le manque de surface). Ces operations alourdissent la tache mais ce sont les seules actions qui permettent d'augmnenter la productivite des forets. La possibilite a des limites, surtout en cas de forte demande en essences secondaires. Certaines consequences nefastes peuvent decouler d'une coupe trop intensive (degats d'exploitation, multiplication des ouvertures, fort developpement des essences pionnieres et des lianes, etouffement de la regeneration naturelle des essences commerciales, etc..). II n'en demeure pas moins que les essences difficiles A commercialiser constituent, un potentiel important et que les efforts de promotion de ces bois sont A encourager, mais la recherche d'un certain equilibre des exploitations restera primordiale pour l'anienagiste. 72 Country Paper-Gabon 4 - EVOLUTION RECENTE AU GABON 4.1 - Debut d'engagement des grandes societes forestieres au Gabon. Des mars 95, la CEB (groupe THANRY-GABON), a decide de se lancer dans une politique d'amenagement durable et dans ce domaine, elle a fait figure de pionnier. D'une part, la CEB desire transformer une partie de sa production de bois, afin de reduire le gaspillage en foret et pouvoir ainsi rationaliser son exploitation. Elle affiche un programme d'industrialisation en 3 tranches dont la premiere est realisee. Elle vient en effet d'investir dans une scierie modeme avec sechoirs a bois de 1500 m3 de capacite mensuelle. D'autre part, la CEB souhaite pouvoir realiser l'amenagement de ses permnis dans l'objectif de stabiliser a long terme sa production de bois en accord avec sa capacite d'exploitation et de transformation. Les autres grandes societes (ROUGIER-GABON, LEROY-GABON, SBL), se sont egalement engagees dans un processus similaire. Elles ont toutes fait appel A une expertise exterieure pour mettre sur pied un avant projet d'amenagement durable de leur concession et, A plus ou moins breve echeance, elles seront amenees, comme la CEB, a demander au gouvemement des garanties sur la duree de leurs permis. 4.2 - Lancement du projet CEB La CEB s'est dote des moyens necessaires a une gestion durable de ses permis. Un bureau amenagement a et cree au sein de la direction des exploitations et un inventaire d'amenagement sur la totalite des permis, est en cours de realisation. L'objectif premier est de pouvoir edifier un plan d'amenagement global. Ce plan sera presente a l'Administration, (en conformite avec les normes nationales), en vue d'une approbation et d'un classement de la concession "sous amenagement durable". La CEB s'est declaree prete a s'ouvrir a tout contr6le de son plan d'amenagement. Les differentes actions, en cours ou programmees, sont indiquees en annexe 1. Dans ce projet, une grande importance a et accordee au suivi du plan d'amenagement et, a cette fin, la mise au point des inventaires d'exploitation est pour l'instant l1el1ment technique le plus difficile. Il faut en effet "coller" a 1'exploitation et se substituer aux equipes de prospection de l'entreprise sans nuire A l'exploitation actuelle. II faut egalement ajouter des donnees d'inventaires, utiles a l'amenagement (mesure des arbres d'avenir), sans pour autant coulter trop cher. Le manque de bon techniciens locaux, motives pour ce type de travail est crucial. La sylviculture est un element important du projet car les permnis CEB comprennent des surfaces importantes de jeunes peuplements d'Okoume purs (gagnes recemment sur les savanes) et tres heterogenes. La faisabilite d'une "sylviculture d'arbre de place" doit permettre a moyen terme (1 rotation), de couvrir une part significative de l'alimentation des industries de transformation a partir d'arbres de diametre relativement reduit mais parfaitement aptes au deroulage. L'existence d'une telle serie intensive permettra de reduire la pression exercee sur les autres series de production. La CEB a sollicite l'appui des instances internationales (CFD, FAC, FFEM, CEE). Au gouvemement gabonais, il a seulement ete demande de garantir la perennite de la concession forestiere. Il est cependant certain que l'entreprise devra echapper aux eventuelles taxes futures d'amenagement. 73 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 4-3 - Eco-certification Recemment les problemes d' ecocertification sont venus souvent occulter l'objectif a long terrne de l'amenagement forestier. En effet, pouvoir continuer a commercialiser librement sa production, est fondamental pour l'entreprise et cela lui semble beaucoup plus facile a atteindre que le but de l'amenagement forestier, a tres long terme pour elle. L'appartenance a un systeme d'eco-certification est une decision de l'Entreprise, pour ecouler sa production vers les pays qui exigent des normnes ecologiques fortes. Contrairement a ce que certains industriels pensent, il ne s'agit pas d'une simple formalite administrative, m8me si les mesures paraissent douces au depart. Les sommes payees aux organismes certifieurs, ne deviendront pas non plus la bonne conscience des exploitants forestiers (ni des Administrations), envers la foret. Leur budget amenagement sera tout simplement plus lourd, et elles subiront un controle supplementaire. En dehors de LEROY-GABON, qui commercialise des panneaux d'okoume dans les pays nord- europeens et qui a besoin d'un "eco-label", les entreprises forestieres au Gabon, n'ont pas jusqu'ici rencontre la necessite de satisfaire commercialement a une telle condition, mais il faut dire que 80 % de leur production est absorbee par la SNBG, societe nationale ayant le monopole commercial des grumes d'Okoume. La CEB pense que sa concession forestiere serait des a present eco-certifiable (au moins au premier stade). Avec le developpement de la transformation locale du bois, la CEB doit rechercher de nouveaux marches et la Direction generale de l'entreprise etudie la possibilite d'adherer a un systeme d'eco-certification, neutre, et reconnu. Cependant, il faut bien reconnaitre que cette eco-certification n'a pas grande signification tant que le Gouvemement du Gabon n'aura pas donne a ces Entreprises des contrats de longue dur6e pour l'ensemble de leurs permis forestiers. 5 - PROBLEMES ACTUELS ET CONCLUSIONS L'initiative de la CEB apparait comme un premier test, malheureusement assez negatif pour l'instant, eu egard a I'administration gabonaise et aux bailleurs de fonds. En effet, contre toute attente, le projet CEB, un an apres son lancement, rencontre toujours les memes difficultes: * I'Administration forestiere gabonaise, n'a toujours pas accepte de prolonger, mime provisoirement, la duree des permis CEB. * les organisations internationales et les bailleurs de fonds n'ont pas encore donne de reponses officielles aux aides demandees. On peut etre surpris de l'incoherence qui regne en matiere d'amenagement durable. Tout le monde semble le desirer mais personne ne veut s'engager, ce qui laisse le champ libre aux groupes de pression. De plus, pour gerer convenablement les forets, il faut des moyens mais il 74 Country Paper-Gabon semble bien qu'une fois de plus, seul le bois payera. Proteger en augmentant les charges! Est-ce- possible dans un contexte aussi difficile que celui des forets tropicales ? Pourtant, nous pensons que des mesures urgentes s'imposent, si l'on veut eviter de decourager les quelques initiatives actuelles. (voir proposition en annexe 2). Les entreprises volontaires doivent etre reconnues et leurs concessions consolidees. Une entreprise ne peut en effet investir sans garanties ; elle se trouverait rapidement sans argument, face a certains de ses actionnaires, tres opposes aux investissements a long terme. Finalement, il semble bien que le plus difficile soit la restauration prealable d'un climat de confiance general, sans lequel toute tentative d'amenagement durable sera un echec. Pour conclure, il apparait de plus en plus clairement que l'amenagement durable des forets en Afrique, n'est pas seulement un enjeu important pour les entreprises, c'est en fait, pour elles, un veritable defi, mais il est certain qu'elles ne pourront le relever, seules. II faut les aider. 75 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings ANNEXE 1 FICHE DESCRIPTIVE DU PROJET CEB GROUPE THANRY-GABON Nom du projet: Projet d'amtnagement durable des permis forestiers de la CEB (Compagnie Equatoriale des Bois) Societe concernee: CEB B.P. 2262 Libreville GABON Directeur General Pierre CH1RON Surface concernee: 505 000 ha dans la region de Lastourville (Est-Gabon) Date des travaux : Avant projet 1ance en Mars 95 Responsable du projet: Dr. B. MARTIN, ICGREF 1 - Cofit du Proj et: 11 Millions de FF au cours des 5 premieres annees, repartis comme suit: 0,4 M FF en 1995, 3,3 MFF en 1996, 2,7 MFF en 1997, et 2,3 MFF A partir de 1998, actuellement en totalite a la charge de CEB. Montant des aides demandees : 9 MFF a la CFD (pret), 2 MFF au FFEM et 2 MFF A la CEE. 2 - Bailleurs de fonds: Nombreuses demandes (CFD, Coopdration francaise, Fonds Francais pour l'Environnement Mondial, CEE). Les aides demandees au FFEM et a la CEE correspondent a des volets supplementaires non encore developpes actuellement (maintien de la Biodiversite et Actions aupres des Populations locales) et non prevus dans les budgets actuels. 3 - Objectifs: -Garantie de duree des concessions par le Gouvernement Inscription des permis sous "CFAD" -"Concession sous amenagement durable", 76 Country Paper-Gabon -Amenagement durable des permis avec: * - Limitation de 1'exploitation A des coupes selectives * - Respect d'une possibilite moyenne inferieure a 20 m3 /ha de bois utile * - Stabilite de la production de bois, A long terme * - Developpement des industries du bois (Impossible sans aides exterieures:) * - Maintien de la biodiversite * - Participation des populations riveraines 4 - Travaux en cours (1996): * - Creation d'un bureau amenagement aupres du directeur d'exploitation (en cours) * - Recrutement de deux VSN specialises (depuis decembre 95) * - Lancement d'un inventaire d'amenagement sur l'ensemble des permis (avril 95) * - Organisation des inventaires d'exploitation (en cours) * - Constitution d'une base de donnees for8t et exploitation (A realiser) * - Constitution de tarifs de cubages adaptes (en cours) * - Approches sylvicoles (mars 96: etudes pour la constitution d'une serie speciale) 5 - Programme 97: * - Constitution d'une base de donnees foret geo-referencee (inventaires et exploitation), par parcelle ou "crete". * - Redaction d'un document d'amenagermient avec plan de gestion (fixation des parametres de l'amenagement en fonction des resultats de l'inventaire). Soumission au Gouvernement pour agrement. * - Incidence de l'exploitation sur la regeneration naturelle de l'Okoume; mesures eventuelles d'amelioration. * - Delimitation d'une serie sylvicole bien adaptee A la production rapide, de bois destines aux industries, et lancement d'une equipe specialisee. * - Suivi du plan d'amenagement au moyen de la base (elaboration de plans d'exploitation reguliers, adaptes A chaque parcelle, selon les resultats de l'inventaire d'exploitation). 6 - Travaux futurs (apres obtention des aides exterieures): * - Mesures en faveur du maintien de la biodiversite * - Mesures en faveur des populations locales a Libreville, le 1-06-96 77 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings ANNEXE 2 Liste d'actions pour une politique d'amenagement durable des forets productives par les entreprises, en Afrique centrale. 1. Reconnai^tre les entreprises forestieres comme les acteurs privilegies de l'amenagement durable, 2. Inciter les entreprises a se lancer dans la gestion forestiere, 3. Pousser les entreprises a investir localement dans des industries de transformation du bois, 4. Reduire progressivement les quotas d'exportation de grumes, 5. Disposer d'un code des investissements, favorable aux entreprises forestieres, 6. Changer progressivement de systeme commercial (vendre des produits semi-finis dans les pays consommateurs et non plus des grumes dans les ports des pays producteurs), 7. Realiser un gros effort de promotion des bois d'essences secondaires, 8. Demander aux projets pilotes de devenir des centres de stages pour amenagistes, 9. Promouvoir une sylviculture bien adaptee a certaines essences (Okoume, Ayous, etc.) 1O.Aider les administrations pour la consolidation des bureaux nationaux d'amenagement, 11.Mettre en place une commission internationale d'agrement des amenagements, 12.Aider financierement les entreprises a r6aliser leurs projets d'amenagement durable, 13.Taxer les entreprises r6calcitrantes (taxe d'amenagement). 14.Mettre en place des systemes d'eco-certification graduels, neutres (independants des groupes de pression), reconnus par tous les acteurs et bases sur la durabilite des amenagements. Libreville le 2 juillet 1996 78 SITUATION DU BRACONNAGE AU GABON ELICITING PEOPLE'S SUPPORT TO FIGHT POACHING GABON par Adrien Noungou Ingenieur des Eaux et Forets Chef de Service de l'Amenagement de la Faune Libreville 79 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings S OMMA IR E 1- INTRODUCTION 2- DEFINITIONS 3- DIFFERENTES FORMES DE BRA CONNA GE 3.1. Braconnage de subsistance 3.2 Braconnage commercial 3.3. Braconnage pour les sous-produits 3.4. Braconnage des animaux vivants 3.5. Braconnage par les forces publiques 4- CONSEQ UENCES D U BRA CONNA GE 4.1. Consequences ecologiques 4.2. Consequences economiques 4.3 Consequences sociales 5- OR GANISA TIONDU COLLOQUE NATIONAL SUR LE BRA CONNAGE 5.1. Niveau des Participants, themes retenus et objectif du colloque 5.2. Deroulement du colloque 5.3. Constats 5.4. Recommandations 5.5. Activites realisees apres le Colloque 6- CONCLUSION 80 Country Paper-Gabon SITUATION DU BRACONNAGE AU GABON 1. INTRODUCTION Le Gabon presente une faune abondante et diversifiee comprenant plus de 150 especes de mammiferes et 600 especes d'oiseaux. Le pays est un refuge important pour les elephants, les lamentins, les gorilles et les chimpanzes. L'on a decouvert au centre du pays une nouvelle espece de cercopitheque (Cercopithecus 1 'hoesti solatus) et au sud-ouest de la region de la Moukalaba, une nouvelle espece de cephalophe (Cephalophus ogilby crusabum). Les grands amphibiens sont representes par les trois especes de crocodiles et plusieurs espbces de tortues dont la tortue Luth. L'avifaune est constituee par: - une forte proportion d'especes sedentaires forestieres; - une tres faible proportion d'especes de savane; - de nombreuses especes aquatiques; - de nombreux migrateurs afro-tropicaux; - de nombreux migrateurs palearctiques. En depit de cette richesse diversifiee, la faune gabonaise est menacde par ce fleau international connu sous le nom de braconnage. 2- DEFINITIONS Le braconnage peut se d6finir comme etant 1'exploitation illegale de la faune sauvage. Mais le braconnier n'est pas seulement celui qui chasse illegalement mais aussi et surtout ceux qui encouragent de quelque maniere que ce soit la chasse c'est-a-dire les vendeurs, les transporteurs et les restaurateurs. Selon la destination que le braconnier donne a son produit, il existe plusieurs formes de braconnage. 3. DIFFERENTES FORMES DE BRA CONNAGE 3.1. Braconnage de subsistance Le braconnage de subsistance est pratique dans toutes les zones rurales et concentre principalement autour des villages. II est tres intense autour des zones oui la densite de la population est forte. Pour abattre le gibier, on utilise le plus souvent les armes a feu. Le produit issu de cette chasse est vendu sur place ou dans les localites avoisinantes. Cette forme de braconnage s'attaque a toutes les especes sans distinction de statutjuridique. 3.2. Braconnage commercial Le braconnage organise constitue une menace importante pour la faune sauvage. Des individus sont envoyes en foret; ils piegent et abattent tout gibier sans discrimination. La viande 81 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings est conservee dans des congelateurs, fumee ou boucanee. Quand la quantite de viande est jug6e suffisante, elle est acheminee dans les grands centres urbains (Libreville, Port-Gentil, Franceville) oft elle est vendue ouvertement sur les marches. Cette viande est destinee a alimenter les restaurants et de nombreux particuliers. Les principales zones de braconnage intensif sont: Miele (reserve de faune de la Lope), Vieux tonneau (Tchibanga), Saint Germain (Mitzic), Okondja, Mandji, Mekambo. 3.3. Le braconnage pour les sous produits II decoule des deux precedents lorsqu'il n'est pas pratique d'une fagon deliberee. Les trophees d'animaux abattus sont recuperes par les consommateurs ou les chasseurs et peuvent etre vendus. II est encore moins mena9ant lorsqu'il est pratique pour se procurer des amulettes. Par contre, lorsqu'il est pratique dans un but lucratif, le braconnage presente un danger. II concerne surtout les elephants, les lopards, les crocodiles, les pythons etc... Le but vise etant de se procurer de l'ivoire et des peaux d'animaux afin de les exporter. 3.4. Braconnage des animtaux vivants Ce braconnage conceme surtout les singes, en particulier les chimpanzes et les gorilles qui sont des especes tres recherchees a l'etranger pour des experiences medicales, les parcs zoologiques, les cirques ou les particuliers. Les oiseaux comme le perroquet gris a queue rouge du Gabon en font egalement partie. Compte tenu de l'agressivite des animaux adultes, les jeunes essentiellement sont recherchees par les braconniers, qui abattent souvent les meres et d'autres adultes de la troupe. 3.5. Braconnage par les forces publiques Les forces publiques, militaires et autorites administratives pratiquent souvent le braconnage pour se procurer gratuitement de la viande de brousse. Ce braconnage est tres meurtrier car il est effectue la plupart du temps avec des armes automatiques de guerre qui blessent beaucoup de gibier perdu. Au niveau national, les agents de la Brigade de faune de Moukalaba ainsi que ceux de la Direction de la Faune et de la Chasse, ont souvent eu des accrochages avec les forces de securitd basees a Tchibanga pour braconnage regulier dans la reserve de faune de Moukalaba. Toutes ces formes de braconnage ont des consequences multiples tant sur le plan ecologique, economique que social. 4. CONSEQUENCE DUBRACONNAGE 4.1. Consequences etcologiques En detruisant la faune sauvage, le braconnage detruit les equilibres naturels. Le r6le de la faune sauvage dans la propagation des especes vegetales et les interactions entre especes animales peuvent etre serieusement compromis. 82 Country Paper-Gabon Les graines de nombreuses especes vegetales sont disseminees par les animaux ou les oiseaux en se fixant sur leur fourrure, les plumes ou en passant par leur tube digestif. Ainsi l'elephant souvent considere par les populations rurales comme nuisible, en raison de sa taille et de son impact sur la vegetation et les cultures vivrieres ou industrielles, joue pourtant un r6le important dans la propagation de certaines especes et la regeneration forestiere. On peut encore citer le cas des touracos qui jouent un role capital dans la dissemination des graines de parassolier dans les zones degradees par l'exploitation forestiere. 4.2. Consequences wonomigues Elle sont de deux ordres: 1) Les consequences economiques directes se traduisent par: - des pertes de recettes fiscales pour l'Etat; elles sont considerables du fait que les braconniers ne payent generalement ni taxes sur les permis ordinaires de chasse et de port d'arme, ni taxes sur les assurances, ni taxes d'abattage; - des pertes pour l'economie du pays; la viande et les sous-produits sont perdus; - des pertes de recettes touristiques; en raison de la rarefaction du gibier, le tourisme base sur la faune sauvage, baisse considerablement. 2) Les consequences indirectes du braconnage sont tres difficiles a evaluer. Cependant on peut citer entre autres, le couit de la reconstitution d'un environnement viable, le couit du remplacement d'une source naturelle de proteines animales par l'elevage domestique et le couit de la reintroduction d'especes disparues. 4.3. Cons&euences sociales Dans certaines regions impropres a l'elevage du gros betail (Woleu-Ntem, Ogooud-Lolo, Moyen-Ogooue, partie Nord de l'Ogooue-Ivindo) la faune sauvage fournit l'essentiel des proteines animales aux populations rurales. Le braconnage intensif est en train de detruire cette ressource naturelle et renouvelable et de forcer les populations a un exode progressif vers des regions plus propices. Malgre diverses mesures prises par le Gouvernement pour freiner le phenomene du braconnage sur l'ensemble du territoire, ce fleau a pris de jour en jour une dimension tres preoccupante et risquait a terme, si une reflexion approfondie n'etait pas engagee, de decimer notre faune. DMs lors il devenait imperatif d'organiser un colloque national regroupant des participants representatifs de diverses couches de la population et concernes de pres ou de loin par le fleau du braconnage. 83 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 5. ORGANISATIONDU COLLOQUE NATIONAL SU LE BRACOMMA 5.1. Niveau des participants. themes retenus et objectifdu colloqg Cette manifestation nationale a non seulement vu la participation des responsables provinciaux de l'Administration des Eaux et Forets, mais egalement celle des autres Administrations (Justice, Gendarmerie, Police, Armee, Administration du Territoire). Y ont egalement pris par les ONG locales et internationales, les Chefs de Cantons, de Regroupement de villages et de villages venus de l'ensemble des provinces de l'interieur du pays et particulierement les representants des populations vivant a l'interieur ou A la peripherie des aires protegees, les commercants de gibier et des produits de la chasse, les transporteurs et les restaurateurs. 11 a et aussi l'occasion pour d'eminents conf6renciers des pays amis de presenter des communications relatives a leurs differentes experiences. Lors de ces assises, seize (16) communications (voir en annexe) regroupees en trois (3) themes ont et livrees A savoir: - theme No. 1 traitant du braconnage proprement dit; - theme No.2 relatif a la lutte contre le braconnage, notamment les aspects juridiques et reglementaires des solutions alternatives; - theme No.3 ayant trait a la biodiversite et aux risques sanitaires lies aux produits issus de la chasse. La tenue de ce colloque avait pour objectif de mener ensemble une reflexion approfondie sur I' exploitation abusive et incontrolee de notre faune sauvage et par la meme occasion trouver des solutions alternatives pouvant freiner ce fleau. 5.2. Diroulement du collogue Avant la tenue du colloque, des invitations ont et adressees aux differents participants. Pour ceux venant de l'interieur du pays a savoir les Chefs d'Inspection et de Cantonnement des Eaux et Forets, les chefs des Brigades de faune, les chefs de Canton, de Regroupement des villages et de villages, ils avaient droit a des titres de transport aerien, terrestres ou ferroviaire et A des perdiem correspondant a leurs frais d'hebergement et de restauration. Les invites de l'exterieur sont arrives pour la plupart en avion; ils avaient eux aussi beneficie des perdiem. Trois jours durant, les participants ont eu a traiter des sujets lies au braconnage, lesquels sujets ont suscite des debats tres enrichissants et constructifs qui se sont deroules dans une ambiance sereine et detendue ayant permis a tout un chacun de s'exprimer librement. L'occasion etait donnee aux notables locaux (qui s'exprimaient en francais) de les inviter a prendre conscience du danger que fait courir a la faune une chasse abusive et incontrolee qui, exercee souvent de nuit avec des moyens modernes massifs, la fait disparaitre tres rapidement aux detriment des villageois qui devraient en etre les premiers beneficiaires, et qui, 84 Country Paper-Gabon malheureusement deviennent aussi les premieres victimes quand la faune sauvage vient A se rarefier dans leurs zones usageres. Les travaux se sont poursuivis par la constitution de trois commissions qui ont donne lieu au degagement des constats et des recommandations. 5.3. Constants Des discussions qui s'en ont suivi, le colloque a degage les constats suivants: - intensification du braconnage a des fins commerciales; - introduction, distribution anarchique des armes et bons de munitions; - risques encourus par les agents des Eaux et Forets dans 1'exercice de leurs fonctions; - faiblesse des effectifs des agents intervenant en matiere de protection de la faune et insuffisance des moyens appropries mis A leur disposition; - inorganisation de l'exploitation des ressources animales; - insuffisance des aires protegees et non amenagement de celles qui existent; - meconnaissance des ressources animales; - insuffisance de la recherche et de la formation en matiere de faune; - conditions inappropries de capture, de conditionnement et de commercialisation; - rarete du gibier aux alentours des communautes rurales; - insuffisance et non application des textes regissant la protection de la faune sauvage; - implication directe et effective des autorites administratives politiques et militaires dans les actes de braconnage; - non prise en compte des conventions auxquelles le Gabon fait partie. 5.4. Recommandations De ces constats, le colloque a recommande: - au niveau politique, le concours permanent et total de tous les Departements ministeriels et des autres hautes instances decisionnelles de l'Etat; la necessite et l'urgence pour notre pays de connaitre la valeur economique intrinseque de la faune sauvage pour qu'elle puisse justifier de la part des pouvoirs publics, de toutes les attentions qu'elle merite; - au niveau institutionnel, le renforcement soutenu de nos services avec notamment le redeploiement des effectifs et des moyens appropries sur le terrain, au benefice des Brigades de faune, des Inspections et des Cantonnements des Eaux et Forets; - au niveau legislatif, qu'un travail de rdflexion sur les textes doit se faire A terme pour completer l'arsenal juridique existant; - au niveau educatif, la mise en place des actions de sensibilisation, notamment en direction des populations locales afin qu'elles deviennent les gestionnaires de leurs propres ressources. 85 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings La sensibilisation doit egalement concerner tous ceux qui ont une responsabilite dans le developpement du phenomene de braconnage a savoir: les commercants de gibier et des produits de la chasse, les transporteurs et les restaurateurs. - au niveau des solutions alternatives, la prevoyance et 1'encouragement de celles qui modereraient les effets devastateurs du braconnage, tel l' elevage du petit gibier. L' apres colloque s'est caracterise pour la cellule de coordination du projet For8ts et Environnement, la Direction de la Faune et de la Chasse et les Brigades, par une relance tres significative de certaines activites issues des recommandations dudit colloque. 5.5. Activites realisies apres le collogue Parmi les activites realisees en 1995, on cite entre autres: - la participation des agents de la Direction de la Faune et de la Chasse a la reunion technique de classement et de declassement des for8ts de l'Etat tenue a Tchibanga en Avril 1995 en vue du classement du massif forestier des Monts Doudou en aire protegee; - I'aboutissement de l'arrete No.000491/MEFPTE/SG/DGEF/DFC du 14 Aouit 1995 fixant les dates d'ouverture et de fermeture de la chasse; - la contribution de la Direction de la Faune et de la Chasse au lancement de l'experimentation du livre sur I'education environnementale dans les ecoles primaires, initie par le W.W.F. GABON; - campagne de sensibilisation contre le braconnage menees par les agents de la Direction de la Faune et de la Chasse dans les reserves de faune de Sette-Cama, Moukalaba et Lope; - execution par deux agents de la Direction de la Faune et de la Chasse de la mission exploratoire de reconnaissance de terrain et d'evaluation des moyens logistiques a la Brigade d' Oyan situee au nord-ouest de la reserve de Wonga-Wongue; - le renforcement en moyens humains et materiels des brigades de faune de Lope, Moukalaba, Sette-Cama et Iguela; - l'envoi en stage a 1'ecole de faune de Garoua de deux fonctionnaires des Eaux et For8ts; - la presentation des exposes relatifs aux problemes de chasse par les agents de la Direction de la Faune et de la Chasse et les professeurs de I' Ecole Nationale de Eaux et Forets, au centre Culturel Francais; - le passage a deux radios prives des agents de la Direction de la Faune et de la Chasse en vue de sensibiliser le public sur l'importance de la conservation de la faune sauvage; 86 Country Paper-Gabon - operations de lutte contre le braconnage A travers les marches de Libreville et sur les axes routiers Libreville - Kango - Coco - beach et le renforcement en effectif des rdserves de faune de Lope et Moukalaba selon le tableau ci-dessous; - tournmes A l'interieur du pays en vue de creer des associations des villageois avec l'encadrement et l'appui du service des Eaux et Forets afin qu'ils deviennent des partenaires dans les actions de protection de la faune. - confection, impression, affichage des posters relatifs A la protection de la faune dans des endroits oui le message frappe a premiere vue (ecole, marches, restaurants, villages situes A l'interieur ou A la peripherie des aires protdgees, gares). Saisies Armes Munitions Cables Gibier Baches Unite Direction Faune et Chasse 83 - - 299 Lope 8 70 631 391 Moukalaba 20 42 - - Pour l'annee 1996, les agents de la Direction de la faune et de la chasse ont effectue deux missions de soutien a la Lope (3 armes, 4 cartouches, 4 pointes d'ivoire, 311 cables, 131 gibiers saisis et 8 campements de chasse detruits) et Moukalaba (28 armes, 2 pointes d'ivoire saisies). 6. CONCLUSION Hormis son interet alimentaire, emotionnel, culturel et scientifique, la faune sauvage occupe une place importante dans l'economie de nos pays. Hier, pratiquee avec des armes de fabrication locales pour subvenir aux besoins en proteines animales de la famille, de nos jours, la chasse est devenue une activite lucrative avec la proliferation d'armes A feu. Cette nouvelle pratique constitue un reel danger pour la survie de plusieurs especes animales qui parfois sont menacees de disparition dans certains de leurs habitats. Afin de sauvegarder cette ressource a meme de jouer son role, nous devrions d'ores et deja prendre les mesures preventives et repressives qui s'imposent, car s'il faut remettre A plus tard, il sera peut etre trop tard. 87 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings A NNEXE Liste des participants. des themes et des communications No.D'ORDRE THEMES COMMUNICATONS TNTERVENANTS 1 1 Impact du braconnage sur la faune Adrien NOUNGOU sauvage Situation presente de la faune au Gabon 2 1 et suggestions relatives a l'eradication Henri GUISARD du braconnage Etude sur la qualite et la quantite du 3 1 commerce de la viande de brousse au Lisa STEEL Gabon 4 1 Parcs nationaux et braconnage Alain MONTFORT Problematique de la gestion des aires 5 1 protegees en Afrique de l'Ouest: le cas Pascal OUDE de la Republique du Benin 6 1 Bilan general du braconnage Charles DOUMENGE 7 2 La lutte anti-braconnage : le cas de la Alphonse MACKANGA Brigade de faune de la Lope MISSANDZOU 8 2 Contribution A l'elevage du petit gibier Professeur HEYMANS dans la lutte contre le braconnage La problematique de la lutte anti- 9 2 bracaonnage dans les aires protegees Joseph NGOWOU-NZIGO du Gabon 10 2 La legislation du braconnage Jean Hubert EYI-MBENG La lutte contre le braconnage. 11 2 Problematique juridique: aspects Jean Marie BRETON institutionnels et normatifs. L'expertise juridique appliquee a la 12 2 reglementation nationale en matiere de Jean Marie MALOLAS protection de la faune 13 2 Le braconnage et ses solutions Benoit DOAMBA 14 3 Produits de braconnage et sante de Ibrahim CAMARA consommation 15 3 Biodiversite Alfred NGOYE Perspectives de l'elevage de rongeurs 16 3 comme appui A la lutte anti-braconnage JORI Ferran au Gabon 88 PROCESSING AND MARKETING OF NON-TRADITIONAL WOOD SPECIES LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW FOREST POLICY AGENDA [Secondary Processing of Lesser-Used Timber Species] A CASE STUDY OF THE SPECIALIZED TIMBER PRODUCTS (STP) LIMITED OF GHANA BY MR IMAD C. BERBARI MANAGING DIRECTOR, STP 89 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings CONTENTS 1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3. BACKGROUND 4. THE PREVAILING CIRCUMSTANCES AND WHAT NEEDED TO BE CORRECTED 5. OBJECTIVES 6. MAIN ACTIVITIES 7. IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS AND HOW THEY WERE DEALT WITH 8. RESULTS 9. LESSONS LEARNT 10. THE NEXT STEP 11. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Any achievements by the Specialized Timber Products Company Limited have been the result of team-work, I therefore acknowledge the hard work and dedication of both workers and Management. The assistance and contribution made by the Royal Danish Government/Embassy, by making it possible to us to attend the Forum, is highly appreciated. The assistance of Mr. K.S. Nketiah of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) in putting together this paper is also gratefully acknowledged. Finally, I am grateful to the World Bank and the Ministry of Lands and Forestry (Ghana) for giving me the opportunity to share our experiences at this forum. 90 Country Paper-Ghana PROCESSING AND MARKETING OF NON-TRADITIONAL WOOD SPECIES BACKGROUND THE GHANA SCENE Ghana's high forest covers an area of about 7 million hectares out of the total 23.9 million hectares land area, and is located in the South and South Western parts of the country. About 680 tree species are known to occur in these forests. Until 1988, these species had been put into 4 broad classes based on their economic importance as determined by market demands. There were 14 prime species in class 1 with sub-classes a,b and c; and 12 in class 11 (also with 2 sub-classes). Together, these two broad classes constituted the resource base for the timber industry with a few of the 23 species in Class 111 being exploited to a lesser extent. Of these forty-nine (49) so-called marketable species, only a few were actually exported. Now tree species have been reclassified to broaden the timber production potential from 49 to 126 species. But markets are yet to be developed for these potential species. THE PROFILE OF THE COMPANY - SPECIALIZED TUBER PRODUCTS LTD The Specialized Timber Products (STP) Limited is a wood processing company located in Kumasi, the second city in Ghana. It was established in November 1985 and production started in January 1986. From an initial total staff strength of 72, the Company has expanded considerably within the decade; by 1st June, 1996 the labour strength had risen to 314, seven of whom are management staff . The Company has two Bandmills supported with an efficient Gangsaw capable of producing 50 M3 of high quality lumber daily. Two modem Boilers and 15-chamber kiln dryers of 1,500 M3 capacity provide the necessary facilities for kiln drying the products in line with Government policy. STP also has moulding machines which turn out high export quality planed (four sides) lumber, profile boards, dowels, etc. Export products are subjected to scrupulous grading by experienced Graders on the production line and the packing section to ensure that only good quality wood products which conform to specifications in each contract are bundled for export. On account of the high quality of our products, our traditional overseas buyers are always willing and eager to renew export contracts. The company has been working hand-in-hand with the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) on the research into marketing and adding value to lesser-known species. Efforts in this direction together with the difficulties encountered and the successes chalked form the subject of this presentation. 91 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings THE CASE STUDY THE PREVAILING CIRCUMSTANCES AND WHAT NEEDED TO BE CORRECTED In the early 80's, the Specialized Timber Products -Limited (STP) observed that the timber trade in the country and indeed on the continent as a whole, was concentrating on just a few species of the forests, i.e. the so-called prime species, eg. Odum, (Milicia spp), and the Mahoganies (Khaya spp) . This situation led to over-supplying the markets in Europe; while at the same time greatly reducing the stocking of these species in the forests. In addition, the quality of logs was also coming down. This was manifested in small diameter, immature logs and of wrong shapes. Against this background, we started asking questions such as: (a) Why should all countries supply the samne species, and oversupply the market in certain cases resulting in lower prices, whilst the supply of these few species from the forest was fast running out. (b) How to meet installed mill capacities, since not enough logs were supplied to the mills. (c) From the records, there are hundreds of species in Ghana's forests (680 spp) ; why were most of these never touched? It seemed illogical to say that all these were of no commercial value. About the same time too, the Environmental NGOs had started challenging the sustainability of tropical forests, thereby putting pressure on the market. Moreover, there was the fear that at the same levels of harvesting of just the few species, problems would be created in the marketing of the species in the near future; this indeed is now actually happening. In the 80's we analyzed the human nature and the thinking where it is normal for any one anywhere to clamour for change or something new. Considering that for most of the market- countries in the north, there are fog, clouds and not so much sunshine, we reasoned that there would be the need for brighter colors to offset the rather dark/gloomy weather. Thus, we had to look at what these countries would need and not so much what the markets were used to selling. OBJECTIVES From the foregoing, we set ourselves the task of introducing more species, especially the lesser- used (and lesser-known) ones unto the market. The objectives, as explained above, were: 1. to broaden the supply base and thereby reduce pressure on the few virtually endangered species; 2. to increase the contribution of the timber trade to the national economy; 3. to secure regular supply of raw materials (timber) to the industry. 4. By introducing new species, the industry will have more Flexibility in managing our Forest Resources on a sustainable basis, and consequently introducing supplying more environmentally Friendly Species to the outside World. 92 Country Paper-Ghana 5. This also could help the Tropical producing Countries to reduce the pressure of the environmental groups, and will allow the industry to work on the certification issue. 6. Due to the fact that the lesser used and lesser known species are available in good volume in our Forest, this can allow the industry to guarantee regular supply and regular volumes for larger time to the importing countries and this will encourage the buyers all over the world to spend on marketing these species. MAIN ACTIVITIES In 1986, we decided to go into extensive research on different species from the forest in both low, medium and high density ranges which were not exported nor even felled at all. We also looked at some species that were exported but only in small volumes in the round log form only. To be able to convince buyers to at least try these new species in their product range, we had to do all the work on their behalf; they were still getting the traditional species and would not want to spend time nor money experimenting with the so-called unknown species. This was not easy to do, because as a private enterprise, we did not have any outside support. All the costs of the research, both in machinery and material had to be met on account of the main production cost and upkeep of the factory. But we were on the other hand, very much convinced that this was the way forward for the future and the earlier we started, the better, even if results would not be achieved overnight or in a quick manner. Research was therefore pursued, howbeit more slowly but persistently. Species selected initially were Onyina (Ceiba petandra), Chenchen (Antiaris africanum), Koto (Pterygota marcrocarpa), Akasa (Chrysophyllum spp), and Essa (Celtis spp). It took a couple of years in buying logs. We had to keep one kiln-drying chamber for developing drying schedules for the various species and a moulding machine to work on various mouldings and finished products to be sent to the various world markets. This meant lost machine time - another opportunity cost. More specifically, we carried out many experiments investigating how these species dry for different sawing methods the wood (i. e. 1/4 -sawn, flat sawn, or semi 1/4 sawn); and for various thicknesses ranging from 1"(25mm) to 3" (75mm) . It was observed that the drying schedule can vary tremendously depending on thickness. We had to experiment with combined schedules of temperature, relative humidity, and the rate of drying that cause the minimum damage on the timber. Another aspect of the research was to establish the various technical properties and description of each species such as density, durability, shrinkage on drying and the bending capability. This was deemed necessary to be able to recommend or at least suggest to the buyers possible uses of each species. After obtaining all the above-mentioned data, we had to start our research into product development, market possibilities, and sales objectives. 93 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS AND HOW THEY WERE DEALT WITH As you would perhaps know, with this kind of approach, it takes quite a long time to convince the end-users to try and import the new timber species; apart from that the buyers were not prepared to pay for the trial parcels so long as they could still obtain supplies in the traditional primary species. Most buyers contacted, stated clearly that they did not see the reason in spending money when they were not facing any problem. We therefore had no choice but to give the samples free. You can imagine our predicament: after buying logs, processing and drying them and shipping all by ourselves, only to go and plead with buyers to test the sample as finished products in their market. For these experiments, we had to invest heavily in machinery and technology, in addition to budgeting each month for the cost of raw materials required for the research. The volumes needed to establish the drying programmes, technical data, and processing the samples into the various suggested finish the products, ranged from 300 to 700 M3, depending on the species; thus we spent about c50 million (about US$ 30,000 - 35,000) per species. In terms of other facilities, a 40 M3 kiln chamber was reserved for the purpose for about a year. If used for drying say Wawa, Triplochiton scieroxylon, this kiln would have brought in about US$32,000. Over and above all these, one must add the moulder and labour costs as well as freight charges estimated at about US$27,000) . From such considerations, it is not difficult to appreciate that for each species promoted, close to US$94,000 would have been expended. RESULTS Nevertheless that system worked well. We were pleased and encouraged that at least we found a head way to get these species known in the market. In certain cases, we had to send 3 or 4 small parcels for further tests by the same buyer until they got convinced; we then sat together with them to work out a long-term supply programme. This usually started with the supply of small parcels on a monthly basis. Here too, we needed to prove to the buyer that we could maintain regular supply with consistent quantity and quality. Gradually we were able to convince the buyers, month-by-month, to reduce their intake from the primary species and increase intake of these lesser known species by the same percentage. By 1993, we are glad to mention, certain markets and buyers had shifted fully from the traditional species to these new species. And once the new species had been accepted in the markets and the technical data and end-uses of such species known by the buyers, coupled with the assurance of regular supply, we were able to gradually push prices up. In 1990, about 80% of our export lumber was Wawa (Triplochiton scieroxylon), but as a result of such promotional efforts, we have been able to diversify our export products considerably. By 1995 our product mix was as follows: Koto kiln dried 70% Akasa kiln dried 10% Dowels/moulding 15% Chenchen and Ceiba kiln dried : 5% 94 Country Paper-Ghana We are glad to mention here that at the moment, species such as Akasa (Chrysophyllum spp) and Koto (Pterygota marcrocarpum) are achieving prices higher than the traditional primary hardwood species, by between 40 and 60% and over 100% higher than the traditional softwood species. Sample data to illustrate the point are given in Tables I - 3 and Figs I - 4. This is a practical demonstration that these lesser-known species which in the past, as we were made to believe, had no use, can benefit the economies of our nations even more than the traditional species. Other benefits that go with these accomplishments are listed below: (1) Part of the environmental problem has been solved since these species are plentiful in the forest and could be harvested in a very sustainable programme. (2) we can now supply the market with something new to satisfy the human need f or change, and a desired one at that. (3) Buyers and the markets generally, can also be sure of regular supply, both in time and in quantity to keep their industries running for a long time to come. That would also allow them to cover their initial expenditure on marketing and advertisement, for these new species. (4) With the higher prices obtainable, returns to our countries' incomes would be much higher, thereby helping to solve some of the socio-economic priorities. LESSONS LEARNT 1. Research by industry can be very expensive, in terms of both direct costs in terms of bigger samples and indirect costs like lost machine time, and useful man-hours. It would definitely be cheaper to fund a research Organization to undertake such major investigations. 2. The big importers in USA, Europe and Japan are willing and can market and introduce the new species into their markets; they can also remove any species from the market. However, they must be assured of the regularity/volume of supply, to enable them cover their marketing costs as well as maintaining constant supply to their industry and distribution outlets, such as the DIY chains of stores. If these criteria of regularity and assured volume cannot be met for any reason whatsoever, then it is totally impossible to commercialize such species. 3. Without investing heavily in new technologies, which are very expensive, and in certain cases such technologies have to be computerized to be able to achieve constant qualities, then it is not possible to achieve such goals. 4. our success in introducing the few species into the market, has also encouraged some buyers themselves to experiment with other species sent to them. 5. Finally we have been convinced that for the industry to go in that direction, certain policies must be put in place by the various ministries and institutions responsible for the timber trade and industry. And for sure, industrialists willing to go into such long-term research and expenditure must be given some incentives which will encourage them to undertake or sponsor 95 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings such research. In the long run, whatever incentive package put in place will be much cheaper, than the huge benefits which the industry will bring in return to the national economies of the producing countries. THE NEXT STEP At STP, our next step, after having had the few lesser-used species accepted in the market, is to invest in further technologies to supply the markets with more added-value products from those lesser-used species. These products will include dowels, curtain rails, kitchen cabinet parts, finger-jointed and laminated products e.g. staircases, window and door sills, solid doors, laminates for shelves, and table tops. Such new technologies will be very advantageous because they will tremendously increase the yield from the harvested wood; hardly anything will be wasted. Moreover, that will make it possible to prove to the various environmental groups worldwide that we are utilizing our forest resources very efficiently and in a sustainable manner. Secondly, prices for such value-added products will be much higher than the ordinary sawn timber product. This will further enhance the returns from the forest to the national economy. In order to realize all these benefits or advantages, we at STP, have already installed the following production sections in addition to the basic sawmill line: - Kiln Drying facilities - Treatment and Sterilization Unit - Moulding section - Dowels and round rod section. - Finger-jointing and lamination sections (to be installed in the second half of the year, 1996). With all the above mentioned sections, we could utilize small pieces of wood such as 25mm x 25mm x 150mm. We also have in place a new burning technology which is capable of utilizing even the wet saw dust in our steam generating boilers for the production of steam. The steam is fed to the kiln dryers. We consider timber drying as the door to any further processing for added-value products,. Besides these, we have recently also installed the first Band-Rack which will enable us utilize the branches and the leftovers of the felled trees in the forest. Thus at STP, we maximize the recovery from both the tree and the log; even sawdust is our fuel and cannot be treated as waste. It is worth mentioning that our research programme on lesser- known species is still going on. 96 Country Paper-Ghana CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The efforts have been very costly to the company, being a purely private concern with no external injections. Moreover it was initially very difficult to make in-roads into the established markets. In the long run however, our tenacity, commitment and preseverance have proved very rewarding: now many more "lesser-used" species (LUS) are accepted on the market, with some even fetching higher prices than the traditionally preferred species. From our practical experience we believe strongly that the following points can assist and allow the industry to achieve its goals in a faster time and will also allow the industry to adjust itself on a long term basis in the interest of their National economies and their future generations. 1- Research institutions, like Forestry Research Institute (FORIG) in Ghana, be supported to undertake such much needed research for the industry. The Donor communities could assist in the provision of the necessary prototype facilities. 2- A technical team could also be set up between the industry and research institutions, to identify research programmes together. This will better address the research needs of the industry, This team could have a better link with consumer in various buying countries to determine research priorities to minimize cost. Multilateral bodies like the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) could facilitate such an arrangement. 3- The industry must have a long term permanent policy by the sector ministry. Without this it is not possible to go into research and marketing. 4- The various Governments must work an incentive programme which will encourage the industry, to go into research, marketing, investing in new technology to achieve the National goals. Some of these incentives are: - As a start, all Kiln dried lumber, and for a period of about 3 years must be treated as a non traditional export product. This will give the industry a breather to go into research and to start developing new products and new markets. - After the lapse of the 3 years mentioned in the above item, further processed products only, will continue to be treated as not traditional exports. - The Lesser Used Species will be treated as non traditional exports for a minimum of 10 years, because this is a condition by the purchasing markets. The buyers require long term guaranteed supply to enable them, advertise, market, and promote these LUS. - Products such as K.D. Lumber, ordinary produced plywood, ordinary produced peeled and sliced veneers, the industry must be allowed about 3% of the FOB value to be exempted before Tax. This money will enable the industry to spend on research and marketing development. - The further processed products such as jointed veneers, special plywood products, planed and moulded lumber, must be allowed about 8% of the FOB value, Tax free, this will enable the industry to invest that money in new machinery and further market development. 97 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - The finished and semi-finished products, such as knock down furniture, furniture, finger jointed, laminated and sanded products, which can achieve high value products, the industry must be allowed about 15% of the FOB value which will enable the industry to invest further, in the necessary sophisticated machinery and market development. 5- The Timber Industry, must be treated as any other industry in the liberalised systems. All restrictions and bottle necks, must be eliminated. 6- It will be imperative to assist the industry by providing external soft loans, on medium and long terms, at low interest rates. 7- The Government must support the establishment of a strong and powerful Association of Ghana Timber Industry (AGTI). 8- Raw-Material To the industry the understanding of sustainability of our forests and the issue of world wide certification of timber products, it is understood by us that: The industry must plant_more trees than the number felled. To be able to achieve this goal the industry must be supported and assisted by: A- Lands for plantations B- Seadlings. C- Full ownership and exploitation rights of the planted land. D- Donor agencies have to assist with grants and long term self loans to private companies doing plantations. E- The establishment of a private plantation company, run by the AGTI and financed by the industry, Such company could be assisted financially by various Donor agencies to start and take off. The initial target of plantations have to be a minimum of 1.5 million trees per year. The benefits which could be achieved from such plantations are tremendous: - The industry can expand a lot, increase employment, and increase the export capacity and earnings, because the raw material will be available in bigger quantities from such plantations. - The employment will increase in the rural areas. - Plantations and due to employment possibilities will reduce the trend of urbanisation. - There will be a better distribution of wealth and income to rural areas. - Plantations will help in the reduction of Bush fires and illegal felling of trees. - Plantations will help in the development of the rural areas. Therefore due to such tremendous benefits the Private Plantation Company must be supported with certain incentives. One suggestion is to allow the company 100%. Tax relief on plantation expenditure. 98 Country Paper-Ghana TABLE 1. TRENDS IN EXPORT OF KILN DRIED AKASAA LUMBER BY S. T. P YEAR VOLUME M3 AV.PRICE, DM/M3 1989 212.890 800.00 1990 1,000.361 852.03 1991 719.128 854.50 1992 560.448 800.00 1993 947.661 883.68 1994/95 1,194.532 901.63 Jan. - June, 1996 300.000 1,050.00 TABLE 2. EXPORT OF KOTO LUMBER (KILN DRIED) BY STP VOLUME,IN M3 VOLUME IN M3 VOL.IN M3 PRICE PRICE DM/M3 DMIM3 YEAR WHITE KOTO STEAMED TOTAL WHITE STEAMED KOTO 1991 886.048 886.048 854.5 1992 - 2,811.151 2.811.151 - 870 1993 63.251 2,620.697 2.620.697 871.79 880.66 1994 701.089 2,802.480 3.503.569 827.76 885.82 1995 1,296.899 6,476.041 7.772.940 845.10 892.22 99 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings TABLE 3. COMPARATIVE PRICES FOR KILN DRIED LUMBER SPECIES UNIT PRICE DATE DM/M3 Chenchen 450 1993 Wawa 400 1993 Chenchen Dowels 1200 1994 Essa 650 1994 Koto Dowels 1650 1994 White Koto 850 1995 Steamed Quota 890 1995 Quota Dowels 1300 1995 Akasa 1050 1996 Odum/Sapele/Mahogany 775 1996 Koto Exports (m3) by STP 8.500 8,000 7,500 7,000 6,500 6,000 5,500 -4 5,000: 4,500 4,000 | ____ 3,5000 3 000 2,500 - .1 2,000 - - 1.500 _ _-_ _ _ 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 EVol in m3 of white Koto IN Vol of Steamed Koto 100 Country Paper-Ghana Prices of kiln-dried Koto lumber in DM 900 I 890- -- 880 \ 870 860 830 820- 810 800 790 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 _ -Unit price of steamed Koto - Unit price of White Koto 101 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Export volumes (m3) of kiln-dried Akasaa lumber 1400 1 3 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 2 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _- _ - _ - 1 1 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - 10 00 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - so o -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 700 ----------- ------ ------------- _ Volumeexported 600 - t - - 5 0 0 - - - - - _ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ _ _ 4 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ _ 1 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 500 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Period Export price of kiln-dried Akasaa lumber in DM 1080 1060 1040 1020 / 1000 / 980 - 960 - 940 920 . Export price] 900 4 880 860 840 - 820 800 780 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Period 102 Putting Forest Policy Into Practice: Interim Measures to Control Illegal Timber Harvesting Outside Forest Reserves THE EVOLUTION OF POLICY INTO PRACTICE A CASE STUDY OF GHANA'S FOREST POLICY: E. Koffi Smith, Technical Director Ministry of Lands and Forestry. Government of Ghana PO Box M212. Accra 103 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings CONTENTS Acknowledgements List of figures List of acronyms I. INTRODUCTION 2. FOREST POLICY AGENDAS IN GHANA 3. CRISIS AND INSANITY IN THE TIMBER SECTOR 4. THE INTERIM MEASURES TO CONTROL ILLEGAL TIMBER HARVESTING 5. SUPPORTING A PARTICIPATORY AGENDA 6. CONCLUSION References Endnotes ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the Forest Officers at Forestry Department Headquarters, Planning Branch, Ashanti Regional Forest Office, New Edubiase, Assin Fosu and Wallace Koomson for the data they contributed to this case study. I would also like to thank all the Forestry Department staff and concessionaires who took the time to fill in the questionnaire on the impact of the 'Interim Measures'. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Successive forest policy agendas in Ghana. Figure 2. System of forest reserves in southern Ghana Figure 3. Timber harvesting levels off-reserve in Ghana 1988-1994 Figure 4. Press reports on the illegal logging crisis Figure 5. Logging patterns in Ghana 1960 - 1995. Figure 6. LMC volume by month 19945 Figure 7. Proportion of cut from unknown sources. Figure 8. Forestry Department forest fees collection returns from 1989-1996. LIST OF ACRONYMS AAC Annual Allowable Cut DFO District Forest Office(r) ERP Economic Recovery Programme FD Forestry Departnent FRMP Forest Resource Management Project GOG Government of Ghana GTA Ghana Timber Association MLF Ministry of Lands and Forestry RFO Regional Forest Office(r) TO Technical Officer TUC Timber Utilization Contract 104 Country Paper-Ghana PUTTING FOREST POLICY INTO PRACTICE:INTERIM MEASURES TO CONTROL ILLEGAL TIMBER HARVESTING OUTSIDE FOREST RESERVES 1. INTRODUCTION A new forest policy agenda is emerging across much of Africa. The agenda signifies a commitment by policy makers to sustainable, democratic and efficient forestry. But forestry paradigms are only ever a product of the wider world beyond the forest edge. The changes in forest policy reflect a deeper movement across much of our continent which I am sure you will agree signals the resurgence of Africa and the end of our 'Lost Decade'. In 1994 the Ministry of Lands and Forestry of the Government of Ghana promulgated a new Forest and Wildlife Policy. In this presentation I wish to focus on one aspect of our new Policy, that of local participation in sustainable forest management. In Ghana the state owns neither the trees nor the land on which they grow, the Government is mandated only to manage the forest resource on behalf of traditional landowning groupsI and the nation. However, over the years our forest management systems have developed in such a way as to largely exclude the landowning communities from receiving their share of the benefits. Participation is an imperative if our forestry sector is to be fully equitable and efficient. Putting a participatory framework in place is not an easy option. It requires us to reconsider not merely the strategies we have adopted to manage the forest resource but also to consider the very purpose of forestry. The subject of this case study is the Interim Measures to Control Illegal 'Timber Harvesting Outside Reserves. New measures to control illegal jogging may not seem like an obvious choice for a study of participation. But as you will see the case study will throw up many issues related to participation in forest management. 2. FOREST POLICY AGENDAS IN GHANA Ghana has a long and distinguished tradition of formal2 forest management. Down the years a succession of forest policies has been articulated each reflecting the agenda of the day. The origins of the colonial forest conservation agenda [1830-1 897]3 'How different it would have been had there been some system of forest conservancy... when we have a good thing we should treat it kindly and tenderly.' (Moloney, 1887 on the demise of the colonial rubber trade in Gabon due to overcutting) The high forest zone of southern Ghana is a botanically wealthy, lush forest environment, capable if properly managed of yielding many rich harvests. In the,. 1 830s cocoa vas first introduced into southeast Ghana, by the 1 890s it was the most important harvest in the forest zone and the mainstay of colonial economic activities. In 1874, alarmist reports from colonial botaniste of the danger. of widespread desiccation through the destruction of indigenous forests (especially in Cape Colony and Mauritius) with its implied, threat to the economic basis of colonial rule encouraged the British Colonial Office in London to contemplate some kind of unified forest protection policy in the colonies' (Grove, 1994). This colonial anxiety is the rootsource of formal forest management in many of the-Countries gathered here today In Nairobi. 105 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings In the Gold Coast colony a treatise on forestry published in 18871 formed the basis of official conservation policy. The author believed that the dry and treeless reaches of the Accra plains were early evidence of the threat of climatic change to the commercial potentials of the forest zone if deforestation went unchecked4. The author called for conservation. 'Let landlords...specially conserve, at least, such belts of wooded land as cover mountains or hills and flank rivers and streams.' (Moloney, 1887) The conservation systems that were introduced across the world at the end of the last century were broadly similar In their scientific approach, but colonial conservation strategy in Ghana vas defined by the distinctive local conditions of indirect rule and local autonomy. An attempt by the colonial administration In 1897 to create Crown Lands had been fiercely resisted. Lan was (and is) communally held and administered by traditional authorities.5 The only strategy available to the colonial administration was to persuade the Native Authorities to set aside some of their land under permanent forest. Of necessity, the first attempt at implementing forest policy was participatory. These distinctive features of our situation; the potential wealth of the forest zone, communal ownership of land, and the political economy of forest use have continued to shape our forest policy agendas for the last one hundred years. Figure 1. Successive forest policy agendas in Ghana (with special reference to participation). 1874 - The origins of the colonial forest conservation agenda The British Colonial Office begins to develop a universal forest conservation policy to avert a perceived worldwide threat to the economic base of colonial rule from deforestation. 1909 - A period of forest reservation for conservation The Forestry Department is established by the colonial government in 1909 in order to encourage forest reservation by traditional landowners so as to maintain a favorable climate for cocoa. Of necessity the first policy is particularly with the landowning communities as the client of the Forestry Department. The Forest Ordinance is passed in 1927, compulsory reservation becomes possible. 1939 - World War II and the new emphasis on timber harvesting The colonial Forestry Department turns to timber exportation in support of the war effort. The 1948 Forest POLICY emphasizes timber production in addition to the earlier protective values of the forest resource. A salvage felling policy is instituted off-reserve. The Forestry Department is seen increasingly to be working in the interest of the timber contractors off-reserve. 1957 - Independence and forestry in support of nation building State control over forest resources is increased. Rural communities are increasingly alienated from forest resource management. 1972 - The 'Lost Decade' - economic decline Timber production declines. The resources available for forest management are severely limited. 1983 - Rejuvenation - economic recovery and grassroots development ' Sketch of the Forestry of West African by Alfred Moloney, later Governor of Lagos Colony. 106 Country Paper-Ghana The Economic Recovery Programme is launched. Timber production rises. Conflicts between timber contractors and farrners worsen. 1994 - An agenda for today: the 1994 Forest and Wildlife POLICY The new Forest POLICY aims at the 'conservation and sustainable development of the nation's forest and wildlife resources for maintenance of environmental quality and perpetual flow of benefits to all segments of society.' The new POLICY signifies a commitment to sustainable democratic and efficient forestry. The Forest POLICY also places 'particular emphasis on the concept of participatory management of forest resources.' A period of forest reservation for conservation [ 1909-19391 Between its creation in 1909 and the second World War the colonial Forestry Department attempted to reserve 20-25% of the land area as forest to maintain favorable climatic conditions for cocoa production and to protect watersheds . 'To secure the reservation of areas of permanent forest suitably t distributed through the cocoa growing zone. in order to maintain in that zone a forest climate. (Gold Coast, 1928) Some reserves were created by Native Authority Bye-Laws and forest officers were assigned to particular reserves to advise chiefs about forest management. By 1927, progress on reservation was deemed too slow and a Forest Ordinance was passed. While the Ordinance gave the Government the power to compulsorily constitute reserves, the forests were to be administered by the Forestry Department in the interest of the owner or owners.6 Title to the land and the trees7 remained with the traditional authorities. However, from this point onwards the relationship between the Forestry Department and the rural landowning communities was chequered. The system of primarily protective forest reserves established at this time is 'still largely intact today. Outside the reserves the clearance of forests proceeded apace as the cocoa frontier continued to move across the country. Figure 2 - System of forest reserves in southern Ghana ; +w> / t t -14 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~107 ;7 . African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings World War II and the new emphasis on timber harvesting 1939-1957 During the war years the colonial Government instructed the professional foresters to concentrate on exporting timber, roundlogs and rubber for the war effort. Timber production rather than environmental protection began to dominate the forestry agenda. In 1948 the first national Forest POLICY was articulated. The POLICY maintained the protective goals of reservation but placed great emphasis on the productive potential of the estate. 8" The POLICY also covered the off-reserve lands, where it envisaged the,9 'controlled, progressive utilization without replacement of the remainder of the forest resources not permanently dedicated to forestry prior to their destruction to farming.' (1948 Forest .POLICY, Gold Coast) The ensuing salvage felling policies changed the relationship between the foresters, farmers and loggers. In the eyes of farmers' 0 the concessionaire was now the client on whose behalf the foresters were working. 'The large demands for timber necessitated a good deal of control to ensure adequate and stable supplies. The burden of introducing these regulations fell largely to the FD and added considerably to its work and also to its unpopularity.' (Logan, 1945) The salvage felling systems are still in place today and have fuelled a long standing conflict between the farmers and the concessionaires 'the cocoa farmer who has developed a more implacable hatred towards the timber contractor than the beasts that thrive on his cocoa ... now makes sure that during the clearing of the forest, every good quality timber tree is destroyed before the contractor menacingly invades his cocoa farm with the caterpillar.' (Asare, 1970) By the 1940s the early cocoa growing areas were being abandoned due to swollen shoot, a disease linked to desiccation. Independence and forestry in support of-nation building [957-19721 The clamour for greater indigenous control of the wealth of the forest zone fuelled our demands for Independence, which we realized in 1957. A period of bold and confident nation building began. The new Government increasingly regarded the timber and cocoa harvests as national economic resources to be extracted cheaply from rural areas to fund national development 12 drives State control over the forest resource was extended in 1962 with the passing of the Concessions Act which vested the rights to all timber trees in the President.'3 Ultimate title to the economic trees remained with the traditional authorities who received a share of the timber royalty. Farmers lost all rights to utilise the timber trees they left standing on their farms. 'The Lost decade' - economic decline [1972-1983] It has been argued that poor cocoa producer prices and the declining rural economy in the face of increasing urban demands, precipitated the problems that beset us during the late 108 Country Paper-Ghana 1960s. The economy went into decline in 1970s. Along with many other African nations we slid into a 'lost decade.'14 By 1980, production of timber and cocoa was less than at Independence in 1957. The resources available to the Government to manage the forest estate were severely stretched. Rejuvenation - economic recovery and grassroots development [1984 -1941] In order to reverse the decline, the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) was launched with World Bank/IMF support in 1983. The focus on export-led growth under the ERP led to the rehabilitation of the mining, cocoa and timber sectors. The last decade has been a period of steady renewal In Ghana. Timber production rose throughout this period. Most of the timber harvesting took place outside reserves. While virtually all the forested land has been converted to agriculture, there is still a considerable timber resource ,outside reserves. The timber trees have been retained by farmers as shade for cocoa and for other environmental, spiritual, medicinal and livelihood values. Logging was primarily taking place on these farms. In this period the World Bank, and DANIDA provided funds for a major programme of forest management improvement through the Forest Resource Management Project [FRMP]. An agenda for today: the 1994 Forest and wildlife POLICY A new Forest and Wildlife POLICY that would reflect the spirit and realities of the day and guide us into the future was formulated by the govemment in 1994. The POLICY lays emphasis on sustainability, multiple use values, efficient commercial utilization of forest produce and participation. The overall aim of the POLICY is the: Conservation and sustainable development of the nation's forest and wildlife resources for maintenance of environmental quality and perpetual flow of benefits to all segment of society. A key aspect of the POLICY is that it is people centered. There are specific principles on rights of local access15 to basic natural resources, local democracy and 'participatory management and 16 protection of forest and wildlife resources . The new POLICY also signifies a major shift in policy outside reserves from 'liquidation' to 'sustainable management of unreserved forests. However, in 1994 the legacies of previous forest policies were still very much in place; redundant procedures, entrenched relationships, unhelpful legislation. Almost all corners of the forestry sector were due for overhaul. But it was not long before a series of crises in the timber sector put the new policy off-reserve to the very top of our agenda. 3. CRISIS AND INSANITY IN THE TIMBER SECTOR In 1993 an aggressive new export market for round logs opened up in the Far East. Timber felling on farms soared. Much of the felling was illegal and speculative; undertaken by unauthorized 'Wayside2 contractions whenever there was rumour of a ship coming to port. All 2 A phenomenon that goes back to at least the mid 1970s. 109 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings too often the logs went to waste, huge sums of revenue were being lost and the resource was heading for oblivion with little gain. Relations between the farmer, the forester and the concessionaire were worsening still further: 'In the past farmers made a lot of efforts to tend trees on their farmlands. Then you wake up one day to find the very tree you tended has been logged-and your crops destroyed. Tending of trees has become an abomination.' (Farmer survey, Assin Fosu, 1994) By 1994 what had been a lingering problem was now a crisis. A huge pile of decomposing logs at the harbour served as a constant reminder to the general public and to the Ministry of Lands and Forestry of the insanity prevailing in the timber sector. The situation had to be brought under control. Figure 3. Timber harvesting levels off-reserve in Ghana 1988-1994 1.6 1.4 E 1.2 _ 1 E0.8 0.6 E 0.4 0.2 0 l 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Year The Ministry instituted a series of measures to bring exploitation down to sustainable levels: bi- annual property mark renewal after payment of royalties, task forces, levies on export of round logs and eventually a temporary suspension of log exports. These measures were partially successful . In mid 1994 the Ministry of Lands and Forestry learnt that some farmers were having some success in controlling illegal felling on their farns. I visited the community concerned to find out what they were doing and the kind of backing they needed. The next day we wrote to the Forestry Department explaining the 'need for immediate action by the Ministry to bring levels of exploitation down to a more sustainable level.' and requesting, inter alia: recommendations on appropriate control measures to be initiated by District Forest Officers and communities., (MLF, 23rd June, 1994) 110 Country paper-Ghana The Fresty Deartmnt hd inefet been given a, cairte blanche bY the Ministry of Lands and ForestrY to come up with any operational recommendaion iteelivdkolsor.n cudb the basis of new forestry legislation. We gave themrin wes Figure 4. Press reports on the illegal logging crisis tin~.bt ealtS o ace stiff er penalties legal ~im er eltst wt"theyca that ineioatd th3ttky forfltYie onsatd ratsesc By Adw0a v0-Ess. eh,cl\coS s,L of dePic. caiight cr't- of t e "GeL %S 0 Assistanlce FROT'l now erl ayn dbe pro$ , tion of,.- , ~ ~ -, the oe * tw firt r n prtmes for the tibr d- ' I .siid w ~ill be Pt fn ntsrY Oh ttP Dinii ccrw , .d b t Fund tor rnslhOnorjalic ortWOYe r.a ofL hi- ,ocr3'.- nyCrnsao ieOcO ,em n frm tu ec at d finedflinined Drnill" wabben Adie i M In is'e r or Lands ~ reg i s te red saw,r . 'e r cs s Ch r anid ForestiY has !W raIe- a--,kFresi .n sadL hSIS n a l ~tnh fr thO -~4isaeirsnt at the F.W ~M Oc 5 ie F~~~~~~~~orestiY. a 'Don't ,oCrxer w Yb5 zh illega chain-swoeaos Sy S.iieecous ~ ~~~tie Ade otod -~t LI, -)inn~ad El. or nc. inerantiy ~~ ~ ~ fl~~ Mioisceroft.an~~~~~ a . in hc area are be-ng n- crot`es n.n1- o1--,d an fIe n ,trae sad Forestry ~ ~~ je,ted.,making thcm i-. aor~g;nntn I-' he concoznnrefo oiy -.waea .Adjet hs ad. able to erforma tCeX lr':n~ites~ rt crap A yte yd in th ,'iredcei:izenso(Begoro ti-es tiTect-Ivey c, -el,"If s-Uin i, r '-,:hla te Fanteak-.' Djo- The ieinri,ter a0- cc to rt ik Lori in the district- sec.h,genral Ot-!i lha -aSSenzk" >t yotiLs nuci~~~~~~~~(i tsba n e!eI 'g ~or exO scp been~~~~ P 00 0, e e P''l srY fLaC acomg lln O hs ie LLP~~~~I~~r010rt esli~~~n o natakoa Pth e Srrreny ls,I .ApILe r!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ isln Tao, i _ec ar"P"eSaIdy i ,iven F~~~~restrY Action group to~~~~~~~~~~~~~ltrC AS''liis , is s bar' onn Jtnu Owusu ,h/UfJ. Out be inc e~~m.)slied ICr loal,a~ m 94I ll 'I'adFO cstY i wok- radms bne e.LiLiZOdCCfiidi ( 'O rcS m ne ~an, ra Trimb~er A o ;:Ore sscc;a lln African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 4. THE INTERIM MEASURES TO CONTROL ILLEGAL TIMBER HARVESTING OUTSI)E FOREST RESERVES Developing and launching the Interim Measures The Forestry Department swiftly set up a Working Group to address the problem. The Working Group was hand-picked and comprised: * Concessionaires and chainsaw operators * Local timber task force members & District Assemblymen * Stool chiefs, Farmers and Community Representatives * Ministry and Forestry Department officers The Working Group identified the key issues and drafted proposals for new felling procedures, corresponding modifications to legislation and public education campaigns. The proposals became known as the I Interim Measures. 'The key issues reported by the Group were: 1. No single institution has overall responsibility for overseeing exploitation of timber trees outside reserves. 2 . Harvesting rights and benefits are skewed in favour of the industry. Farmers have no incentive to protect timber trees. 3. Monitoring and regulation of off-reserve harvesting is pitiful. 4. Sanctions against illegal operators are ineffective. 5. Farmers and the public at -large are not well informed about the benefits they should receive and felling rules. 6 . Contracts are issued without regard for the state of the resource or whether the contracter has legal access to it. The new Interim felling procedures are at the heart of the 'Interim Measures, they aim -to regularize timber production from stump to port with the involvement of farmers, their key features3" are:' * Before felling begins, the desired trees will be inspected by the Forestry Department, logger, community representatives and farmer. Farmers may raise ANY objections they have over a tree being felled on their farms, even for concession areas. Any tree felled on a farm against the wishes of the farmer is therefore felled illegally. * A Forest Officer will issue a felling permit before felling commences. * Post felling, farmers may bring any complaints about the felling operation to the attention of the Forest Officers. A Conveyance Certificate authorizing the movement of logs will NOT be issued if there are any outstanding disputes over compensation for crop damages. 3Interim denotes that the Measures were originally designed to bring logging under control in the interim while long term management systems were designed. The Measures have proved to useful that they will be made permanent and their provisions legislated for under the new consolidated Forect Act. 112 Country Paper-Ghana In August 1995, the Minister for Lands and Forestry launched the Interim Measures to an assembly of timberman and professional foresters. At the launching the Minister requested all responsible citizens to share with the Forestry Department the responsibility for monitoring felling. 'The new POLICY is to sustain and develop the resource through the energies of communities, farmers, loggers and foresters working together. The first step is to stop the illegal plundering which is spoiling our future. So timbermen, chainsaw operators, millers and those officials who are colluding with illegal operators decide now, either you are with us and you are going to help look. after the resource or not. If not, be warned, the farmers, communities, and foresters under these new 'Measures' will stop you.' (GoG, 1995) The Forestry Department instituted the 'Interim Measures in the districts through local fora for timbermen, chiefs and assemblymen. The 'Interim Measures' were put in place very quickly and then - all hell broke loose. Within just a few weeks the plentiful flow of cheap logs to the main inland processing centres became a trickle. Pressure was exerted on the Ministry by the big mills to modify or withdraw the 'Interim Measures. The millers claimed that production was being crippled because of the cumbersome nature of the new felling procedures. This was partly true. The measurements though time-consuming also created a rent-seeking behavior in the Technical Officers who were few on the ground and also immobile. The logistical aspects were not well prepared. However, the Ministry did not budge as it had become clear that much of the illegal harvest had been destined not only for the ports but for the big mills in the urban centers. Much of the hue and cry was coming from millers who had relied on this flow of cheap logs. The Ministry pressurized the Forestry Department to sort out the bottlenecks. The 'Interim Measures' has been in place for one year, its impact has been remarkable. Impact of the 'Interim Measures' on illegal felling Illegal logging has been massively reduced. The Wayside contractors have been almost wiped out, as the Planning officer noted, the opportunity to operate illegally is not there. The Forestry Department with assistance from the police checkpoints can now monitor all log, lumber, firewood and charcoal movements from the stump to the port. As two Technical Officers (TOs) noted: 'If you see logs without a Conveyance Certificate you know immediately that they are illegal. We can monitor from the forest to the Mill. It makes us smart. The farmers are also reporting illegal operations. The hoped-for switch to monitoring of felling by farners on farms seems to be happening: 'the local people are there on the ground, we only go there when called, when the crime is committed. The concessions outside reserves are all on farms and they have the power now.' 4 The information in this section is collated from a recent FD review of the Measures. 113 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Impact of the Interim Measures on farmers and landowning communities Soon after the launch the Ghana Timber Association (GTA) issued a statement supporting the I Interim Measures' but deploring the decision to involve chief s or representatives of timber producing communities as unacceptable.' 'The GTA is not happy with the PRACTICE whereby cultivators frequently appealed against the felling of certain trees for environmental or farming reasons. (Ghanaian Times, 8-8-95) The timbermen felt the Interim Measures were a betrayal by the Forestry Department and put pressure on the Department to drop the farmers from the pre-felling inspection. However, a recent Forestry Department survey of twenty concessionaires found that most no longer objected to the pre-felling inspection. Twelve respondents said that compensation payments had increased and one stated that the' interim Measures has stopped litigations between farmers and 1 7 contractors Relations between farmers and foresters have improved in many localities. As Forest Officers explained: 'If they know the tree helps the farm to yield well, they will not allow the concessionaire to fell. They feel a belonginess to Forestry, they are part and parcel of us, they hold power.' 'If the farmer complains about destruction of farms and neglecting to pay compensation then we impound the truck. We have opened a Farmers Complaints Book for crops destroyed and we stop the Conveyance Certificate until the problem is solved. A recent survey in nine communities where there was previously a lot of illegal felling tells a similar story. The community members hailed the new Measures and reported that the Measures' two objectives have been attained in their area; slowing down the logging and wiping out the Wayside contractors. The people of Assin Darmang reported that, 'Hitherto, logging - activities were rampant and teachers, nurses, businessmen -and chainsaw operators could do whatever they liked even in the night without permit as well as not paying compensation.' The farmers have all been briefed about the new Measures by the chief of Darmang at a fanner's forum and we are now all aware of our rights to compensation. All the Assin Nyankumasi illegal operators have stopped the timber business and are now farmers and traders and miners. In some places the Chiefs and District Assemblymen reported a significant increase in the revenue they are receiving from timber royalties5 5 Two food sellers and four second hand clothes traders in Asian Darmang were not happy with the departure of the illegal operators as they were patronishing their trade, their departure has been a great blow to them. 114 Country Paper-Ghana Impact of the 'Interim Measures on the timber industry All the timber contractors who took part in the Forestry Department's recent questionnaire survey on the impact of the 1 Interim Measures 1 reported that log production had fallen by 30- 40 % depending on the area. While log production has undoubtedly dropped, the 1 Interim Measures' has affected people in diverse ways. The following is a crude synopsis of the impact of the Interim Measures on different sections of the timber industry. While they still complain of logistical problems and expansive delays in getting logs to -the mills, the loggers who hold timber concessions generally support the Interim Measures. Two respondents to the Forestry Department's survey explained that 'the Measures has brought job security to the genuine producers' and 'deleted non timbermen 18from the trade. The legal loggers can also sell their logs to the mills at higher prices. As one DFO reported The timbermen that initially opposed the Interim Measures on the grounds that they would slow down logging see they have become a blessing rather than a bane. They have observed that the measures have crippled the wood thieves who encroached upon their concessions.' One concession holder went further: The 'Interim Measures will now pave the way for those in it with good equipment to be protected for a good work done and to be rewarded. Those affected by the 'Measures had all the chances to get the capital and establish genuine business elsewhere but they lead foolish lives. It serves them right. The concessionaires who responded to the survey were all clear as to the modifications needed to make the 'Measures less cumbersome. The onus is on the Forestry Department to sort out the problems as soon as possible.'9 However it appears to be a different story for millers operating without a secure resource base or on tight margins. Millers who set up processing lines assuming they could always purchase cheap logs20 are finding it difficult to bear the increased costs of production resulting from higher log prices and the delays in transporting their own logs to mills. As one logger/miller who is experiencing difficulties stated 'The Technical Officers complain of broken motor bikes and staff shortages. Our staff are working longer hours with overtime claims so as to meet FD staff. Where there are 3 or 4 companies in one area the TO finds it difficult to meet the pressures, and this paves the way for survival of the fittest. Previously, company vehicles could return from the bush the following day but now some take four days. These millers claim that the 'Interim Measures has increased bureaucracy, slowed down legal operators and are generally too pro-environment and supportive of farmers. Impact of the 'Interim Measures' on the resource base Based on a recent national inventory of the timber resource outside forest reserves we have pegged the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) from outside reserves at 500,000 m3. The AAC for 115 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings the forest reserves has also been set at 5OO,OOOm3 making a combined total for Ghana of one million m3 per annum. The graph below demonstrates that this is attainable. Figure 5. Logging paftems in Ghana 1960 - 1995. 2.50 0 0.50 --- | | | | | 0.00 0 (N ¢ CD 0D 0 (N 't ED 0D 0 (N St CD 0 0 (N t C0 (D C0 X tD CD r b s 1< 0 0 0 0CD 0 > Year -|-- On-reserve -U-- Total Figure 5 shows logging patterns in Ghana in the last thirty-five years. The fall in log production during the years of economic decline is clearly depicted followed by the steady rise in production after the launch of the ERP in 1983. The soaring rate of felling outside reserves in 1993 and 21 1994 can be seen , most importantly the graph shows that by the close of 1995 log production on-reserve had stabilized at a level below the AAC, while off-reserve log production was falling rapidly. Overall 1995 saw a reduction in total extraction of 42% due to a combination of the 'Interim Measures I , the temporary suspension on export of roundlogs and depressed European markets. During the last quarter of 1995 when the ' Interim Measures' were introduced there was a drop in production of 78% on 1994. This is depicted in Figure 6. Figure 6. Log Measurement Certificate volume by month 1994-95 200,000 180,000 - _ _ -_ 160,000 -- 120,000 -_ 100,000 -- - - 80,000 ------ 60,000 -- - --- 40,000 - -, 20,000 o 111L, ,I I ,I._ I ' -'-'' '1 . - I T -- -- - ,- -11T O> LD m L > = ID a 0 C ° L, ) o 0 0° During the first quarter of 1995, logs registered as from "unknown sources" reduced to 15% of 1994 levels. In the last quarter of 1995 this figure reduced to 7%. This phenomenon is depicted in figure 7. 116 Country Paper-Ghana Figure 7 Proporion of cut froim 'kunknwn soucee' 450.000 400,000 ] -------- o_ s ou_es unknownsowes _ 350,000 _;_ oknne. 300.000 250.000 200.000 150,000 100.000 50.000 0 Q1- Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1- Q2 Q3 Q4 1994 1995 The pre-felling inspection has helped reduced the felling of undersize trees. There are also reports of less waste because the permit holder is billed for everything. The Planning Officer summarized the situation. The millers can now see the true situation with the resource - the wayside contractors distorted it. Now they have to plan their intake in relation to the forest resource base ... and what is available is going to be controlled by the AAC. Impact of the Interim Measures on the Forestry Department One unintended effect of the 1 Interim Measures' has been on the morale of the Forestry Department. Although the impact has been double-edged, there is undoubtedly a sense of pride in the 'Interim Measures' that has led to renewed self confidence and a sense of duty. As one Regional Officer explained, When the new Minister first came it was shameful to be a forester. Public opinion as regards us was bad and the Minister felt the same thing - that we were failing the nation. There were a lot of things going on and then the corrective measures came in from the Ministry and some people in Forestry were punished. Then through the 'Interim Measures' we had a chance to show what we can do. Now people in Forestry are riding high. This is the only policy since 1948 that has worked. The key point is that Forest Officers now feel they can control harvesting and are no longer blamed for the over-logging. The general public are that the Forestry Department and the Ministry are on top of the problem. 117 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings The other side of the story also concerns morale. The logistical aspects of the new felling procedures are not well thought out. In the recently completed Forestry Department survey every respondent remarked on the increased workload, the following comments are typical, I don't even get chance to go to church on Sunday ..... no fuel . allowance, no transport allowance, no night allowance and timber producers make us work at weekends without allowances. If the FD does not want the personnel to be corrupt these items should meet immediate attention and ' action please. Please sort out our mobility problems and boost our morale so we can work efficiently. The general view in the Forestry Department' is similar to that of the concession holders. The procedures themselves are vital, but the logistical issues need to be resolved. However, the larger issue of better allowances can only be tackled during the forthcoming institutional reform of the Forestry Department. The most phenomenal impact of the 'Interim Measures has been on revenue collection. Although log production dropped massively in 1995, revenue from timber harvesting in 1995 was quadruple the amount collected in 1994 ! The total revenue collected by the Forestry Department from timber royalties and fees in 1994 (both inside and outside reserves) was just over 3,262 million cedis, in 1995 the total was just over 13,228 million cedis. 23 This improvement bodes extremely well for the future financing of a more autonomous Forest Service and more equitable returns to the resource owners. Figure 8 shows the trend in Forestry Department revenue collection returns from 1989 to 1996. Figure 8: Forestry Department forest fees collection returns from 1989-1996 20 CD 5~ 1180 - I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ YEARS99 1993 1994 1995 1996 5. SUPPORTING A PARTICIPATORY AGENDA Future initiative inspot of participation .The 1994 Forest POLICY asserted our commitment to sustainable, efficient and participatory forestry outside reserves. Through the Interim Measures and complimentary strategies like the 118 Country Paper-Ghana temporary suspension on log exports, discipline and some degree of equity have now returned to the sector. For the future we wish to see a situation in which farmers and landholders22 will be encouraged to grow and tend timber trees. Some advisory and possibly financial support will be provided by the Government and the NGOS. Regulatory functions will remain the overall responsibility of the Government. The timber contractor will be expected to realize the economic value of the resource for the owners and the nation and to ensure a supply of timber products to local and export market. The timberman will be required to operate in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. Market forces will be used to ensure more efficient utilization of the resource base. In trying to establish this new framework we will have to work to finalize a number of strategies, some of which are outlined here. (a) Benefits to farmers and landowners Due to the existing tenurial and revenue-sharing arrangements few tangible benefits from timber harvesting reach the communities where logging takes place. It is imperative that the flow of benefits to the farming communities that tend timber trees is improved. A number of mechanisms are being worked, on including: * Payments by timber contractors to farmers at the time of felling for tree tending * Social responsibility agreements between timber utilization contract holders and landowning communities * Improved revenue flows to stool communities from timber royalties * Ownership of planted trees to rest wholly with the planter * Support to local resource development initiatives through a National Reforestation Fund and Dedicated Forests * Local consultation during the identification of timber utilization contract areas * A new technical approach to supporting tree management in farming systems based on an understanding of the farmer's perspectives.N (b) An appropriate timber industry We are pursuing a number of strategies to transform our timber sector into one which is able to use the AAC as efficiently as possible. Strategies include: * A determination to enforce the overall AAC of 1 million m3 * Downswing of the timber industry in line with the AAC * Introduction of a Timber Utilization Contract system for allocating timber rights to efficient, responsible operators. * Transformation of the timber industry from a high volume, low value industry into a low volume, high value industry * Encouragement of investment in commercial forestry development 119 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings (c) A reformed Forest Service A programme of Institutional Reform is underway. Fundamental financial, organizational and systems reforms will ensure the new Forest Service can operate efficiently outside the Civil Service. (d) A new legislative framework The old salvage felling framework is being dismantled. The Protected Timber Lands Act and Concessions Act are being replaced by Dedicated Forests and Timber Utilization Contracts. A new Consolidated Forest Act will supplant all previous legislation. Supporting a Participatorv agenda - lessons from the Interim Measures Perhaps it might be necessary to draw some lessons for the Nairobi Forum from the theory and practice of the 'Interim Measures. Some thoughts are offered on participation, sustainability and policy implementation. (a) Sustainable resource utilization While there was insanity in the sector, sustainability and participation were out of reach. Discipline had to come first. The 'Interim Measures has helped to create a framework in which legitimate stakeholders can fulfil their potential. As one of the TOs noted, 'All have to sacrifice for good benefit of our nations wood resources. Our planners should continue with the fight and we the implementors in the field are solidly behind them. (FD survey, 1996) The Ministry can now give the initiative back to the communities, foresters and industrialists who are committed to sustainability. The Government's regulatory role in the sector has often been like that of a referee trying to ensure the smooth running of a football match; we clarify the rules, we encourage those who respect them and we send off those who do not. The framework for regulating the behavior of the Government is built on transparency, accountability, personal integrity and participatory democracy. (b) Peoples participation The 'Interim Measures has clarified our 1994 POLICY commitment to participation. We see participation as, Any collaboration between the Forestry Department and local people which improves the flow of benefits to local people and improves forest resource management. Collaboration is a working partnership in support of more efficient and equitable forestry. The 'Interim Measures is a good example of the kind of collaboration we want; the farmers are now able to improve forestry on farms by controlling illegal felling and are able to receive a fairer share of the benefits too. We are piloting similar collaborative frameworks in all aspects of our forest management systems on and off reserve, for instance; NTFP management, rehabilitation and savanna woodland management. 120 Country Paper-Ghana Establishing collaborative frameworks requires a shift in the political economy of forest use that is long overdue. The 1994 POLICY requires that forestry should 'benefit all segments of society.' Timber extraction for nation building and private sector growth cannot be allowed free rein at the expense of forestry for rural development. We do not see the national, industrial and community interests as inherently conflicting as long as the Government can correct the 1 imbalance created by previous forest policies. Our experience with the 'Interim Measures has also shown that 'participation' is not just concerned with local communities. We need the participation of the Forestry Department and the timber industry too. (c) POLICY implementation The 'Interim Measures' has shown the utility of a link between innovative field work and action on policy reform. The experience has also given us a new tool for policy implementation, the working group. As a senior forester noted, I don't know of anything where members of the FD and outsiders had been invited to give their ideas, to -contribute to a new procedure. It had never - happened before. just instructions from Accra on what should be done. Sometimes they don't understand the system so things get messed up. It was a very useful process for those of us involved. A key factor in their success was that for once the implementors were committed to the new procedures, as one Regional Forest Officer noted, 'This time we were serious because we the Forestry Department did it and the politicians backed it. With some of the previous directives from the Ministry e.g. fell 1 tree, plant 2, nobody would try to work out the modalities of such a thing. POLICY evolves but the details should be worked out by the implementors. We just need a bit more independence from the Civil Service and the results will come. Before the political will was hot there, but this time the MLF gave us a chance.' The Ministry will be making more use of working groups. There are situations when a directive is not practicable and times when turning to consultants who cannot grasp the complexities of our systems or the realities of our field stations may end in disappointment. 6. CONCLUSION Ghana is a resurgent African nation with a market oriented, people-centred, democratic agenda. This is reflected in our new Forest POLICY. To implement all our policy reforms we require some financial and specialist technical assistance from the donor community. We have recently completed a Forestry Sector Development Master Plan to ensure all donor-supported activities in the sector are coordinated and supportive of our new Forest and Wildlife POLICY. However the 'Interim Measures is home grown and it has shown us that to put our new POLICY - 'into Practice we should look primarily to ourselves for new ideas and practical innovations. 121 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings REF ERENCES Richard Grove (1994) Chiefs, boundaries and sacred graves: early nationalism and the defeat of colonial conservationism in the Gold Coast and Nigeria, 1870-1916. Richard Grove, Churchill College, Cambridge. (Draft version) Statement of Gold Coast, 1928. Empire Forest Conference, 1928 Logan, 1945. The Gold Coast Forestry Department 1908-1945. Empire Forestry Review. Interim Measures to Control Illegal Timber Harvesting Outside Forest Reserves. Recommendations of the Forestry Department [Working Group] on Control of Illegal Felling Outside Forest Reserves. September 20th, 1994. Planning Branch, Forestry Department. Box 1457. Kumasi. Ghana. Speech delivered by the Honourable Kwabena Adjei, Minister for Land and Forestry at the City Hotel, Kumasi on 9th August 1995 at the launching of the Interim Measures to Control Illegal Timber Harvesting Outside Forest Reserves. Sustaining the Off-Reserve Resource: A Long Term View. Collaborative ForestManagement Unit, Planning Branch, March 1995. Forestry Department Regional Seminars on Interim Measures to Control Illegal Timber Harvesting Outside Forest Reserves. E.B Asare, Conservator of Forests. 1970. Illegal Felling in the Tropical High 'Forest in Ghana with Special Reference to the Ashanti/Brong Ahafo Forest ,Region. Unpublished Forestry Department paper. 'Stools, skins and clans. 2 Informal forestry undertaken by traditional authorities and farmers has an even longer history as seen in our systems of sacred groves and rotational bush fallow. 3This section draws from a draft of an excellent paper by Richard Grove of Churchill College, Cambridge. "Chiefs, boundaries and sacred groves; early nationalism and the defeat of colonial conservationism in the Gold Cost and Nigeria, 1870-1916." 4Grove argues that the author, Moloney also knew that it was the commoditization of agricultural output and the penetration of the European market demand that was largely responsible for a very recent increase in rates of deforestation. 5In 1987 the colonial administration tried to pass a Land Bill which would have given it the power to create public land. This was vehemently opposed by the African elite and the landowning chiefs. The controversial sections were never passed. Subsequent attempts to pass a Forest Ordinance also failed as the Chiefs and local governing councils were suspicious of any attempt by the colonial administration to control land use. The opposition to land and forestry legislation was spearheaded by a group of intellectuals known as Aborigines Rights Protection Society which had considerable support in the UK. 6 "There shall be pad to the owner or owners in such proportion as the Governor shall decide the whole gross yearly revenue of the Forest Reserve accruing under this Ordinance, subject to the deduction of such sum not exceeding one third of such gross revenue as may at the discretion of the Conservator of Forests be reserved for expenditure on the improvement of the forest in the interest of the owner or 122 Country Paper-Ghana owners. If such deductions are made the Chief Conservator of Forests shall render an account of its expenditure to the owner or oweners concerned"[CAP 157 18 (2)] 7There are distinct rights to land and trees. The stool's ownership of timber trees was a construct of the colonial administration who were trying to consolidate power in the chiefs. Traditionally, timber trees on farms would have been owned by the farmer to whom the land had been allocated. 8 "Clause 1: The creation of permanent forest resources by the reservation, either by the Central Government or by local Authorities of suitably situated areas of forest or land desirable and suitable for afforestation, of a total extent sufficient to supply the benefits necessary for the welfare of the people, indirect benefits in the form of the preservation of water supples, maintenance of climatic conditions favourable to the growth of the principal agricultural crops and minimization of erosion, and direct benefits in the form of a sustained adequate supply of forest produce to meet actual and potential local requirements and the demands of the export trade." 9 "The progressive utilization without replacement of the remainder of the forest resources not permanently dedicated to forestry, controlled to make the resource last as long as compatible with market requirements, and particularly until the exploitation of the Forest Reserves can be accompanied by successful regeneration, whilst at the same time utilising its supplies to the utmost prior to their destruction by farming". 10 Cocoa was never established as a plantation crop but rather produced by farmers. " State control over farming intensified with the Protected Timber Lands Act in 1959 which authorized the Forestry Department to regulate the expansion of farms in areas of well stocked forest outside reserves. 12 This was also part of a general move to shift power away from the chiefs and towards the Government reversing the colonial policy of Indirect Rurle. 13 This was meant to be partly in local peoples favour due to the way chiefs were giving them out. 14 In 1964 world cocoa prices fell and the producer price was decreased. The Government used the difference to meet interest payments on international loans and government obligations and large industrial developments like VALCO. Cocoa production fell and decline set in. 15 "Access. The rights of people to have access to natural resources for maintaining a basic standard of living and their commitant responsibility to ensure the sustainable use of such resources. 'Democray. The need to develop a decentralized participatory democracy by involving local people in matters concerned with their welfare." "Participation. In view of the importance of local people in pursuing these principles, the Government proposes to place particular emphasis on the concept of participatory management and protection of forest and wildlife resources and will seek to develop appropriate strategies, modalities and programmes in consultation with relevant agencies, rural communities and individuals." 16 The Forestry Department has set up a Collaborative Forest Management Unit at the Planning Branch to develop the potential for local participation in forest management in accordance with the Policy. 17 The contractor bears the cost of transporting the pre-inspection team to the site and the chop money. Many respondents asked that the consultation be restricted to the farmer due to the cost of finding and transporting the Assemblyman, Unit Committee and chief to the site. There are also reports of DAM and chiefs pushing the compensation price up so that they can take a cut. 123 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings A senior forester also contended that within the community power over felling has gone from the chiefs to the people. He noted that three special permits issued in Accra have been blocked by farmers who knew about the IM and felt they were not consulted in the issuance of the permit; they want to re- negotiate the time of felling to better suit them 'even though the chief had agreed but he does not live in the village, the power has gone from the chiefs to the people'. 18 The concessionnaire respondents showed a good level of understanding of the objectives of the Interim Measures. The responses included - 'to curb illegal felling and protect resource for legal operators, to bring harmony between farmers and loggers, to stop curring of undersize logs, protect environment and slow down rate of felling and to ensure royalties are paid.' 9 The suggestions included the following: more FD staff, only involve farmer in pre-felling inspection, others force farmer to take higher compensation so they can get a cut, also delays the work, Tos should be mobile, increase time period for which permit is valued, allow DFOs to cover their transport costs by pre-felling inspection and CC fees. 20 In general banks do not ask for information on the available resource base before extending loans to people to set up mills. The information was readily available at Forestry Department. 21 In this same period log production on-reserve was declining due to the re-introduction of strict timber harvesting systems on-reserve. 22 Both traditional landholding groups and investors from the private sector who haveacquired access to land for forestry development. 23 This development will be based on work recently undertaken for us by Dr. Kojo Amanor. 124 Republique de Guinee L'AMENAGEMENT DES RESERVES FORESTIERES ET LA GESTION DES TERRES AGRICOLES DES ZONES PERIPHERIQUES: Cas de Diecke - Ziama. 'A. 'A' 'A 'A. --m -FX *4 'A.X XA A .'.'. A A 4 A * *¢ 'A 'A 'A * A,'A . COORDINATED MANAGEMENT OF FOREST RESERVES AND PERIPHERAL AGRICULTURAL LANDS DIALLO Thierno Oumar Ing. des Eaux & Forets ACGP BP 2069 Conakry. 18/07/1996 125 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings L'AMENAGEMENT DES RESERVES FORESTIERES ET LA GESTION DES TERRES AGRICOLES DES ZONES PERIPHERIQUES: Cas de Diecke - Ziama. I INTRODUCTION 1.1 La politique forestiere L'Administration forestiere, mise en place en Guinee a partir de 1931, s'est attelee des son origine A la constitution d'un domaine forestier permanent de I'Etat. Trois grandes etapes ce sont succ6dees: * De 1930 a 1940, la delimitation des "for&s du rail" tout au long du chemin de fer Conakry - Niger destinees a l'approvisionnement en bois des locomotives A vapeur. * De 1940 a 1950 les classements ont eu toujours pour but principal: le maintien d'une capacite nationale de production de bois d'oeuvre, la lutte contre l'erosion des sols et le maintien d'un microclimat forestier favorable au developpement de cultures perennes telles que cafe, cacao, cola, the, quinquina, palmier.... L'essentiel des forets classees de la Guinee l'ont et6 a cette epoque. Les forets de Ziama et de Diecke entrent dans ce groupe. Aucune action d'expropriation n'a eu lieu lors de ces classements. En application du decret de 1935, seuls les terrains vacants et sans maitre, c'est A dire les peuplements naturels non defriches et les jacheres vieilles de plus de 10 ans peuvent etre classes. Les classements ont et stoppes par le decret foncier de 1955, qui imposat au service forestier de faire la preuve de la vacance des terrains avant leur classement. Dans les faits, s'il est quelquefois difficile de prouver l'existence de droits fonciers sur un terrain, il est pratiquement impossible de demontrer leur absence. * A partir de 1986 A l'issue de la prise de conscience mondiale des problemes de l'environnement et de la destruction massive des forets tropicales, la communaute internationale des bailleurs de fonds a confier A la FAO la coordination de leurs interventions en zone intertropicale. LePlan d'Action Forestier Tropical (PAFT) est ne. Le changement de regime politique en Guinee a coincide avec cette nouvelle politique et l'Administration forestiere a largement profite de l'engouement des Bailleurs de fonds. Elle a elabore un Plan d'Action Forestier National (PAFN). Ce PAFN approuve en 1990 par Decret, est devenu la Politique Foresti&e Nationale basee sur deux options fondamentales: * le liberalisme economique * la decentralisation administrative Le but poursuivi est d'agir contre tous les facteurs de degradation de la foret. Cette politique est organisee autour de 6 grands principes dont l'association de toute la population du pays A la gestion des ressources naturelles renouvelables. La politique forestiere est renforcee par: + un code forestier et ses textes d'application + un code de protection de la faune sauvage et reglementation de la chasse + un code foncier domanial :. un code de l'environnement 126 Country Paper-Guinea 1.2 Les ressources forestieres de la Guinee: La Guinee n'est a proprement parler pas un pays forestier. Les donnees actuelles des formations boisees peuvent etre les suivantes: Formations boisees superficies en Ha % Mangroves 250.000 1,02% Forkts denses humides 700.000 2,85% Forets denses seches et Forets claires 1. 600.000 6,51% Savanes boisees 10.636.000 43,25% Total 13.186.000 53,60% La Guinee compte 791 forets classees pour une superficie totale de 1.391.496,7 Ha soient 4,2% de la superficie totale du pays et 7,83% de la surface boisee. (carte n° I en annexes) II LE PROJET DE GESTION DES RESSOURCES FORESTIERES: Parallelement a l'etablissement de la Politique Forestiere, la Guinee a identifie un certain nombre d'actions prioritaires qu'elle a presente aux bailleurs de fonds. Le Projet de Gestion des Ressources forestieres et Halieutiques identifie avec le Centre d'Investissement de la FAO fait partie de ces priorites. Ce projet qui incluait l'amenagement des deux forets classees de Ziama et de Diecke vestiges de la foret dense ombrophyle Guineo-Liberienne, avec d'importants travaux de plantation et un renforcement institutionnel par la remise a niveau du personnel; a ete evalue conjointement par la Banque Mondiale et la KfW de la Republique Federale d'Allemagne. 2.1 Composantes: Ce projet a ete subdivis6 en trois volets a savoir: * Gestion des ressources forestieres, * Operation pilote du plan foncier rural, * Gestion des ressources halieutiques. Le premier volet a fait l'objet d'un cofinancement IDA- KfW; le deuxieme est reste lie au premier pour des raisons de complementarite, mais avec le seul financement de la Banque Mondiale. Ces deux volets reunis sous la denomination de Projet de Gestion des Ressources Forestieres (PROGERFOR) comportaient quatre sous-composantes: >> Appui institutionnel a l'Administration centrale et a 5 services de terrain dans la zone du projet, >- Amenagement des forets denses humides de Ziama et Diecke, > Amenagement des forets seches du massif du Tinkisso, > La remise a niveau de 80 ingenieurs de l'Administration forestiere, >> L'operation pilote du plan foncier rural (OPPFR). 2.2 Cofits: Le cofit total du projet etait de: 10,72 millions de USD dont: Banque Mondiale: 4,52 millions de USD KfW: 5,50 millions de USD Guinee: 1,70 millions de USD 127 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings m L'AMENAGEMENT DES RESERVES FORESTIERES DE DIECKE ET ZLIMA: (carte n°2) 3.1 La Problematique de l'amenagement: L'amenagement de ces reserves se heurte A trois grandes contraintes dont: 3.1 1 Les cultures agricoles en foret classee parmis lesquelles on denombre: * les culture perennes provocant un appauvrissement marque de la biodiversite par l'elimination complete de la strate inferieure, et de la regeneration et par l'ouverture du toit. Elles sont pratiquees et par les allochtones et par les autochtones. * les cultures vivrieres: elles provoquent une destruction complete de la foret. * les cultures de bas-fonds: elles amenent une perturbation de cet ecosysteme et sont a la base de la penetration en profondeur de la foret. 3.1.2 La chasse: quand elle est commerciale (c'est souvent le cas), elle entrame une destruction indiscrimnee des especes. Elle est moins nefaste quand elle est de subsistance mais n'epargne pas non plus les especes protegees. 3.1.3 Les enclaves: elles sont de trois ordres: * les enclaves legales localisees: ce sont celles reconnues par l'arr&d de classement de la foret. Leurs limites sont largement depassees aujourd'hui a cause de la croissance de la population, des techniques agricoles et du systeme d'occupation du sol. * les enclaves legales non localisees: 377 hectares de quinquina sont aujourd'hui abandonnees sur le Ziamna. Les ouvriers y ont maintenu leurs campements et des nouveaux arrivants s'y sont installes et tous font de I'agriculture. * les villages presque enclaves: Ce sont des villages situe A la lisiere du domaine classe et qui A cause du laxisme de l'administration, ont largement penetre la foret. 3.2 Les Objectifs: :> Conservation de la biodiversite floristique et faunistique, • Regulation climatique et hydrologique de la region • Satisfaction des besoins des riverains • Production de bois a long terme 3.3 Le zonage de la foret: (cartes n° 3 et 4) Pour atteindre ces objectifs dans une demarche coherente de gestion durable, trois series d'amenagement ont ete definies en fonction de l'etat de la foret: or La serie d'amelioration: Elle contient essentiellement les surfaces oa les ressources forestieres ont ete detruites dans le passe, soit par l'installation de cultures agricoles soit par l'exploitation du bois. elle represente 22,8% de la superficie au Ziama et 42,3% a Diecke. 128 Country Paper-Guinea Les operations pour cette serie consisteront essentiellement aux actions de reconstitution forestieres; et a la suppression progressive des plantations agricoles perennes. Les actions de reforestation seront manuelles afin d'employer le maximum de riverains. La serie d'utilisation durable: elle represente 41,5% au Ziama et 32,8% A Diecke. C'est la serie oui la degradation est moins evidente et ofu des prelevements au benefice exclusif des populations riveraines peuvent etre autorises. L'espace est reparti par zone d'influence des villages limitrophes (2000 a 2500 ha). L'exploitation est de type artisanale afin de: - adapter l'intensite des prelevements au rythme de la regeneration de la ressource, - perturber le moins possible l'ecosysteme et lui permettre de remplir au mieux les fonctions de conservation de la diversite biologique, - eviter la construction de voies d'acces (la sortie des produits se fera a tete d'homme), - rendre les abus moins probables, moins nefastes et plus faciles A maitriser qu'avec une exploitation industrielle (le marquage se fera pied a pied). La serie de protection: (35,7% Ziama et 25% A Diecke) Ce sont les zones oiu la concentration des especes typiques de faune et de flore de ces formations humides est la plus importante. De plus ce sont des zones A risque d'erosion. La protection sera integrale pour la faune et la flore pour leur permettre de jouer leur r6le de reservoir genetique des zones limitrophes. La chasse: Elle sera interdite dans la serie protection et autorisee au benefice exclusif des riverains. Elle s'exercera sur les especes non protegees et sera A but non commercial. 3.4 Les mesures d'accompagnement: Un amenagement tel que celui-ci ne peut se concevoir sans mesures d'accompagnement qui repondent aux particularites socio-economiques et aux problematiques de la zone concernee. La foret meme si elle est classee au benefice de l'Etat, elle fait partie du terroir ancestral des villages riverains. II devient absurde d'essayer de l'en soustraire et d'en faire une parcelle strictement reservee a l'administration. Pour la gerer durablement, il convient de l'inserer dans le concept global de gestion de terroirs. Des le demarrage du projet, l'on s'est rendu tout de suite compte que les solutions pour une gestion durable de la foret se trouvaient A l'exterieur de celle-ci; d'oii la necessite de prendre en compte les mesures utiles a la limitation des pressions exercees depuis l'ext6rieur par les riverains. Ces mesures appelees mesures d'accompagnement ont porte principalement sur: :) L'intensification et la diversification de la production agricole, : L'emploi preferentiel pour les travaux sylvicoles, des populations riveraines manquant de terres agricoles dans les zones peripheriques; notamment dans les enclaves ou villages presque enclaves. Les salaires generes sont le plus souvent superieurs aux revenus agricoles de la contree. 129 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings O L'extinction progressive des plantations perennes a l'interieur de la foret par la recolte annuelle des produits sans possibilit6 d'entretien. O Le retrait et recasement des villages installds dans des zones jugees tres fragiles. 3.5 L'intensification et la diversification de la production agricole dans les zones peripheriques: ex: la for8t du Ziama (carte n°3) Pour realiser cette opdration, il a et envisage de traiter les problemes de la tenure fonciere et d'impliquer intimement les administrations, projets et Ongs actifs dans la region. Presentation sommaire de la foret du Ziama: La foret du Ziama d'une superficie de 120.000 hectares, a ete classee comme reserve forestiere en 1942 par arret6 du Gouverneur des colonies et en 1981 la Guinee l'inscrira comme r6serve de la biosphere. Le code forestier de 1989 l'inscrit sur le domaine naturel de l'Etat, la rendant inalienable et imprescriptible ne pouvant etre ni vendue ni donnee. L'arrete de classement prevoit des droits d'usage au ben6fice des habitants de la peripherie et des enclaves. Ces droits sont: la cueillette, le rarnassage de paille et de bois mort, la culture de riz de marais (sur autorisation ecrite), la chasse d'animaux non proteges pour la consommation familiale. La richesse floristique et faunistique du Ziama est des plus inattendues; I'inventaire du PROGERFOR d6nombre: * plus de 90 especes de bois de valeur, * 90 amphibiens et reptiles, 128 mammiferes et 346 oiseaux. Parn is ces especes, 71 seraient endemiques et protegees par la convention de Washington. 3.5.1 La situation fonciere autour du Ziama: a) La population: la population autour du Ziama se repartie en deux grands groupes: - La population d'origine dite forestiere, composee de Toma et Toma-manian. - La population halogene constituee principalement par l'ethnie malinkee venue du Nord A la recherche de meilleurs terres et pour le commerce. Ces deux types de populations, vivent dans 29 villages repartis en 8 Districts et en 5 Communautes Rurales de Developpement CRD. Soit une population totale de 32728 habitants (1994) et en comptant 10,2 personnes par foyer, soit 3209 menages. b) Le mode d'occupation fonciere: - Chez les Tomas, la propriete et donc, le pouvoir de disposer des terres est le droit exclusif de l'individu pionnier et de sa descendance. Par cons6quent le droit de tous ceux qui sont venus plus tard et se sont rattaches aux premiers reste limite A l'usufruit qui peut etre tres 130 Country Paper-Guinea stable et de longue duree. Les descendants des familles fondatrices restent les proprietaires de toutes les terres des villages et en assurent la distribution aux autres familles venues s'y installer. Les autres modes de gestion fonciere a savoir le don, l'hritage, le gage, la vente (tres rare chez cette ethnie) le pret, le metayage, peuvent se rencontrer. - Les malinkes se concentrent dans deux villages ou ils sont dominants par leur nombre et leur statut socio-economique. Les conceptions foncieres sont basees sur le principe coutumier de l'anciennete d'appropriation. L'acces aux terres obeit a une stratification sociale liee a la famille. Par exemple a Avilissou le premier groupe arrive represente 20% et occupe 90% des terres cultivables. Le deuxieme compose de tenanciers 40%, occupe 10% et le troisieme n'a aucune propriete; pour survivre il fait de la main d'oeuvre agricole ou emprunte temporairement des terres. c) L'utilisation des sols: L'economie villageoise autour de la foret classee etant basee essentiellement sur l'agriculture, la disponibilite des terres est le facteur le plus limitant. La densite de la population sur une zone test au nord du ziama etait de 13 hab/km2 en 1932 et de 89 hab/km2 en 1991. La capacite portative du systeme "defriche-bruflis" se trouve de tres loin depasse (20-30 hab/km2). Pour parer a ce deficit, la population a choisit deux options: - La pendtration de la foret classee par le defrichement, dont la consequence a ete la suivante: En 1979 une couverture aerienne montrait 7600 hectares de forets defrichees (Atlanta 1989), une autre couverture en 1989 faisait ressortir 27 233 hectares de forets degradees (Progerfor 1994), ceci denote une augmentation considerable de la degradation de la foret en une decennie (5 fois plus). - Le raccourcissement de la duree des jacheres (de 7 ans a 2-5 ans) rompant ainsi le cycle de reconstitution naturelle de la fertilite des sols. C'est ainsi que des lors qu'on a parle d'intensification agricole comme mesure d'accompagnement a la gestion durable des forets classees, l'on s'est rendu tout de suite a 1'evidence qu'il n'y a pas d'intensification sans garantie fonciere. II fallait securiser les droits des proprietaires coutumiers sur leurs terres pour favoriser les speculations sur la terre seules garantes des investissements agricoles. II fallait en outre a partir d'un cadastre foncier et de l'observation du systeme d'occupation et d'exploitation agricole, se rendre a l'evidence ou non d'une saturation quelconque de la capacite de charge des espaces agricoles peripheriques des reserves forestieres justifiant ainsi ou non leurs penetration. 3.6 L'Operation Pilote du Plan Foncier Rural OPPFR: Cette composante identifiee au depart comme Operation Pilote des Regimes Fonciers avait plusieurs sous-composantes: 131 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings * La preparation d'une politique fonciere permettant a l'Etat de finaliser un projet de loi fonciere qui traduira la toumure liberale prise par la politique economique du pays. * Le recensement et l'inscription cadastrale de 40 a 80.000 ha de terres agricoles aux abords des massifs de Diecke et de Ziama. * La creation et la tenue A jour d'un ou plusieurs registres cadastraux * La levee topographique des fonds de vallee pouvant recevoir des cultures intensives. * L'etablissement d'un ou plusieurs livres fonciers et la formation du personnel des CRD a leur tenue. 3.6.1 L'approche utilisee: a) La stratgi: Pour s'assurer de l'adhesion des villageois et des elus locaux, I'operation pilote du plan foncier rural (OPPFR) a ete separee du volet Amenagement forestier et mis en oeuvre comme une composante independante. L'amenagement lui doit travailler a l'interieur de la foret classee ce qui l'amenerait A s'opposer aux nouvelles penetrations et a l'extension des defrichements; ce qui peut lui valoir l'antipathie des populations. b) La demarche methodologigue: Pour la mise en oeuvre de cette composante, 1'equipe du projet a procede: * a la sensibilisation des autorites et A l'animation villageoise: une reunion est organisee avec le Prefet, le Secretaire General charge des collectivite decentralis6es et les Sous-prefets et presidents de CRD. Au cours de cette reunion, les agents du projet expliquent les objectifs, principes et strategies du projet; par la meme occasion, les appuis requis de la part de ces autorites sont largement explicites. Les presidents de CRD et les agents du projet se rendent ensuite dans les districts oii commence I'animation rurale. L'equipe du projet est basee au village ou District a traiter de facon A mieux connaitre et a mieux integre les differentes contraintes qui pourraient apparaitre en cours d'execution(us et coutumes, desaccords, travaux agricoles...). La procedure d'animation a perrnis de reveler des litiges fonciers latents qui grace a la motivation des agents ont pu etre solutionnes a l'echelon du village avec les sages et le conseil villageois. Le succes de l'operation a eu comme prealable une bonne animation qui a le leve toute suspicion de la part des villageois. * aux enquetes foncieres: Elles permettent de definir tous les elements caracteristiques des ayants droit de telle ou telle parcelle: droits principaux et droits superposables ainsi que les caracteristiques de ces droits. Ces enquetes sont publiques et contradictoires. * au leve des parcelles et la saisie des donnees: L'importante couverture vegetale de la zone a fait que la methode retenue a ete le cheminement a la boussole du perimetre de chaque parcelle avec piquetage des sommets en vue d'un 132 Country Paper-Guinea restationnement eventue1 et de la reprise avec la parcelle voisine. Chaque parcelle delimitee par l'agriculteur est ainsi parcourue. Les angles et les distances sont note sur carnet en vue de la restitution au bureau. IV LES ACQUIS DE L'OPPFR Selon les rapports d'avancement de l'OPPFR, il y aurait globalement a ce jour: (pour l'ensemble des deux massifs): 27.638 hectares restitues a la parcelle dont une faible parie a fait l'objet d'un tableau d'assemblage; 3.514 parcelles sont topographiquement levees et traitees dans treize villages. Ces donnees sont stockees sur des archives magnetiques (3.1/2 pouces) et chaque parcelle est associee a quatre fichiers (dessin DWG; base de donnees dbf et angles distances s-dbf). Une technique d'animation qui a fait ses preuves. En effet tout permet de penser que tour pres du terrain, la realisation du plan foncier securise les populations, c'est la premiere fois qu'on enregistre graphiquement et alphanumeriquement le sol qu'ils exploitent. Un code foncier et domanial reconnaissant la propriete privee de la terre est promulgue par le gouvemement de la R. de Guinee. Les enquetes foncieres et l'etude socio-economique qui a suivi ont permis de savoir que: ,e Dans certaines localites il existe suffisainment de terres agricoles pour absorber les besoins des riverains en terres agricoles. C'est plut6t la technique d'occupation qui immobilise les terres. En effet le paysan apres deux ans de cultures vivrieres sur une parcelle, dissemine quelques rejets de bananier plantain (15 a 30/ha) et colonise une autre parcelle la campagne suivante. La parcelle abandonnee ne sera plus redefrichee et restera immobilisee pendant plusieurs annees (12-15 ans) avec un rendement tres faible 5 a 6 regimes ha/an. C'est ce qui cre a terme le sentiment d'une crise aigua en terre agricoles. -s Plus de 80% des plantations perennes en foret classee appartiennent aux halogenes les natifs eux se limitent le plus souvent aux cultures annuelles. Ce qui suppose que s'ils etaient garanties dans leurs droits de proprietaires fonciers sur leurs terroirs ils pourraient non seulement sortir de la foret classee mais aussi accepter des speculations foncieres avec les halogenes sans terre. V LES INSUFFISANCES DE l'OPPFR Une succession de decisions inadaptees ont entramn le travail de l'OPPFR dans une impasse. Les causes de cette impasse sont: - Les hommes choisis n'avaient pas toujours la technicit6 adaptee au but poursuivi, - La methode utilisee n'a pas permis d'etablir des ratios de production ce qui rend difficile toute evaluation de la productivite. Brutalement si l'on fait le rapport: cofit total de la composante par superficie couverte, l'on aboutit a un cofit de 68.000 francs guineens (68 $ USD) 133 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings a l'hectare. Ce qui est prohibitif meme si le couit pondere (avec deduction de tous les amortissements) se trouve autour de 58 $ US/ha. L'archivage magnetique est inaproprie: en effet les informations collectees sont stockees sur des disquettes de 3,1/2 pouces et chaque parcelle levee est associee A trois fichiers: (DWG, dbf et s-dbf DBASE3 sur AUTOCAD). Chaque fichier de parcelle dans chaque village n'est identifie que par un seul numero. Ce qui rend l'exploitation tres aleatoire et perilleuse. - Le cofit de l'immatriculation est inabordable pour le paysan requerant. - L'environnement institutionnel est tres peu favorable au succes du plan foncier. En effet le Npartement responsable de la gestion fonciere le Ministere de l'Hurbanisme et de l'Habitat n'est pas celui qui a execute l'OPPFR (le Ministere de l'Agriculture et Eaux et Forets). Le niveau de collaboration entre ces deux institutions n'a pas et celui souhaite. - Les Collectivites decentralisees (Communaute Rurales de Developpement CRD notamment) qui devraient gerer leurs plans fonciers ne sont pas encore preparees et motivees pour assumer cette fonction. VI CE QUI EST SOUHAITABLE D'ENVISAGER POUR L'AVENIR: Au regard des insuffisances constatees ci-haut, il faudra dans l'avenir ameliorer: * La methode d'animation: - meilleur formation des animateurs, - animation a l'anont des actions de leves, - formation des responsables locaux A la gestion et au suivi du plan foncier. * La technique du plan foncier: - le leve parcellaire (materiel de support notamment) - le georeferencement pour le rattachement parcellaire et zonal - le bornage * L'execution et la gestion du PF: -mettre en place les bureaux prefectoraux de la conservation fonciere. -responsabiliser au maximum les collectivites rurales dans la gestion des plan fonciers ruraux. * Les moyens humains - selection rigoureuse et formation du personnel actuel. - instaurer une complementarite entre les services de l'habitat et ceux de l'agriculture. - former les responsables locaux a la gestion et mise Ajour du livre foncier. 134 County Paper-Guinea BIBLIOGRAPHIE 1) BOUDERBALA N. Legislation fonciere rurale en Republique de Guinee, FAO Rome, 1988. 2) BOURQUE J.D et R. WILSON. Etude d'impact ecologique d'un projet d'amenagement forestier concemant les forets classees de Ziama et de Diecke. UICN, Gland, 1990. 3) CORTIN A. Le plan foncier rural dans le systeme foncier Guineen, Conakry ,1994. 4) DIALLO T.O. La gestion des ressources naturelles: Revue de la Lettre de Politique de Developpement Agricole (LPDA) Conakry 1996. 5) FAO/IDA Projet forestier mission d'identification Rome 1987. 6) IDA: Projet d'amenagement des for8ts et des p8ches Washington 1989. 7) - Programme de gestion des ressources naturelles - Composante Plan Foncier Rural, rapport de mission de J.M RECH 1996. 8) Land Tenur Center LTC: Problematique fonciere et la gestion des ressources naturelles au Fouta Djallon, Conakry, 1995. 9) PESCAY M. et C. MEYER. Propositions pour une operation pilote de plan foncier rural.Rapport de la mission technique d'evaluation. Banque Mondiale, Washington 1 989.(et rapports de mission ulterieurs). 10) R. GUINEE: Politique forestiere et plan d'action (rapport en 7 vol.) Plan d'Action Forestier Tropical, Conakry, 1988. 11) - Projet de gestion de l'environnement rural. rapport principal, Conakry ,1992. 12) - Proces verbal d'amenagement des for8ts classees de Diecke et de Ziama (1996 - 2015). Rapport en 5 vol. Conakry, 1995. 13) - Operation pilote du plan foncier rural (OPPFR), rapport d'activite, mai 1995. 135 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 136 Rehabilitation of Cement Factory Quarries REHABILITATION OF DISUSED LIMESTONE QUARRIES THROUGH REAFFORESTATION (BAOBAB FARM, MOMBASA, KENYA) Sabine Baer Research Biologist Baobab Farm Ltd. Mombasa, Kenya 137 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Rehabilitation of Cement Factory Quarries Introduction Our forestry activities at Baobab Farm actually start with a cement factory. Bamburi Cement Ltd. started operating outside Mombasa, on the Kenyan coast, in 1954. Now one of the biggest cement factories in Africa, it was also the first one to use limestone of a fossil coral reef as rawmateriral. Its quarries extend for 6 km along the Indian ocean, 10 km north of Mombasa island, only 1-2 km inland from the shore. In 1959, the cement factory employed an agronomist, Rene Haller. he is now the managing director of Baobab Farm Ltd., a subsidery of Bamburi Cement, and is also the initiator and driving force in the successful quarry rehabilitation scheme at Bamburi. His initial task was to utilize Bamburi Cement's reserve land for agriculture, and to produce food for the workforce of the cement factory. Then as the open and disused quarries grew bigger and bigger, the directors of the cement company decided to try to renaturate the huge scar in the coastal landscape, and Mr. Haller was given free hand to experiment in the disused quarries. Rehabilitation: Starting point Rehabilitation was not an easy undertaking under the difficult circumstances. Excavation for the coral limestone continued to just above the groundwater level. As quarrying is taking place very close the Indian Ocean shoreline, the groundwater is saline. No soil or overburden was available in sufficient quantities to make the useful revegetation of the quarry floors possible, without destroying valuable agricultural land. Mr. Haller's approach to the challenge was based on common sense; he aimed at growing vegetation in the vast open quarry to cover the damage, and if possible, to get a financial return as fast as possible. He decided to start with two projects reafforestation and aquaculture. Reafforestation would transform the landscape, and aquaculture would pay for the initial steps of rehabilitation, as fish grow fast and bring a fast economic return. Initial trials In 1971 the first reclamation trials began. 26 different species of trees were planted into the quarry, around the first fish pond. After 6 months, of the 26 species only 3 were still alive and thriving. These were Casuarina equisetifolia, Conocarpus lancifolius and the coconut palm. Casuarina and Conocarpus were now planted on a larger scale, in pure plantations and in mixed stands to the best combination. Casuarina equisetifolia is a typical pioneer tree. It grows locally along the sea shore, and is drought and salt tolerant. It lives in symbiosis with various microorganisms, which fix nitrogen from the air and make other nutrients available to the host plant. So Casuarina is able to grow without soil and coconise badly disturbed areas. Conocarpus lancifolius is a drought, flood and salt tolerant swamp tree from Somalia. It is not as well equipped with symbionts as the Casuarina, and grows better when some nutrients are available from the substrate. 138 Country Paper-Kenya Casuarina was found to be the ideal pioneer tree for the Bamburi conditions, and was planted intensively into the quarries. Over the years, simple and efficient techniques were developed to propagate and plant Casuarina seedlings in big quantities entirely without soil. In the newer Casuarina plantations, the seedlings are planted at densities of 1600-10000 trees per hectare. Already after two years thinning and harvesting starts. Casuarinas can be sold at any stage, as fence droppers, rails, fence posts and for house roof construction. For certain purposes Casuarinas can replace mangroves, and therefore ease the pressure onto the heavily exploited mangrove forests. Because of their high tannin content, humus formation from Casuarina leaf litter is very slow. By chance local red-legged millipedes were observed to feed on dry Casuarina leaves, and were then introduced into the plantation in big numbers from surrounding bushland. The millipedes thrive in the Casuarina plantations, and considerably speed up humus formation. In the oldest parts of the rehabilitation quarry the humus layer is now, after 25 years, more than 10 cm thick. Quarry Rehabilitation: Diversification While the Casuarinas were growing taller and taller, and were transforming the former quarries into a cool forest, new developments went on their shade. The integrated aquaculture system The initial trials to produce tilapia in groundwater ponds were not very successful. The fish reproduced so fast, that their growth stunted and they never reached marketable size. But the initial failure stimulated research, and by 1980 the first commercially viable tilapia tank culture system, with a production capacity of 35 tons of fish per year, was built. For economical and ecological reasons two new components were included: crocodile farming and rice culture. Crocodiles were introduced to utilize any animal carcasses occurring on the farm not fit for human consumption - from livestock, poultry and fishfarm - and transform the waste produce into a valuable commodity: crocodile meat and skins. In addition the crocodiles'excrements are rich in phosphate, and ideally supplement the nitrogen-rich fishfarm effluents as fertiliser for the rice fields. A set of rice paddies was set up as a biological filtration system for the recirculated fishfarm water. The rice fields act as sedimentation ponds, trapping particular waste from the fish and crocodile farm and using it as fertiliser. Dissolved waste products are removed in ponds overgrown with Nile Cabbage (Pistia stratiotes). Nile cabbage roots in the water, and through its fast growth incorporates dissolved nutrients into biomass; by regular harvesting of the plants the nutrients are eliminated from the system with the biomass. Game Farming In 1977 a group of eland and oryx antelopes was introduced into the rehabilitated quarry. Elands are browsors and can utilise a big variety of bushes not suitable for domestic livestock. Oryx are grazers and are well adapted to life in dry areas with poor grazing. The aim was to utilize the cement factory's iseise-fly- and tick-infested bushland, as well as the vegetation coming up in the disused quarries, for game farming. The indigenous antelopes have a high natural resistance 139 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings to the local wildlife diseases, and therefore don't need regular chemotherapy and dipping against ticks. Through herding them alternatively on the reserve bushland and in the quarry, the antelopes fertilise the quarry floor, and disperse the seeds of their food plants by dropping the seeds with faeces. Tourism: The oldest part of the rehabilitated quarry is open to the public since 1984 as the "Bamburi Quarry Nature Park". It has become world famous and attracts approximately 100000 nature- loving local and overseas visitors per year. It has also become a major source of Baobab Farm's income. New developments in the tourism sector are walking, jogging and cycling paths through the various stages of the quarry rehabilitation, from open quarry to cool lush Casuarina forest. CEO- tourism tours include bird watching, a drive to the ostrich and game farm, and tree planing for visitors. New Forestry Developments After more than 20 years the pioneer Casuarinas had fulfilled their task to transform the former harsh and hostile quarries into a lush forest, with fertile soil and L balanced microclimate. Many of the old Casuarinas are becoming top-heavy with their shallow root systems and fall in heavy winds, and many are being harvested for building timber. So room is created for second generation of forest plants. Animals which have come to live in the Casuarina forest, have brought in many new species of plants. Neem and various fig trees dominate the upcoming undergrowth; their seeds have been planted by fruit-eating bates and monkeys. Birds have brought in shrubs and bushes with bright coloured fleshy berries. However, according to the aim of creating an ecologically and economically self-sustaining coastal forest, the secondary tree species are selected with care. More than 200 species of indigenous coastal forest species have so far been planted into the old part of the rehabilitated quarry. Some of these are indigenous hardwoods of potential economic value, lime Mvule (Millicia excelsa), Mbambakofi (Afzelia quanzonsis), Mpingo (Dalgbergia melanoxylon), Mgurure (Combretum schumanall), and various species of mangroves. Muhuhu (Brachylaena huillensis), one of the heavily exploited local hardwood trees used mainly for wood carvings, unfortunately doesn't grow well under our conditions; it seems not to be able to cope with the hard rocky substrate. In order to increase the diversity of the forest, also to encourage and experiment with non-timber uses of the forest, many other forest species are being introduced and tested for their ability to grow under our conditions. 140 Country Paper-Kenya Some plants are being introduced as bee-plants for honey production, others for their edible fruits, others for their potential as indigenous ornamental plants for eco-landscpaging. Other species are planted to increase the diversity of the forest providing food and/or habitat for animal life. Some of the plants are of medicinal or other traditional value, and some very rate trees have been planted for conservation purpose. At present we are experimenting to find the ideal method of planting the second generation of trees. We are working with clear-cut section of various shapes and sizes, clear-cut-corridors, and interplanting in between the existing Casuarina trees. Our small banana plantation serves as a trial plot to test the compatibility of banana plants with mivule, mipingo and muhuhu trees. In very low areas, where excavation had gone slightly into the groundwater, we are planting mangrove trees. Initial trials with Rhizopohora mucronata and Avicennia marina had been carried out along the edge of the rice fields, actually more for fun than as a serious enterprise, not really expecting any success. But as those trees grew so well, without tidal movement and in almost fresh water, we carried on in other areas. It seems from our experience, that the availability of nutrients is much more important for mangrove trees than salinity and tidal movements. One very rate mangrove species looks very promising from the economical point of view: Heriteria littoralis. It naturally grows on the higher inland side of the mangrove areas. It grows into very strong and straight poles, and it is said to be very durable. That is probably also why it has become so rare. Only very few remaining stands of this species have been reported in a recent survey of the Kenyan mangroves, and we have to get it's seeds from the beach, as they are washed ashore as drift-seeds. Conclusions Many lessons have been learnt in the Bamburi Quarry Rehabilitation Scheme so far, and many more are still waiting to be explored and actually learnt. Propagation and planning techniques for the Casuarinas are well established by now, also management techniques for the older plantations. These techniques are now being applied widely outside the Bamburi Quarries, as Casuarinas poles are in high demand in the local building industry. Many more is to be learnt in regard to the indigenous trees. Interesting aspects are showing already, like the good growth of mangrove trees outside their natural habitat. Performance of the indigenous hardwood species so far is very promising. Some of our oldest Mvule (Millicia excelsa) trees are now approx. 5 years old. The tallest ones have reached 10-15 m in height, and the strongest ones have produced a stem of almost 20 cm in diameter. Also Mpingo (Dalbergia melanoxylon) grows very well; our only 2 year old Mpingo trees and are already coming up to 4 m in height. We hope, that our slowly increasing experience with the indigenous timber trees will be applied and improved outside the quarries, and more and more people will start using for example, mivule instead of Eucalyptus. 141 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 142 USING BUTTERFLY BIODIVERSITY FOR INCOME-GENERATION Ian James Gordon, Manager Washington Ayiemba, Research Scientist Kipepeo Project, Kilifi, Kenya 143 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings USING BUTTERFLY BIODIVERSITY FOR INCOME-GENERATION The Kipepeo Project (KP) aims to win the support of local communities for the conservation of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest (ASF) through the sustainable utilization of its butterflies for their benefit. This forest is famous for its avifauna which includes six rare and endangered species (Sokoke Scops Owl, East Coast Akalat, Spotted Ground Thrush, Sokoke Pipit, Amani Sunbird and Clarke's Weaver) in addition to a further 17 species which are coastal endemics. It is also home to four rare or threatened mammals (Elephant, Ader's Duiker, Golden- Rumped Elephant Shrew, and Sokoke Bushy-Tailed Mongoose). Situated on the north coast of Kenya, over 400 km2 in area and containing no human settlements, Arabuko-Sokoke is the largest remaining piece of the coastal forest mosaic which once stretched from Southern Somalia to northern Mozambique. During long periods of isolation from other forests this coastal mosaic evolved a distinctive fauna and flora of its own which is now seriously eroded. The protection of ASF is the last best hope of retaining a viable fragment of this once extensive ecosystem. For its birds alone, it has been ranked as the second most important forest in Africa (Collar & Stuart, 1985). Its conservation is therefore of global significance. All of this however means little to the people around the forest. Their numbers are growing rapidly and they are hungry for land, short of cash incomes and jobs, impoverished and harassed by forest wildlife, misled by local politicians, and hostile to the forest. Independent surveys (Mogaka, 1991; Maundu, 1993) estimated theirper capita cash incomes at less than US $ 50 per year, and showed that over 90% are unhappy with the forest's presence, with over 50% wanting the entire forest cleared for settlement. Wildlife crop-raids by elephants and baboons cause much anguish and economic hardship, and are a major cause for resentment. The population surrounding the forest cultivates to its edges and erodes its interior through subsistence demands for fuelwood, poles, game-meat, wild honey, fruits and medicinal plants. The forest has been invaded no less than five times in the last three years, each time with the aim of cutting plot-lines in anticipation of de-gazettement, and each time led or encouraged by people with official positions in the administration. In March 1995, the Kilifi District Development Committee supported a call for the excision of 1,200 ha in its south-eastern portion for settlement. It is obvious that Arabuko-Sokoke cannot survive without the long-term support of the local people and their leaders, but there is little prospect of this unless it is seen to be of benefit to them. The Kipepeo Project is one of several efforts (including, most notably, assistance for schools and water supplies from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Community programme) to build such support. It is situated near the forest at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) site at Gede Ruins 18 km south of Malindi and is administered by the East Africa Natural History Society (EANHS) in Nairobi. Set up in June 1993 with an initial grant of US $ 50,000 from the Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme administered by UNDP, it has introduced butterfly farming to the forest-adjacent community as a means of earning cash incomes from the forest. More recently, with the arrival of a British volunteer (VSO), Tansy Bliss, it has also become a vehicle for environmental education with an active schools programme centered on ASF in collaboration with the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya. By showing that the forest can provide unexpected sources of income to the local community, and by 144 Country Paper-Kenya teaching local children about its extraordinary biodiversity and conservation importance, the Kipepeo Project aims to help to secure its future. Before the commercial activities of Kipepeo began, there was a nine month survey of butterfly populations in ASF (Ayiemba, 1995) and a month-long socio-economic and attitudinal survey of the local community (Maundu, 1994). We are therefore in a position to obtain the kind of before and after data that will help in objectively assessing the success of the project as a conservation tool. With the aid of a grant from the WWF/USAID Biodiversity Support Programme, these surveys will be repeated in 1997 by the same personnel. This will provide an assessment of the impact on wild butterfly populations of three years of harvesting for breeding, and will examine perceptions of the financial benefits of butterfly farming and whether these have increased community support for the conservation of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Selected Kipepeo farmers will also be trained in butterfly monitoring, and the socioeconomic and attitudinal survey will include questions on events in the last three years such as the forest invasions and the de-gazettement proposals. Both of the pre-project surveys were also essential in project implementation. The butterfly survey helped us to select species for breeding, based on abundance and seasonal availability. It involved walking transacts and general collections using butterfly nets and traps in the three different vegetation types of the forest. About half (139) of the total number of butterflies (261) listed for the forest were captured and the numbers of sightings of some 40 of the commoner and more easily recognized species were recorded for each month of sampling. The community survey enabled us to introduce the project and to recruit project participants. At village meetings the project was explained and PRA maps were drawn on the ground to identify those households which satisfied the criterion of being immediately next to the forest. Over 150 such households were mapped, and 144 of these were subsequently interviewed and 132 agreed to participate. The use of an objective (and obviously practical) criterion for participation, and the direct involvement of the community in the identification of participants, were important elements in establishing trust in the project. We ended up with a more or less continuous chain of future butterfly farmers along 45 kilometers of the eastern margin of ASF, roughly one third of its total circumference. The farmers were trained in butterfly rearing techniques both in their households and at the project headquarters at Gede Ruins. These activities were carried out in parallel with the construction of two large flight cages and a breeding shed with water storage tanks, the establishment of a plant nursery, and further research on forest butterflies and their foodplants. A local Extension Officer was recruited and trained together with casual staff in the basics of butterfly rearing. As a dry run, some 20 volunteers from the forest-edge community participated in a short experimental rearing programme which established that our techniques would work out on the forest-edge farms. Lastly, an agreement was negotiated with a British company, Entomological Supplies Ltd., for the supply and purchase of butterflies in 1994. Exports started more or less on schedule in February 1994, and by the end of the year over 10,000 pupae belonging to 14 species had been exported, earning a little over US $ 15,000. About 40% of the pupae had been produced by the community and the remainder by the farm headquarters. Total payments to the community for the year amounted to just over 260,000/= (ca. US $ 5,000). In 1995 the number of pupae exported grew by 23% (to ca. 12,500), overall earnings for the year increased by 15% (to just over US $ 18,000) and payments to the community by 25%. Growth has continued in 1996 with around 15,000 pupae exported so far. 145 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings To date cumulative exports amount to a little over 37,500 butterflies and in the (course of this month (August, 1996), we have passed two important milestones: total exports of US $ 50,000, which was the amount of the original grant, and total community payments of 1,000,000/= (ca. US $ 18,000). An important additional benefit for the community has been the building of a sense of pride and empowerment. The project has been featured in the press, in magazines and newsletters and on international television (through the UNDP magazine programme Azimuths). Members of the community have been featured in this coverage, and their views have been sought by consultants from overseas. This has all helped them to understand that their forest really is important to the outside world. On a more practical level they have also formed Self- Help Groups which have enabled them to establish savings accounts and to access donor funds for their own projects. At their first attempt, these groups secured 375,000/= from the Belgian Embassy to build sixteen 5,000 liter water storage tanks, and they have begun to understand that the forest allows them to make special claims on development funds. We hope that these Self- Help Groups will eventually form the basis for a grass-roots community Organization, whose members are drawn specifically from the forest edge and whose principal agenda lies with forest conservation and rural development. None of this has been easy. The project has been vulnerable to the whole gamut of problems that make rural development in Africa such a difficult challenge, ranging from transport and communication breakdowns, through poor rains, administrative conflicts, marketing problems, and unreliable water supplies, to insect parasitoids, foodplant pests, and diseases of the butterfly livestock. The export market is becoming increasingly demanding in terms of what it will and will not take. It also suffers from transit losses amounting to around 20-25%, in part due to transit delays, and from late and unreliable payments from overseas dealers. The firm to which we exported exclusively in 1994 went into liquidation in 1996, leaving the project with a bad debt of US $ 4,000. We have now diversified our export market and are currently shipping to two British and four American dealers, but still suffer from delays in payments leading to considerable cash flow problems. We were certainly over-optimistic in our expectations of becoming self-sustaining, and will not achieve this goal in 1996 as we had hoped. Meanwhile many lessons, both technical and managerial, have been learned. On the technical side, disease outbreaks have demonstrated the importance of keeping the densities of breeding stock at moderate levels and of breeding a diversity of species. While it has been satisfying to demonstrate that a lot can be done with a little, the project has been badly under- funded. A three year project, with full support for all capital and running costs with the aim of being sustainable thereafter, would have provided a much more secure base for the launch into self-sustaining operations. It would also have been wiser to start with a domestic eco-tourist attraction featuring live butterflies before going into the export trade. The business management aspects of the project have not been handled as well as they might have been, partly because of our own lack of expertise in such matters, but also as a result of the compromises that are inevitable in the attempt to unite conservation and commerce. Professional help in this area would be highly useful, particularly with respect to handling cash flow problems, bad debts and the problems of a mixed agenda. The key to the future lies in developing a substantial domestic market for our butterflies through ecotourism. Plans are being developed to establish an Eco-Cultural Centre at another 146 Country Paper-Kenya NMK site at Mnarani Ruins in Kilifi. This will focus on the interactions between coastal people and coastal forests and will feature live butterfly displays from ASF, Shimba Hills and one of the Kaya forests, with the livestock being -purchased through KP from the relevant forest edge communities. A domestic market, with flexible demand and cash at the door from visitors and shop sales, and without the problems of transit delays and losses, will go a long way to making the Kipepeo Project truly viable. REFERENCES Ayiemba, W.O. (1995). A study of the butterfly diversity in the Arabuko Sokoke Forest, Kenya. Unpublished MSc thesis. University of Nairobi. Collar, N.J. & S.N. Stuart (1985). Threatened Birds of Africa and Related Islands. The ICBP/IUCN Red Data Book part 1. ICBP/IUCN, Cambridge, UK. Collins, N.M. & M.G. Morris (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Bufferflies of the World. The IUCN Red Data Book. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. Maundu, P. (1993). Socio-economic survey & Forest Attitude report for the community bordering Arabuko-Sokoke forest. Unpublished Kipepeo Project report, 71 pp. Mogaka, H.R. (1991). Local utilisation of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve. Unpublished KIFCON report. 147 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 148 TRANSMARA FORESTS: CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES by J. L. Kiyiapi Department of Forestry Moi University Eldoret, Kenya 149 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings TRANSMARA FORESTS: CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES INTRODUCTION Forest resources in Kenya and in many other parts of the world are undergoing a variety of environmental as well as human related stresses. Transmara (recently carved from Narok) is a district faced with development challenges; and other single most important objective is being able to manage and sustain the development impetus now created while at the same time ensuring sustainable use of natural resources. Real rural development is directly linked to conservation and wise use of land resources (soil, water, forest and wildlife resources). Most forests in Transmara are either owned privately under group ranches or communally under the provisions of Trust Land Act. The forests are increasingly being depleted because of the sociocultural and socioeconomic changes in the livelihood of the Maasai, from traditional pastoralism to commercial land use which entails converting forest and rangelands to crop production. The shift from mainly pastoral and small scale subsistence crop production to a cash- oriented large scale cultivation is evidenced by conversion of forest lands into extensive maize and sugarcane fields. This situation will inevitably lead to accelerated deforestation following land adjudication and subdivision of group ranches into individual parcels (now in progress), which not only allows the owners to lease, sell, and mortgage the land, but also enables them to adopt modem agricultural production methods. Traditionally, land was regarded by the Maasai as the property of the community, and it was the community which therefore imposed controls on its use, and allowed individuals access to it. Under community controls, selling and leasing of land to neighbouring communities, which is the major cause of environmental degradation in the district, was out of the question. In spite of the rapid rate of forest depletion, Transmara district still has substantial forest resources that should be conserved and managed not only to improve the welfare of present residents but for future posterity. This paper outlines key ecosystem features of these forests, identifies specific causes of deforestation in the district; and offers suggestions for sustainable conservation and management of the forests. Background Information Transmara district occupies a total of 2900 km2. The Mara river marks its eastern boundary with Narok district from which it was separated. To the south it is bordered by the United Republic of Tanzania and Westward by Kuria and Migori districts. Kisii and Bomet are its northern and north-eastern neighbours respectively. The Mara river originating form eastern Mau forest drains the low altitude eastern section and flows to Tanzania. The Migori river which almost bisects the district into two flows in a south westerly direction from south west Mau joining Kuja river to flow and empty into lake Victoria. There are many small streams and rivers which drain into river Migori. The land on both sides of Migori river is a plateau. The altitude rises from 1524 m along the Mara river to about 1950 m above sea level around Kilgoris to 2073 m a.s.l. on the hill tops. Topography is gentle to flat in the plains but rather steep on some hills. 150 Country Paper-Kenya Rainfall generally increases from about 1000 mm along the Mara river as one climbs along the escarpment up to Kilgoris town. The highest rainfall of about 1800 mm per year is realized along the Kisii border. March to May is the period of long rain while short rains fall between November and December. Mean annual temperatures in Kilgoris (district head quarters), for example, range between 17°C to 21°C with January to March temperatures averaging 27°C while August to October average 1 1 'C. Because of good rainfall distribution crops are grown throughout the year. Jaetzold and Schmidt (1983) have calculated the rainfall reliability and water availability for Transmara and have shown high potentiality of agriculture for both livestock and crops in the district. Data Data reported here is based on a comprehensive field survey conducted in February 1996, in which key forest types were covered. Data were collected on species composition, forest structure, disturbance, ecological characteristics (regeneration, drainage, topographic factors); forests which form critical wildlife corridors. Extensive interviews were also conducted with the local people to determine forest ownership status, sociocultural values of forests, conservation and management perspectives Ecosystem Features Physiognomic characterization: Overview Broadly speaking, forests of Transmara range from open woodlands, partially open to closed canopy forests. Although open woodlands (clumped forests) were not sampled, they contribute a substantial quantity of forest resources. Much of the rangeland in the district is confined to the open woodlands. In terms of vertical structure, two categories are distinguished: Low canopy forests e.g., (upper most canopy layer in 10-20 m height range) usually characterized by 1-2 canopy layers. High canopy forests (upper most canopy layer in 30-40 m height range) with at least 3 canopy layers. Very tall trees (sometime up to 40 m) predominantly Diospyros abyssinica are found in this category of forests. Some of the forests are characterized by vertical forest structures typical of those found in tropical rain forest such as Kakamega forest in western Kenya. For example the multi-storey (several canopy layers), and thick understorey (below canopy) vegetation dominated by the shrub species Dracina afromontana occurs in most of Laila forest. These ecosystem characteristics are useful indicators for monitoring changes in forest conditions following human induced disturbances. The physical micro-environmental features such as slope, susceptibility to erosion and drainage are generally similar in the various forest categories. However, significant site variations are found within a given forest. Differences observed along a transect are often related to forest types (species associations). Localized drainage patterns seem to have significant influence on tree species growth and distribution. In general, most forests in Transmara are found on plains (< 5 % slope) underlain by poorly drained clay soils. 151 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings However, differences in topography greatly influence drainage conditions even within a small area under the same soil type and hence different forest types. For example, the low canopy shrub species Trichocladus ellipticus which is very prevalent in most parts of Transmara usually forms a belt along the forest edge on poorly drained sites. The species would sometime form a very dense impenetrable thicket with virtually bare forest floor. In better drained sites (50-100 m into the forest from edges) much taller trees and high density ground vegetation would be found. Soil Erosion Susceptibility Evidence of erosion was minimal in most forests except along cattle or elephant trails. But there is potentially high erosion hazard in most areas if the tree cover was removed. Most of the forested areas in the district are dissected by a network of perennial and seasonal streams. Any unplanned, wanton destruction of forests would accelerate run off (causing soil loss) and increased downstream flow and siltation. Soil erosion is already a serious problem in the intensely cultivated parts of the district along the Transmara-Kisii border. The history of erosion problem in this zone can be traced back to the 1970s when through mutual agreements between the Maasai land owners and the Kisiis, much of the natural vegetation was removed and land converted into maize fields and more recently sugar cane plantations. Continued cultivation progressively led to declines in crop yields attributed largely to loss of top soil owing to poor farming practices. This scenario could be replicated in other parts of the district if present rate of deforestation continues. Regeneration Sustainable forest management means that the forest is management in a manner that ensures supply of goods and services in perpetuity. It means that the amount and nature of forest products to be removed (e.g., timber) will be determined to a large extent by the rate at which the system replenishes itself. Regeneration is one very useful indicator of sustainability. An ideal natural forest should have a high proportion of seedlings and saplings and progressively fewer trees of large sizes (what is commonly referred to in literature as the reverse J-shape distribution). In practical terms, it is not sufficient that a forest has many overmature trees for exploitation: sustainable management requires that such a forest should have all size classes evenly or equitably represented. In general, regeneration is higher in partially open canopy than in completely closed canopy forests. Although Transmara is endowed with vast wood resources of harvestable sizes, this is not matched by a corresponding high level of regeneration of the species. Regeneration in most of the completely closed canopy forest blocks could be described as moderate to poor. Large wildlife populations (especially elephants) often trample on young seedlings and cause soil compaction limiting the regeneration potential of a forest. Evidence of this is seen in areas frequented by elephants. Forest Disturbance Forest disturbances in the district can be attributed to the following main causes: 152 Country Paper-Kenya (i) Forest clearing for agricultural production Transmara has experienced unprecedented shift in pastoralism as the major form of land use to crop production (maize). Unlike in the past when most of the cultivation was by non-Maasai cultivators, most Maasais have now entered into small as well as large scale farming. Land renting to farmers outside the district on a short term basis (usually one year) is also very common in the district. There are several underlying reasons for the apparent "rush" in forest clearing. Two obvious ones are 1) the inevitable shift by the Maasai (especially the elite group) from a predominantly pastoral lifestyle to a cash oriented economy and land is seen as the resource that has hitherto remained unexploited and should now be fully tapped to achieve this; and 2) the on going land demarcation process where land owned by group ranches is being subdivided among the members. In most cases, this has not been without controversy and forest clearing by individuals is often one way of legitimizing ownership. (ii) Charcoal burning A flourishing charcoal business across Transmara-Kisii border is also a major factor contributing to depletion of forest resources in parts of Transmara district. Superficially, there appears to be restriction on charcoal burning but in reality, there is no control at all. This raises two fundamental questions: is charcoal burning supposed to be controlled (or prohibited)? If yes, how is this enforced? If limited charcoal burning is allowed, should not the alternative of conversion to timber be explored as opposed to the wasteful, low value return of charcoal production? (iii) Extraction of pole size trees for fencing and house construction An increasing number of Transmara residents are fencing their farms and posts are obtained locally from nearby forests. In absence of the prime cedar posts, other alternative species such as Olea africana and Euclea &vinorum are used. There is considerable commercial incentive to exploitation of pole size trees as one post could fetch Kshs. 10-13, and the demand is currently very high. This is an alternative means of forest clearing for crop production. (iv) Clearing for settlement In some areas where land adjudication and demarcation is taking place there is spontaneous mushrooming of human settlements. This is particularly the case where membership of a group ranch is controversial. Most individuals believe that the only way to assert ownership rights is to clear the forest and settle there or put the land under crop production even when it is evident that crop harvest is unlikely due to high wildlife concentration in the area. "Migrant members" are keen to move in swiftly to occupy new found territory. A good example is Oloonkolin forest near Oloolo escarpment where there is currently a proliferation of settlements scattered over the entire forest - a phenomenon akin to "scramble for forestland". The same is happening in a number of other forest blocks in the district. Part of the solution to halting forest destruction therefore, lies in addressing the problems of land tenure. Wood volume The survey revealed the existence of commercial quantities of valuable species such as Olea Capensis, Olea Africana, Warbugia ugandensis (Osokonoi), Diospyros abyssinica and 153 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Manilkara butugi (Olairrenyi). Based on conservative estimates the forests of Transmara can support an industry requiring about 10,000 m3 per year on sustainable basis if the whole forest is treated as a sustained yield unit. The establishment of an industry would however require a feasibility study to establish the economic size, location, nature of industry etc. Habitats and Major Corridors Forests in the district are important wildlife sanctuaries and form a crucial dispersal zone for the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The Maasai traditional land use pattern allowed maintenance of rangeland production potential and was compatible with wildlife use of the area. Compatibility of land use with wildlife is particularly important in the eastern portion of Transmara because it borders the Maasai Mara National Reserve and has historically been an important dry season forage source for wildlife during drought in the Serengeti (Thurow 1995). Human-Wildlife Conflicts For years, the Maasai have coexisted with wildlife and there is ample historical evidence to show that present human-wildlife conflicts in much of Maasailand can be traced back inappropriate policy decisions as well as the exploitative tourist industry in this country which until recently, totally disregarded the rights of local people at whose expense wildlife are conserved. In Transmara for example, forests have remained important wildlife habitats because for many years, land owners simply didn't bother about the economic value of land. This has, however, changed in recent years (thanks to the land demarcation process!) and people are now set on the path of development. Norton-Griffiths (1995) presents an interesting economic analysis that revenues (benefits) accruing to the Maasai landowner from agricultural production is much more than the revenue from livestock keeping which in turn is more than the benefit from conservation thus: Net Revenue (agriculture) > > >Net Revenue (from livestock)>> NR(from Conservation) This is an important consideration in addressing wildlife conservation issues. Table I below, shows damages to livestock and property caused by wildlife which exacerbates the human- wildlife conflict. In spite of the conservation value, socioeconomic contributions, roles and potentials, the existence of these forests is at the crossroads because of the land adjudication and the subdivision of the group ranches now in progress. Decisions should be made on the forests which can be saved and the possible management options which can be adapted in order to save the forests in the first instance and finally to conserve them in perpetuity. The options available may be: (a) Individuals to be encouraged to conserve forests on their private land; (b) County Council to retain some forests and forested land as trust land; (c) Get individuals or members of the group to set aside land for forest conservation. (d) Form cooperative or community system of forests ownership. (e) Take measures to curb practices that hinder conservation. 154 Country Paper-Kenya Table 1: Data on wildlife damages (animals reported killed and crop acreage destroyed) in the past 2-4 years based on surveyed households Homes Year Number of Animals Total Area Area Loss Surveyed Cult. Reported Killed Cult. (ha) Destr Bags/Ha Started (Maize) (ha) goats sheep cows Ntulele 5 1988 15 3 2 55 10 20-30 Olosakuana I - - - - 2 0.5 25 Oloonkolin 2 1993 - - - 4 0.5 10-15 Kilena 2 1992 33 16 2 1 1 30-35 Kilae/Olorok 7 1986 160 114 393 70 31 25-30 Nkararu 5 1963 63 44 3 65 13 20-30 Nyakueri 3 1990 70 34 15 6 6 20-30 Olomismis I - - - - - - - Note: Among the individuals interviewed: 8% favoured conservation of wildlife under existing conditions 73% would not favour conservation under prevailing conditions but would favour conservation of forests But 88% would support wildlife conservation as long as the animals are confined to the parks or if there is adequate compensation for wildlife damages Forest conservation and individual tenure Under individualized land tenure system, the proprietor of land has the power of use and abuse. To the extent that land is defined to include things affixed to it, the proprietor has power to do as he pleases with things growing on his land, such as trees. The regime of private property can affect forest resources in many ways. Noteworthy is the fact that land as private property is a commodity that can be offered for sale. In relation to forest conservation, the following questions need to be posited: a) Does individualization vest too much power in individuals by virtue of the right to use and abuse that may be inimical to forests conservation? b) In case forestry is not economically productive to an individual property right holder, how do we balance private property interests with the social responsibility of forest conservation? c) Can the state, for example, legally compel people to plant trees in their lands? Community Forest Management Options Presently, in Trans Mara district, Communities do not exist as legal persons. Consequently, before communities can own forests and forest resources, it is necessary for the Communities to be incorporated as a legal persons. The question posited at this juncture is what form of organization should be adopted in the creation and/or registration of communities as legal persons? Various options are available. The communities can be incorporated as limited liability companies, societies, associations or cooperative societies. In this regard, there is the Companies Act (Cap 485 of the Laws of Kenya) regulating the incorporation of limited liability companies, the Societies Act making provision 155 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings for the registration of societies and the Cooperative Societies Act regulating the registration of cooperative societies. Communal or community ownership as a forest management option has several drawbacks. It can be argued that management of forests requires a level of professionalism and scientific competence that lies outside the capacities of communities. In this respect, communities have no managerial skills, technical and fiscal resources to manage and conserve forest resources. A major advantage of community management is that members of the local community have indigenous technical knowledge on the values of trees within the forests. Setting apart of land Ownership status under private and community has been outlined above. Other possibilities which can be undertaken in view of the urgency of the situation is for the council to "Set Apart" the land for forestry in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Land Act and for subsequent gazettement under the Forest Act. The major drawback with this procedure is the long period taken before the area is finally gazetted under the Forest Act. It should be noted that there is strong feeling of people against Government ownership in view of its recent spate of excisions. They quote examples such as Olposimuru which were gazetted but ended up in the hands of people. The solution is however for the council to set apart the forests but under the County Council. They ould argue that the forests would be for the benefit of the community as a whole. In such circumstances little compensation if any is paid. The councils usually pay for personal rights such as houses only. Fortunately personal rights are few in Transmara especially with regard to recommended forests. A positive aspect of County Council ownership is that no County Council forest has ever been excised in the history of independent Kenya. Literature cited Beentje H.J. 1994. Kenya Trees, Shrubs and Lianas. National Museums of Kenya. Jacobs A.H. 1980. Pastoral Maasai and Tropical Rural Development In R.H. Bates and M. F. Lofchie (eds) Agricultural Development in Africa Issues of Public Policy Praeger, New York. Kiyiapi J. L. 1995. Contrasting Forest Conditions in Transmara: Characterization, Management Questions and Suggestions. The Examples of Emperue and Nyakueri Forests. Commissioned by GTZ/TDP. Norton-Griffiths M. 1995. Property Rights and the Marginal Wildebeest: An Economic Analysis of Wildlife Conservation Options in Kenya. Ochieng, E.A. and Kiyiapi, J.L. 1995. Transmara Forests: Forestry Needs and Possible Projects for GTZ/TDP Support. 44 pp. Okoth-Ogendo H.W.O. 1991. Tenants of the Crown: Evolution of Agrarian Law and Institutions in Kenya. African Centre for Technology Studies, Nairobi, Kenya. Pander H., 1995. Study on Land Tenure and Land Policy in the Trans Mara District. Situation and Conflicts: Transmara Development Programme. Sharma N.P. (ed.) 1992. Managing the World's Forests: Looking for Balance. Between Conservation and Development. Kendal/Hunt Publishing Co., Iowa. Thurow, T. L. 1995. Influence of Range Condition on Pattems of Social Change in Transmara District, Kenya. Presented at the Fifth Intemational Rangeland Congress, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 23-38. Wass, P.A. (ed.) 1995. Kenya's Indigenous Forests. Status, Management and Conservation. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK. 205 pp. 156 INTEGRATING TREE CASH CROPS IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS THE CASE OF MACADAMIA NUTS IN KENYA by Y. Sato, Managing Director Kenya Nut Company P 0 Box 52727, Nairobi, Kenya and J H G Waithaka, Consultant Eureka Agritech Limited P 0 Box 14338, Nairobi, Kenya 157 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings INTEGRATING TREE CASH CROPS IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS: THE CASE OF MACADAMIA NUTS IN KENYA History The macadamia nut tree is exotic in Kenya, having been introduced after the Second World War around 1944 to 1948 by European settlers. Initially it had no commercial value and was basically for ornamental and a household delicacy edible nut. The macadamia nut trees remained almost totally unknown in the country until after independence in 1964 when a Kenya farming family, Bob Harries and Peter Harries started multiplying the trees in a seedling nursery, planting them on their farms and selling some to other interested farmers, both African and non-Africans. At that stage, the tree remained doubtful as to its commercial value and even the promoters had not assured potential growers of the economic benefits. Therefore sales were minimal and remained insignificant. In 1969 - 1971 Bob Harries Limited, a company founded by the late Robert Harries initiated a campaign to sensitise the Kenya Government to commercialise macadamia nut growing and establish processing and marketing the edible nuts. This effort resulted in the Government's intervention to seek commercial interests in the private sector for the purposes of establishing a macadamia nut industry covering production and distribution of trees as well as purchasing nuts in- shell from farmers, processing them and marketing the ready to eat kernels in the world market. The Kenya Nut Company Limited was formed in 1974 after a feasibility study and preliminary investigations conducted during 1971 - 1973, and was appointed by the Kenya Government to spearhead and invest in the development of the macadamia nut industry in Kenya. The company immediately followed up the trees previously planted in the field totalling about 800,000, all but very few based on un-grafted materials, and encouraged owners to look after them and sell the nuts- in-shell to the Company. Simultaneously the company established a nursery to multiply specific selections previously introduced and locally selected so as to make available the essential planting materials. The Government intervention continued by way of getting bilateral aid from the Government of Japan to construct a macadamia nut research centre, equipment, transport and personnel for conducting research and providing extension services to growers. A training program was also drawn up for Kenyan scientists to relevant universities overseas to learn horticulture, pomology and related specialist subjects. The Kenya Nut Company has since 1975 been responsible for the commercial development of macadamia nut industry in Kenya by multiplying and supplying planting materials, based on selections from the research centre, to potential growers. The company purchases all the nuts-in- shell from growers, processes them and markets the kernels and other by products locally and internationally. The industry growth has been very slow due to financial constraints to meet planting material production according to demand. Research support from public sector i.e. the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute has been inadequate and a number of diseases and pests of the macadamia nut 158 Country Paper-Kenya are causing economic damage. The industry is not threatened by this situation but its growth may be slowed even further. Recently other commercial participants have entered the macadamia nut industry by putting up small processing facilities but are not involved in crop development activities. Farmers needs for planting materials, husbandry knowledge and crop management on the farm are not being met fully because Kenya Nut Company has very limited resources for these aspects. It has spent over K.Shs. 600 million in developing very modem processing/manufacturing facilities, commands a world wide market and maintains a very efficient marketing system which could market much larger quantities than are available annually at present. Present Status: The Kenya macadamia nut industry is currently made of approximately 900,000 trees of varying ages from one year to 20 years, grown by over 100,000 small scale farmers with an average of 6 - 12 trees per grower. Annual production is about 4,000 metric tons of nuts-in-shell. These produce about 800 metric tons of marketable kernels, making the main commercial product. Other by products such as oil, are minimal. The future is bright because world demand could take over 20,000 metric tons of kernels per year. At the current price of K.Shs. 23/- per kg of nuts-in-shell the producers are getting Shs. 92 million per year. THE MACADAMIA TREE 1. TAXONOMY The macadamia is an evergreen tree of the family PROTEACEAE. It is native to Australia but is currently grown commercially in several other countries of the world. There are ten trees and shrubs in the genus Macadamia six of which are native to Australia, three to New Calendonia and one to Indonesia. The following species are listed in the IBPGR 1986 (Story 1965) Macadamia integrifolia (from Australia) Macadamia tetraphylla Macadamia temifolia Macadamia heyana Macadamia prealta Macadamia whelani Macadamia francii (from Calendonia) Macadamia roussellii Macadamia veillandii Macadamia hildebrandii (from Indonesia) Only the first two are so far of any commercial value. Macadamia Integrifolia is highly dominant in the commercial clonal production area. Hybridisation occurs freely between this species and Macadamia tetraphylla and is becoming important in the development of new clones. In Kenya the bulk of selections being currently grown is from such hybrids such as KIAMBU 3, KIAMBU 9 and 5, MURANGA 12 and 20, KIRINYAGA 1 and EMBU 1. More selections are being developed from the research programs (K.A.R.I. 1993). 159 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Some confusion has existed over the species Macadamia ternifolia and Macadamia Integrifolia but the formner produces a bitter and unpalatable nut. Natural stands of macadamia trees are highly variable in characteristics such as fruit size, shell thickness and yield. Branching habits and foliage density also very widely indicating a heterozygous outbreeding nature. 2. DISTRIBUTION Wide covering of 250 to south 280 south in the eastern coastal strip of Australia where wild populations still exist in natural forests intermixed with timber trees. The Macadamia tetraphylla is more temperate and less tolerant to lowlands in the tropics. Cultivation began early 1800 and the tree has been introduced for commercial growing in New Zealand, Hawaii, California, South Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Malawi and Kenya. The IBPGR 1986 gives a detailed description of Macadamnia integrifolia. 3. USES OF MACADAMIA The macadamia is primarily used as a dessert nut of very high quality with a unique taste and flavour. It is eaten fresh or salted. Oil is extracted from the lower grade kernels and used as a salad or cooking oil or for making cosmetics and soaps. Diced kernels are used in confectionery ice cream and chocolate making industries. The cake after oil extraction can be used as a livestock feed but must be mixed with high fibre fodder crops. The hard shells can be used for fuel and potential for making charcoal from the shells has not been fully exploited. It is inadequately researched. The wood produces hard and very durable timber but to date all commercial uses are confned to the kernel as a food product. 4. COMPOSMON The kernels are rich in unsaturated fatty acids with an oil content of about 88% (Dela Cruz et. al. 1966) with Macadamia integrifolia having the higher oil content than Macadamia tetraphylla. The high unsaturated fatty acids content is considered beneficial to health in terms of controlling blood cholesterol. The analysis of a whole kernel is as follows. Oil 78% Carbohydrates 10% Protein 90/0 Moisture 2-3% Potassium 0.17% Magnesium 0.17% Phosphorus 0.17% Calcium 360 mg/kg Sodium 66 mg/kg Iron 18 mg/kg Zinc 14 mg/kg 160 Country Paper-Kenya Manganese 4 mg/kg Copper 3.5 mg/kg Niacin 16 mg/kg Thiamin 2 mg/kg Riboflavin 1 mg/kg The composition of oil varies between species and clones and is considered to have outstanding stability. The main acids constituents are oleic (59 - 67%), palmitoleic (19 - 22%) and palmitic (6 - 9%) (Saleeb et. al. 1973). Protein composition also varies and consists primarily of arginine, formic acid, glutamic acid, leucine. 5. COMMERCIALISATION The development of macadamia nuts as commercial tree crops will be largely determined by local research to identify suitable cultivars for planting. Each different climatic situation will require different cultivars. Trials of selections from Hawaii and Australia in Kenya have not resulted in very suitable selections and we have had to go to seedlings populations planted during 1969-1975 to select the few that are currently being propagated. All aspects of physiology, flowering and pollination habits fruit development and maturation are greatly influenced by local environments in terms of weather and edaphic factors. Therefore the development of a wide genetic base at local level may be necessary in order to create a range of selections suitable in various parts of the country. The world's macadamia industry is poised to grow fast because of widening interest by many countries in search for new agricultural based industries and insatiable demand by consumers for health foods. The tree could therefore gradually grow to join the small group of 'cinderella' trees like the cashew, the coconut, the carob, the pistachio and other edible nut trees which are already well commercialised in other parts of the world. Importance: The importance of macadarnia nut as a tree for inclusion in agro-forestry products lies in the fact that the tree can be inter-planted with other cash crops and once established, it needs minimal care in comparison to other tropical tree crops such as the cashew nuts which is confined to the coastal region only. The macadamia tree has a wider ecological suitability. Being evergreen trees, the macadamia nuts have a canopy which provides protection to the micro environment where they are grown while at the same time allowing the use of the land underneath for production of annual crops. There are a few large plantations where the trees have been successfully inter-planted with coffee and it seems that the concept of multi-storey farming with the two crops can be practised and thus enhance economic returns per unit of land. The main uses for macadamia nut still remain as the kemel which is eaten as a dessert nut, in raw or roasted form, but also for making confectionery products. Soaps and cosmetics industries use the oil as a raw material. The oil press cake can be used as a livestock feed additive, the shells can be used to make charcoal while the wood also has the potential for production of hard timbers for the furniture or building industry. 161 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings References: 1. (IBPGR) International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, 1986. Genetic Resources of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits and Nuts Excluding Musa; Rome, Italy. 2. De la Cruz, Cavalleto C.G., Ross E. and Yamamoto H.Y. (1966) Food Technology 20: 198 - 111, (Review of macadamia nut. MHRS Nambour QLD Australia). 3. Saleeb W.F.C., Yermanos D.M., Huszan C.K., Storey W.B. and Labanauskas C.K., 1973. The oil and proteins in Nuts of Macadamia tetraphylla and their Flhybrids. Journal of American Society for Horticultural Science (98: 453 - 456. 4. Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, National Horticultural Research Centre, 1993. Unpublished reports. 162 ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION OF THE REFUGEE IMPACTED AREAS IN MALAWI by Robert Kafakoma ELDP/LWS (Evangelical Lutheran Development Programme/Lutheran World Service) Malawi 163 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings REHABILITATION OF REFUGE IMPACTED AREAS IN MALAWI 1.0. EXISTING SITUATIONS AND MAJOR CONSTRAINTS Malawi is a land locked country bordered by Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. The total size of the country is 11 8,428km square of which 23,658km square is water. The larger portion of the country is plateau and 25% of land is arable. With one of the highest population growth rates of 3.4% the majority of Malawi's population live below the poverty line. The country remains one of the world's poorest countries with per capita GDP of US $230 (according to 1991 statistics) with agriculture dominating the economy. The sector provides 35% of GDP and employs 80% of the population. The forest resources of Malawi are mainly dominated by "miombo" the most common species being Branchystegia and Julbernadia, which are a major resource of wood fuels and poles for both the rural and urban population. Forests are the most extensive terrestrial ecosystem in Malawi and over 90% of the population depend on forests for their livelihood. In spite of their importance, forests are the most abused natural resource in the country. Malawi hosted over 1 million refugees at one single time period. The presence of such a proportion, at the ratio of 1:10 (1 refugee to 10 Malawians) posed a big strain on an already fragile environment The high rate of population growth, and the high population density particularly in the central and southern regions (87 and 125 respectively) placed the country among the top countries experiencing the highest rate of deforestation (3.5%) in Africa. The depiction of forest resources, caused by the increasing demand for fuel wood and building poles, has been exacerbated by the influx of the refugees. The high rate of deforestation ensuing from demand for more farm land, firewood and timber for construction has caused a myriad of environmental and social problems. Much of the agricultural land is continuously deteriorating due to soil erosion and water tables have dropped down due to loss of ground cover resulting in drying up of water points, streams and rivers. The adverse effect of soil erosion on crop yield is serious, food deficit is chronic and poverty is significant. Through the refugee assistance programmes before repatriation, Non governmental Organizations such as ELDP and government departments in collaboration with UNHCR made a lot of efforts to reduce the rate of environmental degradation in the refugee camps/settlements. ELDP/LWS produced and distributed fuel wood saving stoves to the refugees and planted trees in and around the settlements. Although, this had a significant contribution in conserving fuel wood and therefore saving the few remaining surrounding trees and shrubs, the rate of tree felling for various reasons (charcoal burning, firewood selling to generate income) was beyond the limit that the control mechanism could cope with. 164 Country Paper-Malawi The fact that the refugees stay in the country was temporary also meant that the incentive to plant trees in an area they did not consider home was non existent. In some settlements they did plant seedlings but only to uproot and take them across the border to Mozambique. In one settlement they cut down all the trees they planted. In some settlements like Chiringa, Mwawa, and Kalanje camps, the trees planted by refugees, are still standing today. After the refugees had repatriated, the challenge of reconstruction and rehabilitation was left to the Malawians. The new intervention, therefore, needed an integrated approach, a holistic approach taking into account a change in altitude (awareness building through environmental education) of the Communities, agroforestry, crop diversification and general land husbandry and enhance the scope of self - reliance and sustenance. It also meant to be planned and implemented through Community participation that directly felt the blunt of the devastation, the Malawians themselves. The Malawi government was among the first to notice the appealing impoverishment (the price) that its country had dearly paid as a result of hosting one of the greatest number of refugee population in the Southern Africa at a single period of time. Wildered by the multiplicity of problems that debased the survival of thousands of Malawians whose lives have already been marginalized by the general level of poverty in the country the government require enhanced financial and technical support from donors and NGOs to combat them. Responding to the Governments call a few NGOs embarked on environmental rehabilitation projects. ELDP after being involved in environmental protection through production and distribution of firewood stoves to the refugees and tree planting, also joined other NGOs in rehabilitating the refugee impacted areas. 2.0. AREA OF SERVICE Malawi has 24 districts 12 of which hosted the Mozambican refugees with the largest populations in the Southern and Central regions (see Table 1). Table I. REFUGEE STATISTICS DECEMBER 1992 DISTRACT MALAWIANS REFUGEES Lilongwe 1,011.379 35,000 Dedza 453,398 149,495 Chikwawa 355,606 90,108 Nsanje 222,254 304,390 Ntcheu 400,057 126,869 Mulanje 711,212 56,039 Machinga 577,860 33,300 Mchinji 275,595 21,043 NKhata Bay 160,023 4,200 Mwanza 191,031 149,352 Thyolo 480,068 44,715 Mangochi 551,190 46,973 (Source Office of the President and Cabinet December 1992.) 165 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings An assessment survey conducted in the impacted areas indicated that the natural resources have been exploited due to the abrupt population increase. It highly recommended a multi-sectorial intervention if both the human and physical environment is to be rehabilitated. To combat the environmental problem, the project has the following goals and objectives: 3.0. PROJECT GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES 3.1. THE OVERALL GOALS OF THE PROJECT ARE: a. To promote the ecological balance through conservation and reforestation. b. To reduce chronic under development and promote improved living standards of Malawian communities in the refugee impacted areas. c. To raise community awareness regarding the inter dependence of the community and the environment. 3.2 OBJECTIVES 3.2.1. FORESTRY - To promote the production and use of less expensive and fuel efficient stoves. - To reduce the burden of women in fetching firewood and increase their participation in natural level resource management. - To assist and encourage farmers in the establishment of individual tree nurseries and woodlots. - To organize environmental awareness and education, meetings, seminars and workshops in the target areas. - To strengthen the capacity of village level organizations in the development and management of natural resources in a sustainable and environment friendly way. 3.2.2. AGRICULTURE - To encourage farmers practice agroforestry to increase crop productivity with minimum production costs. - To train farmers in soil and water conservation practices. - To promote crop diversification. 3.2.3. WATER - To rehabilitate defunct water points and construct new wells in order to improve quality and quantity of domestic water supply. - To minimize water borne disease incidences through environmental sanitation training. 166 Country Paper-Malawi 4.0 ACTIVITIES 4.1 FORESTRY 4.1.1 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND TRAINNG For sustainability of the project community involvement and ownership was sought from the onset. The communities participate in all the stages of the project. There are always new beneficiaries and graduates. After every season, the project move to other villages and previous beneficiaries continue on their own with minimum supervision from the project staff. The graduates act as community based trainers who work hand in hand with the project staff. Environmental awareness, education and training of the target groups is strongly emphasized. The beneficiaries are made to understand the importance of afforestation and sustainably utilize the natural resources. Many trees have been cut down carelessly in the past because, people looked at them as government trees. The policing activities of the Forestry department in Malawi contributed to the unsustainable use of natural resources. It is a greater challenge to change the altitude of the people through environmental education and training which NGOs and now the government are doing. 4.1.2 NURSERY ESTABLISHMENT AND TREE PLANTING People get organized into village groups and they select village forestry and nursery committees. The nursery committees oversee the nursery operations with the guidance from a nursery assistant. When seedlings are transplanted the village Forest committees look after the management of the woodlots and all the other trees within the village jurisdiction. ELDP trains these local institutions to empower them on natural resource management. Particular emphasis is placed on achieving standard practice and maintaining it. Each farmer owns his or her own seedlings in the nursery. They make the decisions on what type of species and how many they have to raise and plant. Seedlings are transplanted to their areas of choice. Apart from individually planting in their woodlots or gardens, village woodlots are also established and managed by the village community. Since the project started in 1994 close to 2,000,000 trees have been planted (see table below). This year alone the target is to raise 3,000,000 seedlings. The survival rate of the planted tree is as high as 95% which is very commendable. Some farmers have already started harvesting their trees. Over 25 different tree species have been raised and planted (exotic and indigenous). 4.1.3 FUEL EFFICIENT STOVES Women are being trained on production and use of the clay stove in order to minimize their use of fuel wood and reduce their burden of fetching firewood frequently. They walk 15-20 km to collect firewood in most villages and less time is spent on family care. The stove uses less (1/3 of) firewood compared to the traditional three stone when cooking. After being trained to produce, women are also selling the stoves as an income generating activity. Many women have been motivated to produce and use the stove. The stove is fixed in the kitchen, it uses less firewood and wastes no heat when cooking . The stove can be replaced when broken by the 167 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings women themselves . A recent stove user survey indicated that 97% of the 2000 stoves produced by 1700 women are being used and some women have fixed two stoves in their kitchens. 4.2.0 AGRICULTURE 4.2.1 AGROFORESTRY Rapid population growth has exerted so much pressure on the land, more food is required to feed, the ever increasing population to be produced from ever dwindling land holding size. Most of the land in the refugee impacted areas has lost its productive capacity because of soil erosion because of the loss of the vegetative cover. Farners need to apply high amounts of inorganic manure or fertilizers to improve crop production. The required input package of fertilizer is unaffordable by the resource poor farmers. Mixing crops with some soil improvement trees to reduce the inorganic fertilizer intake by farmers is the only likely solution at the moment. Farmers are being trained to mix crops with soil improvement trees species like faildebia and grilicidia in hedge rows or systematically interplanted. To improve the food security which is perpetually poor, farmers are also growing fruit trees of various species. Soil and water conservation practices are being emphasized in conjunction with the ministry of agriculture and other NGOS. 4.2.2. CROP DIVERSIFICATION The frequent droughts which affected most of the sub Saharan Africa including Malawi, caused a lot of suffering of the people. Most crops failed to produce many families became food insecure. The project is promoting crop diversification and growing of drought resistant crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes and sorghum. Cassava cuttings and sweet potato vines are given to farmers to multiply and distribute to other farmers who had no access to the seed material. 4.2.3. WATER Due to the drought, many water points have out. The project is assisting people in protecting and sinking new water points and also rehabilitating some. ELDP water technicians train water committee who are responsible for the management of the water points in the village. Each village has a water committee. The beneficiaries are trained on health and sanitation, care and maintenance of the water points. 5.0. IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS Natural resource management was perceived to be government work by many rural people. Tree ownership especially indigenous species was for the Forestry department. This attitude contributed to the mismanagement of natural resources . If a farmer had a tree in his or her garden permission from the forestry department needed to be sought before the tree could be cut. The permission was in many occasion in form of payment officially or unofficially, but this is a tree which has been in the protection of the poor farner for a long time. The policing activities of the forestry department contributed to the careless cutting of trees. It has been difficult to change the people's attitude towards tree planting and protecting the remaining indigenous tree species. The project through environmental awareness meetings, trainings, and education has managed to change some of the people's attitude and they believe now that whatever they plant belongs to them. The communities are being empowered to make the project sustainable. They 168 Country Paper-Malawi are being educated on the changes in forestry policy and the National Environmental Action Plan and many other developments taking place to transfer the powers of natural resource management. The southern and central region of the Malawi is overpopulated, land is limiting factor to crop production. Many people would like to participate in the project but they have a problem of land to plant trees. Farmers are being encouraged to practice agroforestry because of its multiple advantages. Agroforestry apart from improving the land productivity, the households benefit from the tree branches which they use as firewood. There is only one seed center in the country where high quality and certified seed is obtained. It is very difficult for many farmers to get access to the seed. The price of seed is also very prohibitive to resource poor farmers. The Forestry Research Institute is working very closely with NGOs to make seed available to farmers in the future. This would be done by training farmers on how to collect seed locally which they can plant and sell to the research or to NGOs at a very small scale. Many people have realized the need to restore their lost environment, therefore, the demand for both technical and financial assistance from government and NGOs is high. There is great need to support these efforts since the problem of environmental degradation is huge. 6.0. RESULTS Good progress has been made in this project after a pilot project which was successfully implemented in 1994/95 rainy season. The project extended to many villages. Through community participation 1,200,000 trees were planted in homestead boundaries, gardens and individual woodlots (see Table 11). The survival rate of 95% has been achieved. The farmers look after their trees as children. They plant in time, make basins to catch more water and weed early to achieve maximum survival. Those women who have been trained on stove production and use have now more time available to care for their families. The frequency of firewood collection has reduced therefore giving the women more time to fulfill other household roles. The project has attracted more women than men in some districts like Dedza and Chikwawa. Those villages where matrilineal system of marriage is practiced, more women are participating in the project because they own the land. Most men under this system of marriage divide the trees they raise. If one man raises 1000 seedlings, he plants 500 where he has married and plants the remainder where he originally comes from. As a result of training, many farmers especially women would like to mix their crops with soil improvement tree species and fruit trees. (See Table II & III) 169 African Forest Policy Forun-Proceedings Table II. ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION PROJECT (ERP) 1995/96 LILONGWE CHIKWAWA- DEDZA TOTAL % TOTAL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS Men 723 505 469 1,697 44% Women 637 970 576 2,183 56% Total 1,350 1,475 1,045 3,880 100% NUMBER OF VILLAGES 74 20 39 13 NUMBER OF NURSERIES 22 20 24 66 FARMERS IN AGROFORESTRY Men 175 505 454 1,134 45% Women 101 715 565 1,318 55% Total 276 1,220 1,019 2,515 100% STOVES: Women trained 300 174 141 615 Stoves produced/used 316 446 198 960 TREES PLANTED: Schools 35,000 900 7,445 43,305 4% Fruits 688 14,129 4,035 18,852 2% Agroforestry 60,228 112,707 84,869 257,804 21% Afforestation 424,617 294,897 161,383 880,902 73% Total 520,533 422,633 257,797 1,200,913 100% 170 Country Paper-Malawi Table III. ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION PROJECT (ERP) 1996/97 LILONGWE CHIKWAWA- DEDZA TOTAL % TOTAL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS Men 1,305 769 832 2,906 54% Women 590 949 918 2,457 46% Total 1,895 1,728 1,750 5,373 100% NUMBER OF VILLAGES 109 30 50 189 NUMBER OF NURSERIES 39 38 35 112 FARMERS IN AGROFORESTRY Men 250 600 600 1,450 43% Women 150 900 900 1,950 57% Total 400 1,500 1,500 3,400 100% STOVES: Women trained 1,000 1,000 1,000 3,000 Stoves produced/used 1,000 1,000 1,000 3,000 TREES PLANTED: Schools 100,000 100,000 150,000 350,000 11.6% Fruits 150,000 100,000 100,000 350,000 11.6% Agroforestry 300,000 250,000 100,000 550,000 18.3% Afforestation 550,000 550,000 650,000 1,750,000 58.0% Total 1,100,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 3,000,000 100.0% 7.0. LESSONS LEARNT For sustainable natural resource management to be achieved environmental education is a must. People need to know the environmental relationships which exist between humans and nature. Environmental management projects would sustainably be implemented if the feeling of ownership by the local communities is achieved. Many new approaches to environmental management such as community management strategies, wildlife utilization, and microprojects require high level of understanding and commitment by the individual members of local communities. This can only be achieved largely through effective environmental education and communication approaches involving as many implementors as possible. Community empowerment through leadership and community organization training will ensure success of the tree planting activities or any other community based projects. 171 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings There are different reasons for planting trees by men and women. Women want to plant trees mainly for firewood whereas men plant trees for construction and income generating purposes. Usually, there is high female participation in matrilineal than in partrilineal systems of marriage. In matrilineal system of marriage men are the head of the family while women are the owners of the land. In few occasions women are being discouraged from planting trees by their husbands. The element of environmental protection is often overlooked during refugee influx and settlement. It is only after damage has already taken place that planners start discussing the remedies. This trend needs to be revisited and changed in the future. Wide spread poverty amongst the majority of the people in the country is a major force that has significant role in environmental degradation. Due to their immediate consumption needs, the poor are unable to make critical trade-off for the long term sustainability of natural resources on which their survival depends. Economic and social factors that contribute to low income are essentially the same as those that lead to the deterioration of natural resources. Village Forestry and Nursery Committees play a very big role in natural resource management if properly trained. Trees owned individually receive maximum care and protection than those owned communally. Survival rate is very high in individually owned woodlots than in village woodlots. The changes in the Forestry Policy and development of the National Environmental Plan by the Government will remove the negative attitude which the communities had on tree planting and natural resource management. 8.0. CONCLUSION The problem confronting Malawians living in areas where Mozambican refugees settled presents an immense challenge. Some of the approaches used before on natural resource management left many rural people wondering. Only a collaborative effort of government, donors and NGOs will pave the way for improved environment in the country. Participatory approaches in community projects will improve relevance and efficiency in service delivery to the affected communities. Involving local institutions, NGOs, village groups in collaboration with the government as part of a broader institutional network would be most beneficial in the process of environmental recovery. It is also worth mentioning that a good networking system in the country is now established through the Coordinating Unit for Rehabilitation of the Environment (CURE) has effectively assisted in the implementation of environmental projects. 172 STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION IN, AND RESTRUCTURING OF, FORESTRY RESEARCH MANAGEMENT INCREASING STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION IN FORESTRY RESEARCH: THE CASE OF THE FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF MALAWI L. A. SitaubiI and M. Stewart2 DRAFT 1/ Chief Forestry Research Officer, Forestry Research Institute of Malawi 2/ Teamleader, FRIM Support Project, Forestry Research Institute of Malawi 173 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION IN, AND RESTRUCTURING OF, FORESTRY RESEARCH MANAGEMENT Introduction and Background Malawi, with a per capita GDP of US$230 is amongst the world's poorest countries (World Bank, 1995). It is land-locked and has no substantial mineral resources or industrial development. The population of around 10.4 million is increasing at 3.3% per annum (NSO, 1991). At an average density of some 110 per Km2 Malawi has one of the highest population densities in sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture supports about 85% of the population, mainly through subsistence farming (World Bank, 1995). Most land suitable for traditional agriculture is now settled and farmed. As a result of the increasing population land holdings are declining while declining soil fertility results in reduced crop yields. Declining soil fertility and erosion are widely considered to be the major agricultural problems (Dept. of Agriculture, 1992). Tobacco accounts for 36% of GDP and 90% of foreign exchange earnings (World Bank, 1995). Recent liberalization of the burley grower sector has resulted in a massive increase in smallholder production. About 28% of the total land area is still forested but deforestation is progressing at a high rate estimated at 1% to 3.5% per annum of forest cover (MNR, 1995; Swedish Space Corporation, 1993). Wood-fuel continues to provide some 90% of the energy supply. Poles, withies, rope fiber and thatch for utensils, house and granary construction are all essential woodland products. Wild fruits, fungi, bush-meat and insects are also vital sources of dietary supplement, particularly for children. Poverty and isolation restrict access to modem drugs and indigenous woodlands are an important source of medicinal products for rural people. Deforestation results in the loss of many of these products, loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation. Forestry and agroforestry have considerable potential to ameliorate the effects of Malawi's environmental and economic crisis. The effects of tree planting and indigenous woodland management could be felt in the domestic and national economy through the provision of utility products, employment and export opportunities; in agriculture through soil amelioration, restoration of soil fertility and microclimate; in the environment through retention of biodiversity, reduction of erosion and maintenance of watersheds. The techniques, models and in some cases the species for intensive woodland management and agroforestry are largely undeveloped. In order for forestry to achieve its undoubted potential in supporting the economy, environment and quality of life a healthy forestry research and extension programme is therefore essential. Policy Environment Forest policy was static and conservative for many years. Access to state owned Forest Reserves by the public was restricted and governed by the Forest Act of 1964. Access to tree and forest resources on communally owned customary land was also restricted. ownership by individuals of many species of indigenous tree was impossible. Meanwhile, the state forest 174 Country Paper-Malawi service, supported by research, focused almost exclusively on the establishment and management of industrial timber plantations. Forest policy was guided by the government's Development Policy Document (DEVPOL, 1986). This document was brief, imprecise and of limited use in relation to forestry. However, since the election of a new government in 1994 a new forest policy has been developed. The new forest policy was approved by the Cabinet in January 1996. This policy places emphasis on more equitable access to state resources and poverty alleviation. The goal of current policy is to: "sustain the contribution of the nationalforest resources to the upliftent- of the quality of life in the country by conserving the resources for the benefit of the nation". Its general objectives are to: "satisfy the people's many diverse and changing needs, particularly those of the rural people who are the most disadvantaged". The strategies proposed for achievement of the objectives place reliance on increased productivity, agroforestry, plantation forestry and the general promotion of all aspects of tree growing and management (MNR, 1996). A new Forest Act of 1996 to replace that of 1964 has been drafted in support of the 1996 forest policy. The bill is awaiting parliamentary approval and is: "An act to provide for participatory forestry, forest management, forestry research, forestry education, forest industries, protection and rehabilitation of environmentally fragile areas and international cooperation in forestry and matters for incidental thereto or connected therewith" The mission of the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi The role of the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi (FRIM), as a government institution, is to serve national interests as defined by the policy of the government of the day. Accordingly, in early 1995 FRIM defined its mission in advance of changing policy as to: "provide information and germplasm and to carry out research on the sustained management, utilization and conservation of trees andforests emphasizing people's participation and benefits for poor people" Need for action The gap between the demand and supply of wood products has been increasing. In 1995 demand was estimated to be 13 million m3, primarily for fuelwood, while sustainable production was estimated at 8 million m3 (Davis and Gjessing, 1995). The need to optimize use of available land through more intensive production is becoming ever more pressing as the population rises. Agroforestry interventions offer scope for increased 175 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings production of both agricultural and tree products. The Forest Reserves and National Parks occupying 8.4% and 10.4% of land area respectively can no longer be left idle. The ways and means of bringing these areas into sustainable production constitute a major challenge. The potential of the timber plantations to create employment and export earnings should not be forgotten. Here too production per unit area can be increased through the application of research and better silvicultural management. The involvement of the private sector, communities and individuals in increasing agricultural, woodland and plantation productivity is crucial. Their involvement is essential not only in management and control of the resources themselves but also in research. Forestry research in Malawi has tended to be driven by professional researchers and by the state-owned timber plantation sector. This was perhaps fine in the days when the users of forestry research were primarily fellow professionals and the issues were relatively simple. In today's environment, however, research cannot continue to operate in isolation from a wider audience of users and stakeholders. Increased stakeholder involvement is necessary to ensure the relevance and validity of research programmes. This is particularly important as forestry research becomes more complex and multi-disciplinary in its nature. Research relating to agroforestry, social or community forestry in particular must 'be carried out in consultation and dialogue with the intended beneficiaries. Forestry Research had tended to become somewhat compartmentalized along disciplinary lines and needed to become more problem focused in formulation and execution. Consequently a need was identified for redesign of the institutional approach to research planning and management. Objectives of improvements to Research planning and management The objectives of increasing stakeholder participation in forestry research planning, management and evaluation were: 1. To improve the relevance of research by making it more demand driven, 2. To improve the relevance, quality and value of research results and information disseminated to potential beneficiaries, 3. To increase the use and adoption of research results and recommendations, The objectives of re-organizing institutional aspects of research planning and management were: 1. To encourage problem and development orientated research 2. To encourage a more multi-disciplinary approach to research 3. To simplify coordination, control and review 4. To make more efficient use of staff skills Main Activities The first need was to identify fora and mechanisms through which a wider range of stakeholders could be involved in research planning and management. Initially a wider range of 176 Country Paper-Malawi interest groups were invited to participate in the three yearly National Forestry Research Council 1 (NFRC) meetings. Subsequently, and with the approval of the NFRC, sub committees termed Strategy Area Coordinating Committees (SACC) were established. The SACCS are intended to meet twice yearly in order to monitor the research programmes and approve or recommend new research projects. SACCs report to the chairman of the NFRC, currently the Director of Forestry. The next requirement was to identify appropriate stakeholder representatives for participation in the three-yearly NFRC meetings and twice yearly SACC meetings. Some groups of stakeholders cannot be effectively re resented directly at this level. There is for instance no grouping or union which can adequately represent small farmers; in this case NGOs were chosen as proxy representatives. Having identified the individual stakeholder representatives it was necessary to define their roles and to jointly develop mutually agreeable terms of reference for the SACCS. The development of prioritization criteria and methods for prioritization of research was one of the earlier areas identified. The involvement of intended beneficiaries of research in field research programmes was considered important, particularly in Indigenous Woodland Management and Trees on Farm research. A collaborative programme of pilot woodland management involving research, forestry extension and villagers is now in the early stages of implementation. Plans for agroforestry systems research aimed at identifying farmer's perceptions and existing tree management practices are at an advanced stage of development. Involvement of tree seed customers in the establishment and management of seed orchards has also been attempted. over time the direct involvement of grass roots level stakeholders is expected to become routine and extensive. The institutional approach to research planning and management was redesigned through the formation of problem orientated research strategy areas and teams. Research projects are now located in one of four research Strategy Areas; 'Indigenous Woodland Management', 'Trees on Farm', 'Industrial Plantations' and 'Seed'. Two additional non-research Strategy areas 'Technical and Information Services' and 'Management Services' are also being developed. Each Strategy Area relates directly to a SACC whose membership is selected accordingly. Following the creation of new systems and practices it was necessary to make them work! This required the development of Annual Plans of Operation and budgets in new formats, the institution of a system of Management By objectives and Exception and, perhaps most problematically, the devolution of control over very scarce and limited resources to Strategy Area Coordinators. Implementation Problems * Representation of some groups difficult- small farmers, industry, NGOs * SACCS, funding difficult, expansive (like democracy), continuity questionable, some poor attenders, ignorance of research methods, researchable problems etc. * Criteria, Prioritization process a bit skewed; choice of criteria for all areas of diverse research programme problematic, Executive decision used to modify rankings! 177 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings * Implementation; coordination, process of change, resistance and misunderstanding (NFRC, FD, Researchers), over time improved understanding * Development of Team Spirit * Management By Objectives and Exceptions * Staffing, quantity, quality, retention * Understanding by FD management, stakeholder groups, staff Results * Increased exposure to stakeholders * Increased mutual understanding * Increased participation of Stakeholders in research planning and management but still early for results to be seen and for full involvement in decision making. * Increasing relevance of research * Increased demand for outputs, reports, information, newsletters, correspondence, seed, training (seed and IWM) * Increased profile and improved relationships with stakeholders * Increased pressure, accountability and transparency * Increased awareness of deficiencies * Increased awareness of opportunities for R&D Lessons Learned * SACC members need training and domestication * Villagers and FD staff need training for involvement in research * Need for tolerance and positive approach * Staff need management training and assistance in process of change * Value of Socio-economic inputs * Costs are high, need to budget for this * Resistance to change from many quarters 178 Country Paper-Malawi BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES Davis C.W. and Gjessing R., 1995; Industrial Plantations: ownership and Management Options, A Draft Study, ODA/GoM internal report, Lilongwe, Malawi. Devpol, 1986; Statement of Development Policies, Government of Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi. Bunderson W.T. and Hayes I.M., 1995; Agricultural and environmental sustainability in Malawi, Paper to Conference for Sustainable Agriculture for Africa, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Office of the President and Cabinet, 1993; Economic report 1993, Lilongwe, Malawi. Dept. of Agriculture, 1992; Sustainable agriculture in Malawi, An issues paper (draft) prepared for the International Scheme for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of African Lands, by the Land Husbandry Branch, Dept. of Agriculture, Lilongwe, Malawi. Eschweiler J.A., 1993; Competing landuse in Malawi, Background paper, prepared for the World Bank Forestry Sector Review, Lilongwe/Kortendorf, Malawi. Hardcastle, 1994; Renewable natural resources strategy Malawi. key forest policy and strategy isse, ODA internal report, London, U.K. Lowore J.D., Coote H.C., Abbot P.G., Chapola G.B., and Malembo L.N., 1995; Community use and management of indigenous trees and forest products in Malawi: The case of four villages close to Chimaliro Forest Reserve, FRIM Report No. 93008, FRIM, Zomba, Malawi. Maghembe J. and Seyani J. 1991; Multipurpose trees used by smallholder farmers in Malawi: Results of an ethnobotanical survey, AFRENA Report No. 42, ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya. MNR, 1995; An issues paper for the National Forestry Action Plan of Malawi, Internal Report, Forestry Planning section, Forestry Department HQ, Lilongwe, Malawi. MNR, 1996; Malawi Forest Policy, Ministry of Natural Resources, Lilongwe, Malawi. National Statistical Office, 1991; Malawi Population and Housing Census 1987: Survey of Final Reports, Vol. I. Zomba, Malawi. Swedish Space Corporation, 1993; Forest resources mapping and biomass assessment for Malawi, Memoir and maps, Satellitbild, Sweden. UNDP, 1991; Programme 1: Smalholder Agricultural Productivity. Malawi Govt./UNDP Fifth Country Programme 1992- 1996, Lilongwe, Malawi. UNICEF, 1995; State of the world's children, New York, USA. Williamson J., 1974; Useful plants of Malawi, revised edition, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi. 179 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings World Bank, 1994; Forestry Policy Review. Working Paper 2. Land use issues in Malawi, World Bank, Lilongwe, Malawi. World Bank, 1995; "Zasintha" - Things have changed, World Bank, Southern Africa Department, Washington DC, USA. 180 CAPACITY BUILDING IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES FOR SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MALI L'EXPERIENCE DU PGRN DANS LE DEVELOPPEMENT DES CAPACITES DES COMMUNAUTES LOCALES EN MATIERE D'ORGANISATION, DE GESTION FINANCIERE ET RESOLUTION DES CONFLITS AU NIVEAU TERROIR Mamadou Haidara, Chef du Dipartement Technique Projet G4stion de Ressources Nat urelles 181 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings SOMMAIRE 1. Description sommaire du projet 2. Principes suivis par le projet 3. Montage institutionnel 4. Demarche du projet 5. Vue d'ensemble sur le Developpement des capacit6s dans le cadre du PGRN 6. Experiences du PGRN sur le Developpement des capacites des communautes locales - En matiere d'organisation - En matiere de gestion financiere - En matiere de resolution des conflits 7. Problemes fonciers rencontres dans les villages sites du PGRN - Region de Kayes - Region de Koulikoro - Region de Mopti 182 Country Paper-Mali L'EXPERIENCE DU PGRN DANS LE DEVELOPPEMENT DES CAPACITES DES COMMUNAUTES LOCALES EN MATIERE D'ORGANISATION, DE GESTION FINANCIERE ET RESOLUTION DES CONFLITS AU NIVEAU TERROIR 1. DESCRIPTION SOMMAIRE DU PROJET 1.1 Duree du projet Le PGRN s'inscrit dans le cadre d'un programme national a long terme de 15-20 ans. La phase actuelle du PGRN/IDA qui est de 8 ans va de 1993 A l'an 2000 au lieu de 5 ans 1993-1997 initialement prevus. II comprend deux composantes: la composante IDA et la composante GTZ. La 2eme composante GTZ est de 4 ans (1995-1998). 1.2 Objectifs de la phase actuelle Les objectifs poursuivis par le PGRN jusqu'A l'an 2000 sont les suivants. 1. Appuyer environ 650 communautes a elaborer, mettre en oeuvre, suivre et evaluer les plans de gestion de leurs terroirs et espaces pastoraux; 2. Elaborer et mettre en oeuvre un plan de gestion du Parc National de la Boucle du Baoule; 3. Renforcer les competences des structures techniques du MDRE pour leur permettre d'assister les communautes rurales A elaborer et mettre en oeuvre leurs plans de gestion; 4. Mettre en oeuvre un important programme de formation, d'information et de sensibilisation du public a la gestion des ressources naturelles et de l'environnement; 5. Apporter un soutien financier pour l'assistance technique, les services de consultants, les audits, la recherche appliquee et les etudes necessaires a l' execution du projet; 6. Creer et mettre en oeuvre un systeme de suivi environnemental en vue du coordonnier et de guider les nouvelles initiatives en cours au Mali et d'integrer les lecons de l'experience acquise dans une strategie nationale de gestion des ressources naturelles. 1.3. Zone d'intervention Jusqu'A l'an 2000, le PGRN/IDA interviendra sur quelques 600 terroirs villageois et espace pastoraux repartis entre quatre regions administratives du Mali (Kayes, Koulikoro, Mopti et Tombouctou) et situees dans des zones agro-ecologiques representatives du territoire national. Les cercles concernes sont: kayes, Diema, Kita., DioTla, Kati, Kolokani, Nara, Djenne, Tenenkou, Douentza et Gourma-Rharous. La composante GTZ intervient dans trois des quatres regions citees (Kayes, Koulikoro et Mopti). Les cercles concernes sont: Bafoulabe, Yelimane, Kolokani et Bankass. Elle couvrira entre 1991 et 1988 41 terroirs et espaces pastoraux. 183 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 1.4 Beneficiaires Les groupes-cible du PGRN, pendant la phase actuelle, comptent quelque 406 000 agriculteurs et pasteurs dont 26 000 repartis dans 41 villages au compte du PGRN/GTZ et environ 380 000 habitants et 600 villages pour le PGRN/IDA, repartis sur les zones d'intervention ci-dessus mentionnees. 1.5 Co&it Le couit total du projet se chiffre A 32,1 millions de dollars US pour le PGRN/IDA (1ere phase) et 20 millions de DM pour le PGRN/GTZ (lere et 2eme phase). Le financement du PGRN comporte 20,4 millions de dollars US de credit et tout le reste consiste en des dons et subventions. 1.6 Financement Banque Mondiale - 20,4 Millions de Dollars US Norvege - 5,0 Millions de Dollars US PNUD - 1,5 Millions de Dollars US Allemagne - 20,0 Millions de DM Beneficiaire - 4,OMillions de Dollars US 1.7 Resultats attendus Le Projet contribuera a ameliorer la qualite de vie de quelque 406 000 ruraux habitants dans la zone du Projet: - En augmentant la production de l'agriculture de la foresterie et de l'elevage; - En renforcant les capacites de gestion locale et en donnant aux villageois les competences leur permettant de gerer leur developpement; - En retablissant la stabilite ecologique et en introduisant un systeme viable d'utilisation des terres dans lequel la production et la consommation seront equilibrees. Les experiences de la gestion de l'environnement et des ressources pourront ensuite etre appliquees a d'autres parties du Mali non convertes par le Projet. La capacite du Mali A mieux utiliser ses ressources naturelles et a suivre leur evolution dans le court et long termes en sera renforcee. La bonne gestion du Parc National de la Boucle du Baoule avec la participation de la population aidera a preserver la diversite biologique. 2. PRINCIIPES SUIVIS PAR LE PROJET La reussite de l'approche Gestion de terroirs adoptee par le PGRN est conditionnee par la prise en compte de certains principes operationnels, a savoir: - I'approche globale, multisectorielle ou holistique - la faisabilite - la durabilite - la reproductibilite - la participation. 184 Country Paper-Mali Le principe de globalite L'approche sectorielle trop souvent orientee vers une augmentation de la production, n'a pas entrame les resultats escomptes, bien au contraire. Une approche globale et interdisciplinaire s'impose donc, qui prend en compte et s'efforce d'integrer l'ensemble des facteurs d'ordre socio-economique, politique, ecologique, technique, qui determinent les relations entre une communaute rurale et son espace. Les principes de faisabilite. durabilite et reproductibilite Ces trois principes doivent etre respectees pour toutes les mesures planifiees au niveau du village comme aux autres niveaux du projet. Les mesures doivent 8tre faisables du point de vue socio- economique. Toutes les actions doivent etre durables, surtout apres l'intervention du projet et sans effets negatifs sur l'environnement et reproductibles sous les memes conditions, meme sans l'intervention du projet. Le principe de participation C'est certainement le principe le plus difficile a appliquer. II est evident que les populations rurales doivent 8tre impliquees a toutes les etapes de l'approche en tant que partenaires responsables du processus. Cela signifie, travailler sur la base de rapports de confiance qui ne dependent ni de methodes, ni d'outils, mais d'attitudes. La participation ne peut etre effective sans une mise en oeuvre reelle de la decentralisation. Un des objectifs de la gestion des ressources naturelles et de restituer aux populations le pouvoir de decision par rapport a leur destin. 3. MONTAGE INSTITUTIONNEL Les organes d'action et de gestion du PGRN sont les suivants: Au niveau national: Le Comite National de Coordination du Projet, La Direction du projet ou unite centrale d'execution et de suivi du projet communement appelee UCMO (Unite Centrale de Mise en Oeuvre) Aux niveaux regional et sub-regional: - Les Comites Regionaux de Coordination du Projet - Les Comites de Cercle de Coordination du Projet - Les Comites d'arrondissement de Coordination du Projet. Au niveau des villages; - Les comites villageois de gestion des ressources naturelles Les equipes d'appui technique (EAT) et les charges d'Appui Technique (CAT): Dans la composante IDA il est prevu dix (10) EAT d'ici l'an 2000 au lieu cinq initialement prevues. Les 185 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings membres des EAT sont recrutes sur une base contractuelle et finance par le projet pendant toute sa duree. Chaque EAT est composee de 3 specialistes: - Un specialiste en communication et organisation - Un specialiste GRN - Un specialiste financier et administratif. Elles appuient les organes d'action au niveau local. Au niveau village, les CVGRN sont appuyes par les animateurs dans la mise en oeuvre du Projet. Chaque animateur, appuie trois CVGRN en moyenne par rapport aux activites du PGRN et du PNVA. Dans la composante PGRN/GTZ quatre (4) charg6s d'appui technique (CAT) ont ete recrutes sur une base contractuelle. Ils appuient le coordinateur local et les equipes multidisciplinaires dans la mise en oeuvre de la demarche et veillent au respect des principes du Projet il y en a un par cercle concemr. 4. DEMARCHE POUR L'ELABORATION ET LA MISE EN OEUVRE DES PLANS DE GESTION DES TERROIRS La degradation des ressources naturelles renouvelables constitue a I'heure actuelle, le plus grave danger a une croissance agricole durable, par consequent, a un developpement socio-economique soutenu au Mali, 1'economie malienne reposant principalement sur le secteur primaire. C'est pourquoi depuis une decennie on assiste au Mali a la mise en oeuvre d'actions en faveur de la gestion participative des ressources naturelles renouvelables sur des domaines agricoles, des jacheres, des paturages et des forets villageoises a l'echelle communautaire ou inter- communautaire. Dans ce cadre, I'approche du PGRN est originale puisqu'il cherche a eviter les erreurs des demarches technicistes et productivistes du type "top-down", au profit d'une demarche souple, participative sur toute sa longueur et dont la finalite est le transfert des competences de gestion des terres aux populations concernees, organisees. En effet, au tout debut du processus, a travers des seances de formation, d'information et de sensibilisation au moyen de techniques participatives, les techniciens-conseillers suscitent chez leurs interlocuteurs la mise en place d'organisations villageoises representatives de toutes les categories socio-professionnelles impliquees dans l'utilisation des ressources forestieres fauniques, halieutiques, hydrauliques et pastorales. II s'agit du Comite Villageois de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles, (CVGRN). L'etape suivante consiste en une etude detaillee des milieux physique et humain. Celle-ci est menee en moyen d'outils tres participatifs comme ceux du PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) avec la participation des hommes, femmes, jeunes, . L'evaluation des contraintes et potentialites des milieux physique et humain qui en resulte debouche sur des negociations entre le deux parties (populations d'un cote, Projet de l'autre) qui aboutissent a une zonage du terroir villageois (ou de l'espace pastoral) et a l'affectation des "zones"a une ou plusieurs utilisations compatibles en fonction de leurs vocations respectives. C'est ainsi qu'on a des zones sylvicoles, 186 Country Paper-Mali des zones agricoles, des zones sylvo-pastorales, de mise en defens, etc. Ce document est appele "Schema d'Amenagement". Pour la mise en oeuvre de ce schema, les investissements necessaires pour 1'equipement et les infrastructures adequats sont identifies localises et planifies dans un document appele "Plan d'Amenagement". Suite a une hierarchisation des priorites, les investissements les plus urgents et financierement faisables sont etudies sur les plans technique et socio-economique. Avec les populations et suivant, les capacites contributives des parties en discussion/negociations, (Le Projet et les populations beneficiaires), un dossier d'execution est ficele pour le reste de la duree financee du projet: c'est un Plan de Gestion. C'est ce Plan de gestion qui constitue le point de depart de la derniere etape du processus. En effet, sur la base dudit document, differentes "Conventions de co-financement", qui definissent les engagements des deux parties, sont signees entre le Projet represente par son Directeur et les populations representees par le President du CVGRN. Enfin commence l'execution du projet en question qui est suivi aussi bien par les populations elles-memes que par le Projet a travers des documents concus a cet effet. C'est ainsi que plusieurs activites de gestion de forets villageoises furent mises en oeuvres dans des villages du projet. On peut citer de Badougou-Nafadji, a 50 km a l'Ouest de Bamako oui dans la protection d'une zone forestiere, le village realisa en 1995 un parefeux apres avoir convenu des principes d'utilisation et les dispositions a prendre pour leur respect par les populations du village et d'ailleurs. 11 s'agit la d'un processus tres participatif mais qui ne peut se realiser qu'au prix d'une methodologie appropriee, d'une patience mais surtout d'une formation, information et sensibilisation consequentes des populations partenaires. 187 African Forest Policy Forum--Proceedings Elaboration d'un Plan de Gestion du Terroir PIASES ETAPES ACTIVITES METHODES DOCUMENTS d'amenagement el Gestion attendus Preparation - Visite Prise en contact du village - Assemblee villageoise Rapport de mission et echange d'idecs Sensibilisation initiale -GRAAP PV des reunions villageoises entre techniciens Discussions techniciens & villageois et villageois Explication de la demarche PGT Creation d'un Comite Formation, information et sensibilisation - Assemblde villageoise Villageois de GRN (CVGRN) Formation, sensibilisation et information - Exploitation de la documentation Rapport MARP Diagnostic Etude de la documentation existante existante (monographies villageoises Diagnostic - socio-aconomique Preparation de la methodologie existantes, registres de S Collecte des informations sur recensement, - le milieu humain et l'habitat statistiques - le budget et la consommation agricoles - Formation, information, sensibilisation - Assemblee villageoise -Analyse - Enquete participative - du milieu physique et des ressources naturelles - MARP - des systemes de production - Interview - Identification et hierarchisation des problemes - Visite de terrain generaux - Discussions avec les villageois - Identification des mesures incitatives et etude - Discussions avec les villageois - Fiche de projet mesures sur la faisabilite incitatives -Delimitation du terroir - Photolecture - Carte du terroir Diagnostic - Identification et description des unites - Discussions avec CVGRN et - Carte des Unites des paysage physique detaille de paysage et unites homogenes personnes ressources et des unites homogenes - Identification et description des types - Visite de terrain - Tableau descriptif des unites d'utilisation actuelles de terre - Tableau des types - Analyse et hierarchisation des problemes generaux d'utilisation actuel et specifiques A chaque unite de paysage - Evaluation des tendances evolutives - Discussion avec les villageois - Carte d'utilisation actuelle - Redaction du diagnostic en assemblee generale des unites des paysages - Restitution du diagnostic du terroir - Tableau des problemes 188 Country Paper--Mali - Corrections et redaction finale Rapport diagnostic terroir - Execution des mesures incitatives - Discussion/negociation avec le - Document Schema - Identification, analyse et hierarchisation des objectifs CVGRN d'Amenagement du Terroir Planification - Choix des types d'utilisation potentielles et leurs exigences - Assemblee villageoises - Evaluation des Elaboration d'un vocations et chaque unite de paysage - Restitution au reste Schema d'Amenagem eI des villageois - Affectation negociee d. Terroir des unites a une vocation .1- - Signature du SAT par le CVGRN, le CDA et I'Animateur PAT/Chef EAT - Identification et Elaboration d'un Pl localisation des actions - Discussion avec le CVGRN - Document sur l'analyse de d'amenagement par d'Anienagement unite homogene - Discussions avec les villageois Faisabilite des mesures - Identification des du Terroir mesures d'accompagnement - Photolecture - Document Plan d'Amenagement et des actions socio-productives - Expertise a courte duree du Terroir avec des cartes de - Analyse de la faisabilite socio-economique, localisation des socio-culturelle, financiere, technique et infrastructures et des technologique des actions et mesures envisagees equipements importants - Programmation globale des actions dans le temps et dans l'espace .1- * Negociation du Plan d'Amenagement (engagements reciproques) * Signature du Plan d'Amenagement par le CVGRN, le Commandant du Cercle et un representant de l'UCMO - Etudes detailldes des actions et mesures techniques - Formation technique - Plan de Gestion du Terroir d'accompagnem Elaboration du ent des villageois - Carte de localisation - Planification Plan de Gestion detaillee dans le temps et dans - Discussion avec le CVGRN precise des infrastructures 1'espace des du Terroir mesures et actions sur deux ans - Discussion avec l'assemblee et des equipements retenus - Signature du PGT adoptee par le CVGRN, le generale Gouvemeur et le Directeur du projet - Traduction du PGT en langue local Execution - Rappel du PGT adopte - Execution des Mise en ocuvre mesures et actions prevues selon - Rapport sur I'etat programmation du Plan de Gestion convenue dans le PGT d'execution du PGT - Suivi et du T[ffoir evaluation contenu - Plan de Gestion revise Revision/reajustement du PGT 189 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 5. VUE D'ENSEMBLE SUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT DES CAPACITES DANS LE LE CADRE DU PGRN 5.1 Objectifs L'objectif a long terme du Developpement des capacites est de transmettre aux communautes rurales concernees un outil methodologique qui leur permettra d'exploiter les ressources naturelles de maniere plus efficace et soutenue. La reussite de cet objectif suppose que les groupes, organisations concernes par le PGRN acceptent I'approche et s'associent activement au processus. II s'agit essentiellement des communautes villageoises concernes, des cadres techniques charges de les assister, des autorites administratives et politiques a tous les niveaux, et a la limite, de l'opinion publique dans son ensemble. 5.2 Domaines d'activites du Developpement des capacites Pour chacun des groupes concernes, les activites de Developpement des competences (D.C.) touchent de nombreux domaines. II s'agit entre autres: Pour les villageois: * Capacite d'etablir ou renforcer les formes d'organisation sociale et de responsabilisation * Capacite de developper leur niveau de connaissance technique en vue de la programmation et de l'exploitation rationnelle des ressources naturelles * Capacite de negocier avec les autorites techniques et administratives * Capacite d'accroitre significativement leurs revenus et pretendre a l'autonomie financiere afin d'augmenter leurs capacites propres d'investissement. Pour les techniciens * Developpement de leur capacitd d'animation * Comprehension approfondie des processus d'elaboration et de mise en oeuvre des PGT * Renforcement de 1'efficacite de leur travail au sein de 'T'equipe (esprit d'equipe) * Amelioration de leur niveau de connaissance technique * Capacite de communication a 1'egard des villageois * Capacite d'identifier la validite des pratiques traditionnelles et de prendre en compte leurs besoins. Pour les autorites administratives, et politiques, opinion publique: * Sensibilisation aux problemes de degradation de 1'environnement * Adhesion aux principes de gestion des terroirs bases sur la participation des communautes rurales * Comprehension du projet pour qu'elles l'appuient 190 53 Dmarche methodologique La methodologie consiste a decomposer le processus de la formation en plusieurs etapes successives et Iiees qui vont etre executees par (ou sous la responsabilite) de structures differentes. Les etapes suivies dans les grandes lignes sont les suivants: I L'identification des competences manquantes au niveau des populations Beneficiaires, d'un organe d'execution ou de decision du Projet; 2 L'analyse des competences manquantes. Elle a pour objectif de preciser la nature de la defaillance et les details y afferents; 3 La conception d'un module de formation a partir des resultats de 1'analyse de la competence manquante; 4 L'identification des structures (ONG, Bureau d'etudes, societes, etc) et personnes- ressources capables d'executer le module en question; 5 Le lancement d'un appel d'offres ou consultation restreinte, depouillement des offres, choix d'un consultant; 6 L'execution du module 7 Le suivi-evaluation de la session de formation 8 L'evaluation retrospective in situ. 5.4 Les atouts du systeme de Developpement des capacites (D.C.) du PGRN Le systeme de DC du PGRN presente des atouts du fait que ce soit la direction du projet qui concoive et execute les sessions de formation en faisant appel aux ressources humaines les plus competentes en la matiere, evitant ainsi le pluricephalisme. Par ailleurs le PGRN a developpe une banque de donnees informatises (SIRF) permettant l'enregistrement, le stockage et la recherche de profil correspondant a toutes les qualifications pouvant etre utiles au projet au titre de facilitateurs et de personnes ressources (un millier de references disponibles). Le choix strict des formateurs et la selection rigoureuse des prestataires de service pratiques par le PGRN au moyen du SIRF permet de disposer d'un stock de specialistes pluridisciplinaires competents tant au niveau national qu'international. Une telle selection a permis d'ecarter progressivement les consultants n'ayant pas donne satisfaction. Par ailleurs le PGRN a base son programme de formation sur une methodologie simple basee sur l'andragogie et la Recherche- Action. Les formations du PGRN sont basees sur les methodes participatives (MARP, GRAAP, ZOPP). Pragmatique, la formation a la "carte" de compte duree pratiquee par le PGRN fait appel aux ressources deja existantes. Tous ces atouts ont abouti a l'amelioration des capacites d'analyse, de conception et d'execution des groupes-cibles. 5.5 Les faiblesses Le systeme de formation du PGRN comporte quelques faiblesses qui peuvent etre resumees comme suit: L'analphabetisme qui est un handicap a la bonne mise en oeuvre des activites de Developpement des capacites 191 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - Le choix des periodes de formation qui peut poser des problemes du fait des occupations des communautes villageoises a certaines periodes de l'annee. - Le decalage pouvant exister parfois entre les sessions de formation suivie par les villageois et leur applicabilite. 6. EXPERIENCES DU PGRN SUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT DES CAPACITES DES COMMUNAUTES DANS LE CADRE DU PGRN 6.1 En matiere d'organisation Les Comites Villageois de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles (CVGRN) constituent la base materielle de l'organisation des populations au PGRN. A travers des seances de formation, information et sensibilisation, les techniciens -conseillers expliquent le but et le r6le du CVGRN. L'assemblee villageoise le met en place sur la base de criteres prealablement discutes avec les equipes multidisciplinaires (EMP) des comites locaux de Developpement (CLD). Le CVGRN est l'instance villageoise chargee de negocier et de superviser l'execution des PGT. Interlocuteur principal, du village, il dispose d'un pouvoir reconnu a la fois par les communautes et les autorites politiques et administratives. Il est formn afin d'atteindre d'un niveau de technicite lui perrnettant de mieux participer aux differentes etapes de l'elaboration des PGT. Dans ses attributions, il doit: - Pouvoir interpreter et expliquer le PGT aux differentes instances de decision A tout moment - Veiller A l'application des decisions prises par l'assemblee villageoise relatives a l'affectation de l'espace et a la protection des ressources naturelles - Proposer des sanctions aux autorites competentes en cas d'abus dans l'utilisation des ressources naturelles - Mobiliser les ressources humaines et financieres necessaires a l'elaboration et a la mise en oeuvre des PGT - Jouer le r6le d'interface entre la communaute et les techniciens. Le CVGRN est l'emanation des differentes couches de la population (agriculteurs, eleveurs, exploitants des bois, pecheurs, femmes, jeunes ...). Au nom de Ia population le CVGRN s'occupe de l'identification, de la planification, de l'execution et du suivi-evaluation des actions et mesures de gestion des ressources naturelles. Il regroupe des personnes dynamniques et disponibles pour la transmission des messages, la mobilisation et la consciention des populations. 6.2 En matiere de gestion financiere Le financement des investissements villageois se fait dans le cadre de conventions signees entre le PGRN et le CVGRN du village concerne quand il s'agit d'une realisation qui interesse le seul village (par exemples un puits, le traitement d'un site anti-erosif situe en plein terroir ...) ou entre le PGRN et les CVGRN des villages concernes quand il s'agit plain terroir ...) ou entre le PGRN et les CVGRN des villages concemrs quand il s'agit d'une realisation qui interesse plusieurs villages (par exemples, le traitement, anti-erosif d'un bassin versant ou d'une dune situee a cheval sur plusieurs terroirs, la restauration et l'amenagement d'une zone de ressources communes telles qu'une foret, une grande mare, un paturage ...). 192 Cette convention definit explicitement les apports des differentes parties au contrat, la nature de la realisation a faire, les procedures de gestion de l'execution du projet, les modalites de gestion durable de realisation, etc .... Dans le cas des investissements productifs et dans l'infrastructure socio-economique, le PGRN met un fonds de roulement a la disposition du CVGRN concern qui accorde des prets aux producteurs interesses. Ces interets percus par le CVGRN alimentent le Fonds Villageois de GRN qui finance a son tour tous les aspects du Developpement local. Les taux d'inter& sont convenus localement village par village sous la gestion de chaque CVGRN. Les procedures de passation des marches sont simples, compte tenu de leur caractere formateur surtout pour les villageois en general et le CVGRN en particulier. Chaque financement d'investissement villageois doit donner lieu a la signature d'une convention entre le ou les CVGRN concerne(s) et le PGRN. Sont egalement parties prenantes a la convention de co- financement, les comites regionaux, locaux et d'Arrondissement de Developpement concemrs. L'execution de chaque convention de cofinancement donne lieu a la signature d'un contrat de fourniture de bien ou service ou de travail entre le CVGRN concerne et "consultant" ou une "Entreprise" privee ou un service gouvernemental ou une Organisation non-gouvemementale (ONG) competent dans le domaine en question. Les Passations de marches portent sur l'execution des contrats lies a l'objet des conventions de co-financement. Les etudes sont commandees par la direction du projet suivant les directives pour l'emploi des consultants. Ces etudes portent sur la faisabilite socio-economique et technique du projet en question et surtout sur un cout de r6ference. Elles permettent de programmer techniquement et financierement I'action au PGRN et d'apprecier les offres des Entreprises soumissionnaires a l'appel d'offre des CVGRN. II en est de meme pour les projets d'acquisition de biens d'equipement. Les contrats entre les CVGRN et les "Entreprises" sont conclus sur la base de resultats d'un appel d'offre a la concurrence organise par le CVGRN avec l'appui et l'assistance des techniciens du PGRN et des comites de Developpement. La participation effective des villageois a tout le processus (consultations, appels a la concurrence, suivi de l'execution des contrats, paiements des contrats, contr6le a postiori de l'execution des investissements, evaluation des procedures, evaluation du schema de financement et passation des contrats avec leurs foumisseurs) est la meilleure maniere de les former a ces procedures qui respectent les principes de transparence, de libre-concurrence et de protection des ressources du projet et des populations. La mise en competition de differents fournisseurs par le CVGRN permet d'aboutir a l'un des objectifs principaux du Projet a savoir: ramener le pouvoir de decision et des capacites nouvelles aux niveaux des populations rurales pour la gestion de leurs propres affaires. Ainsi les CVGRN, selon que la nature des foumitures ou des travaux soit plus ou moins complexe, et selon leur importance pourront organiser a leur niveau des appels a la concurrence locaux, des consultations ou des demandes de cotations et proceder a leur adjudication pour en faire des contrats dont ils suivront les executions du debut a la fin. 193 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 6.3 Experience du PGRN dans le foncier "Le foncier est constitue a la fois de la terre et des ressources naturelles qui y sont directement attachees et 1'ensemble des relations entre individus ou groupes pour l'appropriation et l'utilisation de ces ressources". En d'autres termes "Le foncier est l'ensemble particulier des rapports sociaux ayant pour support la terre ou l'espace territoriale. Ces rapports sociaux sont principalement determinds par des facteurs economiques (accumulation primitive de capital et extraction de rente), juridiques (modes d'appropriation et modalites de reglement des conflits) puis par des techniques d'amenagement pouvant materialiser et caracteriser ces rapports sociaux. Mais plus substantiellement, c'est la politique qui influe sur la maniere de poser et de traiter la problematique fonciere, la sensibilite du foncier ou politique etant augmentee par la concurrence ou la contradiction des choix pouvant emerger aux echelles nationale et locale. Pour PGRN le processus d'elaboration et de mise en oeuvre des PGT ne peut etre traite en dehors du foncier. C'est pourquoi, volontairement ou non, les aspects du foncier sont abordes dans tout le processus d'elaboration du PGT. Le tableau ci-dessous montre les aspects fonciers abordds dans le processus d'elaboration des PGT. LE FONCIER DANS LE PROCESSUS D'ELABORATION DU PGT PHASE ASPECTS FONCIERS ABORDES Sdlection des terroirs Les criteres de selection des villages tiennent compte de: - Absence de probl&mes fonciers majeurs - Existence de ressources communes avec d'autres terroirs - Possibilite de former une commune rurale avec d'autres terroirs Phase de preparation - Sensibilisation sur les impacts positifs et negatifs du Foncier sur 1'environnement A travers les systemes de productions - Incitation des populations a la mise en place d'un CVGRN en vue de la prise en compte des besoins des differentes utilisateurs Phase de diagnostic - Etude des rapports sociaux ayant pour support la terre: Mode d'attribution des terres, amenagements realises (puits pastoraux, mares etc ...) et leurs modes d'utilisation - Determination des limites du terroir - Prise en compte de l'espace foncier traditionnel (terroir avec 25 hameaux par exemple) Phase de planification - Affectation globale des terres A des vocations permettant de visualiser et de faire connaitre (sans ouvrir de droits r6els au benefice des particuliers) les divers types d'utilisation reconnus a 1'echelle du terroir - Dedommagement ou compensation d'individus ou groupes d'individus touches par l'affectation des zones sur une base negocine - Identification d'investissements collectifs pouvant materialiser et caracteriser les rapports sociaux (intemes et extemes) - Etude de faisabilite pour eviter des problemes fonciers - Elaboration de modalites de gestion des ressources (exploitation de bois, paturage, gestion des points d'eau etc. 194 7. PROBLEMES FONCIERS RENCONTRES DANS LES VILLAGES SITES DU PGRN 7.1 Region de Kayes 7.1.1 Cercles de Diema Village Kourougue * Probleme de terres de cultures entre Kourougue et Mina. Les habitants de ce dernier village avaient defriche sur les terres de Kourougue sans leur autorisation en Mai 1994 puis en Mai-Juin 1995; * Une solution locale n'ayant pu etre trouvee le probleme fut porte devant l'administration. Village de Merela * Relevant administrativement du village de Dianguirde, le hameau de N'Gabanikori est geographiquement situe sur le terroir de Merela. Au moment de l'elaboration des PAT, les habitants de M&ela ont pose le probleme de la participation de N'Gabanikoro sans laquelle ils n'accepteraient pas l'exploitation des amenagements par ce demier; * II a ete propose d'engager des pourparlers aupres du village de Dianguirde pour que N'Gabanikoro soit associe A 1'execution des actions d'amenagement de Merela. 7.2 Region de Koulikoro 7.2.1 Cercle de Dioila Village de Dioumanzana * Le hameau de Konkon dirige par le frere du chef de village de Djoumanzana ne le reconnailt plus; * Des actions de GRN sont menees parallerement dans ces deux sites. Des reflexions ont en cours pour voir si des realisations communement exploitable par eux ne pourraient pas favoriser l'entente. 7.2.2 Cercles de Kolokani Village de Missira et Sebekoro II * Probleme de limites entre Missira et Sebekoro II; * Favoriser les solutions locales en vue d'arriver a un consensus. 73 Region de Mopti 7.3.1 Cercle de Djenne Village de Djimatogo * Probleme de pecherie en Dj imatogo et Gomitogo, le I er dtant maitre de la terre et le 2eme, ma^itre de l'eau; * Des reflexions sont en cours pour voir si la realisation d'investissements au benefice des deux villages peut favoriser la cohabitation. 195 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Village de Kobassa, Balle et Nialla * Problemes communs avec les transhumances de petits ruminants. Dans les zones forestieres communautaires les projets relatifs a foresterie sont finances dans le cadre de conventions sign6es entre le PGRN et le CVGRN. Les interets percus par le CVGRN sur les fonds de roulements qu'il prete aux individus servent a alimenter les fonds villageois de GRN qui finance A son tour des actions de foresterie dans l'espace communautaire. Les activites forestieres dans les parcelles individuelles sont realisees par les exploitations agricoles et concernent surtout l'agroforesterie. Les collectivites villageoises definissent egalement des mesures de protection sur l'utilisation de l'espace sylvo-pastoral (ex. dans le village de Bena a Yelimane l'exploitation illicite du bois est sanctionnee par la confiscation du materiel de coupe et une amende de 2500F A 500 FCFA selon que l'on soit autochtone ou etranger). 196 PARTICIPATORY NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT MALI Projet de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles PRGN Adikarim Toure Direction des Ressources Forestieres Ministre du Developpement Rural et de l 'Environnement Mali 197 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Projet de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles PRGN Bien fonde du projet: Fragilite des ecosystemes saheliens et desequilibre entre ressources naturelles et besoins des populations dus a: - Forte pression demographique - Epuisement et degradation des ressources naturelles - Aleas climatiques & Echec ou insuffisance des resultats obtenus par les projets de developpement rural, autant - Approche techniciste - Approche productiviste - Approche int6gree/sectorielle Constat: - Acceleration de la degradation des ressources naturelles - Pauperisation des populations rurales - Non prise en compte de la dimension sociale du developpement et de la participation effective des populations - D'oui la recherche de nouvelles strategies pour un developpement durable Gestion des ressources naturelles Mise en valeur rationnelle d'un terroir dans un souci par la gestion des terroirs: d'intensification des systemes de production tout en assurant le renouvellement a long terme de ces ressources. Axe fondamental: La participation de la population, a qui il faut redonner la capacite et le pouvoir d'initier les actions de developpement les concernant. L'approche globale et multisectorielle du projet s'articule autour des axes suivants: - Sensibilisation et responsabilisation des populations, decentralisation du pouvoir de decision - Connaissance du milieu (diagnostic) - Ellaboration concertee des plans d'amenagement et de gestion des terroirs - Realisation des amenagements faisables, reproductives durables 198 Country Paper-Mali Objectif du Projet Un systeme rationnel d'utilisation des terres est introduit dans des sites selectionnes afin d'arreter et de renverser le processus de degradation des ressources naturelles. Operationalisation de cet Objectif: Elaboration et Mise en Oeuvre de Plans de Gestion simples par la population avec le soutien des services techniques et des ONGs. Le Projet intervient sur la base du Programme National de Lutte Contre la Desertification (PNLCD) du Mali. Montage institutionnel Niveau National: Le Projet est rattache au Secretariat General du Ministere du Developpement Rural et de l'Environnement. II est dirige par l'unite centrale d'execution et de suivi du projet communement designee par l'Unite Centrale de Mise en Oeuvre (UCMO). Ministire du Developpement Rural et de I';nvironnement Comite National de Coordination Projet |JCMOL D Secretariat F administrative Bureau Bureau Section technique administratif et Comptabilite financier Conseiller Secon Conseiller Section Si GTZ GCestion desi SetinSurzScto Am6nagement Ressources Formation Evaluation Infornatiquc Naturelles 199 0 -' o o t~~~~~~7 54 [yi S }~I i - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- I Country Paper-Mali National REgional. Subregional. Village Les Comit6s Rdgionaux, de Cercles et d'Arrondissements de Coordination du Projet (CRCP, CCCP, CACP) constituent les organes d'action et de gestion du projet aux diff&rents niveaux d6concentr6s. Les comiths villageois de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles (CVGRN), dlus par la population, sont les interlocuteurs privil6gids du projet au niveau es villages. Zones d'Intervention 14 Cercles: (Kayes, Y6limand, Bafoulabd, Difma, Kita, Kolokani, Kati, Dolila, Djennd, Bankass, Nara, Tdnenkou, Douentza, Gourma Rharous) representatives pour le Mali et choisies selon les criteres suivants: representative: - d'une ou plusieurs zones agro-dcologiques - des systemes de production - des r6alitds foncieres - de l'organisation socio-ethnique Sites d'intervention: Reprwsentatifs de la r6alitd du Cercle selon les memes crit&es et aussi l'exploitation des ressources communes et la possiblitd de constituer une meme commune rurale dans la perspective de la d6centralisation. Zones 1. Kayes 2. Yelimane 3. Bafoulabe 4. Diena Superficie: 22.118 kn2 5.762 kn2 20.120 km2 9.920 km2 Population: 298.115 108.722 160.277 131.303 Zone Agro-Ecolo- Sahel Sahel Soudan Sahel ggue et Pluviom: 500-900 mm 400-500 mm 600-1000 mm 500-700 mm 15thnt dominante: 1Sonik, Bamba Sonike, Maures Malmnk6Khasso Sonikm Ethnie dominante ~ Syhio-Pastoral Agro-Sylvo-Past. Agro Pastoral Agro Pastoral Sv1t. de Production 21 10 10 2 Nombre de Villages 7.900 6.600 Population couvw - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau Problemes - Depredateurs - Depredateurs - Fertilite des sols - Fertilite des sols princivaux; - Insuffisance de - Insuffisance de - Manque de - Manque de paturage piturage mat6rial agricole mat6rial agricole Zones: 5. Kita 6. Kolokani 7. Kati 8. Dioila Superficie: 36.337 km2 11.640 nk2 16.300 km2 13 032 km2 Pogulation: 280.225 180.759 405.577 302 448 Zone Ag,e-EcoIo- Soudan Soudan Soudan Soudan pique et Plwiom: 600-1300 mm 600-1200 mm 600-1200 mm 900 - 1. I OOmm Ethnie dominante: Malinke, Peulh Bambara Bamnbara Bambara Svst. de Production Agricole Agricole, Paturage Agricole Agricole Nombre de Villages 7 12 + 5 15 6 Ponulation couv. 4300 ProbIemes - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau Drinciwaux Appauvrissement - Appauvrissement - Manque des - Depredateurs des Terres des Terres Terres - Insuffisance de - Criquets - Criquets - Enclavemen t paturage Zones: 9. Nara 10. Tenenkou 11. Djenne 12 Bankass Sunerif cie: 30.746 km2 11.110 km2 4.467 km2 9.000 km2 Popl4ation: 178.189 133.873 145.663 176.520 Zone A ero-Ecolo- Sahel Sahel Sahel Sud-Sahel gique et Pluviom: 600-1200 mm 500 - 600 mm 550-650 mm 600 mm Ethnie dominante: Soninke Peulb, Bambara Bozo, Peulb Dogon, Peulh Syst. de Production Agro-pastoral Agro-Pastoral Agro-Pastoral Agro-Sylvo-Past. Nombre de Villages 6 6 12 10 Po&ulation couv 6.400 Problemes - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau - Manque d'Eau - Manque des - Fertilite des sols - Fertilite des sols - Manque des Terres - Manque de - Manque de Terres - Enclavement materiel agricole matdriel agricole - Enclavement 201 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Domaines d'Activites au niveau National Region, Cercie, Arrondissem. Village Unite Centrale de Mise en oeuvre Comite Regional (CRD), Local (CLD) Appui a travers les (UCMO) Direction du PGRN et d'AnTondissement de Developpement CLD/CDA/EAT/Animateurs (CDA) - Elaboration de Concepts de - Fotion Sensibilisation M6tthodes - Organisation - Formation - Elaboration des modalites de - Planficiation - Planification formation - Suivi-Evaluation - Organisation - Organisation d'actions de - Equipement - Financement des mesures incitatives. formation - Appui ponctued dans les domaines: - Financement des mesures GRN - Appui technique Agriculture, El-vage Foresterie, - Financement des mesures socio- - Formation des Cadres de l'UCMO Foncier, Auto-promotion prodtives - Appui en logistique CRD/CLD/CDA (ONG) CRD/CLD/CDA(PROJETS) |DC /D Infofnation, Motivation Formation, Appui technique Sensibilisation Financement des mesures UCMO Assistance technique Meilleure Gestion des Ressources Nauareies Connaissance Contribution en Elaboration locale main d'oeuvre ou reglementations Motivation apport financier intemes CONTRIBUTION DES DIFFERENTS BAILLEURS DE FONDS: IDA: 30,9 Mio US$ = 16 Mrd F CFA RFA: 20 mio DM = 7 Mrd F CFA (1993 - 1997) (1991 - 1998) - Renforcement institutionnel - 2 Experts a longue durde I Conseiller en Amdnagement - Boucle de Baoule I Conseiller en Formation - Suivi Environnement - Expertise a courte duree - Expertise a courte durde - Equipement et fonctionnement - Equipement et fonctionnement - Investissements au niveau des villages - Subventions locales (5.0 Mio DM) pour les realisations au (58% du budget) niveau villageois - Ddveloppement des competences ct sensibilisation - Formation des Cadres de l'UCMO du public (7% du budget) dont: 4,0 Mio USS Bne'ficaires 20,4Mio USS Credit IDA 5, 0 Mio USS Norvege 1,5 Mio USS PNUD 202 Country Paper-Mali Contribution des diff6rents partenaires PGRN/GTZ 30% PGRN/IDA 70% Budget par composante (PGRN/IDA) Parc National de Suivi environnemental Baoule Appui technique sur le 2% 7% terrain Renforcement 11% institutionnel -~~ ~~- ~3% Assistance technique et Recherche Investissements -- villageois Developpement de 59% competences 7% Budget local par composante (PGRN/GTZ) Frais de gestion Expertises courtes 2% dur&e Subventions locales 21% 39%- Deplacement L Personnel 3% - _-~~ Equipement Fonctionnement Pesne o15% 3% Personnel local Formation Personnel 12% local 5% 203 African Forest Policy Forum--Proceedings Tableau Synoptique de Planification de Projet Titre: Projet de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles PGRN Duree du Projet: 01.01.95 31.12.98 Date:09.06.94 Numrro du Projet: 2370 ML (IDA) 94.2238.7.001.00) Pays: Mali Description, sommaire lIndicaleurs obJectlvevenir veri.fable Sotrces d.e Vdriflcation Hypoth0.ses Imporlatle, Objecrif Global OG: La gestion durable des ressources Les mesures mises en oeuvre par la populations dans Ie cadre Conclusions du Volet Suivi. Les communautes villageoisas continuent A aedcuter naturelles est assuree par le communautds des PGT presentent un effet stabilisateur sur la ressources Environnemental Les programmes de Gestion des Resources Naturellea rurales naturelles des ternoirs concemncs en utilisant leurs propres reusources Objeciyf Global Itdcateuar object/f hc projel OP. Un systeme rationnel d'utilisation Les aclivitds de production do populations sont rdaliste sur la Rapports du Suivi-Evsluation lUn cadre juridique ad4quat est dlabord et appliqud ( loi-focidre, lextes den tenr at introduit dans den base des Plans de Gestion des Terroirs dlabords de fapon participative forestiers, code de l'eau, etc.) sites s6lectionn6s 2.Croissance d6mographique est maitris6e 3.GRN resIe l'objeclif prioritaire des aulorilts maliennes et des bailleurs de fonds 4. Lea politiques de ddcentralisation adalquate est maintenue Rdsvltafs /.ous objecrifs tltcaleurs rdsaltats RI La organes duprojetowntfonctionnels 1. ILepeaonnelcontractuel recrut correspond aux Plaad'opdration, descriptionde 1. ILes CACP ant crees 3 mos aprds lecchoixdesvillages effectifs, aux profiLs et aux qualifications requis postes 1.2 Len organes du projet ont pris fonction selon le composition Rapports d'activilts, PV de 1.2 La atabilitd du personnel est essurde les attributions et Is pdriodicild prevues reunions 13 La collaboration entre len dillerentae stnuctures impliqunes est effective 1.3 Des programmes de travail et den PETF sont Programmes et PETF 1.4 Les conditions de travail offertes par les diffdrents programmes et pojets dlaborts et redviss selon tdlthdancier prevue sont harnmonieuses et la qualitd requise R2 Un syal/me de forsnation/inforunation 2.1 Les programmes de foffnation sont exncutus selon Rapport d'dvaluation sur len 2.1 Les compdtences sous-traitantes sont disponibles et sensibilisation eat mis en-oeuvre 1'6chdancier prfvue et la qualitd requise activil6s de formation 2.2 L'emploi den compltencea extdrieures a augmentd 2.3 Unc joumte de sensibilisation du public eat organist A diffdrenu niveaux chaque annee 2.4 Au moins 3 t/mm/an sur Is GRN ront identifies et ddveloppds A tmIvers divers supports d'ici 1997 R3 Le suivi ct I'valuation de la mist en 3.1 Le cadre de Suivi-Evaluation eat r/visa et disponible avant 1/1995 Document de S/H oeuvre du projet soul assurds 3.2 Les bases d'infornmaions nuceusaires au Suivi-Evaluation sont Echantillon de listing disponible A travers Ia banque de donnea villugeoises d'ici 1995 3.3 Le redsultata du Suivi-Evalustion sont connus et pris PV de niunions tenua ttux diff/rents en consid/ration aux differents niveaux niveaux, Document de travail rdvis6 R4 La compteonce en GRN den structurae 4.1 Len dossiers villageois et lea fiches de projet sont Documentation UCMO 4.1 Lea stnuctures techniques chargden du dhveloppement rural techniques chargdes du ddveloppcment fouamis selon la qualitd requise retent stables rural eat renforcee 4.2 Le programme sectoriel den services d/concentr/s na constituent pas un handicap au bon deroulement du projet 4.3 Lea structurea de recherche sont upten et disponibles A mener les programmes de recbercbe d'accompagnement R5 La capacite den communautls rurale S. Len CVGRN sont mis en place et fonctionnent selon leurs Rapports de mission sur le terrain, 5 ILe cadre juridique de la r/glementation /labor# au niveau i g/rer ;leurs ressources naturelles eat attributions PV de reunions local eat garanti renforcho 5.2 Len communautes ruralen mettent en oeuvre lea Rapports de mission sur n e terrain, 5.2 Les responsables politiques et techniques acceptent le transfert techniques GRN apprises PV de reunions du pouvoir. du savoir et de l'avoir aux populations R6 Den Plans de GRN sont dIaborns et mis 6.1 190 Pblns de Gestion sont disponibles fin 1997 Rapports Suivi-Evaluation 6.1 La collaboration den populations eat effective en oeuvre sur des terroirs villageois et 6.2 Len meaures prfvufw dans lea PGT sont rualisuea en Rapports Suivi-Evaluation 6.2 Den sarangements fonciers locaux sont possiblec et espaces pautoraux s/lectionn/s en conformite avec le calendrier 204 Country Paper--Mali Elaboration d'un Plan de Gestion du Terroir PHASES ETAPES ACTIVITES METHODES DOCUMENTS d 'amenagement et Gestion attendus Preparation Prise en contact - Visite du village - Assemblee villageoise Rapport de mission et echange d'idees - Sensibilisation initiale - GRAAP PV des reunions villageoises entre techniciens - Discussions techniciens & villageois et villageois - Explication de la demarche PGT Creation d'un Comite - Formation, information et sensibilisation - Assemblee villageoise Villageois de GRN (CVGRN) - Formation, sensibilisation et information - Exploitation de la documentation Rapport MARP Diagnostic Etude de la documentation existante existante (monographies villageoises Diagnostic Socio-economique - Preparation de la methodologie existantes, registres de - Collecte des informations sur recensement, - le milieu humain et l'habitat statistiques - le budget et la consommation agricoles - Formation, information, sensibilisation - Assemblde villageoise - Analyse - Enquete participative - du milieu physique et des ressources naturelles - MARP - des systemes de production - Interview - Identification et hierarchisation des problemes - Visite de terrain generaux - Discussions avec les villageois - Identification des mesures incitatives et etude - Discussions avec les villageois - Fiche de projet mesures sur la faisabilite incitatives -Delimitation du terroir - Photolecture - Carte du terroir Diagnostic - Identification et description des unites - Discussions avec CVGRN et - Carte des Unites des paysage physique detaille de paysage et unites homogenes personnes ressources et des unites homogenes K i l l * ~~~~~~~~Identification ct description des types -Visite dc terrain -Tableau descriptif des unitCs d'utilisation actuelles de terre - Tableau des types - Analyse et hierarchisation des problemes generaux d'utilisation actuel et specifiques a chaque unite de paysage 205 African Forest Policy Forum--Proceedings - Evaluation des tendances evolutives Discussion avec les villageois - Carte d'utilisation actuelle - Redaction du diagnostic en assemblee g6nerale des unites des paysages - Restitution du diagnostic du terroir - Tableau des problemes - Corrections et redaction finale - Rapport diagnostic terroir - Execution des mesures incitatives - Discussion/negociation avec le - Document Schema - Identification, analyse et hierarchisation des objectifs CVGRN d'Amenagement du Terroir lanifiation - Choix des types d'utilisation potentielles et leurs exigences - Assemblee villageoises Elaboration d'un - Evaluation des vocations et chaque unite de paysage Schims d'Anminagement - Restitution au reste des villageois du Terroir - Affectation negociee des unites A une vocation '1- - Signature du SAT par le CVGRN, le CDA et I'Animateur PAT/Chef EAT Elaboration d'un Pla] - Identification et localisation des actions - Discussion avec le CVGRN - Document sur l'analyse de d'Amenagement d'amenagement par unite homogene - Discussions avec les villageois Faisabilite des mesures du Teoir - Identification des mesures d'accompagnement - Photolecture - Document Plan d'Amenagement et des actions socio-productives - Expertise A courte duree du Terroir avec des cartes de - Analyse de la faisabilite socio-economique, localisation des socio-culturelle, financiere, technique et infrastructures et des technologique des actions et mesures'envisagees equipements importants - Programmation globale des actions dans le temps et dans l'espace J,- - Negociation du Plan d'Amenagement (engagements reciproques) - Signature du Plan d'Amenagement par Ic CVGRN, le Commandant du Cercle et un representant de l'UCMO Elaboatio d- Etudes detaillees des actions et mesures techniques * Formation technique - Plan de Gestion du Terroir Elaboration du d'accompagnement des villageois - Carte de localisation Plan de Gestion - Planification detaillde dans le temps et dans - Discussion avec le CVGRN precise des infrastructures [ u Terroir J lI'espace des mesures et actions sur deux ans - Discussion avec l'assemblee et des equipements retenus - Signature du PGT adoptee par le CVGRN, le generale Gouvemeur et le Directeur du projet - Traduction du PGT en langue local Execution - Rappel du PGT adopte Mise en oeuvre - Execution des mesures et actions prevues selon - Rapport sur l'etat du Plan de Gestion programmation convenue dans le PGT d'execution du PGT du Terroir - Suivi et evaluation contenu - Plan de Gestion revise - Revision/reajustement du PGT 206 Country Paper-Mali MINSTERE DU DEVELOPPEMENT RURAL REPUBLIQUE DU MALI ET DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT UN PEUPLE UN BUT UNE FOI PROJET DE GESTION DES RESSOURCES NATURELLES (PGRN) CONVENTION DE COFINANCEMENT MODELE "TRAVAUX PUBLICS" ENTRE: LE PROJET DE GESTION DES RESSOURCES NATURELLES (PGRN) LE COMITE REGIONAL DE DEVELOPPEMENT DE: ........................................ LE COtMTE LOCAL DE DEVELOPPEMENT DE: ............................................... LE COMITE D'ARRONDISSEMENT DE DEVELOPPEMENT DE: .................... ET: LE COMITE VILLAGEOIS DE GESTION DES RESSOURCES NATURELLES (CVGRN) DE: ....... ....................... CERCLE DE:. INTITULE DU PROJET No. DE PROJET SIGNEE LE ENTREE EN VIGUEUR LE 207 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings ENTREE: Le Projet de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles ci-apres denomme "le PRGN", represente par M onsieur .......................................................................................... Le Comite Regional de Developpement ci-apres denomme "CRD" de: :......................... represente par son President ............................................. Le Comite Local de Developpement ci-apres denomme "CLD" de: ................................. represente par son President ................................................. Le Comite d'Arrondissement de Developpement ci-apres denomme "CDA" de: ............. ........................ represente par son President . ET Le Comite Villageois de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles de ............................. (Cercle de . ) ci-apres denomme "le CVGRN" represente par son President, Monsieur II a ete convenu et arrete ce qui suit: ARTICLE 1: OBJET DE LA CONVENTION Le cofinancement du projet par une contrepartie CVGRN et par une contribution PGRN fait l'objet de la presente convention. Le PGRN fournira une contribution au financement du projet suivant les termes et conditions de la presente convention de cofinancement. ARTICLE 2: CONSISTANCE DU PROJET Le CVGRN s'engage A realiser le projet de .............................. situe a ............................................................. s'agit notamment ............................II.de. (description sommaire). Les autres specifications du projet sont decrites en detail dans le dossier technique faisant partie integrante de la presente convention. ARTICLE 3: COUT DU PROJET Le cout de l'ensemble du projet est estime a. . ....................................................... ........................( ) Francs CFA. 208 Country Paper-Mali ARTICLE 4: LE MONTANT DE LA CONTRIBUTION PGRN Le montant de la contribution PGRN est arrete a ................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ..............................(............ ) Francs CFA, soit ........... % du montant total. ARTICLE 5: LE MONTANT DE LA CONTREPARTIE A FOURNIR PAR LE CVGRN Toute la partie du co-at du projet hormis 1'encadrement technique, et qui n'est pas financee par la contribution PGRN, constitue la contrepartie a fournir par le CVGRN. Le montant total de cette contrepartie, qui sera foumie sous forme de ............................................... est estime a .(............. ) Francs CFA. La valeur de chaque tranche de travaux realises est precisee dans le contrat de travail conclu entre le CVGRN et 1'executant des travaux. ARTICLE 6: CONDITIONS DE DEBOURSEMENT DES FONDS Les fonds du PGRN, pour la realisation du projet, sont exclusivement reserves aux operations prevues dans la presente convention. Les travaux seront realises sous 1'entiere responsabilite du CVGRN, quelque soit la personne qui les execute. Les representants du PGRN et du CLD apporteront un appui de conseils et contr6leront la bonne execution des travaux selon les normes. Le deblocage de chaque tranche ulterieure de la contribution PGRN est conditionne par la constatation par le PGRN que: I'etat d'avancement des travaux I'autorise, les travaux sont bien executes, conform ement aux dispositions contractuelles. ARTICLE 7: DE L'UTILISATION DES FONDS DE CONTRIBUTION DU PGRN Toute utilisation des fonds de contribution, autre que pour le projet ci-dessus cite et en dehors des termes de cette convention, est interdite. Tout reliquat de fonds sera reverse au PGRN. Le Directeur du PGRN est l'ordonnateur du projet. Les tranches de la contribution sont delivrees par cheques bancaires, libellds au nom du mailtre d'oeuvre par le PGRN. 209 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings ARTICLE 8: LES JUSTIFICATIONS DES DEPENSES SUR LES FONDS DE CONTRIBUTION Une copie des pieces justificatives des paiements effectues sera adressee par le PGRN au CVGRN. ARTICLE 9: DELAI DE REALISATION DU PROJET Le CVGRN s'engage a achever la totalite du projet dans un delai de . ...................)......... mois a compter de la date de mise en vigueur de cette convention de cofinancement. ARTICLE 10: OBLIGATION DU CVGRN A la signature de la presente convention, le President du CVGRN doit etablir une attention du Directeur du PGRN prouvant que la contrepartie villageoise est disponible et mobilisable immediatement. Le CVGRN s'engage a assurer l'entretien et les repartitions regulieres des batiments construits ou repares, I'entretien de 1'equipement et du mobilier fournies, ainsi que la creation et le maintien d'un environnement sain et agreable. ARTICLE 11 CONTROLE DES DEPENSES SUR LA CONTREPARTIE CVGRN Les situations des contreparties du CVGRN peuvent a tout moment etre verifiees par le Representant du PGRN. Toute utilisation de la contrepartie PGRN autre que celle definie par la presente convention constitue de facto un acte qui justifie l'annulation de cette convention de cofinancement. Le cas ech6ant, la totalite des fonds deja versds dans le cadre de la convention de cofinancement devra etre remboursee au PGRN. ARTICLE 12: CONTRIBUTION DES COMITES DE DEVELOPPEMENT Les Comites Regionaux, Locaux et d'Arrondissement de Developpement concernes contribueront a la realisation de l'objet de cette convention par leur appui technique et le suivi des actions. ARTICLE 13: ACHEVEMENT DES TRAVAUX L'UTILISATION des ouvrages n'est autorisee qu'apres la reception provisoire des installations. A cette fin, le PGRN, le CLD et le CVGRN procederont a la reception provisoire des travaux en presence de l'executant, et cosigneront avec lui un proces verbal de reception provisoire. 210 Country Paper-Mali La derniere tranche constituant la retenue de garantie ne sera reglee qu'apres un delai de douze mois a compter de la date de reception provisoire. Cette retenue peut faire l'objet d'un cautionnement a 100% dont la main-levee sera delivree a la reception definitive des ouvrages, sanctionnee par un proces verbal. ARTICLE 14: LA CLOTURE DU PROJET Au terme du delai de garantie, le PGRN, le CLD et le CVGRN procederont a la reception definitive en presence de 1'executant. Le proces verbal de reception definitive alors etabli vaudra acte de notification de cl6ture du projet. ARTICLE 15: ENTREE EN VIGUEUR DE LA CONVENTION DE COFINANCEMENT La presente convention de cofinancement entre en vigueur a compter de ........................ Pour le CVGRN Pour le PGRN Le President Le Directeur A ., Ie . 199 ........... A . le .199. Pour le CRD Pour le CLD Le President Le President A ., le .199 ............ A . le .199 . Pour le CDA Le President A . le . 199... I - ) /PLIATIONS President CDA ........................................1 Coord. d'Arrondt du PGRN .1 President CLD .1 Coord. Local du PGRN .1 President CRD .I Coord. Regional du PGRN .I Directeur du PGRN .1 211 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings REGION DE ................................... REPUBLIQUE DU MALI UN PEUPLE UN BUT UNE FOI CERCLE DE . Projet de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles (PGRN) COMITE VILLAGEOIS DE GESTION DES RESSOURCES NATURELLES (CVGRN) DE CONTRAT DE TRAVAIL (Modele pour Marche Public) OBJET: .................................................................................................................................... Montant Delai d'Execution Entreprise Financement 212 Country Paper-Mali LETTRE DE MARCHE No ................... PGRN ENTRE LE COMITE VILLAGEOIS DE GESTION DES RESSOURCES NATURELLES (CVGR) DE ............. represente aux fins du present contrat par le President du CVGRN de .. ...... du NOM DE ....... et designe dans ce qui suit sous le vocable "MAITRE D'OWVRAGE". LE PROJET DE GESTION DES RESSOURCES NATURELLES (PGRN) represente par son directeur. ET L'ENTREPRISE .......... designe dans ce qui suit sous le vocable "I'ENTREPRENEUR" et represente aux fins du present contrat par Mr. Les parties ont convenu et arrete ce qui suit: CHAPLwREI : DISPOSITIONS GENERALES ARTICLE I : OBJET DU MARCHE Le present marche a pour objet l'execution des travaux de CONSTRUCTION DE Ces travaux sont situes dans le village de ............................ (Cercle de ..... ) et consisteront en la construction complete selon les normes de l'art, de l'ensemble du lot : No.----- A savoir: II s'agit entre autres : des travaux de terrassement, de fondation-soubassement, des travaux en elevation, de la toiture, des menuiseries et des travaux de finition. 213 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings ARTICLE 2 : PIECES CONTRACTUELLES Les pieces enumerees ci-dessous par ordre de priorite constituent le marche: 1. Ia presente lettre du marche, 2. Ia soumission et ses annexes (liste du personnel de maitrise, liste du materiel, planning etc.), 3. le cahier de prescriptions techniques et particulibres, (CPTP) 4. le modele de la lettre de marche initialement appele "contract de travail", 5. le devis descriptif, 6. le bordereau des prix unitaires, (BPU) 7. les devis estimatifs des travaux, 8. les plans d'execution. ARTICLE 3: TEXTES GENERAUX Le present marche est prepare, passe et execute selon les regles et procedures definies par les textes en vigueur au Mali, plus loin appeles ensemble "cahier general" qui fixent les clauses et conditions applicables aux marches publics, notamment le Decret No. 92-059/P-CTSP du 14 fevrier 1992 portant reglementation des marches publics. CHA-PITREII: EXECUTION ET CONTROLE DES TRAVAUX ARTICLE 4 ATTRIBUTIONS Pour l'application des dispositions du present marche et des textes generaux auxquels celui-ci se refere, il est precise que: - les attributions de maitre d'ouvrage sont d6volues au CVGRN de . les attributions de maitre d'oeuvre sont devolues au Bureau de Contr6le commis par la Direction du PGRN pour le controle de la qualite des travaux. les attributions de l'Ingenieur charge du controle des travaux et des fournitures a pied d'oeuvre sont devolues au representant du maitre d'oeuvre sur le chantier. 214 Country Paper-Mali ARTICLE 5L : DELAI D'EXECUTION La duree des travaux est de Un (1) mois et demarre a compter de la date de signature du contrat. II est expressement stipule que ce delai tient compte des interruptions des travaux dues aux conditions climatiques normales et les installations. ARTICLE 6 : RECEPTION PROVISOIRE Des que, de l'avis de la commission de reception les travaux d'un chantier seront termines, et auront subi avec succes les essais finaux prescrits dans le marche, la commission etablira un proces verbal de reception provisoire des travaux. La periode de garantie commencera a compter de la date de delivrance du proces-verbal de reception provisoire. En tout cas l'Entreprise est tenue pendant la duree de garantie a une obligation dite "obligation de parfait achevement". ARTICLE 7 : RECEPTION DEFINITIVE La reception definitive des travaux aura lieu a l'echeance du delai vise l'article 20 du modele de "contrat de travail" pour autant que l'Entrepreneur ait satisfait l'ensemble des obligations resultant du marche a la reparation des malfacons eventuelles et a la finition totale des travaux. ARTICLE 8 : DELAI DE GARANTIE Le delai de garantie est fixe a douze (12) mois de calendrier a compter de la dernire date de reception provisoire. ARTICLE 9 : PENALITES POUR RETARD Si les travaux ne sont pas termines dans le delai prevu, I'Entrepreneur subira une penalite pour chaque jour calendaire de retard. Cette penalite sera egale a 1/2 000e du montant des travaux restants. De meme les frais supplementaires du maitre d'oeuvre seront imputes directement a l'Entrepreneur sur les decomptes relatifs aux travaux non executes. ARTICLE 10 : MODE D'EXECUTION Les travaux seront conduits et executes conformement aux dispositions et specifications du cahier des prescriptions techniques particulieres (CPTP) et des devis descriptifs. 215 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings CHAPITRE m: DISPOSITIONS FINANCIERES ARTICLE I 1: MONTANT DU MARCHE ET MODE DE FINANCEMENT Le montant des travaux, objet du present marche est evalue .............................. FCFA repartis entre le PGRN et les CVGRN concernes. Les prix indiques dans le cadre du devis estimatif sont evalues en tenant compte du couit de revient de la main d'oeuvre, y compris les charges sociales, du cofit total des fournitures rendues sur le chantier, du cout de revient du materiel de chantier, y compris les provisions pour amortissement ainsi que les frais d'installation du chantier, des frais generaux et divers de l'Entrepreneur, des sujetions d'execution, des aleas et benefices. ARTICLE 12: AVANCE DE DEMARRAGE DES TRAVAUX Une avance au demarrage des travaux est accordee a l'Entrepreneur, au moment de 1'etablissement de l'ordre de service, sur la base d'un pourcentage de 5% du montant total du marche initial. Elle est egale a .FCFA et sera cautionnee A 100%. ARTICLE 13 MODALITES DE PAIEMENT DE L'ENTREPRISE ET RETENUE DE GARANTIE L'Entreprise sera payee selon les modalites suivantes: | PGRN CVGRN - Avance de demarrage : 5% du montant des travaux A la signature du contrat apres constitution d'une caution bancaire equivalente sur demande ecrite de l'Entrepreneur - 5% - 20% du montant quand les travaux auront atteints 25% 20% - - 20% du montant quand les travaux auront atteints 50% 20% - - 20% du montant quand les travaux auront atteints 75% 20% - - 20% du montant apres la reception provisoire des travaux et main levee de la caution d'avance de demarrage 20% - - 10% du montant un mois apres la reception provisoire 10% - - 5 % du montant A la reception defmitive des travaux qui interviendra un (1) an apres la reception provisoire - 5% Total par source de financement 90% 10% Soit montant PGRN = .................... .FCFA montant CVGRN = .................... FCFA 216 Country Paper-Mali ARTICLE 14 DROITS, TAXES ET IMPOTS Les prix du present contrat sont etablis en exoneration de droit de timbre et d'enregistrement de la patente due sur le marche et de tous droits et taxes d'effet equivalent. ARTICLE 15 : REGLEMENT DE LITIGE Si au cours des travaux des difficultes apparaissent entre le Ma^itre d'Ouvrage ou ses representants et l'Entrepreneur et qu'aucune solution amiable ne soit trouvee, les deux parties s'obligent a solliciter un arbitre. En cas de desaccord, le diff6rend sera soumis au tribunal competent qui tranchera suivant les regles en vigueur au Mali. Vu Conclu par Lu et Accepte par Le Directeur du PGRN Le Comite Villageois de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles L'Entrepreneur de . Le President Approuve par Vu Le Directeur General Le Directeur National des Marches Publics du Contr6le Financier Le Le. Enregistre aux Domaines Enregistre au Secretariat General du Gouvernement Le ..........................L .................................Le. 217 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 218 RESTORATION OF HIGHLY DEGRADED AND THREATENED NATIVE FOREST IN MAIJRITIUS By Yousoof Mungroo Director National Parks and Conservation Service Reeduit, Mauritius 219 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Restoration of Highly Degraded and Threatened Native Forest in Mauritius Abstract Mauritius provides a striking example of how an island ecosystem which was rich in endemism, the animal and plant species evolving in isolation for millions of years, has been biologically impoverished in some 350 years of colonisation as a consequence of indiscriminate exploitation of its forests, land clearing for agriculture and introduction of alien plant and animal species. Mauritius better known as the home of the Dodo, a large flightless birdwhich became extinct due to the actions of Man. However small remnants of the original flora and fuana still survive, but these are under great threat by introduced, aggressive species. This paper describes some of the measures taken to protect and prevent the remnants of our natural heritage, especially the native forests with its rich plant diversity from disappearing. The measures have proved to be effective but costly and labour intensive and therefore cannot be applied to larger areas. The paper also focuses on a restoration ecology project "Restoration of highly degraded and threatened native forest" funded under GEF through UNDP. Government who is responsible for the execution of the project has delegated some of its powers to a Non Government Organization for the implementation of the project. The project also gives the opportunity for Government, NGOs and the University of Mauritius to collaborate to save our threatened native forest by controlling the invasive weeds. Introduction Mauritius is situated just north of the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitude 20' south and longitude 58' east, some 900 Kms east of Madagascar. Mauritius together with Reunion and Rodrigues form the Mascarene Islands. Mauritius is a volcanic island and covers an area of 1865 Km2 with the highest peak attaining 828m in altitude. It has a tropical to subtropical climate influenced by frequent cyclones during the summer months (November to April) and gets a rainfall of between Im to 8m annually. Mauritius was uninhabited when discovered by the Portuguese early in the 16th century (1507), though it had almost certainly been visited by Arab sailors before that. The first to settle were the Dutch, after numerous visits, in 1638. They vigorously exploited the timber, especially the ebony (Diospyros spp) and the other hardwoods, the large land tortoises and the flightless Dodo which became extinct by 1670. The Dutch abandoned Mauritius in 1710. The French occupied the island in 1715 but lost it to the British in 1810. The population grew from 800 in 1735 to 75,000 in 1810. Mauritius has now over one million people, making it one of the most densely populated places in the world. The Dutch East India Company started the process of clearing the forests which was later accelerated markedly during the French and British administrations to make room primarily for agriculture and also for infrastructure like roads and settlements. The cleared forest areas have been planted with sugarcane, tea, eucalyptus and pine. Nowadays the indigenous forests which represent less that one percent (1%) of the pristine native vegetation are restricted to the south west escarpment which is the most inaccessible or least economically exploitable part of the island. These indigenous forest remnants possess one of the most diverse floras in the world in 220 Country Paper-Mauritius termns of number of species per unit area of forest land. The flora is composed of some 700 species of indigenous plants of which about 250 are endemics. A high proportion (about 50%) of the endemics are threatened or endangered. Threats to endemic flora This floral diversity is being highly threatened through degradation as a result of invasion by aggressive introduced plant species. The exotic plants which are faster growing than the endemics are more of a direct threat to native species. They outcompete the endemics for space, light and nutrients and they colonise any open gap in the forest floor. The two most proliferous exotic plant species in the upland wet forest are Chinese guava (Psidium Cattleianum) of South American origin and introduced by the French (Grant 1801) and the privet (Ligustrum robustum var. walkeri), a native of Asia; both plants can form thicket so dense that they hinder the regeneration of the native plants. Lowland forests are invaded by "liane cerf (Hiptage benghalensis), aloe (Furcraeafoetidia) and "poivre marron" (Schinus terebinthifolius). A list of some of the weeds is given in table 1. Introduced animals also contribute significantly to the degradation of the native vegetation. The herbivorous mammals such as deer (Cervus timorensis), introduced by the Dutch in 1639, and hare (Lepus nigricollis) cause the most obvious damage by browsing through young plants and tender shoots. Monkeys (Macacafascicularis) selectively pull out flowers, fruits as well as foliage, while the wild pigs (Sus scrofa) cause extensive damage by eating roots of plants and uprooting seedlings. Other animals like black rats (Rattus rattus), brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), invertebrates specially the Giant African snails (Achantiafulica) and (A. panthera) physically damage the native plants. Exotic birds such as the red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) are also a problem as they act as seed dispersal agents for the exotic plants. Another factor which constitutes a constant threat to the endemic plant communities is the cyclone. It is true that, Mauritius being in the cyclonic belt, cyclones have played an important part in the evolution of the Mauritian flora. The root system which spreads as wide as the crown, the buttresses and thick leaves render the endemic plants more cyclone resistant than the exotics. But the fact is that many of the endemic are getting old and are not being naturally replaced as their regeneration is being hindered by the combined effects of Objectives of intervention actions Native forest which still persists is often a broken canopy of increasing old and non-regenerating trees is the preferred habitat of the native fauna. The native forest is invaded to different degree by aggressive exotics and if nothing is done to halt the invasion of the native forest by the alien plant species, the remaining indigenous flora and fauna will be wiped out, resulting into massive loss of biodiversity. The ideal solution to the problems of conservation of the native forest ecosystem would be to completely eradicate all the pests from the forest but this is an impossible task. The natural heritage and scenic beauty of the area would be maintained by preserving the native forest. Native forest besides being an asset for the tourism sector can be used for developing public awareness and education purposes. It can provide recreation to both the local people and foreigners. 221 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Conservation Measures (Main Activities) Creation of Nature Reserves One of the first steps taken towards the preservation of the natural vegetation was the declaration of these areas as Nature Reserves. The basic philosophy of declaring Nature Reserves has been to safeguard as far as possible representative samples of the original plant formation. The first Nature Reserve was declared in 1951 and by 1974 there was a total of 20. In 1980, 6 of these, which are adjacent to each other, were made into one large block, Macchabee/Bel Ombre Nature Reserve (3,61 1 ha.), which has been proclaimed a Biosphere Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program of UNESCO. This became the nucleus of the Black River Gorges National Park (6,574ha.) proclaimed on 15 June 1994. It was a fallacious concept that the Nature Reserve if left undisturbed will take care of itself. The equilibrium in these areas is disturbed to such an extent that active management is required to restore the equilibrium of the ecosystem. In-situ Conservation The extent of invasion by exotics is now too far advanced that complete eradication of exotics does not appear possible. However, in certain areas the density of exotics is relatively low and hence the possibility of keeping them under control. Several areas of native forest representing major plant communities and different forest types have thus been selected. These areas, Conservation Management Areas (CAMs) as they are called, are being intensively managed. There are 10 CMAs and eight of those are found within the Black River Gorges National Park. They vary in size from 0.4 hectare to 18 hectares. These CAMs have been fenced to keep the deer (Cervus timorensis) out and a low stone wall has been erected at the base of the fence to prevent the pigs (Sus scrofa) digging underneath the fence. All the exotic plants have then been manually uprooted. Maintenance weeding at intervals of three months is carried out to control regeneration of exotics. The results have been very promising because in the absence of the exotics the endemics are regenerating vigorously. These managed plots have been elected as preferred habitat by the endemic pink pigeons ( Columba mayeri) and echo parakeets (Psittacula echo ). However this type of management is very expensive and labour intensive and cannot be undertaken on a large scale. At least 90 percent of the endemic plant species have been protected in these CAMs. The fencing and initial weeding, that is first weeding, especially for the 18 hectare plot at Brise Fer, have been contracted out to private companies as the cost for these works was included the Black River Gorges National Park project, funded by loan money from the World Bank. The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources is contracting out the maintenance weeding work to ensure that each plot is regularly weeded every three months. The use of different herbicides to control the exotics has been tried, but no conclusive result has been obtained. Unfortunately it is not possible to exclude the monkeys (Macacafascicularis) from the fenced plots, but control of rats (Rautus rattus ) by poisoning and trapping is being carried in the native 222 Country Paper-Mauritius forests, especially where cative bred birds are being released to restock the bird population in the wild. Ex-situ Conservation Another approach to the conservation of the flora is the ex-situ propagation of species which are very rare or have difficulty regenerating in the wild. A list of 50 such plants has been prepared by a Plant Committee and these priority plant species are being propagated in the Government Endemic Plant Propagation Centre (PPC) from cuttings and seeds. The PPC has an important role in the restoration of the native vegetation in the forests. Plants raised in the nursery are being planted back in the CMA from where plant materials for propagation have been collected. These plants therefore not only restock the CMAs but also help to fill in any open space resulting from the removal of the exotics. In 1994, only some 1,781 plants of 58 plant species have been raised from over 5,000 plant materials (about 80% seeds and 20% cuttings ) of 75 plant species collected. Less than 40% of the collected plant materials have successfully been raised, this percentage is considered a honorable performance considering that the seeds of many of the species sown could be described as recalcitrant. More than 50% of the plants raised have been replanted in the wild. A new Plant Propagation Centre is being built to increase our propagation capacity and to provide facilities for the propagation of endemic, endangered ferns. The Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburg will provide training in fern propagation techniques to two members of the staff of the National Parks and Conservation Service under the Darwin Initiative programme. UNDP/GEF Project The project aims at the restoration of a plot of highly degraded native forest in the Black River Gorges National Park. In consultation with national and international posts control experts and restoration ecologists who will be convened for a 5-day workshop, an effective means of controlling the invasive exotic weeds especially the Chinese guava (Psidium cattleianum) and the privet (Ligustrum robustrum var walkerii ) which are threatening native forests will be developed. Different treatments (manuel elimination, chemical treatment, biological control or any other method identified by the workshop) will be applied to the experimental area. This weed control method, if successful, could then be applied to larger areas of degraded native forest. It could even be applied regionally or elsewhere to tackle similar invasive problems by exotics. The second component of the project is to make an assessment of the biodiversity of the area to be restored. This will be undertaken by experts employed by the NGO in collaboration with University students and officers of the National Parks and Conservation Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The third component will be the restoration activity itself. The biodiversity of the degraded native ecosystem will be restored to the extent possible. This will consists of applying the results of the experimentation to an area of at least 5 Ha. In-situ growing of seeds and enrichment planting from nursery-grown would be considered as possible restoration techniques to be applied. 223 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Three years for a project on eco-restoration is a brief period of time. It is a pilot project which gives the opportunity to the Mauritian University students to undertake ecological research. It also provides opportunities to foster and strengthen cooperation between the Government and Non Government Organizations, and with the University of Mauritius. It is one of the smallest GEF grants (US$200,000) and therefore provides an opportunity to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of this initiative. Implementation Arrangements The Government and the NGO, the Mauritian Wildlife Appeal Fund (MWAF), have entered into an agreement whereby the NGO, as Project Management, has agreed to provide certain services to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The NGO is paid a fee of.... Responsibilities of the Project Management (i) Report to the National Project Director appointed by the Government; (ii) Be responsible for the day to day management of the project inclusive of the procurement of equipment and allocation of fencing contract in accordance with UNDP procedures and financial practices; (iii) Carry out the tasks of the Zoologist and Botanist as spelt out in the Project Document; (iv) Recruit and appoint other consultants (Plant Taxonomist, Entemologist, Malacologist and Statistician) in accordance with UNDP procedures and subject to the approval of the Technical Advisory Committee; (v) Provide technical guidance for the project activities and monitor performance of all project staff; (vi) Complete the tasks in the set time frame. Contribution of University of Mauritius The University of Mauritius will develop course modules in biodiversity and assign lecturers and technicians for the training of students, staff of National Parks and Conservation Service and members of NGOs and other interested Ministries. The University will also provide laboratory facilities for biodiversity studies. The contribution of the University is around US$25,000. Role and Contribution of Government The Government as the Executing Agency is responsible through its Project Director to UNDP and has to submit regular progress report to UNDP. The Government is also responsible for organising the Workshop. The Government has to assign the Staff of National Parks and Conservation Service to run the operations. The Government also provides lodging facilities for fieldworkers and other administrative support for the project. The total contribution of the Government has been estimated at around US$70,000. Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) A TAC composing of members of the National Parks and Conservation Service, Ministry of Economic Planning, Ministry of Environment and Quality of Life, Ministry of Arts, Culture and Youth Development, Mauritian Wildlife Appeal Fund, Faculty of Science University of 224 Country Paper-Mauritius Mauritius and the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute chaired by the Project Director has been set up to ensure the smooth running of the project. The Committee has been entrusted with the following tasks: (i) Hold meetings at least once every three months, to discuss issues relating to implementation of the project; (ii) Approve project staff; (iii) Ensure that the implementation of the project conforms to the project document; (iv) Monitor the progress of the project on a regular basis. Results The project has officially started since June 1996. The NGO (MWAF) has already taken possession of some equipment ( one 4-wheel drive double cab, computer unit and ladders) earmarked for the project. The NGO has carried out the recruiting exercise for the filling of the positions and the TAC has already approved the selection of the candidates. The NGO has now been requested by TAC to sign the contract, which has first to be approved by the Committee, with the respective experts. Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources has already initiated action for the holding of the Workshop. Letters have been sent to international pest control experts and restoration ecologists inviting their participation in the Workshop scheduled for November 1996. On the request of the NGO the workshop has been postponed for September 1997 to enable MWAF to carry out a comprehensive survey of the biodiversity. The University of Mauritius has already submitted details of the one-week Biodiversity Course to be held in December 1996. Conclusion The participation of NGOs in the implementation of biodiversity conservation projects should be encouraged provided that the NGOs have the technical knowhow and Government Institution ensures the monitoring and coordination. Mauritius has a long tradition of commitment and cooperation with international organizations in the field of conservation. The Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust (JWPT), has been active in Mauritius since 1976 together with several other conservation organizations. The Red Data Book on the plants of Mauritius has been compiled and the one on the plants in Rodrigues has been published thanks to the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) sponsoring a plant person. The Mauritian Wildlife Appeal Fund was established in 1984 as an arm of JWPT in the Indian Ocean and where funds raised internationally or locally for implementation of conservation projects in Mauritius were channelled. MWAF manages volunteers and experts who are mainly expatriates working on conservation projects in Mauritius. MWAF has a good working relation with Government. It is party to a Memorandum of Agreement, signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Flora and Fauna Preservation Society, for a partnership in the conservation activities in Mauritius. 225 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Acknowledgments I thank the World Bank for providing me with the opportunity to participate in the Forum. References Brouard, N.R. (1963) A history of Woods and Forests in Mauritius. Government Printer, Port- Louis, Mauritius. 86 pp. Cheke, A.S. 1987 An ecological history of the Mascarene Islands with particular reference to the extinctions and introduction of land vertebrates. In: Diamond, A.W., ed. Studies of the Mascarene Avifauna. Cambridge University Press, pp. 5-89. Strahm, W.A. (1994) The conservation and restoration of the flora of Mauritius and Rodrigues. PhD Thesis, Reading University, UK (2 Vols). Strahm, W.A. (1989a). Plant Red Data Book for Rodrigues. Koeltz, Gernany. 241 pp. Vaughan, R.E. and Wiehe, P.O. (1937). Studies on the vegetation of Mauritius. A preliminary survey of the plant communities. J. Ecol. 25: 289-343. Padya, B.M. (1984). Climate of Mauritius. 2nd ed. Government Printer, Mauritius. 217 pp. Temple, S.A. 1974 Wildlife in Mauritius today. Oryx, 12:584-590. UNDP Project Document MAR/93/G3 1- Ecological Restoration of Highly Degraded and Threatened native Forests. Safford, R.J. & Jones, C.G. 1993. Habitat management for conservation of the native passerine birds of Mauritius. Proc. Roy. Soc. Arts & Sci., Mauritius. V(lI 1):21-32. State of the Environment in Mauritius. Ministry of Environment and Quality of Life, Government of Mauritius, Port-Louis, Mauritius 1991. 226 Country Paper-Mauritius Table 1. The 18 most invasive species on Mauritius and/or Rodrigues Agavaceae Furcraeafoetida (L.) Haw. Very invasive on Mauritius and Reunion, only one Amacarcriaceae record from Rodrigues Schinus terebinthifolius Radch Invasive on Mauritius and Rodrigues, unknown if Bignornaceae introduced to Reunion. *Tabebuia pallida (Lindi.) Miers Very invasive on Mauritius, must not be introduced to Euphorbiaceae Reunion or Rodrigues. *Homalanthus populifolius Graham Very invasive on Mauritius, invasive on Reunion and Flacourtiaceae naturalised on Rodrigues Flacourtia indica (Burm.f.) Merill Very invasive on all three islands Lauraceae Litsea glutinosa (Lour.) C.B. Very invasive on Mauritius, invasive on Reunion and Robinson not on Rodrigues Litsea monopetala (Ro)b.) Pers. Very invasive on Mauritius and Reunion, not on Malphighiaceae Rodrigues Hiptage benghalensis (L.) Kurz Melastomataceae Very irivasive on Mauritius, not on Reunion or *Ossaea marginate (Desr.) Triana Rodrigues Mimosoideae Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) Very invasive on all three islands De Wit Musaceae Ravenala madagascatiensis Very kmsive on Mauritius, invasive on Reunion and Sonnerat Rodrigues Myrsinaceae Ardisia rrenata Sims. Very invasive on Mauritius and Reunion, not on Myrtaceae Rodrigues Psidium cattleianum Sabine Syzygiumjambos (L.) Alston Very invasive on all three islands Very invasive on all three islands Oleaceae Ligustrum robustum Blume var. walkeri (Decaisne) Mansf. Very invasive on Mauritius and Reunion, recently found on Rodrigues Rosaceae Rubus alceffolius Poiret Thymelaeaceae Very invasive on Mauritius and Reunion, not on *WikJtroemia indica (L.) C.A. Rodrigues Meyer Very invasive on Mauritius and Roddgues, not on Verbenaceae Reunion Lantana camara L. Very invasive on all three islands * Species not yet introduced to Reunion Very invasive on all three islands in dry areas 227 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 228 NIGER Household Energy Strategy: One Element of the Overall Forestry Policy DOMESTIC ENERGY STRATEGY: AN ELEMENT OF OVERALL FORESTRY POLICY By Soumalia Danbaria, Co-Director and Pierre Montagne, Technical Consultant Energy II Project Niamey, Niger 229 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Household Energy Strategy: One Element of the Overall Forestry Policy 1. INTRODUCTION Niger is a country of the Sahelian region were 98% of households use of wood as an energy source for cooking. In 1994, the fuelwood demand in the city of Niamney (600,000 inhabitants) is evaluated at 150,000 tons per year. Most of this wood is dead wood by drought but we can find more and more green wood. This trend is being increased. The problem is that the annual increase of trees grows in low due to severe climatic conditions. Other problems are agricultural activities which are constantly of growing and extensively land pasture. So, there is sort of rings of deforestation around urban centers. Actually, the woodcutting activities has become much more economically advantageous than agriculture or livestock production. However, these activities are controlled essentially by urban trader-transporters who make considerable profits from non-sustainable harvesting of wooded areas. It is in this context that the Domestic Energy Strategy project in Niger became his activities in 1989 with a socio-economic approach and not only with a technical approach others projects used to do. The principal aim was to have a reappropriation of natural resources (notably wood resource) by rural people in a sustainable long-term management with a regular fuelwood supply and local rural development. We are going to explain in a three parts paper the focus points of this development strategy actually recognized as one of the main possibility to manage naturals resources in the Sahel specially forests resources. It is clear that the urbanization process in Africa change socio-economic and ecologics conditions. Old solutions don't more operate: we must find innovatives solutions. More, it is true that the woodfuel consumption of urban population will continue in the future noreither what we are able to do to increase the production (for instance in reforestation effort). 2. SOME INITLIL REMARKS ON "COMMONS" AND "RURAL DEVELOPMENT" In the first part, we try to give a response to the three following questions: - first: in a context of growing urbanization in Africa, does development necessarily have to favour the town at the expense of the country? The town-country opposition? The decentralization processes raise the question of the "competence" of the different power levels and of the "nature" of links between town and country; in brief, the principle of subsidiarity. 230 Country Paper-Niger - faced with a situation of free access in practice (but not in law) to renewable resources, are there any alternatives to privatization? - to what extent can fuelwood be considered as a " common resource"? GG Tevenson (1991) has defined 7 necessary and sufficient criteria (1991) characterizing a common property resource? Does fuelwood satisfy those criterias? Theoretically, in the situation preceding the creation of rural markets in Niger, most of these criteria were met. Criteria two (there is a well-delineated group of users, who are distinct from persons excluded from resource use) was not met, in practice, to the extent that it was impossible to exert the controls required to reserve exclusive access to certain users. The creation of rural markets (which is the principal skill of our action) does not simply aim to recreate common property resources according to a " customary" model. Its main purpose is to form an institution responsible for establishing negotiations between the various parties (from local to national levels) involved in the management of forest resources on the basis of long-term common objectives. Property is not transferred to local communities, but a mutual contract is concluded between the community and the owner, i.e., the State in the present case. Fuelwood is thus subject to local, jointly negotiated management. This process bears a certain resemblance to the notion of "gestion patrimoniale" (Ollagnon, 1990). 3. THE EXPERIMENT IN NIGER 3.1. Objectives Basically, the aim is to involve local populations in the fuelwood commodity chain by legitimizing their roles through the creation of rural fuelwood markets. They set up THEIR OWN market, supplied with wood from forests under THEIR OWN responsibility, produced by woodcutters from THEIR OWN villages. The basic idea behind rural market development is that rural populations must necessarily be granted legitimate rights to manage wood resources in order to ensure their ecological, economic and social sustainability. The income they obtain gives them responsibility for their management of the resource. If they experience positive benefits at the community or individual level, they may take the necessary action to ensure sustainable management of this source of wealth. In short, the aim is to give standing trees a value which enables rural people, by gaining awareness of this value, to protect them, grow them and harvest them for their own benefit. The legal framework must promote and amplify this awareness. 3.2. The legal framework The legal framework has became truly functional in 1994. He gives a number of rules to enable rural populations to appropriate resources and take control of woodcutting zones. 231 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings At the end of the process, the old two-way trader-transporter/forest warden relationship become into a three-way relationship including villagers living around the wooded areas. A particular aspect of this new fiscal system is that it allows local producers to collect tax as soon as the selling act. This is fundamental to understand all the system. A part of this tax is handed over to the State (central and local authorities) to enable it to perform its supervisory role and to provide resources for the financing of rural development projects at village level. 3.3. Implementation Basically, this strategy is based around the following points: - establishment of wood supply plans for the cities of Niamey, Maradi and Zinder, in order to direct and plan forest exploitation, in both spatial and quantitative terms, towards priority intervention zones; - transfer of responsibility for forest resource management to the populations living around the forests (rural markets); 3.4. Results At present, the network of established and functional rural markets covers around forty villages and five regions with a large production potential which were previously subject to uncontrolled harvesting by trader-transporters. They operate on a satisfactory commercial basis, i.e., the markets cut and sell their wood according to predefined criteria (quotas, cutting methods, etc.). They levy the necessary taxes and hand over the appropriate fraction to the State (local authorities and public revenue department). They supply 10% of urban fuelwood demand, i.e., around 16,000 tonnes of fuelwood per year, producing a turnover of around CFA 60 million for producers. The rural market has thus increased the "value of standing wood". The sales price of transporters has risen from 1 or 2 CFA francs/kg to 5 CFA francs/kg, sometimes up to 8 CFA francs/kg. For the consumer, the fuelwood price has only risen from 3 to 5 CFA francs/kg from 20 to 25 CFA francs/kg. Substantial income is generated by the current rural market system, both as regards pre-tax income (shared between woodcutters, managers and village funds) and tax income (shared between the villages, local authorities and the public revenue department). The income of associations, villages and woodcutters has already been used for both collective and individual investments. However, for the moment, these initiatives are few in number. The unallocated tax income has been invested by the populations in the different sectors. 3.5. Difficulties The current operation of rural markets shows that though rural populations have understood perfectly the advantages of this "revolution", such is not the case for the trader-transporters and the forest wardens. 232 Country Paper-Niger Firstly, the trader-transporters are finding it difficult to forget their former role; they are waiting for the village production systems to fail so that they can re-establish total control over wood supply and restore their power to impose low wood purchase price at the point of cutting. The forest wardens, for their part, have lost the privileged relationship they had with traders and hence, for some, the opportunity for illicit gains. 3.6. Prospects Responsibility for forest management has been effectively transferred from the State to the population in operational rural markets. The aim now is to develop the production system spatially in order to give these populations permanent control over the upstream end of the fuelwood commodity chain. With an estimated installation cost of around 4 to 5,000 CFA francs per hectare (less than 10$US/ha), rural markets probably constitute the least cost solution for rational management of forestry resources. Under similar soil and climatic conditions, the mean costs for rural forests are 50 to 100 $US/ha and between 500 and 1,000 $US/ha for plantations operated under concession (Madon et al., 1994). 4. THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS AND BROADER LESSONS OF THE NIGER EXPERIENCE Some consider that the experiment under way in Niger is worthwhile, but very specific, inapplicable outside the Sahelian zone or for resources other than fuelwood (firewood and/or charcoal). How should we react to this objection ? 4.1. Features specific to the agricultural context in Niger? The lack of cash crops prevents escape from subsistence farming The severe climatic conditions (drought) set drastic limits on agriculture. Rain-fed millet and sorghum cultivation is almost exclusively devoted to satisfying local rural population needs, making any accumulation and agricultural investment required for intensification impossible (Milleville, 1991). In this context, the development of fuelwood trading activities to supply spiralling urban populations appears to be one of the rate and sole opportunities for the rural world to obtain the income needed for agricultural intensification. The forest thus constitutes a key rural development factor in Niger. We can observe that forest income is also essential for the simple reproduction of agrarian systems in countries and regions as different as southern Benin (Bertrand et al. 1991) or the Madagascan highlands (Bertrand, 1992). Drought, rural exodus, urban growth and the impact of development projects After the droughts in 1972-1974 and 1984, the large-scale emergency programs and development projects initiated in the Sahel, and in Niger in particular, had a number of adverse effects. Rural 233 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings populations were placed in a passive role, and expected to wait for outside aid and development projects to be brought to them. The new legitimacy of local natural wood resource management instituted by the creation of rural markets has established the conditions required to return responsibility to rural populations. Here again, the case of Niger is not exceptional, though it appears more marked than elsewhere due to the severe climate and natural environment. Relations between town and country and the structure of commercial commodity chains The structure of the fuelwood commodity chain clearly demonstrates that until the recent legal reform and up to the creation of rural fuelwood markets, rural populations had lost effective control over the wood resources on their land and were therefore unable to negotiate harvesting rights under any sort of favorable conditions. Nothing here is truly specific to Niger. 4.2. Solutions limited to the case of fuelwood or applicable to all renewable resources? Fuelwood, timber, dry forests or dense humidforests? The experience of rural fuelwood markets in Niger shows that by initiating independent local development, local community management of renewable resources results in improved management of wood resources and makes long-term sustainable management a realistic objective. But does this mean that local management of forestry resources and the creation of new commons, restoring, in new forms, the customary legitimate rights of populations over the resources in their environment, should be seen as a universal panacea? Can what is valid in the context of fuelwood harvesting in Niger also apply to a timber forest in C6te d'Ivoire? Should there be a distinction between what lies in the domain of management, often requiring in-depth technical knowledge, from what lies in the domain of profit redistribution? A problem of type of resources of local management of renewable resources ? It should not be forgotten forest operators come and go, operating over variable periods of time. Local communities remain the same place. No viable solution guaranteeing the long-term existence of the forest cover can be found without an agreement on new resource management and harvesting methods between all three parties. This calls for "negotiation patrimoniale" (which lies at the intra-village discussions prior to the creation of rural markets). It is clear, therefore, that the justification for the creation of new commons, taking account of all social constraints at the various national, regional and local levels, is not based on the type of 234 Country Paper-Niger forest to be managed, but on other considerations which bring to light the advantages of local, community management of resources. One of the outstanding comparative advantages of local management is the fact that diversity is taken into account; the diversity of land use, natural environments, human and social groups, the variety of social practices and strategies, their wide-ranging effects on resources, etc. 4.3. Rural income, effective economic use and sustainable management of renewable resources? The commercial income obtainedfrom renewable resources provides opportunities for their effective economic use andfor local development through exclusive local management by rural populations. The transfer of legitimacy for local management to rural communities is clearly an advantage which gives meaningful content to state policy. It provides the necessary means for local development, previously held back by a lack of resources and a low accumulation and investment capacity. Local management of renewable resources is based on the restoration by the State of exclusive local rights of access to renewable resources. But does local management automatically guarantee sustainable long-term management of renewable resources? Does essential income guarantee sustainable management? For many years, the income drawn from wood and forestry activities, though small and limited in amount (due to the free access enjoyed in practice by trader-transporters), was considered by rural populations as essential to the survival of rural households. However, this did not prevent a variety of practices which deteriorated forest resources. Without an overall legal and economic framework, it is illusory to assume that the State can take responsibility for instituting local sustainable management of renewable resources. The first measure required to establish this framework is, of course, to legitimize the local community management monopoly. But the example of Niger shows clearly that other measures must be implemented simultaneously. 235 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings FIGURE 1: les principales etapes de la creation des marches ruraux de bois-energie au Niger 1) Information: campagne nationale d'information: TV, radio, brochure en trois langues ... au niveau local (villageois): tournee d'un animateur du projet "presentation du nouveau cadre legislatifpermettant aux villages de gerer leursformations ligneuses (maitrise de la brousse)" resultat: candidature de villages 2) Contact avec les villages candidats approfondissement de l'information sur les marches ruraux et sur la structure de gestion evaluation grossiere des ressources, enquete sociologique resultat: premier choix de villages 3) Du diagnostic villageois au... enqu&tes bucheron / exploitation du bois / fonciere/ pastorale negociations inter et intravillageoises sur la delimitation de la foret inventaire des ressources et productivite resultat: choix de villages prioritaires 4)...soutien a l'eboration d'une structure marche rural preparation du statut et du reglement interieur election des membres de la structure de gestion et formation des responsables: gestionnaire, tresorier, president negociation du quota annuel d'exploitation-commercialisation resultat: creation de la structure locale de gestion constitution du dossier d'agrement et demarrage des activites 5) Officialisation agrement du marche delimination legale de la foret promulgation de l'acte de concession rurale information des professionnels locaux et nationaux de la filiere bois-energie remise des coupons a la structure locale de gestion 6) Appuis l'augmentation lsuivi-controle ... appuis organisationnel / administratif / technique / commercial / compatable / financier suivi et contr6le a posteriori, perception des taxes par l'administration reevaluation annuelle du quota 236 Country Paper--Niger CALCUL DES TAXES SUR UN STERE DE 1000 F EN MARCHE RURAL CONTROLE DE CATGORIE 2 (cas de Tientiergou) 10% = 31,5 F au tr6sor public 31,5 F - Etat 60% = 75,6 F autres 40% - 126 F A la collectivite affections 75,6 F - Collectivite Taxes 315 F _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ 40% + 50,4 F entretiens amAnagement 50% = 157,5 A In structure locale 113,4 F- Foret Prix pay6 par 40% = 63F fonds transporteur investissement forestier 1 315 F/stere 294,5F- T.T.C Village 60% = 94,5 F autres affectations villageolses 200 F caisses villageoises (remboursements avances puis affectations diverses) Prix du Reste 75F au stere au gestionnaire H.T. IOOOF IOOF au gestionnaire Parfoisreversement 25F president 800F Prives 350F avance au bOcheron a la village livraison au marche rural 350F complement au bflcheron A la vente Prix en ville au detail environ 9 000 F /stere 237 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings TAON 12 Taux de taxe Decret no. 92-279 du Premier Ministre/Ministere de l'Hydraulique et de l'Environnement, du 21 ao0t 92: Article I Les MR sont classes en 3 categories: * lere categorie moins de 40 km d'un grand centre de consommation * 2eme categorie: plus de 80 km * 3eme categorie: plus de 80 km Article 4 Taux de taxe par stere de bois de chauffe: Nification par categorie de NR lere 2eme 3eme Base < 40 km 40 << 80 km > 80 km 0% -10% -20% MR orientes (coupons jaunes) 375 1 375 337,5 300 MR contr8les (amenagement, coupons bleus) 350 350 315 260 zone incontr6lee (coupons rouges) 600 238 PARTICIPATRY FOREST LAND USE PLANNING --CROSS RIVER STATE-- NIGERIA PARTICIPATORY FOREST LAND USE PLANNING IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA: THE JOURNEY SO FAR Presented By Etim B. 0. Amika Director of Forestry River State, Nigeria 239 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings PARTICIPATORY FOREST LAND USE PLANNING IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA: THE JOURNEY SO FAR INTRODUCTION: The Southern part of Nigeria was a highly forested region before and immediately after independence in 1960. It was a region of pristine Tropical High Forests (THF). However, from late sixties to date much of these forests have been and are still being destroyed by loggers and farmers. Only about 10% of the original forests remain. (See Appendix: Fig. I - 6) The Cross River State with an area of about 21,265 krn2 and located at the extreme south eastern comer is one of Nigeria's thirty (30) states. It has the largest areas of Tropical High Forests (THF) left in present day Nigeria (about 32%). This, however is disappearing fast. (See Appendix: Fig. 6) About 2000 communities exist in rural Cross River State and over 70% of the state population live in these areas. Their main occupations include mostly farming, hunting, Non- timber Forest Product gathering and harvesting. Consequently then, the reality of the importance of the forest to the social, economic, political and environmental needs of the state and people cannot be overstated. Given the level of complete or total dependence of the local communities on the forest resources, any management approach that does not involve the local people who live on, by and for the forest is not likely to succeed. This understanding informed our decision to involve the local communities /stakeholders in a participatory Land use Management Process that will empower them to have a greater say in the management of the only resource upon which their very existence depends; the forest, the land. TILE PREVAILING CIRCUMSTANCES AND WHAT NEEDED TO BE CORRECTED To understand the process and the need for the process, it is useful to consider the following factors: Size of the Forest Estate and the Management problems it posed; Types of forests under management in Cross River State; Land tenure systems; Government perceptions of the forests; - Community perceptions of the forests; - Relationship between the Forestry Department and the Communities; - The taungya system of farming; - Ineffectiveness of the Forest law and the problem of enforcement; - Encroachment by farmers; - Illegal logging and trading practices - Irregular letting of concessions to large companies by Government; - Creation of the Cross River National Park in 1991 - both a blessing and a problem; 240 Country Paper-Nigeria - Condition of the Forestry Department and its ability to control and administer the forest estate; - The interplay of the economic, social and cultural activities on this Natural Resource Capital Stock. SIZE OF THE FORESTESTATE VIS-A-VIS STAFF COMPONENT AND THE MANAGEMENT PR OBLEM IT POSED: The Forest Estate based on 1994 reconnaissance inventry is about 8966 kM2 made up of 7290 kM2 of Tropical High Forest, including the Cross River National Park; Swamp Forests 520 km2; Mangroves 480 km2 ; plantations 460 km2; and other forests 216 km2. This is a considerable area to be managed and would need adequate, well trained and committed staff which has been lacking. (See Appendix: Fig. 6) TYPES OF FORESTS UNDER MANAGEMENT IN CROSS RIVER STA TE: Forest land in Cross River State is classified into two types for management purposes. Thus, we have the Forest Reserves which are completely controlled by the Cross River State Government, and the community forests which are controlled by the communities. The Forest Reserves are all lands which had earlier belonged to the communities but constituted into Forest Reserves by law. In it, the communities have very minimal rights and a very small portion of royalties paid to them when any major forest produce (timber) was extracted. The communities on the other hand have almost absolute control of the community forests except that they are not allowed by law to fell and convert any tree to timber without getting clearance from the Government. However, they could destroy their community forest and convert them to farms without any legal implications. (See Appendix: Fig. 7) ENCROACHMENT BYILLEGAL FARMERS: The Forest Reserves were constituted in the early twenties and communities in the past never tampered with the reserves as they obeyed and respected the law that forbade them any form of encroachment into the reserves. This was partly due to low population density. But with increased local population, immigrant population, land hunger, rationalization exercise by governments, cash squeeze, food scarcity and awareness, peoples attention turned to the forests (both Forest Reserves and Community forests), hence the rapid rate of degradation/ deforestation. It must be mentioned here that it is the government forest reserves that is much affected in this deforestation exercise because the communities in particular feel cheated and frustrated by Government action for keeping their forests for these many years without their benefiting sufficiently and in some cases at all from their naturally endowed resources. LAN1D TENURE SYSTEMS: The land tenure system in most of the communities favor deforestation. The more, community virgin forest a man clears the more he is respected in the community and the more land he has to bequeath to his children as inheritance. This is the practice by the communities in community forests and could also have applied to the forest reserves but for the fact that these are protected by law. 241 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings GOVERNMENTPERCEPTION OF THE FORESTS: To Cross River State Government, the forests were/are seen only as a source of revenue and not as a natural resource capital stock that should attract investment for proper management and better economic returns. The result was the total coercive encouragement of the Forestry institution to give permit for more trees to be taken so as to continue to provide the much needed revenue. COMMUNITY PERCEPTION OF THE FORESTS: The Community has no regards for the trees and a good number of NTFPs, except the very commonly used ones. To them, because they are not gaining much from the trees and because they are mostly farmers, they preferred to clear the forests, burnt the trees and farm the land. To them, timber or logging was not their line of business. TA UNGYA SYSTEM: In the early seventies, the Taungya System of plantation establishment in Government Forest Reserves was introduced. The intention was to reduce plantation establishment cost. This brought a lot of migrant labour force into farming in the Forest Reserves. However, when the Government had no more funds to raise seedlings to establish plantations, the migrant labourers in their numbers, turned full time farmers, got settled, and had since then continued in the process of converting the THF to farmlands (especially the Forest Reserves). The Ekinta Forest Reserve is a case in point. About 108 km2 of the Forest Reserve is presently without any form of trees. It is now complete cassava farms. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FORESTRY DEPARTMENT AND THE STAKEHOLDERS/COMMUNITIES ETC: Over the years, the relationship between the communities and the forest authority had become strained. The communities are aggrieved that though, by birth right they own the forest they are not part-takers of the proceeds from the Forest due to government legislation that restricts their rights to the forest. Thus they regard Forestry Development Department (FDD) as implementors of this unwholesome legislation. They see the Forestry Department as being high handed and their enemies, while the Forestry Department on the other hand sees them as people who do not want her to perform its legitimate duties effectively. The result has been a complete mistrust. But because these people are more in number, own and know the forests better, their attack on Forestry Department Staff became very hostile and effective; thus most staff felt unsafe to patrol the forests as usual and so the encroachment continued unabated. The communities also from time to time concede government Forest Reserves to farmers to spite the government and its agent. MANAGEMENT CAPACITY/ABILITY OF FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT: The Forestry Department is the institution responsible for the professional, technical and administrative management of the forests; but it had not the capacity to do so effectively. The Forestry Department is very poorly funded, and understaffed. Staff promotions are not forth coming. Staff moral was low. Staff lacked exposure to modern forestry practices. There was 242 Country Paper-Nigeria complete lack of training to update skills and improve performance. There were no tools and equipment. Office space was poor and inadequate (it still is). It was a period of near total stagnation. INEFFECTIVENESS OF THE FOREST LAW AND THE PROBLEM OF ENCROACHMENT: The Forest Law which is in operation in the Cross River State is completely derived from the National Forest Law which came into operation at the very early part of this century. It has not been amended since then except the Regulations which have seen some amendments recently. Maximum fines as prescribed in this law for any offence still stands at N200.00 or a maximum period of 2 years imprisomnent. Neither the fines nor the period of imprisonment offers enough deterrent to would-be illegal operators. With this laws Megal operators prefer taking produce or committing other forest offenses than taking permits which cost more. ILLEGAL LOGGING AND TRADING PRACTICES: In the early seventies, the power chainsaws were introduced into the country and by about late seventies or early eighties it had found its way into the then Cross River State. This machine is meant for felling, but is being used for wood conversion in situ. It is portable, easy to operate and so illegal operators move with it into the forests, fell and convert even at night with lanterns. The wood is conveyed on the head by carriers to a standby vehicle and moved away to the timber markets or outside the state and immediately split into smaller dimensions. However, collusion between some officials and these illegal dealers is not ruled out. Stiff penalties are now regulated to deal with the situation by way of bigger fines and disciplinary action on erring staff. IRREGULAR LETrING OF CONCESSIONS TO COMPANIES BY GOVERNMENT: Concessions were let to companies without consideration for'alternative or other better land uses which would consider the environment and conservation principles. At times this is done in complete disregard to professional advice. However, for now, a standing committee has been formed to examine each application on a set of criteria and make recommendations to the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture for approval. CREATION OF THE CROSS RIVER NATIONAL PARK IN 1991 - BOTH A BLESSING AND A PROBLEM The Cross River National Park of over 3000 km2 was excised from the Forest Reserves of the Cross River State by a Federal Decree in 1991. It is a blessing because it reduced the former large size of the Cross River State Forest Estate to a manageable proportion considering the staff strength of the Forestry Department. It is also a blessing because it is poised to conserve and protect a good chunk of the Tropical High Forest of the State along with its rich biodiversity. It is a problem because it increased the pressure on the forests outside the National Park. This problems are being tackled through the joint management of the Support Zone of the National Park by the Forestry Department and the park authorities. It was the negative interplay of the human, economic, social and cultural activities on this natural resource capital stock and on the Forestry Department which is the government institution charged with the responsibility of forest resource land use, planning and management 243 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings that necessitated the intervention. The Forestry Department could not cope with the new stand of the communities. Their confrontational approach/attitude to Forestry Departnent Staff brought the realization that for the Forestry Department to succeed, it must find a way to be friendly with stockholders, particularly the farmers/communities, hence the participatory forest land use planning in the Cross River State. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE INTER VENTION: The overall aim is to identify the problems, suggest appropriate approach/method for arresting/solving the problems that will enhance better land use planning for Sustainable Development, Conservation and Management of the forest estate m the best interest of all stakeholders. TLE MAIN OBJECTIVES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING AND AIM TO: - Provide better and acceptable alternatives to present rural land use practices; - Support programmes that will improve rural income and alleviate rural poverty; - Improve FD and local skills through training; - Encourage and entrench the formation of institutions at urban levels that will form the nucleus of proper land use planning and management; - To build consensus and confidence between the Government (FD) and the stakeholders; - Encourage the participation of foreign NGOs and the formation of local ones in land use planning and resource management; - Increase and improve resource stock through afforestation; - Encourage the establishment of Wood/NTFP based cottage industries; - Assist and source for better markets locally and abroad for goods produced in these industries. THE PROCESS: An ODA joint Mid-Term Review Mission to the Cross River State Forestry project (ODA Assisted) in October, 1992, recommended a policy and institutional reforms for the Cross River State Forestry Sector. As a follow up to this recommendation, ODA commissioned the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) U.K to work in collaboration with the CRS Forestry project/Development Department. In order to coincide with the first visit of the IIED consultants, the Forestry Department organised a Policy and Institutions workshop in which the visiting team attended. After an initial fact findings, it was obvious that the issue of policy reforms was above the mandate of a State Forestry Service or Government but exclusive for the Federal Government. However, instead of a policy reforms, it was agreed that a strategy for Sustainable Development, Conservation and Management of the Forest of Cross River State be formulated. The first step towards this was to identify existing legislation, policy guidelines, ordinances, laws and regulations, etc. as it affected natural resource conservation particularly the forestry sector. Considering the wide range of interest groups (stakeholders) involved in the forestry sector, the task of identifying them and their level of involvement was to be addressed. 244 Country Paper-Nigeria Enormous data, for instance, the state of the forest, socio-economic land use etc. were needed. A Task Force committee was set up to co-ordinate, source for, further identify additional key stakeholders and organize workshops for data building blocks towards the formulation of the envisaged strategy. The Task force was also responsible for identifying the types of data to be collected, when, where, how and by who. The Task Force, and its functions was the beginning of the Participatory approach to Forest Resource Management in Cross River State. It resulted in participatory decision making and confidence building. The activities of the Task force was winded-up with a Strategic Planning Workshop in which the data collected was evaluated against the background of the set objectives and information gaps was identified and actions set in motion to obtain them. In place of the Task Force, a Steering Council was formed. THE STEERING COUNCIL: The main function of the Steering Council (SC) was to guide the preparation, Presentation and Acceptance of the Strategic Plan for the Cross River State Forest Estate. Membership was invited from all Cross River State Govemment Ministries and Parastatals with relevance to land use; Forest Concessionaires, Timber producers and dealers Association, Timber Sawyers; the Farmers Councils, other non-govemmental organizations also and those which functions impact in one way or the other on the forest estate. The most important members of this council were those from the forest and non-forest villages and communities. For the purpose of participatory and equitable representation and selection of these group of members, the already existing zones of southern, central and northern senatorial system in the state became handy. Before members were selected or voted into the council, a sensitization tour was undertaken to raise the awareness of the local people on what the process and the new initiative to forest management was all about. Local communities having been recognized and sensitized, democratically in each of the various zones, at the end of what appears to be rural proples' convention agreed and voted three representatives from each zone to the Steering Council. They voted men and women of honour and integrity and those whom they have confident on. The Forestry Department was merely an observer in the whole process of selecting their representatives. In all, the local communities had nine (9) representatives in the Steering Council. At the inaugural meeting of the Steering Council, a technical arm of the council caused Steering Committee was formed. THIE STEERING COMMNfflEE: Representatives of the local communities from the three senatorial zones in the steering council, elected amongst themselves three representatives into the steering committee Other key stakeholders and government were represented in the committee making a total of 13 member committee. The committee was the technical arm of the whole process, gathering necessary data, collating and production of discussion papers which were presented to the Steering Council from time to time for fine tuning. 245 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings A key feature of the entire process was the inbuilt feed back system whereby representatives of the local communities were provided with inputs to enable them reach out to their various villages to inform them of the progress in the council and to come up with their views. At the end of various consultations held by the representatives of the local communities with their people, position papers were presented which became a vital document for the preparation of the strategy. Various interest groups like Forest Concessionaires, Timber Producer and Dealer Associations, and other non-govermmental organizations also had similar consultations with their enlarged members and presented position papers which were used in preparing the strategy document. Thus consultations were broad based, employing sufficient feed back system in eliciting the views of the local people. MAINACTIVITIES: Most government programs fail not because they are badly conceived, planned and executed, but because a very important element for success is usually left out or considered unimportant. That single, and critical element is collective responsibility and collective decision on making involving would be beneficiaries. In anticipation of the contribution to the success of community based projects using Participatory Rural Appraisal and Participatory Planning and Learning Methodology, the following activities for empowerment of the communities/stakeholders were undertaken: - Extensive and intensive consultations with the rural forest communities, made up of chiefs, men and men leaders, women and women leaders, youths and youth leaders, children etc. - Series of workshops within the Forestry Department Staff and between the Forestry Department and the communities. - Series of meetings/workshops with other stakeholder groups - large forest concessionaires, power-chain saw operators, weekend farmers, NTFP gatherers, secondary and tertiary wood workers (carpenters etc.). - Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) training for staff. - Commission of studies for data collection etc. to enable proper planning. - Capacity building through training and re-training both locally and overseas for Forestry Department staff and locally for stakeholders/communities. - Establishment of community Agro-forestry initiatives and provision of tools, equipment and seedlings etc. - Sensitization of stakeholders, particularly at the rural level by the Forest Charge Officers on the new approach to forest land use management. The responsibilities and benefits likely to accrue to would-be beneficiaries from this new approach were well defined and clarified. - Revision of the Cross River State Forest Produce tariff was undertaken to review upwards the pricing of forest produce and royalty which had been very low so as to provide greater financial benefits to the stakeholders, particularly the rural communities in-order to change their perception of the forests. This singular act has been very effective. - NTFP surveys was primarily done at the rural level with the full participation of the local people who we discovered had a better knowledge of plants and their uses than most, if not all of us. They educated us on medicinal plants, edible leaves, mushrooms, nuts, herbs etc. The continued impact of this exercise on the relationship between the Forestry Department and the rural communities had been remarkable and thought provoking. - Establishment of the Community Development/Forest Management initiative in Ekuri is intended as a model and the flagship of the Cross River State Forestry Strategy. The 246 Country Paper-Nigeria locals were trained in perimeter survey, stock survey (SS), power-chain saw operation and maintenance as well as encouraged to form a Co-operative Society to help sustain the initiative. To further encourage the Ekuri Community to manage their forest themselves, assistance in the form of physical cash, materials and equipment, personnel and other logistical support were given to them by FDD and Overseas Development Administration (ODA), the British High Commission (BHC) other local donors like Strabag, Eagle Cement and Crush Rock etc. in an effort to open up access road to the community and the forest to the nearest highway. Often, logging companies use the provision of access road to communities as a bait to obtain forest concessions from the communities. Our action and support is to stop this baiting and in doing so the forest can be sustained. This has been achieved so far, but the future is pregnant. Empowerment of the local communities through the formation of the Community Forest Management Committees. These CFMCs are to handle and represent the communities on all forestry related matters, working in close collaboration with the Forestry Department Staff. The resident forest officer in that area is an executive member of the FMC and always available at their service for expert advice. Our extensive discussions with the communities and other stakeholder groups had assisted us much in the building of confidence and trust and also informed us that there was need to devolve some responsibilities, especially those that their present skill could carry. Most of these CFMCs are functioning well while others are still in the process of taking off. - State-wide Public Awareness Campaigns using the TV, Radio, Video tapes and Public Address Systems from time to time has helped in no small way to change the public perception of the forests and the new forest land use planning approach. - The formation of the Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) was to provide a forum for all agencies and organizations whose functions impact on the land in one way or the other the opportunity to identify areas of collaboration, overlaps, and where there is conflict as between the Forestry Development Department and Cross River National Park in the Support Zone, and thus proffer solutions. This committee met several times but had to halt temporarily for reasons beyond its control. SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PROCESS: Some of the ways planned to sustain the process had been to make the Forestry Development Department a Commission or an Authority whereby it could be self accounting, plans its programmes, executes, hires and fires labour with the main aim of keeping only quality and conscientious staff. This has not been done. The formation of a forestry Trust Fund has also been proposed but is not in place yet. It will add to sustainability as funds would always be available. The revision of the Forest Product Tariff from time to time is also meant to make the Forestry Development Department and the Forestry Strategy self sustaining. Proper planning, control of illegal activities and monitoring of logging operations to ensure that appropriate fees are paid are other means to sustain the process. However, these are usually difficult for logistic reasons and other reasons outside the control of FD. That 247 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings notwithstanding, the highest revenue was made in 1995 because of some of the measures adopted by the Forestry Development Department based on the strategic process. It is my opinion, based on my experience that financial sustainability of the strategy based on the present administrative set up of the Forestry Development Department and Government response to Forestry Department requests does not encourage sustainability. However, if the Forestry Development Department function in the future is decisively for monitoring, evaluation and supervision of actions/functions which have been devolved to the CFMCs and NGOs using few skilled staff (thus cutting down on wage bills and overheads etc.) but with little government support (if no Commission) it will be sustainable. RESULTS: Some of the main activities mentioned above have been implemented fully, others partially and yet others are to start. The 'little' success so far achieved has been through constant dialogues, the use of the "Top down and bottom up" approaches as well as the use of incentives by way of improved royalties payments resulting from the improved new Forestry Tariff, as well as informant fees (IF) paid when a stakeholder reports an offence of illegal activities to the Forestry Development Department. The strategy document was completed presented to and accepted by the Cross River State Government (CRSG). About eleven CFMC were established and inaugurated; Tariff was revised and is operational; Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) formed but not very operational; two Agro-forestry initiatives established at Igwo in Obudu and Odukpani; many forestry staff received various trainings; public awareness campaigns held and very successful and is continuous. Substantial confidence has been built up between the FD and stakeholders. It should be understood that the whole process is a novelty to those of us from FDD who took part in this strategy preparation. That it is a process means that there is always room to add and subtract to improve and make the process better and workable. The experience has been very useful and rewarding. It has helped us to know the stakeholders better and to be able to deal effectively with them. The Government has its perception of the Forestry Strategy, the Stakeholders/communities also have their perceptions. They have all been used to a particular attitude of seeing the forest and the land, using the forest and the land so the new approach would take time to be adopted fully. The following conditions should be understood and followed if the process is to be effective and successful. - There is need for continuous consultations and dialogues. - Efforts should be made to complete all participatory projects started so as to consolidate confidence already built. - The communities/stakeholders know what they want. - We should listen to their demands and assist where possible. - Never say yes to the communities on an issue or promise what you know you would not fulfill. - There should be sustained public awareness campaigns using electronic and print media. - Use the stick and carrot method. - Social habits are very difficult to change; it takes time. 248 Country Paper-Nigeria - The opportunities can slip off our hands if the momentum is not maintained. This seems to be the case now since the ODA termination of their support due to the EU common position on Nigeria. IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS AND HOW THEY WERE DEALT WITH: The whole process has been a novelty from inception; so was the planning and implementation. Thus, solutions to identified problems arising from or during the implementation needed a novel approach, possibly gleaned during the planning/learning process. I shall now consider some of the activities which during implementation posed problems and how these were/are being dealt with. MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT AND MISINTERPRETATION OF SECTIONS OF TILE STRATEGY Inspite of the elaborate and democratic process of selection of community representatives into the Steering Council and Steering Committee and the intensive and extensive sensitization campaigns carried out before, during and after the completion of the Strategy, some representatives present wrong (possibly self-centered) information to their communities. For example, some representatives for personal reasons had told their communities that the Forest Reserves have all been returned to them; some others told their communities that their enclaves shall soon be extended and large farm lands cut out for the use. The result has been the communities wanting to have the same tenure rights as allowed by government in the community forests. Why do some members to this? They want to score, political points (advantage) that they fought and were responsible for pressurizing the government to return the Forest Reserves to them. This is still a on-going problem and is being addressed through more dialogues/explanations with the communities involved. In addition, reference is made to the Forest Laws and the sanctions the law imposes on any breach. SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNITY FORESTS There is still the problem of convincing most communities to see the need to manage their community forests sustainably. The present land tenure system which provides for permanent ownership of a deforested virgin forest is deep rooted and has a very strong local acceptance. It poses more problems as it now involves wealthy urban dwellers with substantive financial power to finance deforestation in their communities. There have been discussions between village communities on this issue. We hope it will be successful as time goes on. Also there is a proposal in the making whereby the government shall treat some aspects of community forest management as if these are Forest Reserve. The land tenure is one of such cases. It will be discussed in the Inter-Agency Committee in the future as part of the needed amendments. TRADITIONAL FARMING SYSTEM The slash and burn/shifting method of agriculture is inimcal to sustainable forest land use management. But this is the general practice in the Cross River State. Intensified agriculture is new and needs inputs such as fertilizer and better farming implements which the rural people can ill-afford. In addition, they would need some trainings to be able to make proper and effective use of these implements. This is likely to remain a problem for some time to come except the government decides to take up this very important responsibility. 249 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Perception of Foreign Assisted projects by participants. From the on-set, some participants came up with demands i.e. financial remunerations that was outrageous in some cases. However, we had to strike a balance between their demands (honorarium) and what we could comfortably afford to enable the process move forward. This was achieved through dialogues. Formation of Community Forest Management Committees (CFMCS) also posed some problems. Communities initially viewed this innovation with suspicion. This was so because relationship between the Forestry Department and the communities had not been cordial. The situation was taken care of by intensive discussions, devolution of some responsibilities which went along with the promise to and actual sharing of some funds resulting from their activities with the government e.g.. Farmers Registration Fees attracts N200. 00 per person and is shared in the ratio of 50:50. Encroachment into the Forest Reserve, cutting and burning of trees for farming. Intensive discussion and the use of the CFMCs to sanction community members who refuse to obey the order. For the burning of trees, this has been taken care of by letting the people know and appreciate the value of trees and also through the royalties paid to the communities for community development projects and to individual tree owners for their private use. The Overseas Development Administration (ODA) employed some staff into the project such as drivers, personnel staff, security etc. These employees were better rated (paid) than their counterparts in the government. With the exit of ODA and the absorption of these staff into the government to enable the process move forward, there is an observed tall in their moral and loss enthusiasm on the job. I feel they are only waiting for better opportunities elsewhere. There is the question of suspicion by the rural village people about the genuiness of their elite urban dwellers who meet to discuss with Forestry Department from time to time outside the village. There is the feeling that certain things are being compromised. Also there is suspicion from visage CFMC members from different villages e.g. between Old and New Ekuri who had had a long standing disagreement. This is being taken care of by constant dialogues. FUNDING: This has been a major problem. It is fundamental to the success or otherwise of any endeavor. No matter how well conceived and planned a project is, it cannot succeed without appropriate, sustained and timely funding. Since the departure of ODA, funding has been a major problem. Government reluctance and irregular release of funds for capital projects as well as lack of incentives for Forestry Department staff and other inputs have not been in the interest of the process. The sudden withdrawal of ODA assistance owing to EU Common position on Nigeria did not provide opportunity for gradual adaptation. There is no solution to this problem yet. However a proposal has been made to the government to allow the retention of 30% of all revenue collected by the Forestry Department for the services of the department to enable the project move forward. 250 Country Paper-Nigeria CONCLUSION: This paper will be incomplete if my sincere appreciation is not given to the ODA, the British High Commission, Lagos Nigeria and the International Institute for Environment and Development for their technical input, funding, cooperation, understanding and patience with us. This appreciation is also extended to IRED West Africa. We have together labored and successfully developed a model of participatory approach to solving our long standing problem - Forest and Land use Management. We have come a long way, we also have a long way to go. Implementation of the strategy is also as challenging as its formulation. Forestry Development Department for now can not go it alone. Hence the sudden withdrawal of ODA support to the project has kept it in a dangerous position which could undermined all the effort put together in arriving at the stage we are. We are confident that ODA in no distant time would come back as the political situation in Nigeria becomes clearer. The thrust of the strategy is local community participation and involves skills development, training, provision of inputs and a do it yourself approach which enhances poverty alleviation. I am aware there are other NGOs involved in helping to improve the living standard of local peoples. The Cross River State Forestry Strategy has a place for you and we are prepared to welcome you in partnership. Let us work together to improve the people and the environment. REFERENCES: Atte, 0. D. (1994) Land and Forests of Cross River State: A participatory Appraisal of Rural Peoples' Perceptions and Preferences. Cross River State Forestry Project/Departmnent, Calabar, Nigeria. Cross River State Forestry project Technical Report (1994) "Overview of a Planning Process for sustainable Management of the Forest of Cross River State", Calabar, Nigeria. Dunn, R. M; Otu, D. 0. Wong, J. C. (1994) Report on Reconnaissance inventory of High Forest and Swamp Forest Areas in Cross River State, Nigeria. Cross River State Forestry project. Forestry Development Department, Cross River State (1994) "A Strategy for Sustainable Development, Conservation and Management of the Forest of Cross River State, Calabar, Nigeria. Jane, C. (1996) Recent Approaches to Participatory Forest Resource Assessment. Rural Development Forestry Study Guide 2. ODI London. Kirsty, T; Otu, D; Enur 0. (1995). A Community Forest management Project in the villages of Old and New Ekuri, Cross River State, Nigeria. Unpublished proposal. Morakinyo, T. (1991) The History of Deforestation in Nigeria. Cross River State Forest Project, Calabar, Nigeria. 251 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 6A THE LOSSES OF TROPICAL HIGH FOREST IN C.RS. 1972-1991 Change (loss) between 1972-1991 80 70 60 , 50 40 30 - 20 - _ _ 10 0. -- Southem Central Northem Portions of state 252 Country Paper-Nigeria Forest Reserve 60 50 40 I u) 30 0 20 10 0- Southem Central Northem Portions of state Community Forest 40 35 30 Iiiiiiiii- o_25 - 20 10 5 0 ---- Southem Central Northem Portions of state SOURCE: Dun and Otu. (1994), FOREST DEV. DEPT. 253 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings DIAGRAMMA TIC STRUCTURE OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS ADOPTED STRATEGIC PLANNING DRAFT STRATEGIC AIMS, WORKSHOP > OBJECTIVES & OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND RESOURCE SURVEYS STEERING COMMITTEE/COUNCIL i STRATEGY STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS DRAFT STRATEGY STATE EXECUTIVE ANALYSIS (CONSTRAINTS, PRIORITY , s APPROVAL PROBLEMS & OPPORTUNITIES) I 1 CONSENSUS BUILDING & ACTION PLAN SURVEY REFINEMENTS & ANALYSIS CONFLICT RESOLUTION t DISCUSSION DOCUMENT MONITORING & STEERING COMMITTEE & COUNCIL I AUDITING CONSULTATIONS STEERING COMMITTEE & COUNCIL CONSULTATIONS DRAFT DISCUSSION DOCUMENT SOURCE: C.R.S.F.P. Technical Report Overview of a Planning Process for Sustainable Management of the Forest of Cross R. State, Nigeria 254 PARTICIPATORY FOREST POLICY REFORM SENEGAL GESTIONDURABLE ETPARTICIPATIVE DES ENERGIES TRADITIONNELLES ET DE SUBSTITUTION SENEGAL Matar CISSE, Chef de Division Direction des Eaux, Forets, Chasses et de la Conservation des Sols Amenagement et Productions Forestieres Ministere de l'Environnement et de la Protection de la Nature 255 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings I INTRODUCTION II L'EXPERIENCE DU SENEGAL DANS LES DOMAINES DE LA RESPONSABILISATION DES POPULATIONS ET DE LEUR PARTICIPATION AUX ACTIVITES FORESTIERES m CONTEXTE IV OBJECTIF V STRATEGIES VI PROBLEMES DU SOUS SECTEUR DES COMBUSTIBLES DOMESTIQUES ET STRATEGIES VII PROGRAMME POUR LA GESTION DURABLE ET PARTICIPATIVE DES ENERGIES TRADMONNELLES ET DE SUBSTITTIION 256 Country Paper-Senegal GESTION DURABLE ET PARTICIPATIVE DES ENERGIES TRADITIONNELLES ET DE SUBSTITUTION -SENEGAL- L INTRODUCTION Ce document presente a l'occasion du forum organise par le Banque mondiale a NAIROBI du 28-08-1996 au 30-08-1996, introduit toute la problematique de gestion forestiere au Senegal. II s'articule autour de plusieurs points. II s'agit entres autres d'une analyse sur l'experience du Senegal dans les domaines de la responsabilisation des populations et de leur participation aux activites forestieres. Loin de l'exhaustivite, cette partie permet d'evoquer l'historique de la foresterie au Senegal et 1'evolution des differentes approches utilisees pour conduire les differentes politiques de 1930 a nosjours. Apres ce bref rappel des differentes approches utilisees pour conduire les politiques forestieres au Senegal, des elements du contexte ont et developpes. Ainsi, I'analyse de la situation generale permet de rappeler le cadre macro-economique du Senegal qui est soumis a plusieurs contraintes structurelles. Dans cette partie, des elements de conclusion sur la politique forestiere permettent de placer la problematique de gestion forestiere dans son veritable contexte dynamique. Apres la presentation du contexte, le document propose des objectifs et strategies macro- economiques qui s'appuient en priorite sur le plan d'action forestier du Senegal, lequel s'associe au plan d'action environnementale et au plan de lutte contre la Desertification pour soutenir l'essentiel de la politique forestiere du pays. Compte tenu de l'iimportance des combustibles domestiques dans la politique energetique du pays et du bois energie dans la consommation finale des menages, le document evoque les problemes du sous secteur des combustibles domestiques et strategies et degage l'ambivalence qui est relevee sur la structure des formations forestieres caracteristiques d'un environnement sahelien, qui outre leur role de protection et de maintien de la fertilite des sols, foumissent l'essentiel de l'nergie consommee en milieu rural ainsi qu'une part importante du fourrage constituant la base indispensable de 1'6conomie pastorale du pays. Le programme pour la gestion durable et participative des energies traditionnelles et de substitution, qui decoule d'un programme sous-regionnal avec l'appui de la Banque mondiale est presentee comme element de politique innovatrice pour renverser la tendance a la degradation des ecosystemes forestiers dans un contexte de croisssance de la demande en combustibles domestiques. II L'EXPERIENCE DU SENEGAL DANS LE DOMAINE DE LA RESPONSABILISATION DES POPULATIONS ET DE LEUR PARTICIPATION AUX ACT1VITES FORESTIERES 2.1 - Apersu historique Le Senegal a une longue et riche experience en matiere de participation des populations dans les activites forestieres. Elle remonte a la periode precoloniale et se poursuitjusqu'a nosjours. Si l'on veut faire de l'histoire, on peut remonter jusqu'a l'epoque du royaume du Baol dans le Bassin 257 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings arachidier oui l'abattage d'un Acac albida etait un acte passible de mort et sa protection etait rentree dans les moeurs. Ce fuit une formne de responsabilisation des populations, fort efficace et concluante d'ailleurs puisqu'elle a lagu6 i la posterite d'impressionnants parcs, malheureusement fortement compromis aujourd'hui par l'extension de la culture arachidiere. Les administrations coloniales et post-coloniales ont pendant les premieres annees de leur existence, utilise une forme autoritaire de plantations pour r6aliser les premieres plantations en r6gie. 2.1.1 -La regie forestiere Les premieres experiences de l'administration forestiere en matiere de reboisement et d'enrichissement des forets remontent aux annees 1930 avec les plantations de Khaya senegalensis dans le Centre-Est et de Tectona grandis (Teck) en Casamance. Ce programme s'est poursuivi de 1947 a l'Independance et s'est etendu au Bassin arachidier par des plantations d'Acacia albida et la plantation de Casuarina equisefolia (Filao) sur le littoral nord, pour proteger les cuvettes maraicheres. Ces actions se poursuivent et se renforcent apres 1960 avec des actions d'emergence comme les grands chantiers de reboisement inities au cours des annees 1970 en vue de r6pondre au processus de degradation des ecosystemes, consecutif a l'installation de la secheresse. Celle-ci, d'ailleurs, devenue end6mique, a vite montre les limites de l'option regie tant au niveau de l'approche adoptee, des techniques utilisees, que des moyens mis en oeuvre par ces projets de premiere generation. Face au cofut eleve des reboisements en regie, a la persistance et a la rapidite de la regeneration des ressources forestieres, il a fallu progressivement s'orienter vers une approche impliquant davantage les populations rurales. 2.1.2 Des plantations communautaires a l'amenagement integre des terroirs villageois La participation des populations est de plus en plus ressentie comme une priorite incontournable pour juguler le processus de degradation des potentiels de production. Une seconde generation de projets a vu le jour au debut des annees 1980 et se propose de concevoir et de mettre en oeuvre des activites repondant le mieux aux besoins et priorites des paysans dans les liinites des conditions du milieu. Ces projets mettent en oeuvre des actions type "bois de villages" et plantations communautaires et evoluent ensuite vers des formes plus diversifiees comme les brise- vent, les bosquets famniliaux et les haies vives. L'approche etait cependant trop sectorielle et les populations n'etaient pas suffisamment preparees et impliquees reellement pour des raisons liees a la nature meme de l'approche. Dans une approche de type "Top-Down", l'ensemble du processus de mise en oeuvre des activites (conception, decision, elaboration, mise en oeuvre et suivi) est accapare par la structure du projet, les communautes rurales dtant considerees simplement comme une reserve de main- d'oeuvre. 258 Country Paper-Senegal Face a ce constat d'echec, l'on est passe au concept de "foresterie villageoise" ou "foresterie rurale". Cette strategie d'action a et elaboree par le plan de developpement forestier du Senegal en 1981 et a revetu plusieurs aspects. Au depart, il y avait beaucoup de participation imperative, les actions etaient toujours concues et mises en oeuvre de maniere unilaterale par le service forestier. Le quantitatif (realisations physiques) r'emportait toujours sur le qualitatif (1'auto-promotion rurale). Cela s'est traduit par la difficulte de convaincre des populations preoccupees par la recherche de I'autosuffisance alimentaire et l'amelioration de leurs conditions materielles de vie, a s'investir dans des actions A long terme. D'oi l'introduction de mesures d'accompagnement ou incitatives diverses: distribution de vivres PAM, micro-realisations, achat d'une partie de la production des plants, etc... Les mesures incitatives n'ont pas donne les resultats escomptes. La participation s'est limitee a une simple implication des populations dans l'ex6cution, dans la plupart des cas. Cette strategie dtintervention fut abandonnee au profit d'une approche participative qui a permis d'evoluer vers I'amenagement integre des terroirs villageois. Desormais, les activites ne se limitent plus a la plantation d'arbres mais englobent la protection des cultures, la restauration des sols et la rehabilitation de l'environnement. Les activites d'amenagement des forets naturelles n'ont pas encore ete developpees en raison de la meconnaissance des potentialites forestieres. La phase actuelle est dominee par une importante reflexion accompagnee deja par quelques prises de decisions politiques et administratives, sur le transfert des responsabilites de gestion des ressources forestieres au niveau des collectivites locales. Ce projet a donne naissance a une dynamique de concertation et de consultation a tous les niveaux avec la tenue de nombreux seminaires et forums nationaux. Parmi les plus recents, on peut citer: - I'atelier national sur la gestion forestiere et participation villageoise tenue A Kolda du 4 au 8 Mai 1992; - le seminaire national sur rexploitation forestiere tenu a Dakar, du 14 au 15 Octobre 1993; - le seminaire organise par l'Ecole Nationale d'Economie Appliquee (ENEA) de Dakar sur la "Mise en place de la Regionalisation au Senegal", du 2 au 4 Mai 1994; - le Forum national sur "la Gestion des Ressources naturelles" tenu a Agnam Thiodaye, du 5 au 7 Aouit 1994 avec les representants des communautes rurales de tout le pays; - le forum national sur la regionalisation et la gestion des ressources naturelles et de l'environnement, organise A Dioloulou du 13 au 14 Aouit 1996. Tout ceci temoigne de la volonte du politique et des techniciens de rendre effective la prise en charge par les collectivites locales de la gestion de leurs forets. m CONTEXTE Le Senegal couvre une superficie de 196 192 km2 pour environ 8 millions d'habitants (estimation 1995) dont plus de 50 % vivent en milieu rural. Le pays dispose d'un important potentiel agro-sylvo-pastoral qui occupe plus de 70 % de la population active et engendre une valeur ajoutee de 20 % du produit interieur brut (PIB). 259 African Forest Polky Forum-Proceedings L'economie nationale est essentiellement basee sur le secteur primaire. La culture de l'arachide occupe 20 % des terres emblavees et represente entre 800 000 et 1 000 000 de tonnes en 1981. Les productions cerealieres, mil et sorgho (8000 000 t en 1985), riz 136 000 tonnes en 1984 sont insuffisantes pour couvrir les besoins du pays et le Senegal doit toujours continuer A importer 200 000 tonnes de riz et 100 000 tonnes de ble. Egalement, l'conomie senegalaise est soumise a de fortes contraintes structurelles parmi lesquelles une demande galopante, une baisse considerable de la pluviometrie et une acceleration du processus de desertification. Au cours des demieres annees, le Senegal s'est attache a realiser une strategie de reforme dans le but d'eliminer les rigidites structurelles de son economie, dans une etape de stabilisation d'abord, d'ajustement structurel ensuite. Elles ont transforme en profondeur la dynamique de l'economie nationale, en particulier depuis le changement de parite du franc CFA intervenu en janvier 1994. Depuis cette date, une iznpulsion nouvelle A ete donnee A la strategie d'ajustement qui met desormais l'accent sur une gestion macro-economique rigoureuse et sur le renforcement des ressources necessaires A une croissance soutenue. La r6alisation de cette croissance soutenue ainsi que la lutte contre la pauvrete et la protection de l'environnement s'imposent comme des conditions sine qua none pour un developpement durable. Par ailleurs, le Senegal s'est engage resolument A operationnaliser I'approche participative dans le processus de formulation et de mise en oeuvre des strategies nationales. C'est ainsi qu'A travers une serie de reformes juridiques et institutionnelles le Gouvemement est en train de transferer davantage de responsabilites aux collectivites locales, comme en temoignent les mesures de 1990 et de fevrier 1996 sur la decentralisation, dans le cadre de leur auto-developpement, contribuant de la sorte a repondre a I'aspiration des populations concernees a prendre part au processus de prise de decision. Le Senegal, A l'instar des autres pays saheliens a et confronte, au cours des deux dernieres decennies, a une serie de secheresses chroniques qui ont eu comme consequence la destruction du couvert vegetal avec ses effets sur la protection des sols, le niveau de production forestiere et animale, la conservation de la diversite biologique, la degradation des systemes traditionnels de production, la crise energetique, l'appauvrissement des populations rurales, et l'exode rural. La conjonction des facteurs de degradation naturelles et anthropiques ont ainsi engendr6 un phenomene de surexploitation des terres marquee par des prelevements incontr6les des ressources ligneuses. Les ressources forestieres du Senegal qui s'6tendent sur environ 25% du territoire, sont constituees essentiellement de savanes arbustives et arborees correspondant aux zones bioclimatiques des domaines saheliens et soudaniens. Les forets claires et les reliques de forets denses ne se rencontrent qu'au sud, avec une production modeste de bois d'oeuvre. La recession climatique, les feux de brousse et la competition des terrains agricoles sont sans conteste parmi les causes du recul des formations forestieres. Cependant, la pression exerc6e par 1'exploitation forestiere pour l'approvisionnement en combustibles ligneux des agglomerations urbaines est de plus en plus reconnue comme une cause majeure de degradation des ressources naturelles au Senegal. 260 County Paper-Senegal En effet, les formations forestieres naturelles foumissent aujourd'hui plus de 90% de l'energie consommee par les menages. La consommation domestique de bois et charbon de bois constitue un element important du phenomene de rarefaction des ressources ligneuses, faisant ainsi courir un risque grave a l'environnement et compromettant a terme l'approvisionnement des menages en energie de cuisson. L'etat des ressources forestieres denote ainsi, une necessite de resoudre la contradiction entre le processus de deboisement en cours et la demande toujours croissante de combustibles ligneux de la population, et propose comme alternative l'amenagement des forets naturelles. La regionnalisation aidant, la participation des populations rurales devient aujourd'hui, un outil de gestion strategique de nos ressources. Le diagnostic a ete etabli avec l'appui du Plan d'Action Forestier du Senegal dans le cadre d'une etude realisee en Aouit 1994 par SOTO FLANDEZ, sur la base de I'analyse de la situation des ressources forestieres, de la politique forestiere enoncee depuis 1981, de la legislation fonciere et forestiere, et sur le constat de leur gestion reelle sur le terrain. Les conclusions principales sont les suivantes: i) La destruction et la degradation des formations forestieres vont s'accelerer dans les prochaines annees, a cause de la course aux nouvelles terres, dans un cadre d'exode des populations rurales du bassin arachidier en direction des zones encore boisees du pays; ii) La substitution des combustibles ligneux par le gaz ne pourra plus progresser de facon significative tant que le niveau des revenus des menages ne s'am6liore pas. En attendant, la demande des combustibles ligneux restera predominante, au moins pendant quelques decennies, surtout parmi les couches les plus defavorisees de la population qui y trouvent une source d'energie qu'on peut se payer au jour le jour et qui n'exige pas d'investissements additionnels pour l'utiliser; iii) La strategie suivie jusqu'a ce jour par le Service Forestier dans le domaine de l'amenagement et l'exploitation forestiere s'av6re incomplete. D'apres le bilan de realisations, le Service Forestier a concentre ses efforts sur la reduction progressive de l'offre pour forcer la substitution des combustibles ligneux par du gaz. Les resultats de la substitution sont satisfaisants mais l'exploitation forestiere reste purement extractive et pratique par des commercants etrangers aux terroirs villageois, jusqu'au point de provoquer une contestation qui se generalise parmi les Communautes Rurales. Par ailleurs, le Service ne dispose pas des moyens humains et materiels pour executer un contr6le efficace des reglements d'exploitation, transfert et commercialisation de produits forestiers. Les projets d'amenagement n'ont pas fourni jusqu'a maintenant des methodes ou des techniques qu'on pourrait generaliser dans leurs zones d'intervention; 261 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings iv) Les Communautes Rurales et le Gouvemement vont exiger du Service Forestier une application rapide du transfert de la gestion des ressources forestieres aux populations riveraines, conformement au Code Forestier promulgue depuis Janvier 1993. Par consequent, le Service Forestier devra au prealable adopter un modele d'intervention pour orienter, limiter et controler ce transfert de responsabilisation dans la gestion forestiere. Ce diagnostic s'appuie sur des realit6s, qui helas marquent encore la foresterie au Senegal. II s'agit entre autre d'une absence d'une cartographie actualisee des ressources forestieres. Aujourd'hui, il est encore difficile de savoir avec precision les limites des forets, de les localiser dans l'espace et dans le temps, d'evoquer les differentes interventions, dfuinir quelles sont les reserves disponibles. Les rapports elabores sur le potentiel forestier du Senegal affirment une certaine connaissance de la surface boisee, de la productivite des formations ligneuses, du volume sur pied et meme du volume de bois qui serait actuellement accessible. Cependant, les chiffres de deux sources differentes qui semblent faire autorite se remarquent par leur tres grande difference (voir tableau ci-apres). Les Ressources Forestieres Rubriques Unite de mesure Projet SEN/89/002 PAFS (Piot J. 91) Vol. 11 (PDDF, 1981) Surfaces forestieres ha 19,200,000 11,964,000 Bois sur pied m3 318,780,000 331,300,000 Production potentielle m3/an 13,353,000 8,600,000 Volume accessible m3 10,000,000 3,100,000 Ces differences d'appreciation qui caracterisent la connaissance des ressources forestieres nous amenent a faire le constat suivant: Les connaissances disponibles sur les ressources forestieres sont insuffisantes pour essayer de rationaliser leur gestion. Les chiffres indicatifs dont on dispose, etablis sur des images prises au debut des annees 80, ne refletent plus l'occupation actuelle des sols. En outre, il est egalement accepte que la politique de disengagement de l'Etat, du secteur agricole appliqu6e a partir de la Campagne 84/85, a provoque parmi d'autres effets negatifs, une dynamique d'appropriation de nouvelles terres qui se deplace du Nord et du Bassin Arachidier vers les terres encore boisees et a faible occupation humaine du Sud et du Sud Est du pays. Pour la Banque Mondiale, la tendance a long terme est preoccupante etant donne les risques d'un desastre ecologique en perspective. (Banque Mondiale, 1993). Ce point de vue est partage aussi par le Ministere de l'Agriculture qui souligne que la contribution du Secteur agricole au PIB a chute de 18,75% pour la periode 1960- 1966 a 11% pour la periode 1987- 1993. La 262 Country Paper-Senegal faiblesse de la productivite du Secteur, les fortes variations de production, la tendance a la baisse des cours mondiaux du coton et de l'arachide, la degradation des revenus monetaires et le fort exode rural constituent une situation preoccupante. Le deficit alimentaire s'aggrave du fait de la forte croissance demographique de l'urbanisation acceleree et de la divergence du systeme de production agricole et du systeme de consommation. Tout ceci a provoque une extensification de cultures et accelere la degradation des ressources naturelles (Declaration de politique de developpement agricole - Ministere de l'Agriculture, 1994). A cela, s'ajoute le fait que le paysage des regions encore boisees du Sud et du Sud-Est dur pays se trouve en pleine transformation. L'effet combine de l'exploitation forestiere purement extractive, les defrichements agricoles, le surpaturage, les feux de brousse et les cycles de secheresse, menacent effectivement de provoquer la degradation des formations foresberes. Fort de cela, le Senegal doit aujourd'hui chercher a optimniser l'utilisation de ses ressources forestieres par le biais d'une politique de conservation durable. L'amenagement des ressources forestieres doit ainsi etre un levier strategique sur lequel doit s'appuyer le service forestier pour alimenter tous ses processus de decision. Cet amenagement doit prendre ses racines du plan d'action forestier pour garder une certaine linearite avec une option politique du Gouvernement. IV OBJECTIFS Dans le but d'assurer une gestion plus precise, rationnelle, et contr6lee des ressources ligneuses avec une participation effective des populations riveraines des forets a la gestion et au controle de l'exploitation des ressources ligneuses de leur terroir; le plan d'action forestier a bien trace les grandes lignes, dans l'optique d'une prise en compte rationnelle de la situation dans sa globalite. L'objectif du plan vise d'une part la conservation du potentiel forestier et des equilibres socio-ecologiques, et d'autre part la satisfaction des besoins des populations en produits forestiers ligneux et non ligneux. Elle se base sur la responsabilisation des populations rurales dans la gestion des ressources forestieres de leurs terroirs. Les actions qui doivent etre menees auront pour objet: - d'assurer une protection efficace des ecosystemes forestiers menaces de degradation ou de disparition ou utiles a la conservation de la faune et de la flore; - de restaurer les formations forestieres degradees, et - de gerer rationnellement les ressources pour une production soutenue (produit ligneux et non ligneux). V STRATEGIES Les actions entreprises pour la conservation des equilibres socio-6cologiques ont pour objet de: - susciter l'adoption de modeles de gestion des terroirs favorables a l'integration des systemes de production; - assurer une productivite optimale et viable des systemes, et 263 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - de maintenir un equilibre stable entre les speculations agro-pastorales et la couverture bois6e. VI PROBLEMES DU SOUS SECTEUR DES COMBUSTIBLES DOMESTIQUES ET STRATEGIES Les formations forestieres, caracteristiques d'un environnement sahelien, outre leur role de protection et de maintien de la fertilite des sols, fournissent l'essentiel de l'energie consommee en milieu rural ainsi qutune part importante du fourrage constituant la base indispensable de 1'6conomie pastorale dans tout le pays. Elles se sont fortement degradees a cause de la pression agricole et des secheresses endemiques qui ont prevalues pendant plus de deux decennies. Ces formations sont cependant menacees et on estime a 80 000 ha les superficies deboisees annuellement. Ce phenomene est aggrave par le prel&vement pour les besoins de bois-energie. On estime aujourd'hui que la disparition annuelle de 30 000 ha de formations ligneuses seraient dus a la carbonisation du bois. Les menages dependent en effet fortement des combustibles ligneux pour la satisfaction de leurs besoins en energie. La consommation finale d'energie du Senegal est estimee en 1992 A 1,5 million de tonnes equivalent petrole. Les combustibles ligneux (bois et charbon de bois), essentiellement utilises par les menages, representent en effet en 1992 pres de 60% de la consommation d'energie du Senegal (estimee A 1,5 million de tep), loin devant les produits petroliers (37%), 1'electricite (5%) et les residus agricoles (1%). Le secteur domestique est le principal consommateur (58% de la consommation totale) et il d6pend a 90% des combustibles ligneux pour son approvisionnement en energie. La consommation totale de charbon de bois, utilise principalement en ville, est estimee A plus de 300.000 tonnes par an, et Dakar, la capitale, en represente plus du tiers. La consommation de bois, essentiellement due aux menages ruraux, est estimee quant a elle A 1,5 millions de tonnes, aboutissant a un prelevement total annuel de l'ordre de 4 millions de m3 de bois sur les formations ligneuses. La production de charbon de bois pour approvisionner les villes, dont la population est en tres forte croissance, est aujourd'hui assuree de maniere intensive et concentree sur les regions forestieres de Tambacounda et de Kolda, situees a plus de 400 km de la capitale. La filiere d'approvisionnement represente une activite tres remuneratrice (le chiffre d'affaires est estime A 20 milliards de FCFA) qui profite essentiellement a quelques acteurs economiquement et politiquement puissant, les exploitants forestiers. Une tres faible part des revenus de l'exploitation revient aux populations rurales. Les services forestiers, compte tenu de leurs faibles moyens et de la structuration actuelle de la filiere, ne peuvent controler que de maniere partielle l'exploitation forestiere, qui depasse aujourd'hui la productivite des forets. Les risques pour 1'environnement sont donc graves et menacent a la fois les systemes de production et l'approvisionnement des menages en energie de cuisson. Ces observations ont amene une equipe interministerielle pluridisciplinaire a proceder, de 1993 a 1995, A une revue du secteur des energies traditionnelles, avec l'appui de la Banque 264 Country Paper-Senegal Mondiale dans le cadre du programme "Revue des politiques, strategies et programmes dans le secteur des energies traditionnelles" (RPTES) mene dans cinq pays subsahariens (Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambie, Niger et Senegal). Cette equipe etait conduite par la Direction de l'Energie (DE) du Ministere de l'Energie, des Mines et de l'Industrie (MIEMI) et par la Direction des Eaux, Forets, Chasse et de la Conservation des Sols (DEFCCS) du Ministere de rEnvironnement et de la Protection de la Nature (MEPN). Cette etude a conclu que, compte tenu des conditions macro-economiques et socio- economiques, le Senegal continuera pendant longtemps encore a dependre des ressources forestieres pour satisfaire les besoins energetiques des menages urbains et ruraux. Bien que les efforts de maitrise de la demande et de substitution des combustibles ligneux deja entrepris doivent 8tre poursuivis et ameliores, le principal defi a relever dans ce secteur reside dans la capacite de mettre en place un systeme d'exploitation forestiere durable tenant compte des ressources disponible et de leur productivite. II s'agit ainsi d'operer une transition entre le systeme actuel, base sur une exploitation miniere des ressources forestieres par des acteurs etrangers au terroirs, et un nouveau schema responsabilisant les populations rurales concemres, capable d'approvisionner de maniere durable les consommateurs urbains, dans le souci de preserver l'environnement. Cependant, de serieux efforts pour renverser les tendances actuelles ont et6 consentis. Une nouvelle legislation et reglementation forestiere a 6t6 mise en place (decret 95.357 d'avril 1995). Elle prevoit la participation des communautes locales a l'exploitation forestiere, dans le cadre d'une politique globale d'amenagement qui tienne compte des ressources et des disponibilites. Mais son application effective passe par une evolution des r6les respectifs des differents acteurs: populations rurales, exploitants actuels, services forestiers et comporte des risques sociaux et politiques importants. Depuis de nombreuses annees, les pouvoirs publics menent egalement une politique volontariste de maitrise de la demande en combustibles ligneux grace a un effort important en matiere de butanisation, qui porte aujourd'hui ces fruits, et a un appui au developpement de l'utilisation de fourneaux economes. Enfin, de serieux progres ont ete fait en matiere de coordination des politiques energetique et forestiere ainsi que de systeme de suivi et d'evaluation du secteur. Tous ces efforts doivent 8tre encourages. Compte tenu des resultats mitiges obtenus jusqu'A present, le Gouvernement a redefini ses priorites en matiere de combustibles domestiques et a defini une strategie adoptee lors du Comite Interministeriel sur l'Energie d'aofit 1993. Les objectifs assignes A la politique et aux programmes mis en oeuvre sont les suivants: - assurer une gestion plus precise, rationnelle, et controlee des ressources ligneuses grace a la rationalisation de l'exploitation forestiere et a une participation effective des populations riveraines des for8ts a la gestion et au contr6le de l'exploitation des ressources ligneuses de leur terroir; - limiter la demande en combustibles ligneux a travers des mesures d'economie de la consommation de bois-energie et de substitution, tout en valorisant les sources d'energie nationales pour limiter le recours aux combustibles importes; - fournir aux pouvoirs publics les capacites necessaires en matiere d'orientation, de coordination et d'intervention en ce qui concerne l'organisation et le contr6le du prelevement et de la distribution, la reglementation et la politique des prix, la communication. 265 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings La realisation de ses objectifs passe par: - la mise en place d'un cadre institutionnel, legislatif et reglementaire qui favorise l'implication et la responsabilisation des populations dans la gestion rationnelle de leur patrimoine forestier; - la mise en coherence des politiques dans les autres secteurs, en vue notamment d'alleger la pression demographique et d'accroitre le revenu et le pouvoir des ruraux; - une politique des prix qui incite a l'economie des combustibles ligneux et qui favorise l'investissement dans des equipements ou des combustibles de substitution au charbon de bois; - le renforcement de la capacite publique d'orientation, de programmation et de suivi de la strategie des combustibles domestiques. Partant de l'analyse de la situation et des priorites degagees, le Gouvernement envisage de mettre en oeuvre, avec l'assistance de la Banque mondiale, un programme de gestion durable et participative des energies traditionnelles et de substitution, base sur la participation active des populations, des organisations de base et de tout autres instances locales pertinentes pour rendre effectif ce programme. Les populations sont considerees comme acteurs et beneficiaires du programme dont l'objectif majeur et leur promotion 6conomique. 2.3. Presentation du programme Le programme pour la gestion durable et participative des energies traditionnelles et de substitution a pour objectif de contribuer a l'approvisionnement des menages en combustibles domestiques, de maniere reguliere et durable, en assurant la sauvegarde des ressources forestieres du pays et en off-rant des possibilites elargies de choix et de confort aux consommateurs. II privilegie dans sa mise en oeuvre: - I'amenagement et l'exploitation durable de 300.000 ha de formations forestieres naturelles, pris en charge et profitant aux populations rurales concernees dans le cadre d un amenagement integre des ressources naturelles; - le soutien a la reconversion des acteurs actuels de la filiere charbon de bois vers d'autres activites economiques; - I'appui aux initiatives du secteur prive pour le developpement de l'utilisation des combustibles et des equipements de substitution; - le renforcement des institutions concemres par la planification de ce secteur et la promotion de la participation des acteurs publics et prives. Ce programme comprend deux composantes etroitement liees: La composante Offre, intitulee "Amenagement durable des formations naturelles pour la production de bois-energie" vise a mettre en place une production de bois-energie sur des bases durables, en impliquant directement les populations rurales dans la gestion des ressources forestieres. Les amenagements porteront sur une superficie de 300.000 ha dans les regions de Tambacounda et de Kolda et 250 villages seront impliques dans le processus. Les principales activites prevues concernent: 266 Country Paper-Senegal - un inventaire forestier dans les regions de Tambacounda et de Kolda pour disposer des donnees techniques necessaires a la definition des modalites d'amenagement et A la selection des zones geographiques concernees par le projet; - un dialogue et des etudes de terrain avec les communautes locales pour definir les schemas d'amenagement en fonction des donnees demographiques et socio-economiques; - un appui aux collectivites locales pour la mise en oeuvre des operations d'amenagement, d'exploitation et de commercialisation; - un appui a la lutte contre les feux de brousse pour limiter la degradation des forets et preserver les interets des populations; - la mise en place d'un systeme d'observation de l'exploitation pour evaluer les impacts des operations d'amenagement communautaire. La composante Demande, denommee "Programme de gestion de la demande et de promotion des energies de substitution" a pour objectif de contribuer a satisfaire les besoins energetiques des populations de maniere reguliere, efficace et au moindre coat, en offrant des possibilites elargies de choix et de confort. Elle prevoit les principales activites suivantes: - la mise au point d'un systeme d'information et d'evaluation permanent qui permnet une quantification correcte des besoins du marcbe, un suivi des differentes mesures prises sur le secteur et la preparation des strategies A long terme au niveau national; - un soutien au processus de transfert des activites d'exploitation forestiere vers les communautes rurales en mettant en place les conditions de reconversion des exploitants actuels et en assurant un ecoulement correct et modernise du charbon de bois produits dans les zones sous amenagement. - un appui au secteur prive pour le developpement de la penetration du gaz butane et des foyers equipements et combustibles proposes aux consommateurs et reduire la demande en ameliores et pour la mise sur le marche de rechauds A kerosene, afm de diversifier les combustibles ligneux. 23.1 Objectifs immediats du programme A Volet Offre Pour contribuer a l'atteinte des objectifs de developpement, le programme se fixe les buts suivants: 1- Mettre en oeuvre un systeme de gestion durable de la production de bioenergie pour l'approvisionnement des principaux centres urbains du Senegal par l'amenagement de 300 000 ha dans les regions de Tamba et de Kolda. 2- Contribuer au retablissement ecologique des zones degradees par l'exploitation du charbon et realiser la gestion integree et participative de l'espace rural au niveau des villages encadres par le projet pour appuyer la mise en oeuvre du systeme de gestion durable de la bio-dnergie. 3- Renforcer les capacites nationales de formulation, de suivi et d'execution des actions d'amenagement des formations naturelles avec la participation des populations rurales dans la zone d'intervention. 267 African Forest Poliy Forun-Proceedings Les principaux extrants sont les suivants: 1.1 R6alisation de l'inventaire du potentiel forestier et agro-pastoral sur 600 000 ha de formations naturelles dans les regions de Tambacounda et de Kolda. 1.2 Elaboration et mise en oeuvre des plans d'amenagement et de gestion avec la participation des populations rurales dans une superficie de 300 000 Ha dans les regions de Tamba et de Kolda. 1.3 Mise en place d'un reseau de 300 Km de pistes forestieres pour augmenter l'accessibilite dans les formations naturelles en vue d'une meilleure production de bois- energie. 1.4 Appui a la production de pres de 860 000 tonnes de bois de feu pendant la duree du projet et etablissement d'un systeme durable de production de 300 000 tonnes de bois par an, a partir de la septieme annee. 1.5 Developpement d'un systeme de suivi et de controle des flux de commercialisation du charbon et du bois de chauffe (poste de contr6le, balance etc..). 1.6 Mise en place d'un systeme permanent de suivi de la biomasse ligneuse et de l'exploitation des produits ligneux dans les regions de Tamba et de Kolda. 1.7 Evaluation sommaire du potentiel de bois mort sur le plan national avec l'appui des structures forestieres decentralis6es. 1.8 Realisation de plans d'amenagement integr6s des terroirs villageois par la promotion de la participation des populations rurales et du developpement villageois. 2.1 Developpement d'un modele dtintervention technique pour la restauration des systemes degrades avec la participation des populations rurales. 2.2 Reconstitution de systemes ecologiques degrades dans la zone d'intervention du projet avec la participation paysanne. 2.3 Creation de 250 comites de lutte contre les feux de brousse, encadres et equipes en moyens de lutte contre les feux de brousse. 2.4 Appui au developpement economique et social des communautes de base pour la gestion integree de leur terroir par la creation de 15 centres d'animation rurale et par l'education environnementale de 1000 personnes dans la zone encadree. 2.5 Conservation de la diversite biologique dans les formations forestieres naturelles amenagees dans les regions de Tamnba et de Kolda pour une utilisation durable des ressources forestieres et animales. 2.6 Reduction de l'emission des gaz a effet de serre dans les zones mises en amenagement dans les r6gions de Tamba et de Kolda. 3.1 Formation de 10 cadres nationaux et 20 agents techniques du projet dans les domaines de l'inventaire, de l'amenagement des formations naturelles et de la planification dendro-6nergetique. 3.2 Realisation de travaux de recherche dans les domaines de l'amenagement des formations naturelles, de la sylviculture, de la valorisation de la bio-energie en rapport avec des structures specialisees. B. Volet Demande La seconde composante du programme, intitulee "Gestion de la demande et de promotion des energies de substitution" s'articule autour de plusieurs volets complementaires et a pour objectifs: 268 Country Paper-Senegal de contribuer a la reussite de la mise en place du processus de transfert de la responsabilite de la gestion forestiere aux populations rurales en facilitant la reconversion et la modemisation de la filiere traditionnelle du charbon de bois. de maitriser la demande en combustibles domestiques en favorisant les economies de bois- energie et en assurant la promotion d'energies de substitution. II est ainsi prevu: Developpement institutionnel Le developpement institutionnel est une condition indispensable a la realisation des differents volets prevus. Il permettra, grace a un renforcement des competences et des moyens de la Direction de l'Energie, de disposer d'un veritable outil de pilotage des actions et mesures sur le secteur. II permettra aussi, par le biais d'actions de communication diversifiees, d'accompagner leur mise en oeuvre et de creer les conditions de leur reussite. Appui a la modernisation et a la reconversion de la filiere charbon de bois Ce volet vise a soutenir le processus de transfert des activites d'exploitation forestiere vers les communautes rurales en mettant en place des conditions de reconversion des exploitants actuels et en assurant un ecoulement correct et modernise du charbon de bois produits dans les zones sous am6nagement. II interviendra sous forme d'un appui financier a la mise en oeuvre de projets de demonstration, mobilise en fonction de projets presentes par le secteur priv6. Operation pilote de promotion de rechauds a kerosene. Ce financement, dont la mobilisation est conditionnee par les resultats d'une etude de pre-faisabilite qui sera realisee au cours du premier trimestre 1996 (projet "combustibles domestiques" GTZ), servira a appuyer la mise en place d'une filiere de distribution de rechauds A kerosene, combustible de substitution complementaire du gaz butane deja largement utilise dans les grandes villes. 23.2 Resultats attendus - Creation d'un systeme de partenariat plus equitable entre le service forestier et les populations rurales qui participeront activement dans le processus de gestion de leur foret; - Creation d'un cadre legislatif permettant une exploitation economiquement et socialement equitable de la ressource forestiere; - Developpement aupres des populations rurales d'un fort sentiment d'appartenance des formations naturelles. Celles-ci seront aptes a prendre en charge leurs problemes en matiere d'execution d'un amenagement en vue d'une production de bois-energie; - Amelioration des capacites des services techniques en matiere d'analyse et de mise en oeuvre des plans d'amenagements pour une bonne maitrise de l'offre en bois-energie; - Diminution de la pression exercee par l'exploitation forestiere sur le domaine forestier dans les Regions d'exploitation, en vue de la maintenir A un niveau compatible a la productivite des formations naturelles; 269 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings - Conservation de la diversite biologique et reduction de l'emission des gaz a effet de serre dans les zones mises en amenagement gerees par les populations rurales dans les regions de Tamba et de Kolda. - Participation de 250 villages dans le processus d'amenagement des ressources naturelles et de 15.000 adherents dans les organisations socio-economiques rurales pour la mise en oeuvre du plan d'amenagement. 2.3.3. Wnfficiaires cibles Les principaux beneficiaires directs des activites du projet sont les populations rurales des regions de Tambacounda et Kolda, particulierement celles des villages limitrophes des formations naturelles. Les actions directes developpees par le projet feront d'elles de veritables artisans de leur environnement, sur la base d'un amenagement forestier a grande echelle, integrant toutes les dimensions socio-economiques des terroirs. Les services techniques des Directions des Eaux, Forets, Chasse et de la Conservation des sols et de l'Energie, ainsi que les agents des services associes A la realisation de certaines activites sur le terrain vont beneficier directement et indirectement des activites du projet. Le renforcement de leurs moyens d'intervention, par 1'exp6rience acquise dans la nouvelle pratique de l'amenagement A grande echelle des formations naturelles, I'acquisition de moyens materiels et humains vont augmenter de facon significative la capacite des agents forestiers A aider les populations rurales a gerer de facon efficiente la ressource forestiere de facon integrale. Les consommateurs de bois-energie urbains profiteront d'un marche de combustible stable et soutenable. 270 Country Paper-Senegal Carte des zones eco-geographiques DU SENEGAL Saint Louis Louga' y_ Dakar atick ____ Zone des amenagements hydro-agricoles de la vallee et du delta du fleuve senegal. 11.500 km2 (6%) * Chef lieu de region FI |Zone sylvo-pastorale du ferlo L id prm IJ 56.269 km2 (29%) Limite de departement * Zone du littoral et des Niayes _ 2.130 km2 (1%) I I Zone agricole du bassin arachidier 47.611 km2 (24%) Zone agro-sylvo-pastorale du Centre et du Sud-Est 51.210 km2 (26%) E Zone forestiere du Sud 28.000 km2 (14%) Source d'apres Cellule Amenagement des Terroirs Villageois/DEFCCS. 271 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings BIBLIOGRAPHEIE A UBE (J.): Elaboration du Plan d'Action Forestier du Senegal. Rapport de l'Etude sur l'Utilisation des Produits forestiers, Octobre 1990; BOSCH (V), DIENG (A), DIA (E. O): Elaboration du Plan d'Action Forestier du Senegal, Consultation en matiere de Ressources fauniques, Mai 1990; CENTRE DE RECHERCHES POUR LE DE VELOPPEMENTINTERNA TIONAL: Rapport de l'Atelier sur les Systemes fonciers et la Desertification, Dakar, 7 - 9 Mars 1994; CLA VREUL (J. 1), GALLARD (J): Methodologie de l'approche participative et ses techniques d'application en matiere de communication multimedia, Atelier sous-regional des projets forestiers, Dakar, 24 - 28 Fevrier 1992; DIENG (A): Identification et Perspectives des Projets de Gestion des Ressources naturelles au Senegal, 1993; DIENG (A), GAYE (ID): Politique environnementale et de Developpement du Senegal: Principes politiques de Gestion des Ressources naturelles - Ecole Nationale d'Economie Appliquee (Dakar), Institut Universitaire d'Etudes du Developpement (Suisse) - Juillet 1994; DIRECTIONDESEAUX, FORETS, CHASSESETDELA CONSERVATIONDESSOLS: Atelier national "Gestion forestiere et Participation villageoise", Compte-rendu (version provisoire), 1992; DJIGO (SA): Elaboration du Plan d'Action Forestier du Senegal: Etude sur la Dimension demographique et Problemes environnementaux, Octobre 199 1; DUBE (Y.C): Quelques aspects economiques de I'Approche participative (version preliminaire) - Atelier sous-regional des projets forestiers - FODO, Dakar, 24 - 28 Fevrier 1992; ECOLENATIONALED'ECONOMIEAPPLIQUEE: La Decentralisation au Sen6gal: l'etape de la regionalisation. 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Module 1: La methodologie de l'approche participative, Module 2: La gestion de la demarche participative dans le temps et dans 1'espace, Module 3: Les supports de la communication dans l'approche participative; MINISTERE DE LA PROTECTIONDE LA NA TURE / Direction des Eaux, Forets, Chasses, et de la Conservation des Sols: Approche economique du Developpement Forestier au Senegal, Juillet 1985; MINISTERE DE LA PROTECTIONDE LA NA TURE/MINISTERE DUPLANETDE LA COOPERATION: Seminaire national sur la Desertification, Saint-Louis 22 - 26 Avril 1985. Rapport final, Janvier 1986; MIROUX (P): Evaluation et capitalisation des methodes d'intervention en matiere d'environnement au Senegal: Communication et participation. Rapport de mission, FAO, 1993; PIOT (J), LY (A), GUEYE (1): Etude sur la Gestion des Ressources forestieres et des Terroirs villageois. Elaboration du Plan d'Action Forestier du Senegal. (Projet PNUD/FAO SEN/89/002), Mai 1991; 273 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 274 INTEGRATED INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY: THE CASE OF USUTU PULP LTD. SWAZILAND A SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATED INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY PROJECT USUTU PULP COMPANY LIMITED Peter R. A. Whitfield Forest Manager Usutu Pulp Company Limited, Swaziland 275 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings INTEGRATED INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY: THE CASE OF THE USUTU PULP COMPANY Ltd., SWAZILAND Summary The Usutu Pulp Company Limited is often cited as an example of a successful integrated industrial forestry project. 70,000 ha of pine plantation supply the total requirement for a kraft pulp mill situated in the Centre of the forest on the Great Usutu River. Since its origins in the early 1950s the forest has expanded to meet the mill's increasing requirements. In 1996 the mill was upgraded to a annual capacity of some 225,000t of air dried pulp. The success of the project has largely been due to its single focus on producing one product and the successful research and silvicultural practices associated with this. Usutu has always had a competitive edge through having a wrap around forest for its mill with very short average lead distances to transport timber. In addition good growth rates are enhanced by high quality sites and a high annual rainfall of around 1,100 mm. Sustainability is a key issue for the company and has always been an element in the formulation of policies and practices implemented on the project. History The Usutu Forestry Project was commenced in 1948 by the Colonial Development Corporation, now CDC, following on from a feasibility study commissioned by the then High Commissioner for Swaziland Sir Evelyn Baring. The report surveyed an area of some 60,000 ha in the Highveld of western Swaziland around the Great Usutu River. The first plantings commenced in 1950 and over a ten year period 45,000 ha of P. patula, P. elliottii and to a lesser extent P. taeda was established. With the excellent prevailing growing conditions the trees grew exceptionally well with productivities typically around 15 - 25 m3 par hectare per year (Evans et al. 1993). By 1959 the forest was maturing into a valuable wood resource. The UK based group Courtaulds joined forces with CDC to establish the Usutu Pulp Company. A unbleached kraft pulp (UBK) mill was constructed on the banks of the Great Usutu River at Bhunya near the center of the developing forest. In 1961 the mill produced its first bales of pulp. Initially the mill was designed to produce 90,000 tonnes of pulp per annum and has expanded since then in steps to its current capacity of 225 000 tonnes of UBK per annum (Anon). The pulp was, and continues to be, marketed through Hong Kong by Speciality Pulp Services. Around 75% of the annual production is marketed overseas whilst the remainder is sold ' within the southern African region. Through the intervening years the forest has expanded to meet the Mill's increased outputs and now covers some 70,000 ha. In 1990 Sappi, the largert forest products company on the African continent bought a major stake in the Usutu Pulp Company. This made them the largest shareholder in the company. Sappi has since expanded further, into both Europe and the USA, to become one of the top twenty forest product companies world wide. Management structure The company is structured such that the Managing Director has Divisional Managers responsible for specific functional areas reporting to him. The overall management of the company is Sippi 276 Country Paper-Swaziland (SA)'s responsibility and there is a Sappi (SA) Main Board Director responsible for Usutu. The Managing Director along with the Divisional Managers form the Executive Committee of the Company. The benefits of this structure are that it keeps the customer and supplier links within the Company immediate and considerable synergy is derived from the close interaction of a multi-disciplinary team. The Forest Division is structured along functional lines with the purpose of providing the necessary technical and operational focus to achieve the Division's mission. Staff functions have the specific objectives of assisting the operational departments and providing the necessary inputs into the longer term strategy of yield improvement. Usutu has a long history of promoting manpower development to provide the necessary skills for the local workforce to meet the Company's needs for skilled and qualified employees. The majority of the Forests staff are Swazi nationals also who have been trained both in the region and overseas. The workforce is largely unionized and all company employees within the bargaining unit are represented by a single union. Usutu was one of the first large employers in Swaziland to formally recognise union representation in 1988. The Company accepts the safety of its employees as one of its primary concerns. To this end it adopted the National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA) of South Africa's management by objective (MBO) system in 1989. Currently the Mill has a five star safety rating and the Forest a four star safety rating. Economic Impacts and costs Usutu is a significant contributor to the Swaziland economy and a major earner of foreign currency. In its profitable years the company generates considerable tax revenues for the government. It is estimated that Usutu contributes some 15% to Swaziland's GNP. The Company employs some 2,000 people directly. Of these 98% are Swazi Nationals. Usutu employs many contractors involved in both forest and mill operations. It is estimated that in total some 20,000 people are dependent on Usutu's continued profitable existence. In association with the provision of employment in the forest and mill, Usutu has had to create and maintain a complete social infrastructure. The Company, has built two major villages as will as numerous smaller communities around the forest. Along with these settlements the Company has provided medical and social facilities and provided for the associates development of schools and shops. Originally, in the 1950's and 1960's this support was a necessity, but more recently as Swaziland has developed, the government and local entrepreneurs have taken on some of the roles in these areas. Historically the Company's operations have been labor intensive. This is now changing due to technological trends and financial constraints. Increasingly non core business is contracted out. Where possible this work is put out to local entrepreneurs. Currently about 40 % of forest operations in silviculture and harvesting and 60% of timber transport operations are contracted out. Self-sufficiency in pulpwood is a major competitive advantage for the Company. Growth rates in the Forest are amongst the highest in the world for softwoods. The proximity of the plantations to the pulpmill results in a average lead distance of only 23 km. These two factors 277 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings contribute to Usutu having one of the lowest delivered cost of pine pulpwood anywhere in the world (Jaakko Poyry, 1992). The Company has always maintained a balance between wood supply and processing capability in developing the production capacity of the business. Sustainability Sustainability is a key issue for the forest with special regard to the need to supply the total ongoing fibre needs for the mill. Usutu is unique among plantation forests in having had yield monitoring of three successive rotations of crops on the same sites. Professor Julian Evans has been monitoring these plots since 1968 and states "There is no general evidence of declining yields resulting from intensive plantation forestry of cultivation of three crops of the same species on the same site. The prospects for this continuing are good. With good husbandry Usutu's plantation forestry is demonstrably and wholly sustainable" (Evans 1995). In keeping with the current world trend towards promoting sustainable the development, Usutu Forest's management policy has been to include the promoting sustained use and management of the entire land base and not just the stands of pine. (Masson 1996). The holistic approach to sustainability has been embodied in the Forest's environmental policy and is being management system. It is intended that that this system will conform to ISO 14001 environmental standards and once in place will ensure a certifiable end product is produced from the mill. The reason for considering adopting the ISO approach is that it provides for a structured management system and will serve as a solid foundation promoting good management as well as satisfying Forest Stewardship Counsel criteria far certification (Masson 1996). The major impact of complying with the system will be the need to introduce adequate record keeping on enviromnental matters and the need to manage conservation areas more actively with particular regard to water and indigenous flora. This is already taking place on a limited scale as Usutu has been participating in Sappi Forests environmental audits since 1995. Clearly there will be impacts on operating costs. For the coming year the forest has budgeted to spend the equivalent of $155,000 on environmental related work. This amounts to an expenditure of $2.20 per hectare per annum. Reasearch Without question a key success factor for the forest has been its long-term commitment to and investment in its world class research department. The opportunity for expansion of plantation areas is limited by lack of suitable land and -competing land uses. Hence to remain self- sufficient in wood and expand production capacity .The company has been committed to long term forestry research. Usutu invests more per hectare in research than any other forestry company in southem Africa. This.illustrates the company's long sighted view of business development. The research programme has been conducted since 1969. Its research work is internationally published and recognized. One of the major benefits of the Usutu forest research programme is that it has always been focused on yield gains for the forest and is closely integrated with the operational side of the business. The research effort is concentrated on two issues. Firstly on ensuring that our forestry practices enable a sustainable end product to be produced in perpetuity. Secondly on increasing forest yields through tree breeding, and improved silviculture practices. The tree breeding programme was initiated in 1985, with a strategy for species and provenance selection and the genetic improvement of pine species for the forest (Barnes 1985). Seed orchards established over the 278 Country Paper-Swaziland past 6 years will make the company self sufficient in improved seed by the year 2000. Silviculture research has been focused on addressing second rotation yield declines due to phosphate deficiencies on about 15% of the forest (Morris 1983). More recently the issue of organic matter accumulation on the forest floor and subsequent potential yield declines has been addressed through the application of nitrogen fertiliser. The entire forest has been mapped using a site classification system that allows for site specific prescriptions for fertilizer application, weed control, slanting density and species choice to be applied. Research experiments indicate an expected 30% yield improvement for the fourth rotation. Silviculture and fire protection Usutu practices one of the most intensive forms of plantation forestry anywhere in the world (Evans 1988). It intensive in terms of short rotations (15 to 18 years) and its focus on growing with no thinning and only a tow pruning on P. patuia to allow access for fire protection. These factors along with high quality sites having deep soils and 1100 mm average annual rainfall have contributed significantly to the success of the project. The objective of silviculture operation has always been to achieve full Stocking. This is stated as without full stocking yield is sacrificed. Stocking is prescribed as 1,330 stems per hectare for all species. The majority of silviculture operations are now concemed with re-establishment and comprise of soil preparation, planting, and where appropriate weeding to relieve competition: Planting only takes place in the wet summer months, however the hottest months of December and January are excluded because of the likehood of high mortality on re-establishment sites due to heat stress. Weeding prescriptions have been developed from research results in order to apply the most appropriate practices to specific sites. Weeding will normally continue up to the time of canopy closure at between 3 and 5 years. Fire protection is a very important aspect of the silviculture operations. The region has very high fire hazard for the winter months of July through to October. The plantation was designed with a network of fire breaks following key physical features such as ridges and roads to divide the plantation into compartments of an average size of about 300 ha. Fire breaks account for 7% of the gross forest area and provide valuable conservation areas as well as fulfilling their function for fire protection. These breaks are bumt annually in June and July to provide a clean belt around the compartments. A extensive road network has also been developed, both for fire protection and harvesting, resulting in some 4,000 km of forest roads. Thirteen fire watchtowers are located at strategic points in the forest and there is an extensive radio and telephone system for communications. Resources for fire fighting are based around 7 fire stations and comprise of personnel carrying and water carrying vehicles as well as hand tools.. Since 1989 Usutu has employed aircraft for fire bombing and fire spotting. In 1995 Usutu became a member of the Forest Fire Associatioin (FFA) in South Africa and has access to their resources and expertise for aerial fire fighting. Public relations and communications with the Company's neighbours plays an important role in fire prevention. Harvesting and transport Usutu harvests and transports almost 1 million tonnes per annum from its own forests to supply the pulp mill. Trees are clear felled when they reach their maximum mean annual increment (MAI) at between 15 and 18 years of age. The average tree size is 0.3M3. Timber is felled, debranched infield and extracted to roadside where it is stacked in lengths of 4.5m to 8.Om to 279 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings await collection by timber trucks. All felling is done by chainsaws and trees are debranched either by axe or, increasingly, by chainsaw. A range of resources are utilized in the extraction of timber ranging from grapple skidders through to mules. The different methods are dictated by terrain conditions and road density as well as by cost and productivity. All operations have had workstudy applied to them and have set productivity standards and production bonus incentives attached to them. Perforrnance indices are continually measured and a strong focus is applied to unit costs. Timber is aged at roadside for an average of 3 weeks to reduce moisture content to meet the Mill's requirement of 53%. This entails carrying roadside stocks of around 65,000t. Timber is transported in cut lengths on rigid trucks carrying average payloads of 16t. The Mill Usutu's mill is the source of about 12% of the World's supply of market UKP. When the mill came into operation in 1961 ft had a capacity of 90,000t of UKP per annum. Usutu is currently nearing the completion of an expansion programme, which commenced in 1995, that will take the mill's capacity to 225,000t of UKP per annum. At the centre of the expansion is a new Kaevemer continuous digester incorporating isothermal cooking technology. The digester will produce pulp of a higher quality with higher, viscosity, increased strength and increased brightness. In addition other areas of the plant have been replaced or upgraded at the same time. This includes a new screening room and upgrading of the recovery boilers, causticiser, drying lines and baling press. This will add to Usutu's drive to becoming a world class manufacturer which was enhanced in 1993 when Usutu was certified as an EN ISO 9002 company. Conclusion The key success factors for Usutu are self sufficiency in low cost wood, a single continuous objective of growing and producing a low cost end product for a defined market and its commitment to manpower development to support world class technology and practices. References Anonymous (1990). Usutu Pulp Company Limited publicity brochure. Barnes RD. (1985). Report on Species and Provenance Selection for Usutu Pulp Company Swaziland. UPCO internal document. Unpublished. Evans J (1988). The Usutu Forest: twenty years later. Unasylva Vol.40-19-29 Evans J., Morris A., Masson P., (1993)' " Sustainable Management of Pine Pulpwood Plantations in the Usutu Forest, Swaziland. Case Study: Prepared for the Fourteenth Commonwealth Forestry Congress: September 1993. Evans J. (1995). A Further Review of Third Rotation Productivity in the Usutu Forest, Swaziland. UPCO Forest Research Report 16/95. Unpublished., Jaakko Poyry (1992). Competitiveness of Unbleached Market Pulp Producers. Confidential UPCO intemal document. Unpublished. Masson P. (1996)- FOA Envirornetal Committee Meeting notes. UPCO intemal document. Unpublished. Morris A. (I 983). A comparison of soils derived from granite and gabbro rocks in the Usutu Forest, Swaziland. UPCO Forest Research Document N6. 53. Unpublished Morris A. (I 995). Forest floor accumulation, Nutrition and productivity of Pinuspattila in the Usutu Forest, Swaziland. Plant and Soil 168-169: 271-278, 1995. 280 ADOPTING A FARMING SYSTEM APPROACH TO FACILITATE PARTICIPATORY FORESTRY TANZANIA THE HIMA PROJECT: ADOPTING A FARMING SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE IN ORDER TO DO SUCCESSFUL PARTICIPATORY FORESTRY By 1/Richard Minja & 2/Robert East 1. Regional Catchment Forest Officer, RPMU 2 Agroforestry Advisor/ Team Leader, MMA-Makete 281 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings THE HIMA PROJECT: ADOPTING A FARMING SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE IN ORDER TO DO SUCCESSFUL PARTICIPATORY FORESTRY TANZANIA 1.0 INTRODUCTION HIMA ("Hifadhi ya Mazingira" in Swahili) is a land-use management and natural resource conservation programme in Iringa Region of the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The programme was originally part of DANIDA's (Danish International Development Assistance) environmental sector support portfolio in Tanzania. Recent changes in DANIDA policies have place HIMA under agricultural sector support. As the HIMA Programme shifts its emphasis towards supporting the agricultural sector, it is appropriate to recall that woody vegetation comprises a significant component of the agricultural landscape in Iringa Region and is actively managed as part of the farming systems of the region (Wardell, 1991; HIMA/MARTI-Uyole, 1994; 1995). There may be both traditional as well as recently experienced economic reasons why farmers in high potential areas of the Region choose to establish/maintain trees on large expanses of land which could potentially generate more income from other crops (Dewees, 1994). Whatever the case, it is of paramount importance that forest resources be managed within the context of overall land use and natural resource management plans and for continued integration of the forestry sector with other pertinent sectors (DANIDA, 1995). 2.0 BACKGROllND During the past decade, Iringa Region used to play a key role in agricultural production and natural resources productivity. Historically, Iringa Region was among the 4 major maize producing regions of the country. The estimated 300,000 hectares of natural forest land comprises part of the renowned Eastern Arc Forests which are characterized by a high level of biodiversity. As result of population increase, which is estimated to be 2.7% annually (Bureau of Statistics, 1988) more demand for forest produce, arable land for cultivation and other development activities has been created. Shifting cultivation, which is associated with use of fire, has become rampant. Uncontrolled grazing, which has led to devegetation and soil erosion, has continued unchecked. Wildfires, coupled with legal and illegal over-exploitation of forest products, have also been subsequent phenomena which have reached an alarming stage (Rodgers & Homewood 1983). Consequently, both the viable forest ecosystems and potential agricultural land have been impaired or severely depleted to the extent of threatening the disappearance of rare and endemic plant and animal species (Rodgers and Homewood 1983; Lovett 1992; Mmari, 1996). This situation has, to a great extent, disturbed the equilibrium of rural livelihoods and their relationship with the natural resource base. For example, women in Mazombe and Wanging'ombe Divisions have to walk longer distances in search of firewood, thus undermining their roles in agricultural production and child care. 282 Country Paper-Tanzania This has serious nation-wide implications considering that more than 90% of the rural population depend on firewood and charcoal as their major source of energy (TFAP, 1990) while at the same time an estimated 0.7% of the existing woodland/bushland within the country is cleared annually (McNeely, 1990). A notable contributing factor to woodland destruction around Mazombe, Idodi, Pawaga and Ismani areas has been tobacco farming/curing operations (CONCERN, 1989) which have also created conflicts of interest between household woodfuel needs and tobacco-curing uses. A consequence of this overall increasing land pressure has been decreasing fallow periods on some agricultural land from the usual 5 years down to 2-3 years as observed in Kilolo and Bulongwa Divisions of the Region. Concurrently, it has become increasingly difficult to support agricultural production without using inorganic fertilizers. According to UAC/DANIDA (1992), during the period of 1989 to 1992, 113,507 tonnes of fertilizers were distributed in Iringa Region. During the 1970's and 1980's, encroachment into government controlled forest reserves increased at an alarming rate (Wardell, 1991). Uncontrolled tree felling and cultivation around water sources and within important watersheds has resulted in reduced dry season flow. Since 1991, a notable manifestation of this problem within the Region has been insufficient electrical output from the 80-megawatt Mtera Hydroelectric Dam along The Great Ruaha River which supplies 70.3% of the installed hydropower to the national grid. This problem has culminated in intermittent power supply to the national grid up to the present day, resulting in decreased industrial output and insufficient services to the social sector. In 1989, HIMA-Iringa was incepted to arrest and remedy the severely degrading situation in Iringa District. The HIMA Programme started Region-wide operations by including Njombe and Makete Districts in 1993. 3.0 OBJECTIVES The immediate objectives of the fHMA Programme are exemplified by those of HIMA-Iringa: 1. Improve the productivity and sustainability of agriculture and natural resource management, so as to increase the level and security of incomes, including poorer households, by 2005. 2. Improve catchment protection, reduce soil erosion and improve moisture retention in priority catchments. 3. Strengthen local institutions to enable them to support local communities in achieving viable and sustainable agricultural, natural resources management and catchment protection. In order to achieve the above objectives, people's participation, institutional development and capacity building have been adopted as major strategies of each District project (HIMA/DANIDA, 1995). Much assistance is provided to grassroots level institutions to promote their capacity in implementing project activities, including forestry, while minimizing dependency on external material and financial input assistance. 283 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings These institutions include: - Informal groups - e.g. traditional village leaders - Schools - Mainly primary schools - Village governments - Including existing committees - Religious institutions - Congregations & individuals Other strategies include bolstering nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to practice innovative and participatory forestry technologies, such as fully utilizing locally available planting materials. The programme also assists NGOs to develop cost-effective information systems e.g. brochures, leaflets, music tapes. Additionally, the programme encourages promotion of cost-effective and modern technologies in enhancing land-use (including forestry) practices in the Region. An example is the intended use of the "taungy" system in reclaiming encroached areas inside selected forest reserves rather than rushing to prosecute offenders, who are often the landless poor (Boonkird et. al., 1985). It is anticipated that strategies of this nature will become part of Tanzanian national forest policy which is currently under review. 4.0 MAIN ACTIVITIES The programme operates in an integrated manner through Community Development, Agriculture/Livestock and Forestry Departments within each District Council. A "catchment approach" was used to select priority pilot villages using criteria of i) position within the catchment, ii) severity of environmental degradation and iii) responsiveness in accepting the programme activities. This has facilitated localized testing of programme approaches and strategies before expansion into other areas. HIMA-Iringa, as the pilot project within the programme, started with 9 villages in 1989 and later expanded to 15 villagers in 1994. At Regional level, HIMA is expanding into Ludewa and Mufindi Districts. Forestry activities promoted by the programme include: A) Farmers' and extension staff training/study excursions: These trainings have included soil and water conservation techniques, agroforestry, organic farming, community-based forest management, on-farm techniques of raising bare-root/potted seedlings and household/village woodlot management. An element of these trainings has included production of brochures and booklets in Swahili and local languages. B) Integrating forestry with crops and soil and water conservation measures: In order to maximize benefits from agricultural practices, integration of multipurpose trees with food crops is being promoted. The trees provide products and/or services to farmers in terms of fodder, firewood, timber and soil fertility improvement. Commonly promoted species include Leucaena spp., Grevillea robusta and the indigenous trees Faitherbia albida and Albizia spp. The use of natural regeneration to reclaim degraded areas is being encouraged, including the use of Ocotea usambarensis and Hagenia abyssinica wildings where appropriate. 284 Country Paper-Tanzania C) Research activities: The major first steps which have been taken in this area include farming systems surveys which have included quantification of current agroforestry outputs with a view of interfacing HIMA interventions with stable, indigenous systems. Subsequently, appropriate indigenous and exotic multipurpose trees have been included in on-farm trials to supplement/complement existing systems. As a result, several species have been increasingly adopted by farmers in the project area (Minja & Mchomvu, 1995). These include: Dodonea viscose (Iuhahi) Croton macrostachys (Mhvulungu) Acacia sieberana (Migunga) Faidherbia albida (Mipogoro) Dombeya rotundifolia (Mkiwu) Erythrina abyssinica (Mhemi) Some other on-going basic research includes appropriate techniques to combat termite problems in tree nurseries and in the field (e.g. Mexican merigold). Other areas include identification of suitable trees for direct seeding/vegetative propagation and appropriate seed collection and processing techniques. Some species have already proven promising for direct seeding or vegetative propagation, including Leucaena leucocephala, Faitherbia albida and Syzigium cordatum. D) Local institutional capacity building: Through appropriate and judicious on-farm input support, H1MA Programme has concentrated on assisting the farmers in carrying out forestry practices starting at nursery level by provision of Polythene tubes, improved tree seeds and development of local nursery tools and materials. However, emphasis in placed on assisting farmers/institutions interested in diversifying their tree crops. Bare-root nurseries are being encouraged in the middle-to-upper potential zones while containerized seedlings are promoted in lower potential zones (Polythene and suitable localized containers). The current levels of inputs may differ between District projects, depending on climatic, cultural and economic differences. However, the HIMA Programme as a whole is seeking to strengthen the private sector's ability to provide these inputs by means of dissemination of marketing information and transport assistance. In addition, IUMA has given technical assistance in management of selected District Council softwood plantations as well as marketing options for the forest produce. E) Awareness raising: The strategies used in this area include mass village meetings, radio broadcasts, World/HIMA Environmental Days and focus group meetings i.e. livestock keepers, farmers cultivating within a particular sub-catchment, pitsawyers. Major thrusts include promoting the establishment of woodlots closer to homesteads, promoting the development and enforcement of appropriate bye-laws, conservation of natural forest remnants within the villages, and wildfire prevention. 285 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings A key area of HIMA policy is in awareness raising on gender issues as related to equity in sharing the benefits of natural resources, including forest products. In some areas of the Region (e.g. Kilolo Division), women farmers have no equal access to benefits accrued from woodlot harvests as do their husbands, particularly timber sales. (Minja et. al., 1996). F) Support to natural forest management and appropriate land-use: The HIMA Programme places much emphasis on assisting villagers to manage their own forest resources as common property. This has been achieved through boundary identification, followed by demarcation using tree seedlings. As part of its overall management, targeted villages are assisted by project staff to formulate their own bye-laws so that the village forest resources are adequately conserved. In Iringa District, 4,440 ha of public-land forests have been earmarked for village controlled management whereby villagers will have full ownership and much of the management initiatives and efforts will come from themselves. A proposed "Moratorium Fund" for HIMA-Makete and HIMA-Njombe is intended to assist District Councils in improving revenue collection from natural resources while better equipping them to protect natural forests e.g. fire-fighting equipment. Increasing efforts by particular villages in the Region to stop movements of illegally gained forest products underscore the weaknesses within the existing system. The HIMA Programme has also facilitated the surveying, boundary maintenance and mapping of selected Central Government Forest Reserves within the Eastern Arc Forest range. The programme has sought to fully involve villagers in these exercises with some successes have been achieved e.g. traditional village leaders in Makete indicating where their sacrificial forests lie within the reserves. Other efforts to involve farmers in developing policies for land-use practices surrounding forest reserves has been the attempted establishment of "buffer zones" around selected natural forests. In 1995, a total of 854 farmers surrounding the New Kidabaga-Ulong'ambi (3400 ha), Yising'a- Lugalo (14,000 ha) and Image Forest Reserves (8,000 ha) of Iringa District raised a total of 342,000 tree seedlings for this purpose. However, the seedlings were planted ineffectively far from the forest as farners feared loss of ownership since the existing forest ordinance does not clearly indicate the rights of surrounding communities in regard to this approach. If successfully integrated into national forest policy, it is anticipated that the buffer zone approach will alleviate many problems and satisfy the needs of the surrounding communities (FAO, 1978). The H1MA Prograrnme has strived, through continuous discussions and awareness raising, to encourage people to cease encroachment into forest reserves for crop cultivation. During the villagization program in 1974, about 1 10 farmers surrounding the 2,620 ha Numbe Valley Forest Reserve in Makete District encroached into the forest for pyrethrum cultivation. In 1995, HIMA-Makete successfully managed to halt this encroachment after long, focused dialogue and awareness raising campaigns. 4.0 IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS AND HOW THEY WERE DEALT WITH: Customary land tenure systems do not allow free access for marginal farners (especially women) to land for tree planting/agroforestry activities thus hindering their active participation in tree planting which is widely accepted as part of farming systems. Inequitable access to arable 286 County Paper-Tanzania land, coupled with environmental extremes existing within certain parts of the Region (e.g. unreliable rainfall, prohibitively steep slopes, acid soils) has further lowered the agroforestry potential. Additionally, as mentioned above, women do not have equitable access to the benefits accrued from natural resource management. These problems are being addressed through awareness raising campaigns, gender issues trainings for staff and villagers and the implementation of a "Women's Participation Fund" for small income-generating projects. The obsolete 1953 Forest Policy which was an inheritance from the old colonial era does not sufficiently address how, at local level, participatory forest management of state controlled forests can be pursued. If policies are enacted in a fair way, local communities should be able to see the direct benefits of their participation in managing the resources. At least, the forest ordinance should have guaranteed them free access to some forest produce in gazetted forest reserves without having a license or permit. However, this policy is currently under review, involving dialogue between the major stakeholders on how best to cater for everyone's interests. The existing forest product needs of farmers within the Region are not being adequately met, thus efforts to improve available germplasm are being pursued. Drought and disease resistant tree species, which are compatible with existing farming systems, are being introduced in some project areas. In Iringa region, Cupressus lusitanica trees have been attacked by Cinara cuppressi aphid to the extent of having been wiped out in the field. Suitable species of Casuarina and other timber/pole species are being introduced to compensate for these losses. Drought resistant species such as Melia azadrach and Faidherbia albida have been encouraged in semi-arid areas of the Region. 5.0 RESULTS: To date, HIMA has made significant progress, although a number of issues remain: - Farmers' awareness has been raised sufficiently on agroforestry and natural forest conservation, for example hazards of bush fires. In Iringa District target villages, 63% of people are aware of the importance of agroforestry and have been enabled to practice the integration of trees and agricultural crops (Mdoe & Mvena, 1995). - Approximately 13,000 villagers in Iringa District have been provided with short trainings, including study tours to different on-going environmental projects in Tanzania. Table 1 shows the number of villagers trained in Iringa District on agroforestry and soil conservation techniques. Table 1: Number of farmers trained on agroforestry & soil conservation techniques (91-95) Year Women Men Total 1991 849 1171 2020 1992 920 1147 2067 1993 758 1220 197 1994 1253 1633 2886 1995 1757 1921 36 Total 5537 7092 12639 Source: Minja & Mchomvu (1995). 287 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Participatory planning and implementation is now an accepted procedure within H[MA. It has been shown that, after 2-3 years of project implementation, villagers can produce their own simple workplans, incorporating their own activities with those introduced by HIMA (HIMA/DANIDA 1994). This kind of bottom-up planning has helped ensure that the villagers' perspectives are fully taken into account in the project activities. HIMA support in Iringa Region has completely shifted from large, central nurseries towards small, sustainable individual and group nurseries. In Iringa District, central nursery production was scaled down from 2.1 million seedlings in 1991 to 0.6 million in 1994 when they were totally abandoned. Consequently, individual nursery production was boosted to a level of 1.6 million seedlings in 1995/96. In contrast to 4 central nurseries which were formerly located in regionaWdistrict/divisional centres far away from the target groups, 890 on-farm nurseries exist today in Iringa District. Suffice it to say that individual nurseries are more sustainable, cost- effective and reduce mortality losses from nursery to planting site. Figure I shows central and individual nursery production in Iringa District. Figurel: Individual vs central nursery seedling production in Iringa District (1989/90-199415) 2250000 2000000 ; -0-Central nurseries 1750000 \ -OVillage based nurseries 1500000 1250000 1000000 750000 500000 250000 t 0 1989/90 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 Source: Minja et al 1995 H[MA has significantly assisted and cooperated with the central government in managing forest reserves. Between 1989 and 1992, about 146 km of boundary length was re-surveyed and demarcated with tree seedlings in Iringa District and about 30,000 ha of natural forests were inventoried. Likewise, in Makete District from 1993 to 1996, 36 km of forest reserve boundaries were (re) established and maintained. This support has helped resolve some conflicts/confusion between village govemment and central government-controlled catchment areas and has facilitated participatory land-use planning. Consequently, agricultural encroachment into the catchment forests has been virtually halted. The Udzungwa Forest Management Project was initiated in 1994 as a component of the HIMA Programme and is also centred on participatory approaches and joint management among the stakeholders. Some preliminary socio-economic and biophysical studies have been undertaken within the project area. The findings have provided important information necessary in decision 288 Country Paper-Tanzania making and preparation of management plans. Promising discussions are currently on-going between the project and The Forest Division concerning implementation of this unique project. Some successes have been achieved in alleviation of village women's workload, primarily through promotion of woodlots close to households. During the period 1993-96 within Kising'a village of Iringa District, an estimated weekly average of 2.85 women household hours have been/will be saved as a result of tree planting, or 5.1 hours/week as from 1998 onwards (Minja et. al., 1995) (Figure 2). Figure 2. Establishment of woodlot in villages has contributed in reduction of wood extraction from natural forest for timber, poles and firewood purposes. Figure 2: Household hours saved by farm forestry in Kising'a village 6 5- 0 0 4 0 3 -~~~~~ 0 0 0 D 2- 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ O - 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Year Source: Minja et al 1995 6.0 LESSONS LEARNT AND HOW THEY ARE SHAPING HIEMA: Woody vegetation constitutes an important component of the agricultural landscape in Iringa region and is actively managed as a perennial component of farming systems. It is thus appropriate that the programme has accorded farm forestry its due importance within agricultural sector support. The potential for agroforestry output appears to be great if issues of 1) socio- economics, 2) land tenure and rights (including gender issues) and 3) environmental amelioration (including biodiversity) are addressed by HIMA interventions. The challenge for HIMA is to continue to introduce forestry/agroforestry technologies in an integrated, holistic manner as part of its "catchment approach", utilizing the farmers as true partners in on-farm trials. Their own criteria, including economic circumstances, must be taken into account to augment on-farm experiments (East, 1986; Pinney, 1991). 289 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Individual tree nurseries have proven to be more economically viable, easily adoptable and sustainable relative to central nurseries. On-farn nurseries encourage farmers' initiatives and put the planting materials closer to where they are needed, thus ensuring healthier planting stock and lower mortality. In order to forge ahead successfully in promoting sustainable and participatory forest resource management, it is vital that the existing forest policy be reviewed in order to fully accommodate the stakeholders' interests. Concurrently, existing national policies on land-use rights should be re-examined and ultimately up-dated to accommodate societal changes. Judicious provision of appropriate, small-scale nursery support such as seeds, Polythene tubing and training has led to significant tree planting achievements within an enviromnent of active peoples' participation. At the same time, H1MA has to strengthen support to the private sector (including NGOs) to achieve any measure of sustainability. 7.0 REFERENCES: Boonkird, S. A, Femandes ECM and Nair PKR (1985) Forest villages: An agroforestry approach to rehabilitating forest land degraded by shifting cultivation in Thailand. Agroforestry Systems 2: 87- 102. Bureau of Statistics (1988) Population census. Planning Commission, President's Office. Dar es Salaam. CONCERN (1989) Description of Ismani Division. Report on Planning study. DANIDA (1995) DANIDA Sector Policies for Forestry and Agro-forestry. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Copenhagen, Denmark. Dewees PA (1994) Social and Economic Incentives for Smallholder Tree Growing. FAO, Rome, Italy. East RM (1986) Social Forestry Extension Methodologies and the Introduction of Agroforestry into Traditional Farming Systems of South Nyanza District, Kenya. KREDP/Energy Development Inter- national Working Paper, Nairobi, Kenya. FAO (1978) Forestry for Local Community Development: Forestry Paper No. 7. FAO, Rome, Italy. HIMA Makete/MARTI-Uyole (1994) A survey of the farming systems of Bulongwa Division, Makete District. HIMA-Makete. HIMA/DANIDA (1994) HIMA phase II appraisal Report. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Copenhagen. Lovett, J.C. (1992) Udzungwa Forest Management Project. Main Report of Project Preparation Mission. Vol. I Prepared for DANIDA. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. McNeely, J. A., Miller, K.R.; Reid, M.V. ; Mittermeir, R.A. S, A Werner, T. B., Conserving the Worlds Biodiversity. The World Bank, WRI & WWF. Glard and Washington. Mdoe & Mzena (1995) HIMA Iringa Impact study. A consultancy report. I-UMA. July 1995. Minja R. and J. Mchomvu (1995). An overview of Agroforestry practices in HIMA project Iringa, Tanzania. A paper presented to Technical and Professional Agroforestry Education Workshop in Eastern and Southern Africa held at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro 4-5 December 1995. Minja, R., F. Nikata, I. S. Massam and P. Kerkhof (1996). Farm Forestry Impact in Southern Highlands Watershed, Tanzania. In Jensen J. R. , T. Sawhney, S. L. Seth & P. Kumar (Edts). Proceedings of Danida's International Workshop on Watershed Development. 2-11 December 1995. Hubli & Karnataka State, India. WDCU Publication No 1. page 433-446. April 1996. New Delhi. Rodgers, W A & K. M. Homewood (1982). Biological Values and Conservation prospects for the forests and primnate populations of Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. Biological Conservation 24: 285-304. TFAP (1990) Tanzania Forestry Action Plan. Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Technical Paper No 1990/91 -2007/08. UAC/DANIDA (1992) A study of the feasibility of sustainability of substituting NPK (8:35:5) with TSP fertilizers for application on food crops production (Mainly maize in southern highlands of Tanzania) Wardell (1991) Identification report and preliminary project proposals for Makete District. DANIDA/GOT Identification Mission. 290 THE ROLE OF NGOs IN FACILITATING COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN FOREST CONSERVATION INSTITUTIONS AND FOREST POLICY REFORM IN TANZANIA A CASE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF NGOs by W. A. Rodgers East African Biodiversity Project and Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania FA0, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 291 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings THE ROLE OF NGOs IN FACILITATING COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN FOREST CONSERVATION Introduction - What are Institutions in a Policy Context? Institutions are the key to successful policy processes. It is the institutions within Government that make policy (increasingly we hope with greater inputs from non-governmental organisations!). It is the institutions that implement these policies, and institutions that review the adequacy and effectiveness of policy. Recent policy analysis has shown that the many sectors of government are no longer discrete self contained entities with their own internally functioning policies. Forestry is inextricably entwined with the energy, water, agricultural, rural development and environmental sectors. The Tanzania Tropical Forestry Action Plan (1989) highlighted such linkages. Policies from one sector therefore affect those of other sectors (see FAO 1994, Sharmia et al 1994, for more detailed review). These interactions are shown in Figure 1. Dominant sectors and national macro-policies (eg population and employment policies) will have correspondingly greater effects. However in practice there is little interaction and little policy analysis. Government is still separate boxes with vertical loyalties within sectors, and horizontal hostilities across the sectors. The resource institutions such as Forestry and Wildlife Departments have limited mechanisms and skills necessary to make modern, interactive, socially equitable, and economically sustainable policies! Rarely do Forestry Departments realise those gaps, and seek expertise from outside the profession. Indeed the forestry profession is more insular than most, with their economists and planners coming from within the ranks of forestry (Rodgers 1995a). In Eastern Africa we are not dealing with a forestry vacuum, there have been forestry policies since early colonial days (Hamilton 1984, Rodgers 1993). We are looking at evaluating existing policies and proposing amendments, rather than writing a policy de novo - in a way perhaps, an easier task: What is not working with the present policy? Why is the present policy not working? What can one do about it? What would be a better policy? Why are amendments not incorporated? What is the optirnum process for policy development itself? Recent literature talks about analysing policy failure (Sharma et al 1994, Rodgers 1996). It is not the FOREST policy of Tanzania to lose forest resources at 400,000 ha per annum, but it is apparently happening (see Presidential Statement, WCST et al 1996).1 Is it Tanzania AGRICULTURAL POLICY to convert 400,000 ha of land per year for cultivation? What does one do with contradictory policies? Much evidence points to the root causes of forest 'Note that the figure of 400,000 ha per annum is a guesstimate based on FAO extrapolations. Deforestation is poorly defined. Tanzania has little factual material on which to base policy analysis (Rodgers 1996a). 292 Country Paper-Tanzania loss coming from outside the forest sector (population growth, poverty, no alternative income opportunities, perverse incentives,etc). Sectoral institutions set their own sectoral policies. It is the relationship and level of interactions between the institutions, and the value sets that the institutions represent, that determine the type of policies that emerge. Policies in turn define the Institutional parameters and the way that Institutions inter-act and coordinate. These are capital I institutions - the organisations, to be distinguished from small i institutions such as the institution of law. It is policy again that determines the role of law and other such institutions. Institutions are complex beings, and their interactions are equally complex. Institutions within modern society can be likened to the species present within a community, with a host of dependent and independent relationships. Understanding their functioning requires special skills, but all too often the resource practitioners with skills in forestry or biology believe that they can plan institutional activity! Perhaps that accounts for that morass of complexity and uncertain functioning that we all too often see today. NGOs as Interacting Institutions: The Role of NGOs in Natural Resource Conservation in Africa. Rodgers (1995) outlined potential roles of NGOs in conservation activities. These include: Research, Innovation, Technology. This can be scientific documentation, eg The East African Natural History Society. Or the role can be more complex as in the advocacy for greater involvement of third world interests in global research, such as that from the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS). Funding on a Small Scale, eg the East African Wildlife Society. Funding can be umbrella support, or in kind through training or provision of capacity building inputs, administrative backup etc. Community Mobilization and Support. eg CARE. Support can be in eg health, sustainable agricultural development, or natural resources. Joint Forest Management capability, developing alternative resources, eg woodlots, are all examples. Information Gathering and Dissemination. ed JET (Journalists for Environment Tanzania). Assisting the flow of information is a key activity. News-letters are an example. This can be a two-way process. Decision makers are often out of touch with grass-roots issues. Villagers often are not aware of new legislation, or their rights. Both parties need information! Policy and Advocacy. eg WCST (Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania) NGOs can act as 'public watchdogs', providing increased levels of accountability and transparency on the part of the Government and private sector. Such NGOs act as champions for the common man. Governments may see this as opposition politics, and NGOs may in fact be created or funded by the political opposition. Advocacy uses more forceful techniques than simple awareness: stronger messages, messages passed to people with influence, etc. Advocacy relies on other activities of the 293 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings NGOs. For example advocacy is based on the use of facts. Facts are obtained from grass roots issues or from research activities. Networking. eg KENGO in Kenya. This is a less charged term than coordination, networks facilitate or coordinate in a gentle manner. Networks can be umbrellas from a larger NGO supporting smaller organisations, or they can be groups of smaller NGOs of similar status. Why are NGOs so Increasingly Popular? Globally there is concern for the plight of the rural poor. This is not totally altruistic, there are realizations that extreme poverty has implications for peace and environmental sustainability. Governments and "large donor projects" have failed to cope with such poverty at the village level. NGOs are seen to function well in the development field for four main reasons: NGOs can base themselves at community grass-roots levels, Many NGOs are specifically concerned with empowerment of rural poor, and alleviation of poverty. The community development ethic often has environmental benefits, bringing a greener development than big government. NGOs can cut across Government's typical sectoral approach, combining for example agriculture, forest conservation and mobilizing women's inputs, all in one campaign! Growing donor concern with Government's reduced capability (loss of equity and lowered accountability) has led to greater donor involvement with NGOs, hoping perhaps for greater democracy and accountability. This has been referred to as "NGO infatuation". But as NGOs grow to absorb these tasks, they become fat bureaucracies! This interest in NGOs will lead global funding support to grow from 7 to 13 billion US dollars in the coming 5 years! NGOs themselves, and the inter-relationships between NGOs, local communities, govermments and donors are continuing to evolve operating mechanisms; works well and what doesn't? What works well for the donor may be different for the government or the villager! This paper discusses institutional capacity building around a specific case history example with coastal forests, villagers, an NGO and Central and District Governments in coastal Tanzania. The issues involve a conservation NGO attempting sustainable conservation initiatives between government and villagers on the edge of fragmented coastal evergreen forests of high biodiversity conservation value (Howell, 1978; Rodgers 1992c, Frontier 1985). A Case History: The Conservation of Coastal Forests in Tanzania, the Role of the NGO Community. I highlight here the continuing conservation controversy around Pugu (2200 ha) and Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserves (3500 ha) outside Dar es Salaam. The reserves are 3 km apart, just inside Kisarawe District of Coast Region. The reserve boundaries form the border with the much more densely settled Ilala District of Dar es Salaam Region (see figure 1). The Reserves are of global conservation significance for their high levels of strict localised endemism, mainly plants but including vertebrates. There are some 12 strict plant endemics - eg Millettiapuguensis a distinctive 294 Country Paper-Tanzania liane. The reserves have little timber or large scale watershed value, they are used by local people for poles, fuelwood and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP). Recognition of the biodiversity significance led to the Reserves being the centre of a Priority Investment Profile within the Tanzania Forest Action Plan (TFAP 1989). TFAP indicated such support would be suitable for funding via an NGO. Accordingly the developing Global Environment Facility (GEF) biodiversity project, supported the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania to conserve Coastal Forests. The Society had already started assistance, through the Regional Natural Resources Officer (Coast), by supporting 12 Forest Guards (salaries cycles etc). WWF (Tz) supported the District Forest Office. The two NGOs, with Government Forestry, have monthly management planning meetings. Concern is over the continuing practice of illegal encroachment for cultivation, mostly in Kazimzumbwi FR by people from Chanika village in Ilala District. Charcoaling, from the clearing and elsewhere in the forest, is also of concern. This concern by the Society has been raised with Government at many levels within the past three years, without any real sign of success! (However recent initiatives with new Central and District staff indicate that a lasting solution could be found. A brief history of encroachment and conservation activity; the NGO role. Annex describes the history of encroachment and attempted resource conservation. Villagers are heterogenous, and include the wealthy from the adjacent city of Dar es Salaam. Years of neglect of reserve boundaries (typical of all Tanzanian forest reserves) meant that people were able to query the reserve borders. Villagers complain of land shortages (forest land is better than flatter empty land to the south). There is money to be made from charcoal supply to the city. Vacillation on the part of the authorities, inadequate fines etc gave signals that encroachment would not be stopped. The villagers gained a persuasive leader (M. Mtitimkavu) who openly advocated encroachment and sold land in the reserve. his securing a stay of eviction from the courts gave credibility to his claims. Conservation activity hinged around empowering the weak forest department of Coast Region to deal with the powerful villagers of Dar es Salaam Region. The role of the Central Government Forest Division was unclear - did they have an operational role or were they purely advisory? We note that the Reserves are Central Government Reserves but are "managed" by the Districts "on behalf of' Central Government - with NO guidelines governing such management. Policy issues on land allocation, central versus district responsibility, court jurisdiction, adequacy of fines, sustainable fuelwood supply were all vague and inadequate. The Wildlife Society took on several roles: - it became a conduit for donor funding for conservation and education, funds going to District and the Society, - it became a conservation organisation, convening planning meetings with villagers, training field staff, demarcating boundaries, planting boundaries, running village nurseries etc. - it became an information organisation convening press releases and news sheets documenting issues, 295 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings as normal policing cum extension methodologies failed the WCST it became an advocacy organisation, increasingly openly pushing Government to seek a solution. * it becamne a facilitator or networking organisation, bringing together central district administrations with the villagers and the press. The Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania has grown in stature and capability during this forest conservation activity. There are now specialist project staff, specialist committee members, a more focused and greater advocacy role, and in general more credibility within the public and within government. During this transition the Society (and many other conservation agencies) has changed its emphasis and mode of operating. Conservation is not merely benign policing - providing sympathetic guards to catch the bad guys and help the good guys with simple alternatives such as tree seedlings. Conservation of natural resources is part of politics, part of overall land-use practices and so part of people making money or not making money. Conservation thus becomes a dirty business, with corruption and deceit at several levels. Conservation is now outside the purview of District based field staff. The list of institutional players is enornous (see figure 2). Part of this complexity is the three way split in Forestry decision making processes in Tanzania (see TFAP 1989 documentation). The Director of Forestry is the policy and advisory body. Actual implementation is the responsibility of District Foresters, who report to the District NOT the Director of Forestry. District forestry is supervised by the Regional Officers, who also approve financial flows. Regional foresters are responsible to Regional staff, NOT to central forestry! (NOTE as of July 1996, Tanzania has reduced the powers of the Regions, who take on a reduced advisory role without natural resources expertise). This separation of powers resulted from decentralisation in 1967 to 1971. Foresters realised that major NATIONAL forest assets could not easily be left to the tender mercies of District authorities (who were driven by the needs of their local populations and the need for revenue!). Forestry authorities then separated Regional and District CATCHMENT forestry to be responsible to the Director of Forests at national level for the montane forests of the four Regions - Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro and Tanga. In other regions Districts implement all forest activities. National officers say that Districts are to implement on BEHALF of the Director - to his specifications. But this is theoretical and nowhere clearly spelled out. Similar problems have arisen in western Tanzania, with miombo woodland (Brachystegia - Julbernardia) reserves see Box 1. BOX 1: MIOMBO RESERVE DEFORESTATION IN WESTERN TANZANIA Westem Tanzania (Tabora, Kigoma and Rukwa Regions) has extensive areas of miombo (Brachystegia - Julbernardia) woodland Forest Reserve, with past utilisation for timber, honey and wildlife hunting (see Rodgers 1996b). Recent land and agricultural policies have allowed a mass movement of semi-pastoralist Wa-Sukuma people through the miombo woodlands. This was followed by plans for increased tobacco production which required huge amounts of fuelwood. The Forest Reserves are openly encroached for cattle, for tobacco and for fuelwood cutting. Despite the presence of a major World Bank supported forest project this encroachment has not been stopped, yet alone reversed. Rational land-use plans are not in place, the rule of law is flouted. (Pers Comm: P Ryan, Nairobi; and Tanzania Forest Department). 296 Country Paper-Tanzania Note that this scenario of uncertain decentralisation has already taken place in Ethiopia and in Uganda in the past two years as Governments vacillitated over how to give control of national assets to local organisations! A second part of the conservation complexity is the separation of territorial functions - the difficulty of Coast Regional staff operating in Dar es Salaam Region. When Coast forest guards impound cycles of illegal charcoal transporters, the Dar es Salaam district authorities facilitate their release! The "new social forestry" - Is there an over-dependence on local needs? The new conservation paradigm is to work with local people, seeing them as part of the solution instead of the problem. This is based on the premise that local people can see (and derive) benefit in the forest. Where local people are not a homogenous forest dependent or forest supportive society, then involving local people becomes harder. When local people are recent immigrants, looking for opportunities to make money through converting forests, then people centred conservation methodologies will not work! These coastal forests are small, perhaps too small to permit a realistic buffer zone providing meaningful resources to a sufficiently large proportion of the population. Land is in short supply on the Dar es Salaam side and the demand is for degazettement for cultivation (and eventually for high value plots on the outskirts of the capital city). The presence of the capital city provides an ever-increasing demand for charcoal. Charcoal manufacture provides an income for landless poor - especially the youth. Land is in such demand that it is not worth putting under a tree crop for fuelwood near the city. It is noteworthy here that there IS NO ENERGY POLICY FOR DAR ES SALAAM. recent increases in electricity prices led to greater demand for fuelwood. An Africa Development Bank project to attempt sustainable fuelwood supply has been three years in the planning; but the loan proposal was turned down by Ministry in September 1996 as not a priority! It is difficult to see a scenario where local people can derive benefit until the forest can attract a sufficient throughput of middle-class people demanding forest recreation possibilities - we are looking at an another 20 years! Therefore in the short and medium termn we require command and control policing - offset perhaps by the provision of increased extension services to an improved agriculture. However the breakdown in extension capability in the past decade, and the lack of interest in coastal agriculture by govemment and donors, means that this is unlikely to prove a major success. A harder advocacy role In the past two years the Society has attempted to take the conservation issues to the political level: A seminar in 1994 for MPs chaired by the Minister for Natural Resources on the importance of coastal forests. MPs were interested, but we lacked a coordinated follow-on programme, and the stimulation died. The involvement of the Minister and local MPs in the specific Kisarawe case in January 1995. The Deputy Minister, visited the site with the District Commissioners and MP. Statements were made in villages saying "deforestation must stop within reserve " but this 297 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings was approaching election time, and no-one wanted hard attitudes to the electorate. These initiatives again died down! The Kiserawe debacle led to an Editorial in the Society magazine, "Who controls Forests In Tanzania". The answer was "No-one!", (see box 2) This led to an involvement with a "Political Manifesto on the Environment", presented to Presidential candidates at the time of elections (October 1995). This was followed by a national workshop "Putting Environment on the National Agenda", organised by the NGOs at which the President participated and made a strong statement on the Environment. This statement (see box 3) we hope will act as the foundation of future conservation effort. BOX 2 EXTRACTS FROM WILDLIFE SOCIETY MAGAZINE EDITORIL "W1(HO CONTROLS FORESTS IN TANZANIA" In July 1995 the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania published Miombo Magazine No 13 with an editorial featuring the forest encroachment crisis in Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve. The editorial ended with a documnentation of the inability of Government at Central, Regional and District levels to take action: Deputy Minister Natural Resources states encroachment must stop Director Forestry instructs DFO to stop encroachment - DFO asks District Commissioner for Police support in evictions DC instructs District Police to provide assistance - District Police Chief says he needs authorisation from Region Regional Police Chief says this is Forest not Police matter Regional Forestry unable to persuade Region to instruct Police Region says the Courts must authorise the Police to take action Courts say their job is to try existing offences, not find new ones Wildlife Society appeals to Forest Division for action. - Director Forestry suggested WCST approach the Prime Minister! We therefore repeat our question "WHO controls Forest Resources in Tanzania'? The Answer we are afraid is "NO ONE", especially in the face ofproblens! BOX 3 PRESIDENTIAL PLEDGE ON ENVIRONMENT: JULY 1996 My illustrious predecessor, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, signed the Anusha Manifesto in 1961. I recognize that this has formed an important benchmark staternent for Wildlife Conservation - both nationally and intemationally in the past 35 years. Perhaps we should move in the same direction for the now broader goals of environment and sustainable development I would therefore like to take this opportunity to pledge, on behalf of Myself, my Govemment, and my People, the following: 'That Tanzania is fully committed to the principles of Sustainable Development, principles which we signed at the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992. 'That Tanzania recognizes the fundamental role of her environment and natural resource base in underpinning sustainable development The environment in its totality must therefore receive greater attention and greater priority from the Govenmment and the People of Tanzania "That Government will strengthen her environmental institutions - developing compatible and environmentally friendly sectoral policies that are founded on social equity. - That Tanzania realises that people - people in their rural and urban communities, people in businesses in the private and parastatal sectors, people in Government must be empowered to be environmentally conscious and to accept greater responsibility for safeguarding the environment His Excellency Benjamin Mkapa. President of the United Republic of Tanzania. 24 July 1996. Statement made at Workshop on the Environment co-organised by The Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania. 298 Country Paper-Tanzania vi Is There a Way Forwards? The way forwards must involve political inputs. Conservation will not be achieved through local policing efforts alone. Senior District officials must be directed that the forest has significant value and that its destruction will not be tolerated. That in itself involves political decisions: DOES Tanzania want to maintain these forests, or should they be converted to city plots? Which institution is given the mandate to translate that decision into practice? This will involve: an improved basic policing activity, coupled with: agricultural extension support to local people, and an alternative fuelwood supply for Dar es Salaam. There is need for realistic planning to control Dar es Salaam city expansion. Urban policy must link with forest policy. Guidelines as to the responsibility of District and Central forest functions are needed. Does the Director have an overall monitoring function? How will that work? How do neighbouring Districts and Regions cooperate? The society has considered a management planning process for these reserves, but fundamental questions are not answered: How does forestry develop a management plan which involves people in the districts? Who approves the plan, and what legislative status will the plan provisions carry? How does a reserve management plan link with needed sustainable development plans for neighbouring villages? We are looking here at the need for much larger rural development inputs, perhaps involving the more experienced international agencies such as CARE, World Vision etc. Government is preparing a new forest policy process now. These issues must be incorporated into the policy process. Policy is too important to be entrusted to Government alone. The NGOS, especially those with experience in forest conservation and in forest use, as well as those with experience in rural development have a major role to play! vii) The Role of NGOs - Has it Helped? We believe so. We also in the past two months have begun to see the signs of success in that the new District leadership have accepted the need to restore law and order as a precursor to further inputs to extension support. The new Director of Forestry has agreed that this is a serious teat case of national conservation interest, and is taking measures to reverse past damage! We do not believe that ANY of this would have happened without the inputs from the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania. The Society has had a broad range of roles, all of which have contributed to the developing success story - advocacy, information and field conservation activity. 299 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings REFERENCES Cabarle, B. & Heiner, H. 1994. The role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Forestry. J. Forestry, June 1994, 8-12. FAO, 1994. Forest Development and Policy Dilemmas; in: The State of Food and Agriculture. pp 251 - 347. FAO, Rome. Farrington, J. & Bebbington, A. 1993. Reluctant Partners: NGOs, the State and Sustainable Agricultural Development, London, ODI. Routledge. Frontier, 1995. The Biodiversity Values of Coastal Forests in Tanzania: Coast Region. Frontier UK, and The University of Dar es Salaam. Hamilton, A.C. 1984. Deforestation in Uganda. Nairobi, Oxford University Press. Howell, K. 1982. Pugu Forest Reserve: biological values and development. African Journal of Forestry, 19: 73-81. Kikula, I, Rodgers, W.A., et al. 1995. A Political Manifesto for The Environment in Tanzania. Typescript 8pp. Rodgers, W.A. 1993. The conservation of the forest resources of Eastern Africa: past influences, present practices and future needs. pp 283-331; in Lovett, J.C. and Wasser, S.K. (eds) Biogeography and Ecology of the rain forests of Eastern Africa. Cambridge University Press. Rodgers, W.A. 1995a. The Conservation of Biodiversity in East Africa: The Approaches of Forestry and Wildlife Sectors Compared. In: Workshop on the Conservation of African Biodiversity. Nairobi Kenya 1992. National Museums of Kenya. Rodgers, W.A. 1995b. The role of NGOs in Conservation. Forum 6. Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, Uganda. Rodgers, W.A. 1995c. Forest Biodiversity - An Awareness and Training Manual for Forest Graduates. FAO Project Field Document 17. Dar es Salaam. Rodgers, W.A. 1996a. Patterns of Loss of Forest Biodiversity : A Global Perspective. in: Proceedings of Workshop on Economics of Biodiversity Loss. IUCN Gland, Switzerland. Rodgers, W.A. 1996b. The Miombo Woodlands. in Mclanahan, S. and Young T. (Eds). East African Ecosystems and their Conservation. Oxford University Press. USA Sharma, N.P.(ed). 1992 Managing the World's Forests: Looking for Balance Between Conservation and Development. Dubuque, Kendall-Hunt. Sharma,N.P., Reitbergen,S., Heimo,C.R. and Patel,J. 1994. A Strategy for the Forest Sector in Sub- Saharan Africa. World Bank, Washington DC. TFAP, 1989. Tanzania Forest Action Plan. Ministry of Tourism, Natural Resources and Environment, Dar es Salaam. Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania. 1995. Editorial "Who Controls Forest Resources In Tanzania" Miombo Magazine: Vol 13. Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, Institute of Resource Assessment, AGENDA. 1996. Proceedings of Workshop : Putting Environment on the Political Agenda. Tanzania. 300 Country Paper--Tanzania Figure 2 Schematic Diagram of Institutional Complexity Around the Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve in Coast Region Coast Region Around the Forest Itself Dar es Salaam Region Capital City Region Region Government Reg Commissioner Reg Commissioner Nlinistry NR Reg Foresiry, Reg Forestry* Minister Reg Planning COAST DSNI Reg Planning Prin Sec Reg Police Reg Police Reg Agric Exten Village Govts Village Govis Reg Agric Exten Dept Forest Director District Leadership Leadership District Forest Guards FOREST NO Forest Guards Prime Minister Dist Commnissioner Agric Extension Agric Extension NGO Dist Commissioner Police HQ Dist ForesirN NGO persons persons Dist Forestrv* Courts HQ Dist Planninig Dist Planning Dist Police Sub-V'illages Dist Police NGO HQ Dist Agric Exten Dist Agric Exten Dist Nlagistrates L*IND DEI ELOPERS Nledia CH.4RCO.4L Miember Parliament SELLERS Miember Parliament The Public Party Leadership "THE RICH" Party, Leadership Donors Pro Forest? Pro Forest Anti Forest ???Unclear ???? No Decision The forest is shaded, and the thick line shows that the forest boundary to the East forms the Regional boundary. The final row is an indication of stated or apparent feelings to the forest resource. Note: control of the forest is vested in Coast Region, but the problem originates from Dar es Salaam Region. * Note, staff often not in place as not a priority in basically a city administration. 301 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings ANNEXURE 1 TIMETABLE OF CONFLICT AT KAZIMZUMBWI FOREST RESERVE, TANZANIA. The Coastal Forest Project of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania began 1991. Pugu and Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserves had encroachment and excessive resource exploitation. Clearing within the forest reserve for cultivation became a serious issue in the subvillage of Nzasa which is part of Chanika Village. The initial problem at Nzasa was an alleged difficulty in identifying the Forest Reserve boundary, last cleared in 1984. In July 1991 people invaded the forest, pitsawing, clearing for crops, and making charcoal. The Coast Region Administration, with WCST funding, took culprits to court. Some were convicted with small fines. 1993 Activity: March: Coast Forest Department, WCST and Police met at Nzasa, parties agreed the need for clear reserve boundaries. Clearing started in July following GPS and ground survey. * Nzasa villagers halted the exercise and a Nzaza villager Mohammed Mtimkavu led local people in demarcating and felling over 200 plots totalling 150 ha inside the reserve. * District Commissioners Ilala & Kisarawe met with Nzasa people. The villagers allowed the border clearing to continue for a few days but again stopped the survey crew, more people illegally cleared reserve forest. * The Ilala District Administration were shown the reserve boundaries. Patrols restarted and 12 people arrested, including Mtimkavu. One day later Nzasa people halted the patrol and held the Regional Natural Resources Officer for seven hours * District Police Commanders for Kisarawe and Ilala held discussions with the villagers who agreed to leave the reserve. 1994 Activities April: Villagers wrote to the Director of Forestry asking for a strip of land from the reserve. This was refused. July: Coast Region staff arrested 15 people who were in the reserve illegally. Mohammed Mtimkavu later appealed successfully against 1993 conviction for illegally clearing land inside the Forest Reserve. He stated that District Officials had not presented the full documentation to prove that the area was a gazetted forest reserve! This successful appeal was used by Mtimkavu to show that the subvillage of Nzasa could distribute land within the Reserve. September: Boundary clearing started again. Four days later the clearing team and full village Chairman were stopped by some Nzasa people referring to their request for land. Local labour were threatened at their homes. Boundary trees were uprooted. Eleven days later District Forest Officer with police arrested a villager. 302 Country Paper-Tanzania October: RNRO and a film-maker went to the forest to film clearing problem, one man found occupying forest land arrested. RNRO, WCST, Journalists and Police went to look at the situation. The villagers were aggressive and one farmer (a retired soldier) tried to grab a police rifle, but the villager was shot in the leg and arrested. 1995 Activities: January: WCST held seminar at Kisarawe for regional leaders from Dar and Coast Regions to explain the importance of Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve. Ministry staff, including the Deputy Minister and Director Forestry attended the seminar. * Deputy Minister, Director of Forestry, leaders of Coast Region and Kisarawe District visited the destroyed area of Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve. They also met Mr Mtimkavu on site. Two days later they held a meeting with Nzasa people and agreed: * Kazimzumbwi Forest is a Reserve, and must continue to be reserved. * Villagers must not fell trees nor clear the forest. * Dar Region and Ministry would find a way of solving the Nzasa problem. * Three days later the 'Mtimkavu committee' started to sell land inside the reserve at a price of 5,000 T Shs ($10) per acre. * The RNRO and WCST informed Director Forestry but he said he had instructed the DNRO that the culprits should be caught and taken to the court. Government leaders now started passing around the responsibility to solve the problem between each other. March: Mtimkavu again taken to court for clearing new land in Forest Reserve. The magistrate found that there was a case to answer but gave him 28 days to appeal. The case was heard in the Appeal Court, but we still await the judgement. * High Court Judge confirmed to the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources that the 1994 judgement he made earlier holds only for Mtimkavu and his plot. If others clear Forest Reserve then legal action can be taken against him/her. April: The Director of Forestry writes to the RNRO Coast stating District Foresters in Kisarawe had to solve the problem of Kazimzumbwi immediately or should resign their jobs. NO ASSISTANCE OFFERED TO LOCAL FORESTERS. July: Charcoal burning greatly increases in Kazimzumbwi. Sept: DFO Kisarawe wrote to all village and subvillage chairnen saying that the information spread by Mtimkavu that the court had allowed people to cultivate inside the reserve is not true. Any one illegally in the forest will be arrested. 1996 Activities January : The new RNRO, and District staff camped in Nzasa area to discuss issues with villagers and solve the problem in a friendly manner. Mtimkavu warned them of their safety and they returned. 303 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings February: The RNRO, instructed by Director of Forestry, wrote to Forestry Kisarawe giving them one month to evict all illegal encroachment. * RNRO and District staff arrested 8 people, who were remanded in custody for 14 days. They were then bailed by local MP asking that they be allowed to return to harvest their crops in forest! This, although illegal, was allowed by court. March: Foresters arrested 61 people over 10 days. Most were fined 3000 TShs (6$) and told not to return to the forest. Some were given to the 31st July to harvest crops. * An encroachment party led by a man claiming to be a Bishop was found in the reserve. He said he had paid the village 12,000 TShs (25$) per acre for 70 acres of land inside the reserve. Bail was arranged for his followers. During the arrest in the reserve villagers were summoned using whistles, threatening the forestry staff who were forced to leave. A retired policeman visited Forestry Department HQ to complain about actions being taken, suggesting that senior people had bought land in the reserve including retired police and arny officers. * Foresters were told by Regional Police Commander that no police should assist forestry. He advised forest staff to keep away for their own safety. April/May : Kiserawe Magistrate visited Reserve checking if boundaries were clear. Those charged were convicted and fined, two people were imprisoned. April : RNRO Coast requested DSM to stop issuing charcoal licences for Chanika. May: Charcoal bicycles confiscated by Coast forest staff were returned following requests from Dar authorities. Subsequently the charcoal burners returned to the forest. Of 11 people identified, 8 had had bicycles returned after earlier arrest. June: The Ilala Dar es Salaam court summonsed the DFO Kisarawe to answer charges that he had illegally removed people of Ilala from land in Ilala District! August : New DC Kiserawe writes to new counterpart in Dar es Salaam expressing concern of continued destruction of the Reserve by Dar es Salaam people. September: Renewed initiatives by WCST bring the two new DCs and new Director of Forests into a joint meeting in the forest, at which again it is decided that encroachers must leave immediately. DC asked to provide support through local police. October: New Regional Commissioner for Dar es Salaam visits forest and states in meeting with villagers and press that in two days time all goods, buildings crops in the Forest Reserve will be confiscated as Government Property. He categorically stats that the Reserve will be maintained. This announced on Radio. He directs that Forestry clearly mark the boundary. WCST funds Government to clear the boundary. 304 COMMUNITY-BASED NATURAL FOREST MANAGEMENT THE CASE OF DURU-HAITEMBA & MGORI FORESTS TANZANIA by Liz Wily International Development Consultant on Forest Management 305 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings COMMUNITY-BASED NATURAL FOREST MANAGEMENT THE CASE OF DURU-HAITEMBA & MGORI FORESTS TANZANIA IMTRODUCTION This case study relates to two miombo woodlands in Tanzania, Duru-Haitemba Forest in Babati District, Arusha Region, and Mgori Forest in Singida District, Singida Region. The former comprises an area of nearly 9,000 ha, now under the full ownership and active management of eight registered and incorporated village communities. The latter is a larger and more intact woodland of 40,000 ha, currently managed by five villages, but in legal and institutional collaboration with the local District Council. Two years ago both woodlands, under government control and management, were in a state of acute decline, with loss of area and species. In the case of Duru-Haitemba this resulted from boundary encroachment and in-forest settlement, excessive wood extraction and livestock grazing, mainly by forest-local communities. In the case of Mgori, the forest was afflicted by uncontrolled clearing for shifting cultivation of commercial finger millet, excessive hunting of the abundant wildlife including elephant, and timber extraction, mainly by outsiders. Today, boundaries are intact, incursion limited, flora and fauna recovering, and both forests protected by a total of more than 200 young Village Forest Guards - and all at no cost to government. These developments have occurred under the auspices of a Swedish-funded Regional Forestry Programme (since ended), and later, Land Management Programme with which the author is associated.' The need for new approaches to natural forest management in Africa is no longer a matter of debate. Whilst tree-planting on private farms is visibly increasing in sub-Saharan agriculture,2 it is as clear that natural forests dwindle apace. This is arguably as much the case for those forests under direct state jurisdiction and management (generally categorised as Forest Reserves) as for those public land or community forests outside direct state control. All forest types are effected, from the moist montane to the open miombo woodlands of east and southern Africa. There is widespread agreement that new, more effective, cheaper and more sustainable ways of retaining and managing natural forests not only need to be found, but tried out on the ground. A steady trend in this direction is towards regimes which share responsibility with those who live next to forests, and who often have the most immediate vested interest in the forests, both for product use and for catchment purposes. It is well known that such strategies are most advanced in I The author, an international development consultant based in Nairobi, has acted from the outset as main facilitator of these developments, on behalf of Orgut ConsultingAB, a Swedish-based consulting group which has been providing technical assistance to natural resource and land management programmes in Tanzania on behalf of SIDA and in conjunction with the Tanzanian Government. 2 For example, see 'Iot All African Land is Being Degraded: A Recent Survey of Trees on Farms in kenya Reveals Rapidly Increasing Forest Resources' by Holmgren, Masakha & Sjoholm, in Ambio Vol. 23 (7) November 1994. 306 Country Paper-Tanzania South and South East Asia and a growing body of critical literature is available. Community involvement in natural forest management in Africa is more recent and practice still largely confined to isolated instances. Although Governments have for some time been stating in national forestry policies that communities should be involved, agreement as to what constitutes community involvement in natural forest management has been diverse and confused. For the most part community participation has stopped well short of sharing power or control, remaining at the level of 'consultation', or of 'allowing' forest local communities to use certain forest products more freely, in return for improved respect of Forest Reserve boundaries. In the sister natural resource sector of wildlife management, revenue-sharing schemes have become the hall-stone of much so-called 'community resource management. This case study describes a more fulsome scenario of community participation, in which there has been a marked degree of power-sharing - to the extent of communities taking over full responsibility and control of the resource. Accordingly the function of government, previously the formal manager, becomes one of technical adviser and watchdog. In the more advanced case described, the eight communities involved actually now legally own the forest in question. There is considerable documentation on the story of Duru-Haitemba and Mgori,3 and rather than describe the process in detail, a brief overview is provided followed by a discussion which draws out significant features and lessons. THE CASE STUDY: THE FORESTS OF DURU-HA1TEMBA & MGOR[ Strictly speaking, neither Duru-Haitemba nor Mgori are typologically 'forests' but dry woodlands of the common miombo type which spreads over eight states in southern and eastern Africa.4 In Tanzania alone there are possibly more than fifteen million hectares of this kind of 'forest', which although not always of a notably high or closed canopy type, normally contains high timber volumes and supports a wide range of catchment and utilitarian functions, including wildlife. In Tanzania as elsewhere a good proportion of miombo woodlands are managed today within the institutional framework of state-owned Forest Reserves, along with the fewer moist montane forests which are generally accorded the highest protection status. Most of the remainder falls within public land, a loose tenurial category, which in Tanzania predominately includes land customarily held by communities but over which they have not yet established statutory ownership, and other lands, over which the state exercises main jurisdiction if not ownership, in default of tangible bundles of rights having been declared. Neither Duru-Haitemba Forest nor Mgori Forest were at any time state-owned and gazetted Forest Reserves. They were however by the 1980's fully intended as Forest Reserves and to this end had 3 See in particular: 'Finding a Way Forward in Natural Forest Management in Tanzania' by H. Sjoholm & Liz Wily in IRDC Currents June 1995; Good News From Tanzania The First Village Forest Reserves by Liz Wily in FAO Forest Trees and People Newsletter Vol. 29 November 1995; Collaborative Forest Management Villagers & Government The Case of Mgori in Tanzania by Liz Wily [forthcoming] Working Paper of FTIPP/FAO. 4 See upcoming CIFOR publication on Management ofMiombo Woodlands (ed. B. Campbell) which describes all aspects of this forest type in detail. A review on the institutional frameworks within which miombo woodlands are, and could be managed is found therein (Cht 8: Matose & Wily). 307 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings been fully surveyed and demarcated, and all but the publication of Reservation was complete. Indeed, there is no doubt that the process of withdrawing these forests from the public sphere into the hands of the state was the catalyst to both local concern and to the ultimate decision to find a more acceptable - and also more workable - regime of management. Duru-Haitemba The earlier, Duru-Haitemba initiative began in September 1994, when the author was invited by the SIDA-funded Regional Forestry Programme to work with villagers in and around the Forest to encourage them to support its gazettement and management as a Forest Reserve. Beacons were already on the ground. It was clear however, that local people did not support the withdrawal of what they regarded as 'their' individual, but adjoining village forests into the hands of the state - indeed, since the posting of Forest Guards to the area some years previously as part of the process, local people had more or less adopted a deliberate policy of 'getting what they could' out of the forest in terms of land and products as fast as they were able, prior to their anticipated exclusion from the area. The forest, basically a series of linked ridges of high woodland, was by 1994, heavily degraded and encroached in many places. Even were certain use rights to be guaranteed, local response to the situation did not suggest that Reservation would lead to effective conservation. With informal support from the local authorities (Babati District Council), the author and local Forestry Officer thus began a process of exploring with first three, and then all eight villages adjacent to Duru-Haitemba if and how they could conserve and manage the forests themselves. This was to prove a politicising and empowering process for neither villagers nor village leaders had countenanced the possibility that they might be 'allowed' by Government actually manage the forest themselves. Government itself had not envisaged that level of 'participation', but whilst officials were dubious and continued to argue for a trade-off of certain [minor] use rights in return for promised 'cooperation', they did agree that the gazettement process would be suspended pending demonstration by the villages that they could halt the degradation of the forest. It was informally agreed that they would have day-to-day management responsibility - and by implication, 'control' over how the forest would be managed. With a degree of broad interpretation towards a carte blanche right to control, advisers and interested village leaders used this tentative go-ahead ["we will have no one to blame but ourselves if we fail to save our forest"], to launch a highly dynamic (and argumentative) process of reviewing each and every aspect of the forest to determine just what was required to restore the forest and to keep it intact for potential future use. Simple but effective management plans were drawn up by each village, prominently including 'rules' for using the forest. A most interesting feature of this process was that, whilst prior to knowledge that they might control the forest themselves, villagers cited virtually all uses from timber to grazing as 'indispensable', once it was known that the forest is 'ours', the same leaders and ordinary villagers swiftly argued for discontinuation of any use which they considered damaging. Charcoal burning, tree felling and even grazing in some parts of their forests were immediately banned, and other uses to be controlled through regimes which verged upon the ultra-conservative and protectionist. Village assemblies were held in which the entire community of each village debated and refined the 'plan'. Most of the eight villages were to adopt a management strategy based upon geographical and political divisions in the village, each registered sub-village looking after that part of the forest to 308 Country Paper-Tanzania which it was adjacent. Demarcation of those areas was undertaken, not always without dispute. The forest was also zoned in its entirety, indicating precisely where cattle could be grazed, which areas could not be used at all by the villagers, and which areas would be available for sustainable use (Sustainable Use Zones, Grazing Zones, Protection Zones). From the outset, villagers considered guarding of their discreet village forests against both non- villagers and offenders from within the village, would be essential. Walinzi, or Village Forest Guards, were duly selected by each sub-village and patrolling and reporting regimes devised. These Walinzi patrol the forest up until the present. Encroachment, pitsawing, charcoal burning and a range of lesser destructive activities have largely ceased and a main function of the Walinzi today is to prevent the forest being used by non-villager cattle, entering from adjacent villages, or using the forest as a conduit for long distance trekking of cattle to markets to and from other Districts. Each village maintains a Village Forest Committee, the composition of which has steadily shifted from village leaders to ordinary villagers, a 'democratization' at the local level which has both arisen from and led to, a growing need for accountability as practical management and control gets under way. As the months pass, more, rather than fewer, villagers are practically involved in the commitment to conserve and manage their forest. Once villages began actively managing their forests (preventing activities they had declared illegal, issuing a limited number of permits for sustainable uses, patrolling, rehabilitating forest springs, etc), it became clear that they needed not just the administrative support they had secured from the local District Council, but legal backing. Accordingly each village was assisted to rephrase their management plans and rules as Village By-Laws. In mid 1995, these were formally approved under the District Authorities Act by the full District Council. Each village is thus by law, the legal authority and manager of that part of Duru-Haitemba Forest which is adjacent to its own settled village area and specified in the relevant Village By-Law as falling under their jurisdiction. The Vdllages of Duru-Haitemba Forest VILLAGES AYA- ENDA- HOSHAN ENDAGWE BUBU GEDAS RIRODA DURU ALL SANDA NACHAN Number ofHouseholds 356 400 325 470 260 340 950 481 3,582 (1994) _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ Entitled Village 1,660 2,130 2,290 4,300 4,690 4.250 4,610 3,720 27,650 EsL % still forested 30 21 17 28 49 21 38 35 32 Est. Ha Village Forest Reserve 500 400 400 1,220 2,300 875 1,800 1,500 8,995 Est. Ha ForestH 1.4 1.1 1.2 2.6 8.8 2.6 1.8 2.7 2.4 No.Sub-villages 5 4 3 6 4 5 9 5 41 No. Sub-Villages with Forest 5 3 3 6 3 4 8 5 37 No. Walinzi [Sept 19951 10 4 6 12 14 12 34 15 108 309 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Usual Categories of Village Forest 'Rules' (Mashart) that must be complied with by all village members* Free Uses Matumizi Buru Forest uses which may continue unimpeded because of their non-destructive nature; e.g: collection of dry fuelwood for cooking, wild fruits, mushrooms, grinding stones Notifiable Uses KAuoa Taarifa kwa Mwenyekiti wa Kliongoji Forest uses which are to be reported to the Sub-Village Chairnan (or Village Forest Committee Chairman) prior to implementation e.g: placement of new beehives, harvesting hives, collection of withies, medicinal plants for use outside the household Uses by Permit Kibai cha Maandishi Forest uses which are rationed (quotas) or controlled through a permits, some uses requiring a fee, others free; e.g: polewood collection, the use of fallen timber, collection of wood for beer-brewing, felling of a certain tree for strictly communal use (e.g. village school desks); or by season [collection of dry wood for brick burning]; or by area [grazing zones] Banned Uses Maurmizi Marufuku Forest uses which are not permitted under any circumstances; e.g; charcoal burning, pitsawing, shifting cultivation or clearing, encroachment over boundaries, hunting, bark-stripping. * With the exception of one or two Villages where members of neighbouring villages are able to keep hives, any forest use by a non-member of the village is generally forbidden. An important fact arose through the process of legal review; unlike many other countries, villages in Tanzania possess the capacity to be registered as the most local level of 'government' within the decentralised system, and in addition exist as legal corporate entities, able - inter alia - to sue and be sued and to own businesses and property as a community. Entitlement, the process of a community securing statutory ownership over their local land area, is a fundamental development policy and programme within Tanzania, although one which has in the event only slowly been implemented.5 It transpired that all eight villages in the vicinity of Duru-Haitemba had in fact applied for such ownership and that the areas they specified as their own and which were agreed as such, included their traditional woodland areas. Thus the legality of state gazettement in the first place came into question. Village Title Deeds have since been awarded. Thus, both through statutory local government regulation and through statutory entitlement, the eight villages of Duru- Haitemba are in the unusual situation of being both the legal owners and managers of what they have come to call their Village Forest Reserves (Hifadhiya Msitu ya K#ijij). Since this event a year or more ago, there have been a series of related important developments both on the ground and as affecting wider forest management policy and practice in Tanzania. 5 A full discussion of the legal framework for village-based natural resource management and land tenure is provided in 'The Law and the Village in Tanzania An Exploration of the Legal Frameworkfor Community Management of Natural Resources Liz Wily, 1995, Orgut Consulting AB, Dar es Salaam. 310 Country Paper-Tanzania Locally, the eight forest-managing villages have gone from strength to strength, gaining not only from experience but from the rigours of facing problems and having to solve them. They have done this with remarkably little supporting input from technical advisers or local District Forestry Officers, who face the normal transport constraints. Today, two years since they were given the chance to manage Duru-Haitemba themselves, they are proud of their efforts and the visible improvement in the condition of the forest [ "the bees have returned! soon we will be able to collect honey again']. The villagers have also, not surprisingly, been much-empowered by the process, and this has had an effect on the overall level of community involvement in village management and in natural resource management matters in particular. Thus, for example, grazing management even outside the Village Forests is firmly on the agenda and two cases is leading slowly but surely towards stock reduction. Low-lying swamp-lands [mbuga] have become a follow-up target of attention in several villages, and important if difficult decisions have been made by the Village Forest Committees and Village Councillors as to how these must now be rehabilitated and protected for general village use [water and thatching grasses]. And where on-farm tree-planting was half-hearted in the past, and effected largely only in response to constant nagging from officials, these same villagers cannot secure enough seeds and seedlings to meet their new-found needs, prompted by the consensus to limit timber and polewood extraction in the degraded upland woodlands until it has recovered. Water sources within and outside the forest have been rehabilitated and grazing in their vicinity forbidden. On the socio-political side, there have been shifts in roles of village leaders and management committees with an overall demand that all activities carried out in the village, not only Village Forest Reserve management, be more directly accountable to the village community at large. Sub- village management has taken on a new, and practical lease of life, bringing decision-making even closer to the farming household. Sub-villages may include between 20 and 50 households. As noted above, significant shifts have taken place in the composition of managing committees to reflect this 'democratization' within the village. Whilst the number of Walinzi has declined as the need for patrolling has declined, and there are fewer patrols per week, there has been remarkably stability in this volunteer cadre which serve the community, in return for exemption from other communal labour contributions (road and school building), and occasional 'rewards' when they apprehend offenders. All eight villages retain their original insistence that vigilance is core to their success and none propose to eliminate patrolling despite the decline in offences. Perhaps no better illustration of the urgency for Government to look to communities as forest guardians is available than in the fact that these eight communities field around 100 Village Forest Guards in a forest which was previously 'managed' and 'guarded' by only two Government Forest Guards. Mgori Although the Duru-Haitemba initiative is a mere two years old, it is bearing fruit more widely, with the approach beginning to be replicated elsewhere - most prominently in Singida Region, where the vast Mgori Forest is now actively and successfully managed by the five adjacent communities. Like Duru-Haitemba villages, these five Mgori villages manage through the institution of Village Forest Committees, and similarly deploy village youth as patrolmen of their respective woodlands, whom are known as Sungusungu and who patrol in larger groups and in a more para-military fashion than the Walinzi of Duru-Haitemba, where the forest is less dense and less vulnerable to invasion. Again, clear rules for all to abide by, have been formulated by each community, and although 311 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings government approval of these has proceeded through a slightly different route, they carry the force of Village By-Laws, uphold-able in any court in the land. Unlike Duru-Haitemba, these villages do not yet have legal ownership of their respective parts of Mgori Forest which they have agreed among themselves and with government, as respectively their own 'Village Forest Reserves'. This is because those villages, although registered as legal entities are yet to have their village areas surveyed, demarcated and gazetted, a socio-spatial and legal framework within which those Village Forest Reserves will fall. Even in that event, the five villages will continue to manage Mgori in close collaboration not only with each other but with the District Council, which has provided a full-time Mgori Forest Liaison Officer, and which will almost certainly be manifest in a precisely-worded Joint Management Agreement between each village and (local) government. The need for a more active collaboration between villages and government arises from the different circumstances of Mgori, which has been subject in the past and is still vulnerable to a range of complex and considerable incursion by outsiders. This includes illegal commercial timber extraction, illegal commercial wildlife hunting of the diverse fauna (including elephants), and the appeal the vast and remote area holds for bands of commercial shifting cultivators producing finger millet for the urban markets or clearing equally large swathes of forest for charcoal production. Moreover, Mgori Forest, sharing boundaries with two other Regions, continues to endure administrative boundary dispute with neighbouring Dodoma Region in particular. The Five Mgori Forest Villages VILLAGE POP. # HOUSE- # SUB # IN- # IN- HOLDS VILLAGES FOREST FOREST HAMLETS HOUSE- HOLDS POHAMA 2,544 380 7 2 55 NGIMUv 4,351 550 7 2 8 UNYAMPANDA 1,191 208 4 I 10 MUGHUUTNGA 1,135 146 3 3 9 DUAMGHANGA 4,240 310 6 4 48 TOTAL 13,461 1,594 27 12 130 312 Country Paper-Tanzania Mgori Village Forests [Woodlands] and Guards VILLAGES Est Village Fat Ha per No Forest Patrol Total No Guards Forest Area (Ha) Household Groups iSungu-sungul POHAMA 13,000 34 7 49 NGIMU 3,000 5.4 7 42 UNYAMPANDA 4,000 19 4 12 MUGHUUTNGU 7,500 51 5 21 DUAMGHANGA 13,500 43.5 6 42 TOTAL 41,000 25.7 29 166 There is also recognition that Mgori holds marked potential for regulated timber extraction in the future, and could also generate revenue from game viewing and some hunting. Local government is ready to concede management and even ownership of the resource to the traditional local community when the correct tenurial framework is in place, if only in recognition of government's own incapacity to manage and guard the vast forest - which, it might be noted, currently requires the patrolmen service of more than 160 Sungusungu. However, local government will, at the same time, want to secure agreements whereby significant revenue from the forest in the future is shared with the wider district community through taxation. All these conditions have led to close collaborative management by government and village, an arrangement within which the onus of control, responsibility and day to day effort, none-the-less falls fully to the forest-local communities. Their respective village woodlands (future VFR) are extremely large; two of the five villages manage and gain from thicket and woodlands or more than 100 square kilometres, not all of which can be satisfactorily protected by the Sungusungu patrols. Two in-forest hamlets play a more continuous role in protecting the remoter corners from encroachment. This presents an interesting handling of the in-forest dweller issue that so frequently afflicts forest management; rather than evicting the forest dwellers from these two hamlets, as government had intended, the communities decided they should remain for the time-being, providing active forest protection support in return for permission to remain, and bound by several clear rules which forbid expansion of existing fields, introduction of livestock or new households. To date this has worked well, their role as guardians of the remote forest area indispensable in the face of continuing pressure from more over-crowded regions. The arrangement will, in due course, be reviewed as circumstances change. Village-based management of Mgori is less than eighteen months old. Incursions and offences have been dramatically reduced in that period but do still occur; several of the villages have in fact earned considerable revenue through the levy of fines upon offenders, who include mainly outsiders from Dodoma Region helping themselves to the forest for commercial cultivation and charcoal burning. All five village have established Forest Management Bank Accounts. 313 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings In two of the five villages, local leadership has been shaky and in especially one case, corrupt, and given the position of the corrupt leader as not only Village Chairnan but elected Councillor of the area, this has posed a serious problem that is only slowly being resolved. Corruption did also arise initially in two of the Duru villages but in a more dilute form. Like those incidents, these events are prompting a strong move on the part of the village membership as a whole towards more accountable and less-leader driven and controlled systems of village forest management. In turn, participation in active decision-making by so-called 'ordinary villagers' is similarly growing, and with it, local commitment. The Mgori initiative falls under the same SIDA-funded Land Management Programme mentioned above, and under the operations of that programme in the two Masai Districts of Arusha Region, ten or more Masai communities have begun to take control of their considerable and highly threatened natural forests, following the same strategy they have seen in Duru-Haitemba and Mgori. Adoption of the process, is occurring even further afield, partly through wide dissemination of reports but mainly through the steady stream of visits to especially Duru-Haitemba by foresters and project personnel from within Tanzania and from further afield. The opportunity to see if and how community-based forest management works on the ground, and recognition that what is seen is simple and common-sensical, low-cost and effective, is proving a small but powerful catalyst to change in this sector. Moreover, the strategy is reaching into the very heart of gazetted Forest Reserve management, in that following a review of management of some 100 large Reserves and familiarization with the Duru and Mgori cases, senior forestry officers are looking more constructively to communities, not just as 'cooperative' parties, or even partners, but as actual managers of Forest Reserves, to be supported by their own technical advice. DISCUSSION Making Change from Below and the Need to Try Out New Approaches on the Ground After many years of East African governments hesitating on the brink of involving local forest users in natural forest conservation in more than consultative ways (see later), the Duru/Mgori experiences are significant not only in their own right but, as implied above, in the way the part they are playing in prompting a change more widely in natural forest management - and one that in salient respects goes further than is generally the case in the now well-known community forestry policies of South and South East Asian states, where devolution of control to communities has been in practice more hesitant and limited.6 It is as pertinent to note that this change has not come about through the importation of community forestry models from such areas, nor from the formulation and then implementation of new policies by central government; on the contrary, the movement has begun at the village, albeit with much facilitatory guidance and carried through with the support of involved local authorities increasingly convinced of the 'correctness' of the approach. This provides a potential basis of experiential pragmatism that is rarely afforded new policy-making, quite aside from the considerable 'prompt' to action that the power of tangible example has been able to 6 See for example, 'Grassroots Forest Protection: Eastern Indian Experiences' Poffenberger et al. [Asia Forestry Network Research Network Report No. 7 of 1996], and 'What Futurefor Community Forestry in Nepal? Wily in ODA Social Development Newsletter, August 1995, both of which note the limitation of power-sharing and the constraints this poses to success in those areas. 314 Country Paper-Tanzania provide. Arguably, the experience of Duru and Mgori show that progress may only be made when some concrete attempts are made on the ground. Process not Programme This is doubly important because of the self-evident nature of community-based natural resource management as process rather than a finite programme. Already, after only two years, elements of the Duru and Mgori initiatives have changed, and are expected to continue to change, interspersed with plateaux in decision-making and practice. The very act of a community establishing its role is a process of trial and error, give and take, that finds its form and force only through implementation. A main part of the process is in the form of adjustments in socio-political relations, both in regard to its own constituency, the village community, and how representation and authority is internally delivered, and in terms of the outside world, which variously includes neighbouring villages which find themselves no longer free to use that area of forest as freely as they did in the past, local officialdom, and in particular, the government Foresters, the Primary Courts who find themselves in a new relationship with the villages as far as forest use matters are concerned, local politicians and even central government officials and 'experts'. There is additionally, inevitable shift in the manner of actual forest management practice that occurs, as consultation, decision-making and patrolling regimes refine in response to need. Overall, the trend in both Duru and Mgori has been towards a steadily more 'nuanced' management approach in terms of rules and management, and towards more locally-accountable decision-making and implementation. Thus, in Duru-Haitemba, a main sphere of change has been in the detail and implementation of forest use rules, ranging from the minor additional requirement that women collecting dry fuelwood carry their own string to the forest to bind the head-load to limit the temptation to strip bark for that purpose, to a major change in grazing regulations in some of the villages - in several cases, the communities have ultimately found it necessary to ban forest grazing altogether, whilst in two others, the range of area in which grazing may take place has been extended but the season during which this may take place, has been reduced. In two other villages, concern that polewood extraction was excessive led to the introduction of a quota system based on ranked needs and widespread adoption of a rule that only one branch may be taken from any one tree for this purpose. In Mgori, one village has amended the rates of fines to penalise village leaders more harshly than others, and local offenders as a whole, more harshly than outsiders. Another village has found it necessary to establish a Beehive Register to keep track of hive placement in the village forest. The same village now also requires hive-owners to report to the Committee prior to hive harvesting, and has let it be known that they will be held first-line accountable for any fires started in the forest during the period. In Mgori Forest (unlike Duru-Haitemba where ground cover is still poor), the risk of fire is considerable, and recently new measures, including controlled burning, have been introduced to reduce the risk - not yet, entirely successfully. Faced with continuing entry by young Barabaig elephant hunters from the north, one village in Mgori has initiated a series of 'good neighbourly' meetings with elders of those communities, initially using its own few Barabaig pastoralist householders as the go-between. The five Mgori villages in general are tending to involve the local administration more and more as the means through which information about their management is disseminated to even quite distant villages, in order to widen co-operation. The Mgori Coordinating Committee of the five villages - an institution which the eight Duru villages have not yet seen the need to establish - has become steadily more influential in terms of ironing out local issues and in learning from and supporting 315 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings each other, and in one case, bringing one village where conservation management was being undermined by a corrupt village leader, into line. In contrast, a main sphere of emerging consultation and cooperation on the part of the Duru-Haitemba villages is with the local Primary Court, where Village Forest Committees are anxious that the Magistrate handles cases brought to him that are both consistent with their rules and do not undermine their authority. All thirteen forest-managing villages have found it necessary, through trial and error and some heated disputes, to improve record-keeping and in particular financial accounting and accountability of fines levied, paid and used by the Village Forest Committees. And similarly, five of the thirteen villages have endured varying degrees of corruption on the part of key village leaders (usually Chairmen), resulting in widespread revision of decision-making procedures and controls towards greater accountability to the village as a whole, manifest mainly in the inclusion of more non-leaders in the operating Village Forest Committees, the establishment of Forest Management Bank Accounts distinct from the Village Council coffers, and so on. Needless to say the relationship of these committees with the elected village governments (Village Council) has in some cases arisen as a point of conflict and led to clarification of roles and rights of each body. This has been particularly important where Village Forest Committees are gradually taken on a function as a forum for discussion and decision-making on use and management of resources more generally in the village, not just in relation to the community's declared Hifadhi ('Forest Reserve'). Similarly, there have been adjustments not just in the numbers and patrolling regimes of the village forest guards, but in their own accountability, lines of reporting, the way in which they handle offenders, and their remuneration - which generally remains at the level of percentage of whatever fine is collected and exemption from other communal tasks. There has been a recent demand by the Sungusungu of Mgori for Identity Cards to bolster their credibility and the procurement of boots from fine revenue to ease their duty. On the other hand, there has been extremely little change in the core group of persons serving as Walinzi or Sungusungu, who in both forests demonstrate growing pride in their position as forest guardians. One village in Mgori is using the Suzgusungu additionally as forest monitors, requiring them to report all game seen in the forest, building up a quite substantial record of patterns and change in this area. Overall, the needs, problems and challenges at first faced by each village as it established management have changed, and will continue to change, as they individually move forward in their task. In due course, as their forests recover and as their capacity to permit and manage sustainable timber harvesting, a main item of their agenda will be devising sustainable, fair and accountable harvesting regimes. The 'Ripple' Effect of Acting in One Sphere upon Other Spheres As practitioners, the forest-managing villages have learnt to recognise and deal with problems, and for the mostpart do so increasingly ably, and with not so much less reference to government and other advisers available, as with more precise requests for guidance or support. The point has been made earlier that a secondary effect of this growth in self-reliance and confidence has been an increase in capacity to make and follow-through on decisions, and a growth in confidence within the village more generally that it can, after all, manage its own affairs satisfactorily. As remarked upon earlier, this confidence combines with pride in their forest conservation and management achievements to date, and a heightened awareness of natural resource issues, to prompt attention to other issues of concern - issues which have usually laid unaddressed for a decade or more. 316 Country Paper-Tanzania Foresters, not Policemen Needless to say - and contrary to the fears of some forestry officials - the local Government Forester has also gained. In the first instance, the experience of both Duru-Haitemba and Mgori show that he is liberated from the exhaustion and failure of trying to protect forests under pressure, with inadequate resources, and in conflict with forest-local communities. Moreover, he has the chance - often for the first time in his long career - of being in a position to provide what he can provide best - technical guidance. Moreover, his experience and skills broaden; in both Forests the District Forestry staff have found themselves sought out by villages to advise on issues that have not been in a position to advise upon before - even including a mediating role in certain disputes or problems which the actors have themselves found difficult to resolve, such as involving inter- village boundary disputes. More generally, government Foresters enjoy a new found respect and find themselves at the forefront of rural development; the delights of what in Nepal is routinely referred to as 'taking off the uniform' is as keenly experienced in this circumstance. Foresters also clearly appreciate the impact of these developments upon natural forest conservation; the Mgori Forest Liaison Officer, for example, frequently refers to the strategy as 'conservation, not reservation'. Certainly conventional wisdom that the establishment of government Forest Reserves is a prerequisite framework for conservation has lost currency in informed quarters. Conflict and Collaboration Change and process rarely occurs without the prompting of a problem or conflict, large or small, and this has proven to be the case in Duru-Haitemba and Mgori. Arguably, dynamic change is a chain of conflict and conflict resolution to one degree or another. Indeed, as this case study has shown, the very impetus of establishing community-based forest authority may arise out of a conflict between government and community in the first instance, and that relationship will almost certainly oscillate backwards and forwards from one of partnership and collaboration to one of constraint. Thus Village Forest Committees in both Duru-Haitemba and Mgori have not only 'done battle' to some extent with administrations, and if not administrations, local law courts - both of which led to resolutions in the form of important decisions - they have faced conflicts with outsiders seeking to exploit the village's resources through fair means or foul; with sectors of their own community who feel they have been deprived of a past advantage - losing, for example, the unbridled right to graze any number of stock in the forest, or to collect water from a now protected upland forest spring - and with individual village members who have deliberately ignored the 'Rules' - such as a renowned elephant ivory hunter resident in one of the Mgori villages, or a corrupt village leader, a local pit- sawer. In these circumstances, forums or frameworks for conflict resolution tend to evolve and consolidate around such needs. The Need for Legal Backing, not just Administrative Support Moreover, as the Duru-Haitemba Villages found very quickly, administrative support, such as was forthcoming from local government (Babati District Council) proved inadequate; it was not long before one offender queried in the local Primary Court the legality of the Village levying fines; it was this that led directly to the securing of village forest management 'Rules' as legally-bound Village By-Laws. In recent months, Village Forest Committees are finding themselves communicating directly with the local courts, informing the Magistrate of key decisions, who in 317 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings turn has guided the Villages as to what kind of record-keeping of offences and offenders, and what system of receipting for payment of fines, he needs to see to support their case. The need to clarify in law, all levels of rights and responsibilities grows more pressing as a village undertakes active management. This extends, as this case study shows, right into the heart of property rights and the existence of communities as legal entities. Reliance upon the goodwill of current officers has on at least two occasions proved illusory security. Given the newness of the approach, involved Villages and advisers are 'feeling their way' in this area, learning by trial and error - and in the process laying down a basis of experience and record upon which other communities, and other interested officials may proceed. The Advantages of the Tanzanian Socio-Legal Environment In this respect, the unique benefits of the socio-political evolution of rural land tenure in Tanzania are brought into play. Unlike most sub-Saharan African states (or indeed most developing countries), rural communities exist in Tanzanian law not only as social formations, but as legal persons, with all the powers of a legal person or corporate entity. Moreover, as also touched upon earlier, the capacity of a rural community to own property as a legal person is not only available in legislation, but has long been a declared objective of the state, and with programmes and procedures well-established to promote this.7 The concept and legal construct to enable full legal ownership by communities is provided for in the Village Title Deed, recently confirmed in the new National Land Policy, as the main vehicle for rural land security.8 Once awarded, this secures the same and equal rights of full private ownership by the community of the stated land area, attainable by individual entitlement. Such a situation is far removed to the socio-legal situation in most other states, where rural communities exist only as open-ended social groups, and whose traditional communal landholding has not been transduced into modem law. Developments described in this case study have made full use of this unusual situation, and arguably, the level of progress that has been made in this case, owes much to the unusual situation in this regard in Tanzania. By the same token, Tanzania has less excuse that many other states, not to proceed rapidly in this area, whilst other Forestry Departments may battle with the need to establish new socio-legal institutions to carry decentralised management strategies, in a very real sense, such an institution is already available in this East African state. The Heart of the Matter: Empowerment not Participation Those who have worked with the Duru-Haitemba and Mgori initiatives share a conviction that meaningful community participation has little to do with the dilute forms of community involvement which have for so long permeated natural resource management, and that sustainable natural forest utilization cannot be achieved at this level. Establishing buffer zones around forests to deflect forest use, promoting altemative sources of income to discourage forest product 7 See footnote 6. 8 Approved by the Cabinet of the Government, November 1994, revised by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and urban Development, June 1995, and to be presented to Parliament late 1996. 318 Country Paper-Tanzania dependence, 'raising awareness' of villagers as to the biodiversity value of forests, establishing regulated Use Zones in which local people are 'permitted' to use one or other specified product in one or other specified way, to meet at least certain forest product 'needs', or the sharing of revenue earned by one arm or another of the state with local people - may be 'helpful' to forest conservation, and may secure, for a period at least, the passive co-operation of a forest-local community, and even their involvement in some practical management duties. Ultimately however, such 'displacement', 'substitution', 'reward', or 'zoning' strategies are a circuitous and inadequate basis for sustainable success, for none of the these strategies tackle the core issue, which is the separation and conflict between manager and user, state and community, and divergence in perception of rights. The more fundamental need is to remove forest management from the conflict in authority, to bring local communities into the management sphere in such a way that their vested interests as forest users is conjoined to the vested interests of responsible conservators. In short, the ideal situation is one in which the forest users are the forest managers, or, to put it another way, where the fundamental right of the traditional forest-local community - not so much to use the forest as to determine how it shall be used and conserved - is central to the management process. Only with this right, with this power-sharing, will derive the responsibility that is currently missing in a situation where local people use the forest at the whim of another authority, generally 'the state'. Thus, the key, first and prime task is simply to address the issue of control and authority and to restructure these to provide the most fundamental of incentives for full and proper guardianship - the right to make decisions and to be responsible for the consequences. This of course requires a degree of 'letting go' on the part of Governments, long used to regarding forest-local communities as the enemy and the cause of degradation, and whilst willing to 'work with' the people, rarely willing to take the critical step of sharing or devolving power. Where this case study has made unusual progress is that it has been able to show the advantages of doing precisely this, even to the extent of acknowledging the ownership of the forest in the hands of local user communities - and has been able to show the gains made by Government itself in securing a new relationship with the very people against whom it thought it had to protect the forest. In this way, the forest management moves out of conflict, and the way is free to move forward. As one villager observed when queried as to the intense seriousness of the village in its conservation effort: Of course we stopped the encroachment and charcoal burning when we were given the forest to look after for ourselves! Now it is ours, we only have ourselves to blame if the forest gets used up. That is why you find us serious. The Issue of Open Access An underlying fear of many officials is that a shift in the locus of control towards communities is synonymous with a shift into a situation of free-loader open access, with all the chaos and degradation these imply. It is ironical that it is, on the contrary, state forest management that today represents the very kind of open access dangers that many so rightly fear. As suggested above, a common operating principle today is arguably 'if it's Government's it is there to use and abuse'and this includes even the most protected of national Forest Reserves. 319 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Moreover, this case study shows quite clearly that a shift in the locus of control to a community is not a shift towards open access, but a shift towards a much more closed property regime, than the diffuse and vaguely-located responsibility of Government tenure, can possibly generate. In fact, in the case study, decentralization of management has not been far removed from a process of privatization, but in this case, towards communalprivate property, which, it has been explained, is an unusually well-developed construct in Tanzania. Understanding the Basis of Stake-holding Much emphasis has been given above to the question of authority and control and a further comment on this offered. One of the salient shifts in forest management thinking over the last decade has been growing awareness of the value of forests to local people and the extent to which local socio-economies depend upon forest product utilization. From a situation in which there was under-attention to use values, the sector has, however, moved rapidly to a sometimes mis-placed assumption that forest-local communities are only interested in conserving a forest for as long as they are able to get products from it. It is therefore frequently concluded that firstly, only a community which has direct economic dependence upon a forest will have the incentive to be involved in management, and secondly, that unless their use needs can be met, the community will not have any incentive to be involved. Accordingly, most initiatives seeking to involve communities, do so solely on this basis and in the process proscribe the level of local responsibility attainable. This case study suggests however, that stake-holding is potentially more nuanced that such economic determinism suggests. This was made clear when, as observed earlier, prior to attaining rights to control forest use themselves, the Duru-Haitemba villagers consistently claimed that they would not be able to survive without burning charcoal in the forest, felling timber for sale, etc - all forest uses which they promptly eschewed as 'damaging' when they themselves, rather than government, became the owner-managers. What this experience suggests is that forest use values may undergo significant shifts as the political relations of the community to the forest changes. To some extent at least, forest utilization is 'a moveable feast'. A user community may fore-go use of a certain product if it conflicts with a superior stake-holding - such as attaining the right to control how it the forest is used or even to own the resource. These rights are superior to attaining simple use rights, and as such a more effective basis of conservation management. They enable a community to take a longer-term view of the forest resource, removing the pressure to 'get what it can from the forest as fast possible'. Longer-term conservation and catchment functions of the forest can be considered. It is the conclusion of this area, that for these and related practicalities of management, recognition of forest-local communities as owners of the resource may well represent the optimal framework upon which to negotiate sound management. It is also concluded that over-attention to (current) local forest use is an imperfect basis for negotiating the cooperation of the forest local-community and may indeed unnecessarily proscribe it. Applicability Duru-Haitemba and Mgori are both dry miombo woodlands with no special biodiversity or endemism. It has been opined by some observers that the extent of community involvement now existing there, could not, or should not be attempted in areas of high biodiversity value, or where population pressure is extremely high, such as in the case of Bwindi and Mgahinga Forests in south-western Uganda, Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro Forest Reserves in Tanzania, or Mount Kenya 320 Country Paper-Tanzania and Kakamega Forests in Kenya. Others are concerned that community-based management should only be promoted in relation to public land forests, not 'valuable' Forest Reserves. Such opinions miss the point of the principles that these initiatives embody; that successful forest management has less to do with the forest itself than to do with the locus of authority and the need to vest it in the entity which has most chance and incentive to be effective. As community-based forest management in the Indian sub-continent amply illustrates, extreme pressure upon a forest resource by forest-local populations of a density that no African state may compare, may actually serve as the catalyst, and also the watchdog upon fair practice and active control of utilization. It is arguably the case that the greater the pressure, the greater the need for the community to devise workable and accountable regimes of management, and the greater the vigilance over these by individual members, ever-watchful of mal-distribution of limited rights. In the case of those forests of high biodiversity value, such as is commonly the case with moist montane, island forests in sub-Saharan Africa, the same principle applies. If they are so valuable, then, in this author's view, it is even more important that they are conserved and managed wisely and in a sustainable manner. For as long as forest-adjacent communities are not directly involved in that process, their guardianship of the Forest - such as in the natural role they play as a buffer to illegal use by outsiders - is not provoked and harnessed. This is nowhere more apparent than in those Forests where governments currently deploy unusual numbers of Guards and invest unusually heavily - but are still rewarded with continuing abuse and degradation - and all the while, the forest- adjacent community stands passively by, knowing very well precisely who is illegally felling the forest, when and how, but lacking the incentive to do anything about it. Indeed, their deliberate exclusion and denial of rights in relation to the same forest may induce them to support such incursions, and contribute to the degradation themselves. No Process or Strategy is Entirely Failsafe A final cautionary word is offered; despite the progress and hopes, the process of facilitating community-based natural forest management is clearly not inviolable. It may be corrupted on the one hand, or diluted through ever-accelerating replication, on the other. In the cases provided, it has not been uncommon at some point or another, for one or two more powerful individuals to attempt to reconstruct control of the forest to their own ends. In the event, villagers themselves have so far shown themselves able to deal with these problems. The need for forest managing villages to construct systems to accountability at the most local and democratic level within the village is one of many early lessons of the initiatives described. Danger also lies in the tendency of enthusiastic Foresters, anxious to move forward as quickly as possible, to slide away from facilitation back to the directive modes of their traditional relations with village. At one point a keen Forester in another District, who had visited Duru-Haitemba returned hurriedly to his own District and 'ordered' a village to take over full responsibility for a Forest that he had himself previously directly managed with his staff on behalf of Government. Top-down approaches are integral to officialdom, and often to the 'keen' aid worker, but need to be avoided, for as these day-to-day management in both Duru-Haitemba and Mgori repeatedly suggest, the power of a decision is directly proportionate to the extent to which it derived from the community itself. The two initiatives represent this principle as a whole. This is not to say that the 321 African Forest Policy Forun-Proceedings aid worker or official need be passive; on the contrary, it is unproductive for such persons not to act as catalysts to change. Again, in the words of a villager: It never occurred to us that Government might give us back our forest. But when you suggested it, we couldn't get that idea out of our minds and since then we have not looked back Those words embody the two faces of the approach; if the establishment of successful community involvement in forest management ultimately means empowerment, so also does it mean governments learning 'to let go.' 322 Plot no.596/Block 254 Acacia Road Kansanga P.O. Box 22686 CARA Kampala TEL: 0025641-268300 Coordinated FAX: 00256-41 268300 Development E-MAIL- Kilo(starcom.co.ug REFORESTATION OF REFUGEE CAMPS --WEST NILE-- LESSONS LEARNED FROM IMPLEMENTATION REAFFORESTATION IN KOBOKO AND RHINO CAMP, WEST NILE, N. UGANDA Lessons learned from Implementation by Peter McLinton CARA Kampala, Uganda HQs: 75 Amersham Road, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP13 5AA, U.K., Tel: 0494 527576, Fax: 0494 53615 323 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings REFORESTATION OF REFUGEE CAMPS-WEST NILE- LESSONS LEARNED FROM IMPLEMENTATION KOBOKO AND RHINO CAMP At Rhino Camp refugee settlement and in Koboko County area, CARA has successfully run two forestry programmes. In both programmes large centralized nurseries have operated successfully, though other NGOs favour numerous small scattered nurseries. 1) Project Objectives Though basically the same in both areas, have varied slightly in differing sets of circumstances. Original objectives are to: a) Rhino Camp - enrich present forest and reafforest clear felled areas where appropriate among refugee settlement activities. b) Koboko County - reafforest areas that were refugee transit canps (where virtually all trees were felled) and replant surrounding areas devastated by massive refugee presence, while enriching other forest areas where necessary. 2) Main activities being undertaken A) In Rhino Camp where daily operational control of the whole area lies in the hands of UNHCR and its implementing partners, a large central nursery with two million seedlings was quickly established. From this nursery ox carts were used for short range dissemination of seedlings. Where as most of the nursery output was asset trees, ox drawn ploughs were used in direct seeding of fuelwood species. B) In Koboko County circumstances were somewhat different. The area of operations was widely spread and not under authority of UNHCR or its implementing partners. At strategic places we established five large Cooperative Tree Nurseries. C) To handle seedling dissemination we drew in a local NGO, local community leaders and groups, and the local farmers. In fact from the start of the Koboko Project we realised the need for the local farmer participation from the beginning. D) We started operations with seminars for community leaders, farmers groups, church members, school groups etc. While foresters gave advice and instruction on the tree husbandry, we held talks on the extensive financial benefits that can be expected from agroforestry. E) While environmental issues were not forgotten, much stress was laid upon the commercial benefits accruing from forestry activities. You cannot talk environment to a man at the subsistence level, a man struggling on a day to day basis to feed, clothe and educate growing numbers of children. However he is greatly interested in any activity which goes a long way to solving his problems, even paying for higher education when the time comes. So at this stage we 324 Country Paper-Uganda need salesmen amongst our foresters. Already at Koboko we have found demand much in excess of our production capacity. With new finding production will match demand. F) Supporting forestry activities are a Blacksmithing and Toolmaking Resource Centre where ploughs are maintain and can even be made if necessary. The carpentry and building component erects and maintains our buildings. A storemaking section trains more people and manufactures fuel efficient stoves. G) These are all income generation activities which we encourage local NGOs to engage in to support the basic structure of their organisations. H) It is our belief that only large nurseries will survive when present NGO support is withdrawn. With sale of large numbers of high value forestry trees, higher quality fruit trees, contract ploughing, trained oxen and hire of short distance ox/donkey carts, large nurseries will be viable and able to provide expert advise. There will also be the capacity of food plant multiplication programmes under guidance of local NGOs. I) While we provide limited direct support in the early stages, we aim for seedling sales to support the nurseries before Project Hand-over Period. 3) Implementation Problems A) While planting of high value tree seedlings is enthusiastically undertaken by farmers, we find few interested enough in the fuel wood propagation and direct seeding by plough remains the most reliable and cost effective. We need a regular on going programme and perhaps local authority could arrange for suitable areas to be seeded and tended by the Cooperative Tree Nursery direct seeding teams. A cheaper method than undertaking such a programme themselves. B) Women's Organizations are already much involved in planting and growing moringa oliefera for its high calcium/iron content leaf vegetables. However they could play a greater part in forestry operations, e..g. seed collection and perhaps run small animal banks to provide family income and higher protein content in their diet. An activity fitting well into forestry activities because access to the bank depends on the member planting trees as an entry qualification. C) We will face difficulties in maintaining efficient monitoring services, a particularly difficult task among widespread farmer/forestry workers. 4) Results to date A) At Rhino Camp our early direct seedling programme was most successful, but unfortunately due to insufficient fire breaks and continuous husbandry, large numbers of seedlings were lost. Our direct seeding is now arranged, wherever possible, in conjunction with farmers own crop programmes. B) Our outstanding success story is a farmer who has taken to agroforestry with great enthusiasm and understanding. He now has around 80,000 trees. Furthermore, he appreciates the forestry capitalization potential using current forestry areas to bank roll purchase of more land for tree planting. 325 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings C) Another successful effort has been strengthening of the local NGO, Koboko Rural Development Trust Fund. With a target of 5,000 members to be achieved before the end of our current project, they are already more than half way there. In addition the NGO already owns several substantial wood lots and plans long term asset plantations as well as shorter term fuel wood and pole lots. Present plantings total some 50 hectares with another hundred to come. D) With local authorities wanting to participate directly in agroforestry programmes and increasing numbers of farmers mounting ever more quickly, agroforestry is firmly established in Koboko County. 5) Lessons learned and worthy of stressing I. Our methodologies work well, more so than anticipated. The talks and discussions have generated interest more quickly than originally expected. As pointed out on these occasions, even small-scale farmers can plant a variety of high value trees to demarcate boundaries, even if they lack room for whole plantations or small stands of timber. 2. More and more local people are becoming aware of the benefits to come from forestry. Even NGOs realise the potential in forestry, with established forest areas providing bankable assets to support further development. 3. Two new periods of increased participation in agroforestry are expected. a) When the first sale from early planting comes in, and b) When improved and grafted fruit tree seedlings become widely available from the nurseries. 4. While the agroforestry field may not provide the concentrated commercial plantations offered by the Forestry Department, 10,000 farmers can make a notable increase in Koboko County's forest cover. 5. As much as anything, success is due to close communication with the people down to village level and is something local NGOs and achieve most effectively with support from Intemational bodies. 6. During Project Implementation, CARA repeatedly ran up against the problem of over exploitation, both of the resource and the owners. Although owning quite valuable trees, the farmers often sold them for a goat ($10.00) to pit sawyers. They in turn wastefully converted the timber to sell to traders (basically owners of transport) at such exploited prices that they themselves made little profit. The traders then dumped this badly sawn timber on the market to be bought by carpenters, who discarded large quantities as being full of drying checks and flaws. 7. Government Forest policy can give further stimulation by changes in control legislation affecting certain high value species e.g. Mvule (milicia excelsa), African Blackwood (dalbergia malanoxylen). The best way to ensure survival and increase in such species is to encourage growth and trade with built in protective legislation. 8. Even the large Govemment owned plantations suffer from poor exploitation and unsound ecological inputs. 326 Country Paper-Uganda 9. In view of this CARA has decided that in an effort to improve both the product and marketing, CARA will form a Trust to begin exploiting the resource on an ecologically sound ethical basis. 10. Such a Trust will be self-supporting from profits and put back into the local community and forests as much as is possible. The presence of this type of organization will enable the people of Uganda not only to benefit to the maximum, but is presence and operation should act as an example for others. 6) Conclusion Increased reafforestation is best assured by stimulating but also protective legislation, while at the same time allowing expanding timber trade, provided the sellers are able to show more than equivalent plantings prior to any sale. The way forward is best served by the fullest use of the self interest principal guided by protective and also stimulating legislation, improved ethical marketing activities and a fund to stimulate further development through well monitored private enterprise. It is also a more reliable way of ensuring collection of Govermnent Revenue. 327 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 328 LOCAL PARTICIPATION FOR THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL FORESTS UGANDA COLLABORATION BETWEEN PUBLIC AGENCIES AND ADJACENT COMMUNITIES IN MANAGING AND CONSERVING NATURAL FORESTS (A Case of Mt. Elgon National Park) By Gershom Onyango Assistant Commissioner for Forestry Forest department Uganda 329 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings LOCAL PARTICIPATION FOR THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL FORESTS INTRODUCTION Uganda's forests cover an approximate area of 3.5 million hectares of which 43% are under gazetted ownership and managed by government agencies mainly the Forest Department but most recently from early 1990s Uganda National Parks (Now Uganda WildlifeAuthority) took over the management of some of the montane Tropical High Forests whose conservation status had been upgraded to protect rare habitats of fauna and flora and to promote non-consumptive uses through eco-tourism and mountain climbing. All the Forest Reserves and National Parks occur as islands surrounded by rapidly increasing populations who have always depended on resources from these protected areas (PAs). Under the Forests Act use of non-timber products from forest reserves for domestic purposes by surrounding communities is recognised and is respected. What has to be understood is the fact that this clause in the Act not withstanding, certain uses of the reserve are subject to a permit issued by the department for a fee or free of charge but regulated. Under the National Parks Act removal of any produce from the park is prohibited. Both the Forest Department and Uganda Wildlife Authority have been drastically affected by the IMF imposed Structural Adjustment Programme to the extent that their manpower has been reduced a bare minimum. The two organisations cannot therefore manage the PAs under their jurisdiction purely through the policing mechanisms. The demands of populations surrounding these PAs for produce from these areas will have to be met by any means since to them it is a matter of necessity and not a luxury. The penalties which the Forests Act and the National Parks Act impose on offenses are not deterrent enough in today's circumstances. Even if they were, the staff to implement them are too thin on the ground to be of any effect. The two institutions have of late realised that the continued survival of their estates will to a large extent depend on the goodwill and co-operation of the local communities surrounding them. Involving local communities in the management and conservation of the PAs has become an acceptable concept and is being applied at different levels of participation depending on the type of resource and how organised the local communities are. The meagre resources which the two organisations receive from the Government for the protection and management of these PAs are best used in improving public relations between managing authorities and the local communities and extension work to provide possible alternatives on farmers lands to reduce their dependence on the resources from PAs. MT. ELGON NATIONAL PARK Mt. Elgon is a solitary extinct volcano of the Miocene era lying astride the border between Uganda and Kenya. The international boundary more of less divides the mountain in two roughly equal parts with the Uganda side occupying an area of 1.145 sq.km. while the Kenya side is approximately 900 sq.km. in area. The crater which is 8 km. across (and rated as one of the largest in the world) and the peak is on the Uganda side of the border. 330 Country Paper-Uganda Mt. Elgon was first gazetted as Crown Forest in 1938 and as a Central Forest Reserve in 1948 purposely as a protection forest for water catchment. From the time of gazettement the local communities have never had any rights over the forest. However, provisions in the Forest Act as in the case of all other forest reserves, allows them the privilege of taking and using for domestic purposes "reasonable" quantities of non-timber or reserved forest produce. The privilege of living and grazing livestock in the reserve without individual licences was allowed to the Ndorobo (Berets) an ethnic forest dwelling community in the northeastern part of the moorland vegetation belt. At that time their number was small and it was not anticipated that they would pose any threat to this vegetation if their pre-occupation of keeping mainly sheep and a few cows remained the same. Unfortunately with time these people started engaging in agriculture- growing mainly Irish potatoes and vegetables around old homesteads. Their numbers and that of their livestock have increased with time. Despite previous forecasts they started becoming a threat to the continued survival of this fragile eco-system. A decision was therefore made by the Forest Department in 1983 to relocate them to lower slopes of the mountain and an area of 6000 hectares of the forest belt next to the forest boundary was excised off for their resettlement without consulting them first. Whatever good intentions this resettlement was supposed to achieve failed to materialize since to date some of these Berets still live within the boundaries of the National Park. The communities living around Mt. Elgon National Park have for ages had close rapport with the forest as a source of food, medicine, fuel, etc. One problem which exists now is the high population density of over 500 persons per sq.km. declining soil fertility of the over fragmented land holdings, abject poverty just to mention a few. This was recognised by the Forest Department before the government turned the forest into a National Park. Around 1988, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in collaboration with the then Ministry of Environment Protection (MEP) identified Mt. Elgon Forest, Kibale and Semliki Forests as of high conservation importance due to their unique biodiversity and hence the need to address the restoration of the ecosystem which had been heavily degraded by agricultural encroachments from around 1974 to 1988. Mt. Elgon alone had more than 20% of the natural forest completely destroyed. Due to the general breakdown of law and order which characterized those years, the forest department with its meagre resources was not in position to contain the situation. So IUCN and the Ministry of Environment Protection (MEP) through NORAD funding started the Mt. Elgon Conservation and Development Project. This is an Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICDP) whose main objective was to conserve the Mt. Elgon ecosystem for present and future generations through sustainable utilization while at the same time promoting sustainable activities in parishes immediately adjacent to the park. By the help of the project the forest boundary was re-opened and a ten meter strip of Eucalyptus grandis was planted as a live marker and as a future source of fuelwood and poles. Encroachment planting using indigenous species was also carried out in previously encroached areas. This followed the eviction of encroachers arising from a government policy pronouncement of 1989. The majority of the people living adjacent to the forest had encroached on it to varying scales. They were still hostile to the forest department and originally viewed the initiative to involve them in any forestry related activities with suspicion. The projected initiated its activities in 15 pilot parishes out of the 58 surrounding the reserve. Willing individuals or groups were facilitated with nursery input and seed to raise seedlings for both boundary and encroachment planting. The project bought these seedlings from the farmers at a reasonable price for planting activities. Some of the local people were employed in some of 331 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings the project activities around and within the forest service. The initial skepticism gave rise to curiosity then interest in project activities because of financial gains. The project later in 1990 expanded its activities to incorporate a large component of education awareness programmes using local drama groups which were helped by project personnel to develop plays and songs in local languages about the value of conserving the forest and staged road shows at a variety of venues. This did not only promote the image of the project as an arbitrator between local -communities and the forest department but helped to change the attitude of the communities towards careful use of the resources of the forest and the need to have the forest conserved. The other component of the project was known as the "Sustainable Development Unit". This concentrated on promotion of income generating activities in the pilot parishes or farmers land holdings starting with soil conservation measures in these hilly areas by constructing contour bunds across the slopes and planting them with napier grass which was later used for stall feeding animals. Other activities were fish farming, bee-keeping, zero-grazing, promotion of fuel efficient cook stoves made from locally available materials, agro-forestry and improved crop husbandry. These activities became very popular with the local communities because a good number of them were able to earn better income from the fragmented land holdings than before the project intervention. By the time the forest was turned into a National Park, the forest department's image among the local communities had improved a lot. It was easier to use the grassroots administrative structures to implement many activities outside the forest to create alternative sources of income. When in 1993 the area was turned into a National Park (again without the consultation of the local people) the hitherto forgotten dislike of the managing authority was resurrected. This was mainly through misinformation of the reason for turning the area into a National Park. This was compounded by the restrictive nature of the National Parks Act which totally forbids removal of any resources from the park and the militaristic functioning of Parks Administration. Despite the assurances of the Director of Uganda National Parks that local communities will still be allowed access to collect bamboo shoots (which is a delicacy among some of the local communities) vegetables and other non-timber products Park Rangers went ahead to enforce the Parks Act to the letter. This began to erode the good work which the project had done among the local communities with Forest Department because it became apparent that the project and Mt. Elgon National Park (MENP) were giving contradicting messages. However, it did not take long for the Park authorities to realize that there was need to change their style of management to one which is less confrontational. Although a bigger portion of project support of MENP has been channeled to law enforcement activities, initiatives were started to change the role of Park Rangers from being policemen to being extension workers. From the various studies which had been carried out by both local and international consultants and financed by the project it became evident that there was a high dependence of the local people on many resources from the Park. Mt. Elgon although designated a National Park is yet to become one of the popular tourist attractions in the country. Income from tourism to finance park operations is still a dream for the future. The Park continues to rely heavily on project financing for most of its operations with Park Headquarters footing the bill for overhead costs and sundry expenses. With the expansion of its estate through the acquisition of six forested parks and in recognition of the changing policies of 332 Country Paper-Uganda managing PAs as advocated for in International Conservations a number of which Uganda has acceded to and even ratified. Uganda National Parks (UNP) had to "loosen-up" to accommodate provisions for non-destructive sustainable use of some of the resources (especially from the forested parks) by surrounding communities, benefits sharing schemes and involving communities in the management of Parks through the formation of Park Management Advisory Committees (PMAC's) comprising of representatives of local communities from each sub- county a particular Park. Some district officials and NGOs are ex-officials to PMAC's. The PMAC's are fora in which local communities views, wishes and aspirations can be openly discussed with park officials to reach a consensus. Excesses from either party are corrected through amicable negotiations. Mt. Elgon Conservation and Development Project (MECDP) was quite instrumental in the formation of the Elgon Park PMAC. It provided funds for initial consultations between Park officials and local administrators during which views of local communities were aired and Park policy explained. Project Technical Advisers provided by IUCN played leading roles as facilitators of the consultations. Having worked longer with local communities than Park officials and being knowledgeable about the emphasis being put on local community participation in the management of PAs globally they provided a conducive platform to initiate a dialogue between the two parties aimed at active involvement of communities in the management of the Park. Recognition was taken of current initiatives in other parts of East Africa where different forms of community involvement or participation in the management of PAs have been tried. Mt. Elgon National Park offers a unique environment for community involvement in its management. First and foremost is the fact that communities surrounding or still living in the Park have a long history of dependence on the resources of the Park and a recognition that the managing authority makes the final decision as to the most sustainable use of any of the resources. Save for the short spell of lawlessness in the whole country during the 70s and early 80s, this is the reason for continued existence of the Park this long despite the high population density around it. The formulation of new and flexible policies by authorities managing PAs offer good opportunities for collaborative management which allow piloting of new approaches to conservation. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the processes and methodologies of collaborative management. Given the past history of total authority by the managing agency with communities being passive actors whose opinions or views on any management decision were rarely sought, the present situation can only be looked at as an exploratory stage in collaborative management activities which will develop through a process of continuous internal evaluation and subsequent adjustment. Collaborative management activities on Mt. Elgon have so far concentrated on exploring the opportunities for making local communities active managers of the forest belt of the Elgon ecosystem and promotion of sustainable development activities for substitutes of currently unsustainable forest uses. Involving local communities in the management of the national park is the umbrella activity to which the other activities should contribute in one way or another. The main threat to the Elgon ecosystem and the main source of conflict will continue to be the demand for land for cultivation. The major challenge for MENP is to convince the local communities that keeping the area a forest is essential and to a large extent it can compete with agriculture as a land use. 333 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Experiences of Piloting Collaborative Management on Mt. Elgon As mentioned in the earlier section of this paper, the starting up of Mt. Elgon Conservation and Development Project was to help reverse the degradation which had taken place in the 70s and 80s. One of the activities which the project undertook was an assessment of forest use by local communities and their perception of the forest and the need for its conservation so as to get a better understanding of the people/forest relationship and of the conservation and development issues at stake. The assessment was to lay the basis for future negotiations between local communities and park authorities. The assessment identified two categories of user community which was mostly confined to a distance of 2-3 km. from the park boundary which somehow coincided with administrative parish boundaries of parishes bordering the park. A distinction was also made of the "collector" community and the "Buyer" community. The "collector" community are the ones actually engaged in collecting resources form the park and are largely confined to a radius of one kilometer from the park boundary while the "buyer" community stretched further away from the park, up to 3 km. from the boundary. It includes individuals who use forest resources but are rarely involved in their collection. The user community is also very homogenous. A large variety of over 20 different resources are collected from the park, the most important being bamboo shoots, bamboo stems, medicinal plants, polewood, firewood, crop stakes, vegetables, mushrooms, honey, etc. with households spending as much as 20% of their productive labor time collecting forest resources mainly for subsistence purposes. The collection of the non-timber products was found to be within sustainable limits at current harvesting levels. The area from which resources are collected stretches across the whole forest belt comprising some 60% of the total National Park area. The bulk of resources are collected in the periphery of the park except bamboo for which people go further up the mountain. Principles for Collaborative Management The basis for piloting collaborative management on Mt. Elgon focused on the following key issues: * addressing the major threats of destruction to the Elgon ecosystem on the assumption that by addressing threats of agricultural encroachments, harvesting of mature trees, hunting and to a lesser extent grazing, the ecosystem as a whole will be conserved. * providing a long-term solution to the people park conflicts arising from harsh law enforcement on one side and destructive uses on the other. * providing unrestricted access to agreed forest resources for local communities in parishes bordering the park as these are the main users of such resources. * exchanging right of access to resources for responsibilities for conservation and management by the local communities as a long-term objective requiring the different partners involved to reach consensus after successful pilot phases. * changing the role of Park staff from law enforcement to one of facilitation and monitoring of activities in the forest zone and keeping the whole process simple and easy to implement. 334 Country Paper-Uganda For most forms of collaborative management to work out there is a need for compromise, to just on sharing of authority but to some extent on conservation objectives, especially biodiversity. Management must accept people as part of the ecosystem and that the ecosystem is bound to be modified through use. Identifying the relevant institution within the parish. After permission had been granted by the Director of UNP to pilot collaborative management in two parishes, the first move was to identify a relevant representative institution within the parish community to be the link between resource collective and Park Authorities. Under the decentralization in Uganda there are five tiers of the administrative hierarchy known as Local Councils (LCs). These are: LC I (Village level) with an average of 60 households. LC 2 (Parish level) with an average of 1000 households LC 3 (Sub-County level) consisting of up to 5 parishes. LC 4 (County level) LC 5 (District level) For purposes of starting the process of collaborative management in the two pilot parishes the emphasis was to involve village councils in the discussions with an aim of forming a committee at parish level comprising of representatives of primary resource collectors including councilors in their individual capacities. Awareness raising and start-up activities. Two parishes out of the six in which resource use assessment had been carried out were chosen. Since the process was new to everybody with neither the Park officials nor the communities being sure of what the outcome would be, the project led the process by playing the role of an intermediary involving both parties with some of the government extension staff attached to the project facilitating most of the meetings and discussions in which Park Wardens and community representatives took part. The first meeting was at parish level aimed at introducing the concept to administrative, political and opinion leaders. The next meetings were held in each village so as to involve the actual resources collectors in the discussions. These were held separately for men and women. Attendance was very high due to the curiosity the concept arose in the local communities with of course, some individuals having high expectations. Through the discussions it became quite clear that the communities felt they needed to elect a committee to represent them in subsequent discussions and negotiations with Park authorities. It was agreed that each village in the parish was to elect its representatives catering for the main resource use interests with some gender balance. Specialist interest groups like herbalists, bee- keepers and pitsawers were requested to elect one or two representatives. The process of awareness-raising and the election of the committees took a few months. Criteria for the choice of parishes. The two parishes chosen were Ulukusi Parish in southern Mbale and Mutushet in eastern Kapchorwa (see attached map). 335 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Ulukusi Parish was chosen because of the people of the Sub-county in which it is located had a long history of conflict with the Forest Department over agricultural encroachments and illegal pitsawing. The people of this area were found to have a strongly rooted historical and cultural attachment to the forest. Between the 1930s and the 1970s most families in this area were licensed by the Forest Department to cultivate and graze in part of the reserve adjoining their land holdings. The area is very inaccessible and difficult to patrol. It was felt that if collaborative management succeeded in this area then it could succeed anywhere. Mutushet Parish was chosen because it was the only parish around the whole Park where people had resisted encroachment on the forest and where the forest is still intact right from the park boundary. The pressure for resources from the park was not seen to be very high. There was a history of grazing cattle deep inside the forest on open grasslands. It was felt that people of this parish needed to be rewarded for their protection efforts. This parish was also going to contrast sharply with Ulukusi. Negotiations with the elected Committees. The actual discussions and negotiations took place over a period of five months. It had to bee a slow process to allow both parties to fully understand the new concept. Right from the beginning, both parties agreed that the main objective of collaborative management was to allow the encroached forest to regenerate and to ensure the protection of the forest which was still intact. Activities such as cultivation, pitsawing and hunting were not negotiable and would be totally banned. Different categories of uses which were identified right from the beginning of the negotiations were: 1) uses on which there should be a total ban. 2) uses of special nature and which should be a preserve of specialized users. 3) uses which were seasonal in nature and should be open to the whole parish community during the season. 4) uses which should be open to the whole parish community in restricted amounts. 5) uses which should have no restrictions and should be free for the whole parish community throughout the year. The interesting feature of the negotiations is that the committees accorded much importance of uses which were of value to the whole community even if they seemed minor in outlook. Activities which had a high economic value and were important to only few community members were negotiable and depending on their destructiveness to the ecosystem were either allowed or banned. After the many negotiations which took place there followed prolonged discussions to chart out roles and responsibilities of both parties. Park authorities had agreed to work through the committees. The committees were to monitor and control the resource use by parish communities in accordance with agreed use categories. They had also to carry out awareness raising activities, persuasion but at no cost were they to be involved in apprehending offenders. They had to continue being accountable to the communities they represent. 336 Country Paper-Uganda The agreement signing phase After all discussions and consultations had been concluded the first draft agreements were drawn up and forwarded to UNP headquarters for comments. It took quite sometime to get a response from headquarters because having not been involved in the discussions and negotiations and still having the hangover of the traditional park management procedures, certain aspects of the agreements did not at first go down well in some officers guts. Being pilot activities, the project and MENP felt that there was need to go ahead and implement the agreements while the good will from the local authorities and communities was still high. Focus was on activities which were banned apart from the smoking of bamboo shoots, within the park whose banning was bound to open conflict which the park authorities were not in position to contain considering that even people beyond the pilot parishes were engaged in this activity and which was of the highest cultural value to the Bagisu. Signing the agreements was no easy matter because many of the committee members who were instrumental in their drafting chickened out at the last minute for fear of giving away their rights to the forest to the government. The whole essence of agreements was a new phenomenon to the local people and it took the facilitator a lot of patience and persuasion to have the agreements eventually signed. After signing agreements what next? First and foremost the implications of the signed agreements had to be explained to the whole parish community who did not actively participate in the negotiations. Due to the fear of distorting the facts by the elected committee members, the facilitators of the negotiations had again to take the lead. The identification of weak spots in the process and means of addressing them was the next step. It has been suggested that a research unit be set up to permanently monitor people's activities in the forest and user trends over time as an independent activity divorced from the implementation of the collaborative agreement. The roles and responsibilities of the park staff and management committees in monitoring forest use must be clearly spelled out so that each party knows what it is supposed to monitor and control. Weak links exist between the forest management committees and the local councils. This complicates the former's power to resolving conflicts. The Local Council II at Parish level who were involved in the whole process right from the beginning have been found to be ineffective as they are not always in contact with user communities at village level. It has therefore been decided to fully concentrate on the Local Councils I which will have a direct representation at Local Council III the lowest supreme administrative link of Local Govemment. They are also close to the people, the primary resource collectors. A review of the progress made so far by the park staff, management committee, some members form PMAC from both parishes showed that collaborative management had generated positive support for the park and most of the banned and illegal activities in both parishes were under control. However, park officials were still concemed about sustainable levels of off-take from park resources. The committees were concemed that the issues of bamboo smoking (Ulukusi Parish) and polewood collection (Mutushet Parish) were not resolved. If these issues are not 337 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings resolved soon they will continue to recur and may pose a threat to the implementation of the agreements. References: 1. Hoefsloot H., 1996 Collaborative Management Initiatives in Mt. Elgon National Park (In print) 2. Howard P., 1995 Nature Conservation in Uganda's Forests 3. Scott Penny, 1994 Assessment of Resources Use by Communities around Mt. Elgon National Park 4. Synott T. J., 1968 Working Plan for Mt. Elgon Forest Reserve, 1968-1978. 5. Van Heist Miriam, 1994: Land unit Mapt of Mt. Elgon National Park. 338 LOCAL PARTICIPATION AND BENEFIT-SHARING IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT: THE CAMPIRE EXPERIENCE ZIMBABWE LOCAL PARTICIPATION AND BENEFIT SHARING IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT: THE ZIMBABWE CAMPFIRE PROGRAMME Presented by T N MA VENEKE DIRECTOR CAMPFIRE ASSOCIA TION OF Z77fBABWE 339 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings LOCAL PARTICIPATION AND BENEFIT-SHARING IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT: THE CAMPIRE EXPERIENCE ZIMBABWE One of the Forestry Policy Forum's main objective is sharing experiences in sustainable management of forestry resources through local initiatives. My paper will focus mainly on wildlife resources utilisation in Zimbabwe and hopefully my analysis will have greater bearance on forestry resources as well since wildlife survival depends largely on forestry habitat. I will briefly analyze the centralised management of wildlife resources before and after Zimbabwean independence and then explore the process and rationale for the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous resources (CAMPFIRE), its main activities throughout Zimbabwe, the implementation, constraints and the main achievements of the initiatives. Hopefully at the end of my paper, we might be able to draw useful lessons that could be applied in other spheres of natural resources management. During colonialism, the management of wildlife resources was removed from the local community and invested in central government. Professor Murphree (1995) said "British colonialists brought with them concepts evolved over a thousand years earlier in a different context: the concept of the King's game, the idea that wildlife did not belong to people or communities, but to the crown or state". This alienation of natural resources from the landowner meant that the landowner lost appreciation of the wildlife resource; a situation that lead to over exploitation of the resource and opening up of new land for crops and other non-viable land use options. Linked to the above, the state machinery that managed wildlife, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management adopted a law and order approach whose main focus was the deployment of Parks employees to arrest any locals who harvested game. This approach created conflict between the state officials and local people. The officials forfeited the vital support of local people in a situation where both fnancial and manpower resources within government were limited. Russell Taylor (1995) aptly described the approach of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management in Nyaminyami district when he said "Furthermore wildlife Department personnel saw their role principally as one of animal protection and therefore minimised efforts to deal with local villagers' problems". In the early 1970s the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management attempted to solve the legitimacy crisis of the department through the Wildlife Industry For All (WINDFALL) whose main emphasis was to return incomes from problem animals to district councils who will have designed development projects approved by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management. The approach was paternalistic as it did not answer the vital question of local accountability and local ownership of natural resources including wildlife. The WINDFALL experiment failed because the locals never related incomes from problem animals with any local natural resources. The money was viewed as just one of government's Public Sector Investment Programme. The resultant developmental problems led government to promulgate the 1975 amendment of Parks and Wildlife Act to allow large commercial farners to utilise game on their farms. 340 Country Paper-Zimbabwe The farmers could now invite tourists and hunters and realise income from wildlife. The commercial farmers started to positively appreciate wildlife through this decentralised management of wildlife. The 1975 legislative reforms created positive incentives for these farmers and many of them began to invest in game farming which has now become a big economic venture. It must be noted that while the amendment of the 1975 Parks and Wildlife Act made significant strides within the large commercial farming sector, nothing was done to cover the communal areas which constitute 42% of the country. In 1982 and 1990 the Parks and Wildlife Act was further amended to allow Rural District Councils to embark on the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) (see fig 1). Key principles of CAMPFIRE according to Rowan Martin (1996) were summarised as follows: (a) For rural communities to appreciate wildlife, benefits and appropriate incentives had to be established. (b) Exploitation of natural resources must involve local communities through effective participatory mechanisms. (c) Appropriate democratic institutions must be put in place through which locals participate. (d) Capacity building through appropriate demand driven training should be pursued to enhance local empowerment. (e) A decentralised approach to management had to be pursued and this required a friendly policy environment. CAMPFIRE's principle of sustainable utilisation of wildlife depends on quota setting where local communities participate. Quotas on various species are set by local people with technical inputs from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management and World Wide Fund for nature (WWF). The communities utilise their knowledge on movement of wildlife, their habitat in order to determine numbers. Technical officers assist rural communities with information on wildlife breeding rates, male/female ratios and quality of trophies. The breakdown of Hurungwe Rural District Council Quota for 1995 (Fig. 2) illustrates the range of species that are hunted. Elephants fetch up to US$8 000 (Z$80 000) in trophy hunting, while civet cats can fetch up to US$40,00 (Z$320,00). In terms of marketing, CAMPFIRE Rural District Councils have improved their marketing skills. At the start of CAMPFIRE in 1989 districts such as Guruve and Nyaminyami earned ten times less than they currently earn. There has been no radical change in quotas, but the locals have been able to improve their marketing and hence increasing earnings from trophy hunting. Chiredzi Rural District Council for example earned Z$100 000 in 1990, but due to improved skills in marketing, the same quota earned Z$1 200 000. The district took advantage of the tendering system to push up prices for its quotas (see fig 3). By increasing revenues without drastically increasing quotas, the local communities are improving their economic returns while ensuring conservation of various species. This is the very basis of sustainable development. The CAMPFIRE Programme emphasises the formation and development of democratic institutions from the household level to the village, the ward and district levels. In the Zimbabwean context a village has up to one hundred households while a ward formed of six villages has about six hundred 341 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings households. A district will have any number of wards and population varies. Local people elect their CAMPFIRE or Natural resources committees at the various levels. These committees are a fusion of civic and traditional structures which makes them very inclusive. The committees represent the interests of the local community and to ensure that they perform their tasks efficiently, they are given training in leadership skills, bookkeeping and project management. The facilitators are from both government and non-governmental organisations. These include Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management, Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Zimbabwe Trust, Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS), World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) and CAMPFIRE Association. The importance of democratic institutions is that decision making becomes legitimate and locals are free to change their leadership. Since the inception of the CAMPFIRE Programme, the Rural District Councils which have increased from two in 1989 to twenty six in 1996, there have been various investments from CAMPFIRE funds. Fig. 4 to fig. 10 which cover Nyaminyami, Hurungwe, Chiredzi and Gokwe South indicate that benefits to communities fall into the following categories: (a) Local Manpower Development In all the districts there is a process of training local manpower as game guards, scouts, problem animal reporters and bookkeepers. This is to ensure that the locals will look after their own resources. Skills also ensures sustainability when donor support is withdrawn. There has also been strengthening of women's clubs and youths' projects. (b) Infrastructural Development All CAMPFIRE districts have embarked on construction of schools, clinics, water points and roads. These projects are selected by the rural communities themselves on a demand driven basis. The projects have other spin-off benefits in the form of local employment. This paper can only summarise the investments from CAMPFIRE funds, but the important point to make is that the investment projects represent choices that the local people make in order to improve their living standards. The chosen projects also represent a firm commitment by locals that can take their destiny in their own hands. The areas where these projects are located are remote and central government extension services would not adequately cover these areas. In terms of capacity building, the training that communities receive reinforces local empowerment which is crucial to sustainable communities. It is training they demand and which is relevant to their daily routing work. (c) Co-Management This allows for benefit sharing between the Rural District Councils and local communities. Rural District Councils levy 15% of the CAMPFIRE revenues and up to 10% as Resource Management for capital costs and other recurrent expenditures. The rest of 75% - 80% of incomes reverts to locals. This allows for mutual reinforcements and improves the power relationship between Rural District Councils and their lower level constituents - the local people. 342 Country Paper-Zimbabwe In implementing the CAMPFIRE Programme there are developmental problems that are encountered. There is need for a comprehensive environmental policy reform that would allow for a holistic approach to decentralisation in the management of all natural resources. While great strides have been achieved within the wildlife sector, more needs to be done in the forestry, fisheries and minerals. There is, however, a process of environmental law reform which one hopes will integrate environmental laws in the country. The CAMPFIRE Programme extension service is being undertaken by government and non- governmental organisations as facilitators on behalf of communities. With the increase in the number of CAMPFIRE districts from two in 1989 to the present twenty six, there is need to train more trainers within the community. This demands more financial and manpower resources. There has been injection of capital from USAID, Netherlands Embassy, Overseas Development Administration (ODA), GTZ, NORAD, WISDOM and the government of Zimbabwe to strengthen rural communities. This will be an ongoing exercise, but the strain of extension is being felt. In thirteen CAMPFIRE districts, there is the constant issue of Problem Animal Control. Elephants, buffaloes, hyenas, lions, leopards and crocodiles destroy people's crops, predate on their livestock and in extreme cases kill human beings. In Hurungwe five people were trampled by elephants in 1995 while in Guruve Dande area seven people were killed. In Gokwe North villagers reported loss of forty livestock while in Chiredzi lions from Gonarezhou Park killed twenty reported livestock. In terms of crop damage some villagers have lost entire potential yields. It is important that Problem Animal Control strategy be formulated and at present some areas such as Gokwe, Binga, Tsholotsho and Guruve have put up fences which are being maintained by local people. More research is being carried out in this regard. One of the greatest problems we face in implementing CAMPFIRE is the ban on ivory trade. Trophy hunting contributes 90% of revenue from CAMPFIRE and elephants products account for 64%. Continued Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on ivory trade would undermine community initiatives and a way must be found to allow legitimate trade in elephant products. A continuing problem is the growing human population that will continue to encroach on wildlife areas. This has been the case in Guruve and Nyaminyami and the Rural District Councils with the support of the local communities are working out strategies to properly settle land hungry locals. There is need to embark upon a comprehensive land tenure arrangement as recommended in the 1994 Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Appropriate Agricultural Land Tenure Systems. Despite the developmental problems discussed earlier, CAMPFIRE has achieved phenomenal results in terms of capacity building and environmental management. Public environmental awareness among local people has improved as evidenced by the Masoka people of Guruve referring to wildlife as "our cattle". This positive association is a result of the net benefits that local people are deriving from CAMPFIRE. The major lesson we have learnt is that for sustainable environmental management in developing countries to succeed, there is need for both tangible and non tangible incentives. The issue of power to make binding decisions is at the heart of rural development. For better management, there is need to keep the benefiting and management units small. This facilitates easier communication and more returns to communities. 343 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings In terms of poaching there has been a reduction in illegal hunting. This is attributed to increased public awareness as well as the flow of benefits. The whole essence of ownership/custodianship assists in anti-poaching activities. Earlier on in this paper, I referred to a number of development projects which communities embarked upon utilising CAMPFIRE funds. In some cases, communities have received cash dividends as illustrated in the Chiredzi and Nyaminyami cases. This has helped communities to meet households needs and to plan appropriately for intervention strategies in say times of drought. Some other key lessons learned from CAMPFIRE are that traditional knowledge systems such as belief in totems, respect for traditional holidays and respect for uses of certain plants are key to conservation in rural areas. Traditional values give legitimacy to local environmental management through bestowing protection on species such as lions, pythons and pangolins. We have also learnt that community initiatives are adaptive and those facilitators involved must exercise patience and be prepared to unlearn their own prejudice. When we talk of sustainability we must also ensure we talk of community institutions. Without viable local institutions, it is difficult to sustain projects. In conclusion CAMPFIRE as an initiative is one that accepts that the centralist method of environmental management does not work. The centralist approach is doomed in the face of people struggling to survive. CAMPFIRE practice is wildlife is a bold move, but there is need to broaden it to cover other natural resources and such initiatives are beginning to take off. 344 N~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NW t | V ~~~~~~~~~~~GOKWE ( AN i % ~~~HWANGE LUPAN N I N i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~lI 4 g ° 0 GWA1 N BOUNDARY Districts itE; BR IDGEB\ /N/ v fJ . 100 200 Natioiial African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Fig.2 Annex 2 HURUNGWE RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL SUMMARY OF QUOTA AND HUNTING OPERATIONS FOR 1995 ANIMAL OUOTA NUMBERSHOT BALANCE Elephant (Male) 13 11 2 Buffalo (Male) 39 38 1 Buffalo (Female) 15 15 0 Lion (Male) 2 2 0 Leopard 19 10 9 Sable 13 12 1 Bushbuck 21 14 7 Bushpig 28 4 24 Baboon 56 9 47 Duiker 13 2 11 Eland (Male) 6 4 2 Grysbok 12 1 11 Hippo 7 1 6 Hyaena 6 3 3 Klipspringer 11 6 5 Kudu (Male) 6 5 1 Waterbuck (Male) 7 3 4 Warthog 20 5 15 Zebra 9 4 5 Crocodile 7 5 2 Crocodile (PAC) 0 1 0 Civet 5 1 4 Source: Hurungwe Rural District Council 1995 Wildlife Report. 346 Country Paper-Zimbabwe CHIREDZI RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL Fig.3 Annex 111 COMPARISON OF MARKETING EFFICIENCY 1990- 1995 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 YEARS SOURCE: 1995 Chiredzi Rural District Council CAMPFIRE Report. 347 African Forest Policy Forum--Proceedings NYAMINYAMI RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL Fig. 4 Annex 1V SUMMARY FOR CAMPFIRE PROJECTS AND IMPACT ON PRODUCER COMMUNITIES 1989-95 WARD INCOME PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES CASH PROJECT/ACTIVITY IMPACT TO PRODUCER COMMUNITIES _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ DISTRIBUTED Ward I $ 41 583.00 - Classroom Blocks x 2 Nil The school is now serving a kapenta fishing industrial community which before the inception - Blair Toilet x I of CAMPFIRE had no school to cater for children of fishermen. Gache-gache $ 24 739.04 - P/School Blocks x 2 Nil - The community managed to replace the classroom block which was about to collapse with a new - Sales Depot x I block. - Mola electric game fence In addition they managed to construct another classroom block. Fishermen are now making - Funding of water system use of school which now boosts three classroom blocks. - The sola electric game fence to which the community spent their CAMPFIRE revenue on labour force has brought a relief to fishermen who used to have some conflicts with wildlife. They are now also able to grow some vegetable on their residential stands to supplement their diet. - Ihrough income raised from the sales depot the ward is able to meet the running costs of the engine which supply water to the community, school and clinic. Mola Ward 4 $921 193.37 - Maintenance of P/Schools x 2 $225 978.09 - As the responsibility of maintaining schools rest with the community after construction, incomes - Grinding Mills x 3 from CAMPFIRE was used to maintain the two primary schools in the ward. - Water reticulation repairs - Employment of village Game - The area had no grinding mill before. The service being provided by the grinding mills is scouts and B/keeper considered as a great relief - A piped water scheme which was implemented by DDF had its pipes repaired through CAMPFIRE funds and to date the community and the schools are benefiting from the scheme. - The ward employed six gamc guard and a bookkeeper all being paid from CAMPFIRE revenue. Ward 5 $107 624.70 Sola Electric Fence $ 83 172.75 - Conflict between the community and wildlife was reduced after the two wards, with assistance of a donor pulled the CAMPFIRE funds together and paid labour during the installation of the Ward 6 $129 899.70 $ 40 000.00 game fence. People are now carrying out their agricultural activities without much disturbance from wildlife. 348 Country Paper--Zimbabwe WARD INCOME PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES CASH PROJECT/ACTIVITY IMPACT TO PRODUCER COMMUNITIES DISTRIBUTED Nebiri $286 762.15 - Warehouse $109 418.40 - The ward has benefited much from CAMPFIRE as reflected by the number of projects (Ward 7) - Grinding Mill implemented. Its primary school now has 3 classroom block, a pre-school centre with a blair toilet - Ward CAMPFIRE Office was constructed to cater for children. Also a CAMPFIRE office which included a small board room - Pre-school centre for committee meetings was constructed. - Water reticulation repairs - Primary school classroom block x - The ward also bought a grinding through the CAMPFIRE revenue which is providing a great I service to the community. - Primary school steel doors - The warehouse is also a potential facility to the ward as it provides storage to a number of materials and agricultural inputs meant to benefit the community. Sampakaruma $250 831.71 - Primary School furniture $27 719.40 - The ward purchased primary school furniture, replacing the old one. Also paid money towards (Ward 8) - Secondary School construction hiring transport to ferry local material for the construction of the secondary school. The ward also - Grinding mill bought a grinding mill from CAMPFIRE income. Kanyati $175 160.00 - Primary School teachers' houses $ 30 000.00 - CAMPFIRE funds have contributed much towards school projects. One teachers' house and a (Ward II) & Blair toilet blair toilet were constructed at the primary school. A teachers' house was constructed at the - Secondary School Secondary School, - Grinding mill Kanyati $175 160.00 - Primary Schools - Most of the CAMPFIRE funds were spent on school projects covering two primary schools. (Ward 10) _______ NOTE: Amount indicated under cash distribution column was received from Problem Animal Control income with the exception of other wards which once distributed cash from dividends. Most dividends were channelled towards projects indicated under projects column. 349 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings Fig.6 Annex VI HURUNGWE RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL SUMMARY OF COMMUNJITY DISBURSEMENT FUNDS TOTAL INCOME $ 650 684.00 LESS: CAPITAL EXPENDITURE: 2 x Ford Tractors $ 399 680.00 Equipments (2 x Dam Scoopers & 1 x Reversable Plough) $ 109 800.00 Salaries ($ 729 x 2 Drivers x 2 mths) $ 2 916.00 Fuels, Oils & Maitenance $ 8 152.00 $ 520 548.00 Balance (To be shared by wards) $ 130 136.OQ NB: The total Capital Expenditure of $520 548.00 is 80% of the Total Income. Therefore, the balance of $130 136.00 is 20% of the Total Income and hence to be shared to wards as follows: WARD AMOUNT (Z) 7 43 407.00 8(i) 40 205.00 8(ii) 7 790.00 9(v 17) 14 169.00 9(vl8) 4 681.00 13 500.00 15 10 351.00 16 9 033.00 130 136.00 350 Country Paper--Zimbabwe CHIREDZI RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL Fig.7. Annex VIl APPROPRIATION OF CAMPFIRE REVENUE TO VARIOUS USES/PROJECTS SUMMARY Date of Communal Ward Village No. of Amount Manage- Engine Grinding Contri- Contribu- Purchasing Amount distribution Land Hseholds accrued ment Maite- Mill bution to tion to Cement shared 1996 in Z$ nance Contribu- Chiefs Schools by the tion community 2.4.96 Matibi 2 Chibwedziv Chehondo 126 240 094,69 1 260,00 2 520,00 99 999,90 136 314,79 a 1.4.96 Matibi 2 Chibwedziv Chipinda 108 84 415,03 1 080,00 49 999,68 216,00 33 119,35 a _______________ _ 3.4.96 Matibi 2 Twananani Chingele 261 38 462,97 1 305,00 5 220,00 130,50 522,00 31 285,47 4.4.96 Matibi 2 Twananani Machindu 285 38 462,97 _ 5 700,00 32 762,97 4,4.96 Matibi 2 Batanai Gondweni 108 38 462,97 540,00 5 400,00 54,00 32 468,97 4.4.96 Matibi 2 Batanai Zamani 91 28 817,88 455,00 91,00 28 271,88 4.4.96 Matibi 2 Batanai Zamani 212 9 645,09 4 240,00 5 405,09 15.4.96 Sengwe Xibavaleng Malifumuni 324 141 843,02 1 620,00 6 480,00 16 200,00 117 543,02 we 16.4.96 Sengwe Xibabaleng Phahlela 331 101 254,78 13 240,00 88 014,78 we 24.4.96 Sangwe Mupinga Sibizapasi 10 118,39 100,00 10 018,39 29.4.96 Sengwe Sengwe Kotswi 185 45 433,28 . 22 716,15 22 717,13 29.4.96 Sengwe Sengwe Muphandle 148 25 863,63 4 440,00 21 423,63 29.4.96 Sengwe Scngwe Sengwe 204 39 875,99 19 877,76 19 998,23 24.4.96 Sangwe Chitsa Machinzu 7 764,40 7 764,40 ___ 24.4.96 Sangwe Chitsa Chitsanzeni 7 845,08 7 845,08 . Sengwe Xini Malipati 249 101,254,78 , 12 450,00 88 804,78 959 614,95 21 869,48 9 000,00 199 999,58 591,50 60 005,91 10 018,39 658 130,09 - 351 African Forest Policy Forum--Proceedings CHIREDZI RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL Fig.8 Annex VIII APPROPRIATE OF REVENUE TO VARIOUS USES/PROJECTS pROJ_EC_ Date of Commu- Ward Village No. of Amount Amount Manage- Engine Grinding Contribution Contribution Purchasing Amount distribution nal Land House accrued each ment Maite- Mill to chiefs to schools Cement Pockete 1996 holds in Z$ Hsehold nance contribution _________ ____ _____________ gets ._________ ______________ _____________get 2.4.96 Matibi 2 Chibwedzi Chehondo 126 240 094,69 1 905,51 10,00 20,00 793,65 2 1 081,86 va 1.4.96 Matibi 2 Chibwedzi Chipinda 108 84 415,03 781,62 10,00 462,96 2 306,66 va 3.4.96 Matibi 2 Twananani Chingele 261 38 462,97 147,36 5,00 20 0,5 119,86 4.4.96 Matibi 2 Twananani Machindu 285 38 462,97 132,95 20 114,95 4.4.96 Matibi 2 Batanai Gondweni 108 38 462,97 356,13 5,00 50 0,5 300,63 4.4.96 Matibi 2 Batanai Zamani 91 28 817,88 316,68 5,00 310,68 4.4.96 Matibi 2 Batanai Zamani 212 9 645,09 45,49 20 1 25,49 15.4.96 Sengwe Xibhavalen Malifumuni 324 141 843,02 437,78 5,00 20,00 50 362,78 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ gw e_ _ __ _ _ _ 16.4.96 Sengwe Xibhavalen Pahlela 331 101 254,78 305,90 40 265,90 gwe I _ 24.4.96 Sangwe Mupinga Sibizapasi 10 118,39 100 10 018,39 29.4.96 Sengwe Sengwe Kotswi 185 45 433,28 245,58 122,79 122,79 29.4.96 Sengwe Sengwe Mupandle 148 25 863,63 174,75 30 144,75 29.4.96 Sengwe Sengwe Sengwe 204 39 875,99 195,47 97,44 98,03 24.4.96 Sangwe Chitsa Chitsanzeni 7 845,08 7 845,08 _ 1 _ 24.4.96 Sangwe Chitsa Machinzu 7 764,40 7 764,40 Sengwe Xini Malipati 249 101 254,78 406,64 50 356,64 352 Country Paper-Zimbabwe Fig. 9 Annex IX SUMMARY NAVASHA-MALIPATI-SENGWE CONCESSION VALUE OF CONCESSION TOTAL ANIMALS FEE HUNTED Navasha Section $ 64 612.00 $132 634.00 $197 246.00 Malipati Section $342 002.16 $ 99 475.50 $441 447.66 Sengwe Section $ 43 053.86 $ 99 475.50 $142 529.36 $449 668.02 $331 585.00 $781 253.02 CHIBWEDZIVA CONCESSION Chitsa Section $ 32 984.46 $ 32 984.46 Chibwedziva Section $416 038.10 $449 022.56 $449 022.56 $ 49 022.56 TOTAL $ 1 230 275.58 Source: Chiredzi Rural District Council 1995 CAMPFIRE Report 353 African Forest Policy Forum--Proceedings Fig. 10 Annex X GOKWE SOUTH RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL 1995/96 WARD PRQOC-T AMOUNT BENEFICIARIES JAHANA BRICKS FOR CLINIC Z$33 758-00 LOCAL WARD MEMBERS JIRI 11 TWO DEEP WATER Z$117 895-02 VILLAGE MEMBERS WELLS MASUKA SCHOOLS PROJECT Z$14 525-36 LOCAL PUPILS NEMANGWE PUBLIC TOILET Z$1 735-84 PROBLEM ANIMAL REPORTERS USE 5 TOILET SAI 4 DEEP WATER WELL Z$I 925-46 LOCAL VILLAGERS TRANSPORTER AND LOCAL SAI 2 ROAD Z$23 000-00 COMMUTERS MAINTENANCE TRANSPORT GRAIN Z$9 000-00 DROUGHT RELIEF RECIPIENTS NOTE: THERE IS PROVISION FOR ACCESSORIES SUCH AS UNIFORMS, TORCHES, STATIONERY AND RAINCOATS REGUIRED FOR VARIOUS PROJECTS. LOCAL EMPLOYMENT IS PART OF THE PROJECT. SOURCE: GOKWE SOUTH RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL CAMFIRE REPORT 1995/6. 354 Country Paper-Zimbabwe REFERENCES 1. CAMPFIRE Association Annual Reports (1995/96) "Chiredzi Hurungwe, Gokwe South, Nyaminyami"CAMPFIRE Association, HARARE. 2. CAMPFIRE Association (1993/96) "CAMPFIRE Newsletters"Print Holdings, HARARE.. 3 . Child B and Paterson J (1991) "CAMPFIRE in Rural Development: The Beitbridge Experience", Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management/Centre for Applied Social Sciences, HARARE. 4. Gwatura D M (1995) "Wildlife Financial Statement as at 28 February 1995", Guruve Rural District Council, GURUVE. 5. Herald Reporters (1993) "Murerwa Calls for Economic Tags on Environmental Assets", The Herald, HARARE. 6. Martin R B (1986) "Communal Areas Management Programme For Indigenous Resources 'CAMPFIRE' Working Document 1/86, HARARE. 7. (i) Maveneke TN (1994) "Speech delivered at the CAMPFIRE Association Annual General Meeting", CAMPFIRE Association, HARARE. (ii) Maveneke T N (1994) "Paper presented at the IUCN/CASS Six Weeks Course on Social Perspectives in Natural Resource Management", CAMPFIRE Association, HARARE. 8. Metcalfe S (1990) "Minutes of General Meeting of the CAMPFIRE Association held at Redcliff Hotel", Unpublished Paper, CAMPFIRE Association, Harare, ZIMBAWE. 9. Msika J (1991) "Speech delivered at the CAMPFIRE Association Annual General Meeting", HARARE. 10. Muchadakuenda E (1993) "Minutes of the CAMPFIRE Association Annual Meeting held on 16-17 December 1993"Unpublished Paper, CAMPFIRE Association, Harare, ZIMBABWE. 11. Muchadakuenda E and J Siarnachira (1994) "Minutes of the CAMPFIRE Association Annual General Meeting. at Cresta Hotel, Unpublished Paper, CAMPFIRE Association, Harare, ZIMBABWE. 12. Murphree Prof M (1993) "Communities as Resource Management Institutions". Gatekeeper Series No. 36, IIED, London. 13. Murphree Prof M (1995) "The Lesson from Mahenye: Rural Povertv. Democracy and Wildlife Conservation" Wildlife and Development Series No. 1, IIED, LONDON. 355 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 14. Mujakachi L (1995) "Wildlife participatory Project: Gwampa Valley", Unpublished Paper, Forestry Commission, H-arare, ZIMBABWE. 15. Pantzare M, et al (1993) "The CAMPFIRE Programme in Nyaminyami: A study of the local population's incentives to support the Programme", University of Umea, Sweden. 16. Rukuni Mandivavani Prof (Chair) (1994) "Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Appropriate Agricultural Land Tenure Systems" Vol. 1, I and III" Government Printers, HARARE. 17. Taylor Russel (1995) "From Liability to Asset: Wildlife in the Omav Communal Land of Zimbabwe" Wildlife and Development Series No. 8., IIED, London, UK. 18. Tshuma K M (1995) "Annual Report for 1994 CAMPFIRE Activities" Tsholotsho Rural District Council, TSHOLOTSHO. 356 INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS AND ACTIVITIES TO ALLOW LOCAL PARTICIPATION IN FOREST MANAGEMENT ZIMBABWE'S EXPERIENCE INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS FOR LOCAL LEVEL FORESTRY MANAGEMENT by C. Phiri Project Coordinator Forestry Commission, Zimbabwe 357 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS AND ACTIVITIES TO ALLOW LOCAL PARTICIPATION IN FOREST MANAGEMENT ZIMBABWE'S EXPERIENCE 1.0 INTRODUCTION Main Land Features Zimbabwe has a total land area of 390 000 km2 of which 23million hectares or 59% of the total area is categorized as forest with a canopy cover of 20% or more. The main land tenure categories are listed below: State Owned Land Communal Areas (CA): Land allocated to the Africa population by the colonial administration. Resettlement Areas (RA): Land allocated to landless Africans or people from over populated Cas by the post colonial administration. Forest Area and Parks: Commercial forest, protection forest and parks under FC administration. Lease Tenure Small Scale Commercial Farms (SSCF). Freehold Large Scale Commercial Farms (LSCF) Land allocated to settlers of mainly European origin by the colonial administration. The formal ownership of Cas and Ras is vested in the presidency and administered by the District Councils allocating land to the communities in the Cas and individuals in the Ras. User rights are allocated to individuals by the village chiefs and the headmen which, during colonial time, held considerable official power. Most power in the village affairs are now vested in the official institutions. Individual arable land holdings are inherited and sometimes sold although this is illegal. The exclusive rights of homestead residents to trees planted around homesteads are in general recognized and honoured. This is not always the case for trees on allocated arable land where rights are more complex. User rights to allocated land will normally only be honoured if the land is developed (I.E. crops and or trees planted, fence erected). User rights to natural forest products on allocated land are difficult to claim. The land mass (390 OOOkm2) of Zimbabwe falls into five Natural Regions (NR). The agro- ecological features of the NRs are presented in Table 1. 358 Country Paper-Zimbabwe Table 1: Agro-ecological Regions Natural Area Cover Distribution per Rainfall pattern Characteristics and Regions KM2 Province Farming Activities NR 1 5 835 Eastern Highlands, Reliable rainfall and Intensively used for dairy Manicaland cool temperature. farming, forest, tea, coffee, tree, Rainfall 1000mm fruit. NR 2 72 745 Northern Reliable rainfall Intensively, cropped. Mashonaland 700-1000mm Predominantly NR 3 67 690 Mashonaland Rainfall Semi-intensive cultivation. Rain- Midlands 650 - 800mm fed cropping of drought resistant cotton, soya beans and sorghum. High proportion of CA NR 4 128 370 North and South Rainfall Semi intensive cultivation. Area Matebeleland 450 - 650mm subject to seasonal drought suitable for cattle, ranching and rain-fed maize cultivation. High proportion of CA NR 5 112 810 South Eastern Rainfall below Suitable for intensive cattle Lowveld Masvingo 450mm ranching and extensive irrigation of sugar cane, wheat in South and Eastem Lowveld. 1.1 Environmental Degradation in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe, perched on top of the Central African Plateau is beset with numerous problems of environmental conservation and management, especially catchment management. Environmental degradation in form of soil degradation and erosion, siltation of rivers and reservoirs, deforestation and desiccation of wetland ecosystems, characterise many catchments in the country. This is due to a variety of causes such as unfair land distribution, poverty and unsustainable uses of natural resources. Most communal lands are characterised by poor soils, poor rainfall and very high population densities. The problems environmental degradation is largely caused by the agricultural and survival practices in these areas. In many communal lands, farmers are more interested (short term) agricultural productivity than in (long term) sustainable, environmental sound, agricultural methods. This means that the answers to successful and sustainable environmental rehabilitation can be found in an improved ecologically sound agricultural system. Efforts to conserve and manage catchments dates as far back as the 1950s. However, a lot of these efforts have been piecemeal, sectoral and treating the wrong symptoms. Catchment rehabilitation was/and is often treated as a pure physical environmental problem which was/is not linked to sustainable development. As a result, the catchments of Zimbabwe's drainage system have, for several; years, been experiencing excessive environmental degradation and this has been very severe in the Save Catchment. 359 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings (a) Forestry Legislation & Strategies Developed to Address Land Degradation: The Forest Act (Chapter 125) and the Communal Lands Forests Produce act have been the main guide lines the Forestry Commission has been working within to bring communities into the main stream of forest management and utilization. However, in 1983, the Forestry Commission begun to implement a Rural Afforestation project to redress the environmental degradation caused be deforestation mainly in the Communal Areas. In the process the Forestry Commission noted the highly restrictive legislation to involve communities into forest management and utilization. In recognition of the gaps to be filled before national reforms for forestry management and utilization can be implemented, the Forestry Commission has been going through a process of internal reforms and implementation of programmes that lead to policy and legislative change. This document is an attempt to review the internal reforms and some of the programmes it has initiated, or is implementing. (b) Internal Reforms: In 1982, the Forestry Commission created a new Division called Rural Afforestation to implement a programme conceived in the late 1970's. The project was conceived on the concept of traditional forestry. That is the foresters' are the only ones that can implement forestry programmes. The communities were to receive forest products (firewood) produced by the foresters. By providing them with firewood through the planting and distribution of seedlings of eucalyptus seedlings the communities would give the natural vegetation a chance to grow up. The concept did not work as expected as: o the large block plantations the Forestry Commission established did not appeal to appeal to communities as a substitute for firewood. o the seedlings the Forestry Commission produced and gave away free and almost free were not all cared for by the communities. The experience of the foresters' working with the communities began to raise debate and the issue of reform the institution to address the community aspirations were raised and the policy instruments of the organisation began to make initiate changes in the organisation structure and strategies. The Forestry Commission began to make a deliberate effort to separate its communal activities and these that were needed to support community participation in management and utilization of forests and forests products. This separation has led to the creation of what is now the State activities and the Commercial Forestry. Within the State activities the need for multi disciplinary teams and holistic approaches is constant by being developed. To date the state Activities have created a specialist services Unit within its Forest extension services (former Rural Afforestation Division) and a Social Forestry Research Unit within its research and Development Unit. 360 Country Paper-Zimbabwe The above mentioned units act as stimulus and moderators in the development of appropriate programmes and policies to support participation of communities in forest management and utilization. DECENTRALIZATION OF SEEDLING PRODUCTION As already indicated in the text above the design of the Rural Afforestation project was based on the perceived fuelwood crisis of the 1970's and early 1980's. Rural Afforestation I implemented between 1983 and 1989 was based on a strategy to develop 49 central nurseries in 16 of the 65 districts perceived to be suffering from severe firewood shortage and the establishment of 500 ha of block plantations in the clay areas and urban areas to act as reserves for fuelwood in order to reduce the demand on indigenous woodlands. At initiation of Rural Afforestation Project I the foresters went out in full force to implement the project activities as stated in the project appraisal. As stated in the section on internal reforms the debate on the strategies developed led to changes in strategies. The seedling production and distribution strategy went through a rapid not only because of the reasons originally stated but several issues like: - If the project came to an end would the programme be able to sustain itself9 - How access able were the central nurseries as seedling distribution points. - were the seedlings (eucalyptus) satisfying the community needs were also raised. A deliberate policy to move away from the put in place. Satellite nurseries to support the central nurseries was put in place. The success of the satellite nurseries effective as seedling production centres and the observations of a diversity of seedling species being produced then gave impetus for the Forestry Commission to move away from the central nurseries. Table 2 below gives a summary of seedling production by the different nurseries over the last five years. Table 2--Seedling Production For The Period 1990 - 1995 TYPE OF 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 NURSERY Forestry Commission Central Nursery 1 231 000 619 000 176 906 229 787 80 153 Handed over nursery (former Forestry Commission nursery 1 135 000 1 493 000 828 717 1 090 356 1 098 752 Satellite nursery 543 000 918 000 3 478 307 5 648 921 6 476 417 TOTALS 2 909 000 3 030 000 4 481 930 6 968 064 7 655 322 The number of seedlings reflected are only those that the staff recorded from established nurseries and did not include small quantities produced at individual level. 361 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings The land distribution pattern and the land use per category are shown in Table 3.2 according to various tenurial arrangements in Zimbabwe. Table 3: Present Land distribution by sector and Natural regions Sector Units 1 2 3 4 5 Total CA ,OOOha 140 1 270 2 820 7 340 4 780 16 350 0.9 7.8 17.2 44.9 29.3 100 RA ,OOOha 30 590 1 240 810 620 3 290 % 0.9 17.9 37.7 24.6 18.9 100 STATE ,OOOha 10 10 160 60 260 500 % 2 2 32 12 52 100 SSCF ,OOHA 10 240 530 500 100 1 380 % 0.7 17.4 38.4 36.2 7.3 100 LSCF 'OOOha 200 3 690 2 410 2 430 2 490 11 220 % 1.8 32.8 21.5 21.7 22.2 100 Source: Mapopsa, 1995 p. 9 Table 3 shows the uneven distribution of land with the commercial forms occupying 41 % of the total area of agricultural land and 35 % of the total area. NRs 4 and 5 are holding 74 % of the CA. Thus, the project target area is the marginal parts of Zimbabwe with approximately 1,000,000 households. Zimbabwe's forest area is in the order of 23 million ha or 59 % of the area of the country. Of the total forest area, 11 million ha are forest with 10 % or more canopy cover. The forest areas in the CAs are continuously being depleted as a result of clearing for agriculture, overgrazing and fuel-wood cutting. The depletion rate is, of approximately 10,000 ha per year according to the FC RAP 11 proposal. The major portion of the national stock of woodland is found in area not available for general use (national parks and forests, game reserves, the LSCF area, etc.). The CAs contain only 21 % of woodland, but 44 % of total rural land area and 60 % of the population. Since 1960, loss of wood cover has also begun to badly affect NR 4 and 5. In all cases, deforestation is most acute in those areas experiencing rapid population growth and immigration. Estimates of fuel-wood consumption in rural areas range from 2.7 to 6.5 tones/household/year. Latest estimates of national demand are 8-10 million tones/year. There are some 102,000 ha of commercial plantations of which 66 % are privately owned (1990). Approximately 60,000 ha of the plantation forest is pine, the remainder being mainly 362 Country Paper-Zimbabwe eucalyptus species. The forest industry is based on the plantation tiber for 95 % of its input. Zimbabwe is self sufficient in sawn timber and produces a: State owned land Communal Areas (CA): Land allocated to the African population by the colonial administration. Resettlement Areas (RA): Land allocated to landless Africans or people from populated CAs by the post colonial administration. Forest Areas and Parks: Commercial forest, protection forest and parks under FC administration. Less Tenure Small Scale Commercial Farms (SSCF) Freehold Large Scale Commercial Farms (LSC) Land allocated to settlers of mainly European origin by the colonial administration. The formal ownership of CAs and RAs is vested in the presidency and administered by the District Councils allocating land to the communities in the CAs and individual in the RAs. User rights are allocated to individuals by the village chiefs and the headmen which during colonial time, held considerable official power. Most power in the village affairs are now vested in the official institution. Individual arable land holdings are inherited and sometimes sold although this is illegal. The exclusive rights of homestead residence to trees planted around homesteads are in general recognized and honored. This is not always the case for trees on allocated arable land where rights are more complex. User rights to allocated land will normally only be honored if the land is developed (i.e. crops and all trees planted, fence erected). User rights to natural forest products on allocated land are difficult to claim. Almost 2/3 of the rural households are female headed. It is common that the men have paid work in the industrial centers or on the commercial farms and are absent from the farms most of the year. The females in general are responsible for 85 % of all farm activities although the land is owned by the men. The fuel wood collection and use is the responsibility of the females. The social and legal position of the women in the rural areas do not math their involvement in the management of the rams. Legally they do not have the same rights to own land as men have nor the same access to credit. These circumstances do not create a good environment for long time horizon in connection with use of resources and must be taken into account in the project strategy in order to achieve the project objectives. A considerable amount of land and livestock is allocated and owned by people residing in the cities, contributing significantly to problems. 363 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings RESOURCE SHARING 1.2 ISSUES SURROUNDING MANAGEMENT OF INDIGENOUS FORESTS The Forestry commission manages 21 gazetted forests. Eighteen (1 8) of these indigenous (natural) forests are situated in Matabeleland North while three (3) are in the Midlands province. A key issue that requires careful thought is how these forests should continue to be managed sustainable for their environmental (ecological), economic and social value. Current management of indigenous forests is shrouded with conflicts arising from:- o Competing objectives and priorities at national, district and community levels; o Competition in landuse options; and o Different perceptions on issues of legitimacy and right of access to forest resources. The challenges facing forest managers are, among other things:- o Articulating the conflicts arising from current uses of the forest, and who the users should be. o Resolving and/or minimizing conflicts in resource use. O Ensuring that the forests continue to be managed in a sustainable manner. 1.3 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON MAFUNGABUSI FOREST Mafungabusi Forest was declared a demarcated forest in 1954 primarily because of its role as a catchment area, but also because of the value of its indigenous commercial timber, particularly, mukwa and teak. The ecological and biodiversity functions of the forest also justifies its "protected" status. The extent of Mafungabusi when it was gazetted in 1954 was 104 900 hectares. The forest boundary was revised in 1972 when 22 900 ha that had been affected by settlement and cultivation were excised and degazetted, that is, they were effectively transferred to communal land status. During the same year, several boundary changes were effected as illustrated in Figure 1. Pieces of unsettled communal land south of the forest we added to the forest as partial compensation for land transferred to communal lands. In 1986, settlers who remained in the forest since 1972 were forcibly removed by the army. Today, no settlements exist in the gazetted forest apart from the Lutope Camp where Forestry Commission employees are housed. 364 Country Paper-Zimbabwe kni~~~~~~~~~~~~ , 1t 0 SE'1LEMEt T -~ N.. I- ''7~ I'^,t_ Fi£'.V.'OVED I Z5? 5 c / _s ~ ~~,DD- -- FO'r-S 1Wjg was esalsed n194t icud oe tha 100 000- hectares of inieosfretgoigo N.~_, /7, ADDED 1O FOflEST 1I4 1g72 Figure 1. Mafungabusi Boundary and Settlement Changes. The Mafungabusi state Forest was established in 1954 to include more than 100, 000 hectares of indigenous forest growing on Kalahari Sands. Since that time, several boundary and settlement changes as detailed above have occurred. 365 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 1.4 CURRENT MANAGEMENT OF THE FOREST Forestry Extension Services Division employs a Forester who is based at Gokwe centre and is directly in charge of the management of Mafungabusi Forest. Management activities include fire prevention, prevention of poaching of wildlife and unlicensed harvesting of live trees, and issuing of permits for harvesting some resources from the forest. Prior to 1986 the Forestry Commission planted some exotic trees on a small portion of land on an experimental basis. Currently, resources are obtained from the forest in three ways. (a) Licence/Permit System:- e.g. - Harvesting of commercial timber by concessionaires under contract arrangement with the Forestry Commission. - Grass cutting by communal areas residents. (b) Sanctioned Use With No Permits Issued: e.g. - Grazing of livestock in the forest area. - Collection of dead wood for fuel. (c) Unsanctioned Harvesting: e.g. Poaching of wildlife. Cutting of live trees for construction poles and other uses. WHY IMPLEMENT THE PROGRAMME (a) There are conflicts in the utilization of resources found in the forest areas as evidenced by poaching of wildlife and illegal cutting of trees by some members of neighboring communities. This has resulted in many arrests, payment of fines and "harassment" which in turn generate ill feelings between the Forestry Commission and local communities. (b) It has become increasingly obvious that conventional forest management approaches whereby the Forestry Commission is seen to be "protecting the forest from local communities" is no longer relevant under the new social order in Zimbabwe. (c) The question we are asking ourselves is "how do we minimize conflicts and at the same time maximize benefits from the use of the forest resources? Within the last two to three years there have been discussions on possible income generating projects that will benefit the Forestry Commission, the local authority and other institutions such as National Parks. The idea of a "Roan Breeding Project", for example, is still alive in the minds of "some". (d) The legitimacy of state control over a resource base where communities surrounding Mafungabusi. (e) The legitimacy of state control over a resource base where communities have limited access is being questioned with respect to this forests. 366 Country Paper-Zimbabwe USE OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE INTRODUCTION Ntabazinduna is a small communal area, 40 km north east of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. There are three wards in Ntabazinduna, named the South, North and West Wards. Each has an elected councillor. The area has a mean annual rainfall ranging between 450 and 550mm, at an altitude of between 1300 and 1500m. The terrain is flat with gentle undulations Most of Ntabazinduna is covered by red-brown sandy loams (isibomvu), interspersed with black clays (isidaga) in the valleys. The natural vegetation found on these soils is acacia open woodland, dominated by Acacia karroo (isinga), which occurs in association with other species, particularly A. robusta (mgamanzi), A nilotica (isangawe), A rehmanniana (iphucula) and Zyziphus mucronata (umphafa) (Timberlake et al, 1993). Pure stands of Euclea divinorum (umtshekesane) are found in low-lying areas and generally associated with termite mounds. Deforestation and degradation of the communal grazing areas has led to hardships for the people of Ntabazinduna. Woodland resources within grazing areas provide essential inputs to the local farming systems and household livelihoods of communal land farmers (Bradley and Dewees, 1993). Of primary importance is the grazing resource for livestock. The forage productivity of the grazing areas is must reduced as a result of excessive pressure on both woody and herbaceous components. In addition, the grazing area woodlands are source of fuelwood, poles, fruits and a host of other important subsistence products. These products are no longer available in quantities adequate to sustain household needs, and families are forced to travel long distances to find them, or to buy them if they can afford to. From as far back as the 1930s, development agencies have introduced a variety of technical interventions aimed at addressing the problems of woodland clearance and land degradation. These have centred around establishment of grazing schemes and eucalypt woodlots. In recent years, innovative community self-help initiatives aimed at rehabilitation of the degraded woodlands have started to spread throughout Ntabazinduna. A number of families have groves of regenerated acacia trees near to their homes, as a result of pruning and protecting acacia scrub. More recently, this practice has been taken up by village groups who have begun to manage regrowth within grazing areas. These efforts have resulted in both increased woody biomass and pasture improvement. A study of local woodland management initiative and of performance of eucalypt woodlots in Ntabazinduna was conducted by researchers and extension staff from the Forestry commission. This is one of two papers that have been written about the study. the other paper (Clarke and Crockford, 1994) evaluated eucalypt woodlots and woodland management practices in Ntabazinduna, examining input costs, productivity and values to the community of each intervention. It concludes that eucalyptus woodlots are uneconomic on the loamy soils which cover most of Ntabazinduna, as input costs far exceed returns. In contrast, community initiatives to manage acacia regrowth cost less, are more productive and produce a much wider range of products and services than woodlots grown in the same area. These findings underscore the need for social forestry research and extension to focus on ways to support existing initiatives in woodland management, rather than on the introduction of narrow technical packages. 367 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings In this paper, we describe woodland management initiatives in Ntabazinduna and discuss the factors which have contributed to their success. In addition, we describe the participatory research methods which were used in the study and discuss how such methods can be used both to document and support community initiatives. thus, there is a dual emphasis on methodology and findings of the study, as both contribute to a greater understanding of how to promote and build on existing resource management practices at the local level. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Historical information emanating from the study reinforces the findings of other authors that State land use policies and political events, rather than the depredations of local people, have been, and continue to be, the major cause of environmental degradation and deforestation in communal lands (Gill, 1985; Wilson, 1990; McGregor, 1991; Katerere et al, 1993; Scoones and Matose, 1993). In Ntabazinduna, high population densities, resulting from land alienation and forced resettlement, led to widespread woodland clearance for arable lands as well as trees cutting for building of new homes. Colonial government policies, aimed at forcing people off the land to create an urban workforce (Ndlela, 1981), resulted in expansion of the urban fuelwood trade. On the one hand there was a growing urban population which required fuelwood (Whitlow, 1980) and on the other, rural populations were in need of cash to pay taxes (Palmer, 1977). During the liberation war, local people were instructed to cut many of the remaining trees to reduce cover for the guerrillas. Moyo (1994) goes further, linking the history of communal lands to current strategies and responses to problems of deforestation. The violent history of land alienation and subjugation of indigenous people has resulted in polarisation between the strategies of public sector agencies and those of local people, with respect to addressing problems of deforestation. On the one hand, forestry extension approaches have their roots in racist idealogy evolved to justify land alienation. Central to this is the notion that local communities are "backward" and "need educating". The backbone of forestry extension programmes has been the promotion of eucalypt woodlots. Local people tend to mistrust State forestry programmes which they associated with the coercive and restrictive policies of the past, such as land alienation, and forced clearing of indigenous woodlands to establish woodlots. Woodlot programmes have been largely unsuccessful as a result of this painful history as well as their failure to address the real resource needs of communities have, out of necessity, evolved their own changing strategies in order to gain greater access to essential wild products associated with woodland areas. Public sector agencies, in keeping with their history, have tended to ignore and/or criminalise local level strategies to gain greater access to natural resources. FOREST PARTICIPATION SERIES This polarisation between "official" and local level forestry strategies highlighted by Moyo (1994) are well substantiated by the Ntabazinduna case study. There is a very large eucalypt plantation which was established in the 1 940s using forced labour to destump the existing indigenous forest occurring there. Whilst this plantation is a success in so far as it supplies poles and fuelwood throughout Ntabazinduna and beyond, there is lingering resentment that these products must be bought from the council. 368 Country Paper-Zimbabwe Furthermore, the plantation was established on the only parch of Kalahari sands in the area, which naturally supports a diverse forest econsystem. Early maps of the first block of the plantation show a grove of umkhuna (Parinari curatellifolia), a tree highly valued and respected for its role in rainmaking ceremonies as well as for its fruits. It appears that subsequent expansion of the plantation led to stumping of these trees as they are no longer in evidence today. Post Independence efforts by development agencies to promote school and community woodlots. in Ntabazinduna have met with almost total failure (Clarke and Crockford, 1994). On the other hand, community initiatives to protect and manage woodlands are widespread, and are now on the increase in Ntabazinduna. Prior to this study, these initiatives appear to have gone unnoticed by the staff of agencies involved in promoting afforestation activities in Ntabazinduna. Yet some simple measurements have shown that these efforts to manage indigenous woodlands are much more cost effective than woodlot establishment. Furthermore, indigenous woodlands provide a much wider variety of products and services than do woodlots (Clarke and Crockford, 1994). These observations in Ntabazinduna are supported by those of others in different parts of the country (Makuku, 1990). Influential local leaders have played a key role in the spread of woodland management initiatives. Their strategy of fostering a commitment to woodland protection and management amongst the people over a period of decades contrasts sharply with the "quick-fix" approach of most development agencies. This study highlights key challenges facing social forestry research and extension, whilst at the same time provides some insight into how these challenges might be taken on. In the first place there is need to raise awareness and appreciation of local strategies on the part of research and extension staff. the next step is to develop capacity to support and build on existing initiatives. The process and outcome of this study show how participatory approaches, including PRA methods, can be used to achieve both of these objectives. The use of PRA methods was an effective means to raise overall awareness and appreciation of local initiatives by researchers and extension staff alike. The focus of the study was on the history, evolution and current status of these practices. The local extension staff went on a week long introduction to PRA course prior to the study, and were thus able to work in partnership with the research staff in designing the methods and steps to be followed. The team began by planning the study together: which methods to use and in what sequence in order to obtain the information in which we were interested. During the course of the study this plan was modified and adapted where necessary. After each day the team sat together in the evenings reviewing the outcome of the day and planning for the next session. The methods reported in this paper are those which were finally used, although in practice they were not quite as clearly sequenced as they appear here! In fact, the research was carried out over a period of more than a year of separate visits, each time deepening and broadening the information as well as supporting extension activities arising from the research. Tools such as the historical timeline, semi-structured interviews with key informants, visits to family and community groves, and village mapping were very effective ways for local information to present and reflect on information about their practices and preferences. In addition to raising awareness of local practices and documenting these, the study concurrently provided research and extension staff with insights and practical lessons in how to go about promoting community woodland management initiatives. the combination of research and extension objectives in this way can lead to better focused and improved extension approaches. 369 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings A number of ways in which field staff can support and encourage the spread of woodland management practices emerged during the course of the study, and have since been incorporated into the plan of work of the Forestry Extension Officers. These include: visiting family and group woodland management projects and showing appreciation and a willing to assist; arranging for study tours and field days within and between Wards to enable the sharing of ideas and the spread of these practices; facilitating and sponsoring workshops for villagers who have started group woodland management projects, to enable them to review their progress so far, and to plan and carry out further pruning and thinning operations; provision of improved pruning tools and advice on how to use them. The village mapping techniques used in the research proved to be a very useful tool for enabling villagers to visualize their grazing areas, to plan and to evaluate woodland management efforts. At the same time the study has served to define priority research needs for optimising existing management practices. These include the need to investigate management and harvesting options for sustainable utilisation of the range of desired products, including those for mixed livestock production, and a deeper understanding of institutional and socio-economic factors which are behind these initiatives. In order to address the above research and extension priorities, the same adaptive research and extension model described in this study will continue to be used. Important features of this approach are: the involvement of local communities in all aspects of the programme; integration of research and extension; and an iterative, heuristic approach which incrementally broadens and deepens with each successive step taken. 370 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORESTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR A presentation of the Interafrican Forest Industries Association (I.F.I.A.) LF.I.A. INTERAFRICAN FOREST INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION (Association Interafricaine des Industries forestieres) (Association en formation au Luxembourg) Representation: 6 avenue de Saint Mande, F-75012 PARIS/France Tei.: (+33-&) 43 42 42 00 Fax: (+33-1) 43 42 55 22 371 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORESTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Introduction A series of World Bank documents concerning a strategy for the forest sector in Sub-Saharan Africa was published during the past few years. Many intemational seminars were held on the same subject. One of these with the title ((Making forest policy worlo> was held between July 3 and 7, 1995, in Oxford. The role of the private sector in forestry meaning also the timber industry and timber trade especially in developing countries was hardly mentioned in the past and rarely incorporated in seminars, proposals and decision making. This was the reason why the Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux (ATIBT) excluded from the World Bank seminar in Washington (in May 1994) - published a booklet <«A Strategy for the Forest Sector in West and Central Africa>) ((>). In the meantime, the private sector - long since acknowledged by the African developing countries as an important partner - is mentioned on every occasion. ATIBT and IFIA are grateful for this invitation and hope that our information, comments and recommendations will be taken into account in the World Bank's forestry sector strategy in Sub- Saharan Africa. Absolutely nothing has changed in ATIBT's afore-mentioned document published in June 1994. Its contents are fully shared and supported without exception by all the professional federations covering forestry, timber industry and timber trade activities in the African Timber Organization (ATO) countries. Unfortunately, we feel that the explanations and recommendations of the private sector remain unknown to some decision makers in Washington (The World Bank), Brussels (EC) as well as participants in seminars whose objective is to «make forest policy work)). Regardless of what has been proposed in the World Bank's papers or concluded for instance by the afore-mentioned international seminar in Oxford, forest policy cannot work without a healthy private sector having the task to play its important role in national development and to lead the change towards sustainable practices in tropical forest management. It should be useless to say that timber industry and investment are based on long term development, on a sustainable supply basis, meaning well-managed forests. All that is said about forest policy, legislative reform, laws strengthening forestry institutions, land use and long-term forest development are matters for sovereign countries and their governments. The private sector is a partner for the government working within the framework 372 The Role of the Private Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa of the country's development policy, its laws and regulations. The private sector holding timber concessions is also a partner of local communities with all reciprocal environmental, economic, ecological and social obligations. All the partners are fighting poverty together. The devastation of tropical forests by a fast- growing population doubling almost every twenty years in Sub-Saharan Africa, cannot be transformed into a sustainable management of natural resources without a process of information and education for the population and without restricting traditional rights of the population like shifting cultivation and hunting. The same process took place in Europe 200 to 300 years ago, with laws enabling the country and its population to use lands and forests in a sustainable way. Timber harvesting. timber industry and population Private companies in the Sub-Saharan African natural forest don't need encouragement in cooperating with the local population. From the very beginning of their activity, they have been living in symbiosis with villages and the people in their concessions. Without a permanent dialogue, mutual understanding and compromise, timber harvesting and industrialization in rural areas are not possible. Villages in forest concessions, timber harvesting, timsber industry and population are closely linked. This means that sustainable forest use and agriculture are closely linked as well. A private company engaged in timber harvesting, timber industry, job creation cannot take care of agriculture. Agriculture is a completely different branch with a different approach and different expertise. To harmnonise both - forestry and agriculture - goverment support is necessary, and govenments need the support of donors in order to integrate forestry/agriculture in projects with research and education. T'he private sector is not the police. This also applies to land-use and hunting. Laws and traditional rights have to be respected by private companies. Requests by the population for better regional infrastructure and road-building are followed by private companies when supported by government authorities and f-inancially feasible. IFIA members are aware of the problems caused by illegal hunting and hunting of protected species. They do not organise hunting to supply bush-meat to the population. Pygmnies and Bantus in the Congo basin do not know the difference between protected and non-protected animal. It is their traditional right also to bunt internationally protected species ; («Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - C.I.T.E.S.»>). This is why IFIA members try to solve the problem by information and education of their workers and in schools. The experience of National Parks (Nouabale-Ndoki for instance) has shown that this method of cooperation - information - education and understanding yields much better results than confrontation and punishment. Nevertheless, IFIA proposes that governments of African countries reinforce their legislation and control concerning hunting, if necessary with prison sentences for hunting of protected animals, trade and consumption of their meat. The private sector and research Research is an important component of tropical forestry and one that has been neglected for a long time. Private enterprise is open to cooperation with scientists on research. But the former neither has the knowledge nor the financial means to carry out research. When the international community talks about global responsibility concerning biodiversity, industrial countries (having 373 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings already destroyed almost all their virgin forests) should participate in financing research projects concerning the ecological impact of natural forest use as well as the environmental impact and sustainability of planted forests. Also, sylvicultural activities should be supported financially. The need for scientific, technical and financial assistance, enabling the private sector to practise sound management of primary forests is imminent. Private enterprise has neither the physical nor the financial means for research, sylviculture and post-harvesting operations. This concerns also the rural development component in communities living in primary forests. Outside help and also World Bank support - at least politically - would facilitate forest and wildlife conservation. Some errors concerning the issues of sustainable forestry development in West and Central Africa In a World Bank Note the following is said: < Reply: This statement is completely misleading when considering the situation in West and Central Africa. West and Central Africa is not comparable to South East Asia and South America To mention the fortune made in South East Asia with timber harvesting in connection with Sub- Saharan Africa is misleading without mentioning that: In Central Africa we harvest about 5 to 1 5m3 per hectare with a rotation of 30 to 40 years with a distance to the port of embarkation of about 800 to 1,200km. 374 The Role of the Private Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa In South East Asia about 50 to 1 50m3 are harvested per hectare - 10 times more - with a distance of rarely more than 400 km to the port of embarkation; in addition, long distances can be overcome by cheap water transport on rivers. Wages are much lower in South East Asia than in West and Central Africa. The main Central African species like Sapeli and Sipo compete directly with the main South East Asian species Meranti and Merbau. There are two lessons to be learned concerning Sub-Saharan Africa 1. A large majority of European companies working in the logging and timber industry in Africa after independence, closed down, lost a great deal of money or went bankrupt, not only with their African operations but also with their mother companies in Europe. We would recommend to the policy makers at the World Bank to obtain information from commercial banks in Europe to find out what they think about granting loans to the timber industry in Africa. European banks do not consider participation in a logging operation or timber industry as an asset. Loans granted to European companies are based on other assets outside Africa. 2. A European company would be stupid to transfer its profits from Africa to Europe, paying high income tax (sometimes more than 50%) and then to transfer the remaining amount back to Africa for new investments. At the same time, an African company without profits has to pay its income tax based on its turnover (impot minimum forfaitaire). Sweeping statements are dangerous and destructive. They mislead the ignorant public and policy makers, as proven by seminars where such conclusions are made. With the present situation of the national and intemational timber markets, there is very little room for private timber companies to bear the additional costs of sustainable forest management and no room at all for absolutely necessary research and sylvicultural activities. It should not be forgotten that the natural regeneration of high-valued African species cannot be compared with the natural regeneration of the high-valued South East Asian species (Dipterocarpacea) in the natural forests of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Here again, Africa is at a disadvantage. Awarding of concessions through international bidding It is right that there be a growing concem of the African private sector regarding World Bank recommendations that concessions should be awarded through intemational bidding. There is a multifold concem: Intemational bidding would exclude most of the African companies and Africans from being awarded concessions in their own country. They do not have the money. Companies which work in harmonious partnership with the local population and the government have invested and given proof over years or decades of their ability to play a constructive, economic, environmental and social role in the framework of national development policies, 375 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings could be replaced by other bidders paying a higher price for reasons which are not necessarily connected with better forest management and better social and economic integration in the national economy. The majority of concession holders in Sub-Saharan Africa are << medium-sized >) enterprises in comparison with South East and East Asian multinationals which have a far greater financial potential. There could be a switch from traditional partners to East Asian partners and their timber harvesting methods. In West and Central Africa we are used to a yield of one to two trees or I to 15 cubic metres per hectare with a rotation period of 20 to 40 years. South East Asia is used to 50 to 150 harvestable cubic metres of timber per hectare. It would not be constructive for today's strategy for the forest sector in Sub-Saharan Africa when a document states some years later under are ready to pay a higher price and to motivate the end-user accordingly. If they are whole-heartedly in favour of supporting sustainable forest management in developing countries, their marketing strategies should take this into account. If the commercial partners of timber producers and timber exporters in Africa insisting on certification negotiate their prices for certified timber at the same level as non-certified timber they will not support sustainable forest management. When a producer in Africa spends more money on better forest management, importers, the importing timber industry and end-users on the other side should invest in better publicity and a change in public opinion regarding tropical timber. We do see a partnership between producers in Africa and consumers in industrial countries in the sense that both sides are willing to invest in and promote the consumption of tropical timber from sustainably managed forests. Sustainable Management of Primary Forests There is no understanding whatsoever in African countries nor in an organisation like ATIBT of the World Bank's position on the use of primary forests. Repeating what the afore-mentioned ATIBT document says concerning the importance of primary forests, we have to emphasize 376 The Role of the Private Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa again that it is out of the question, unrealistic and counter-productive to declare large expanses of primary forest off limits. The World Bank should back African countries which have fulfilled their global responsibility with larger forest areas being completely protected as national parks. Why does the World Bank not support timber harvesting and timber industry projects in primary forests? There can be no other reason for this completely unjustified decision than giving in to NGO pressure in rich industrial countries. Everybody knows that the entire primary forest in tropical countries cannot be completely protected. Not to support research, sylviculture and combined agricultural/forestry timber industry projects in primary forests set aside in wise land-use plans for sustainable use must, therefore, be considered ((criminal)) in the sense of developing strategies for sustainable forest management. The World Bank should finally stand up to unrealistic eco-pressure which is destroying all the current efforts to establish a healthy national economy in countries blessed with forests. These countries need part of large areas of their primary forests for timber production ,for buffer-zones - and other areas for complete protection. Hopefully, for the ATO countries, the World Bank will distance itself from the unrealistic approach regarding the protection and use of primary forets, especially in Central Africa. Taxes and revenue It is said that ((seminars)>, ((regional workshops>> and <> are needed. Too many of these confuse rather than encourage a private company engaged in national development strategies. Private enterprise since its beginnings has aimed to improve productivity and to strengthen its working capital. Supply and demand dictate the price. The lack of competitiveness of African products is well-known. We can think of all sorts of taxes, stunpage fees and tax systems in order to burden further private enterprise. The latter can only survive and play its role in a country's national economy, its environment, its population, when it earns money and is encouraged to continue investing, and is not discouraged to the point of disinvestment. It has become fashionable in seminars to talk about assessment of trade and the socio-economic dimension of timber production, the review of economic impacts of timber production, developed information systems, the role of private capital flows, value of standing timber, market failures etc. - last, but not least, forests have to be sold by auction. Taxes and revenue for the country have to be increased. If the market price does not cover the costs and if a rigid, top-heavy tax system leads the entire private sector into difficulties, there will be no sustainable development and no sustainable forestry and timber industry. When the World Bank, the most powerful financial and political institution in the world, gives advice to African governments, it should be emphasized that any sort of tax, fee or duty is directly related to the life and death of the private sector. 377 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings To encourage governments to increase taxes, stumpage fees, fiscal revenues from the forest and timber industry - at a moment where the fastest possible introduction of sustainable more expansive forest management is demanded - is a wrong strategy. Instead, incentives should be found to encourage sustainable management and sylvicultural measures. In many conclusions and recommendations of seminars and in many World Bank documents, two of the most important facts are neglected or even forgotten: * Prices, fluctuation in supply and demand - sometimes extreme over a short period. * The African timber industry has to compete against South East Asian production, temperate zone soft and hard woods, and other materials such as aluminium and plastics... A company's profit margin is necessary to its health. If, for instance, there are better margins for log exports, it is better to use the money for downstream investments and to cover additional costs of sustainable forest mangement than to take this money away from a downstream developing company through export duties or other taxes. There is not enough room for a private company in Africa to cut its usual costs and to bear the additional costs of better forest management. In the particular situation of the timber industry in Sub-Saharan Africa - which is not a gold mine - this should mean that policy makers have to think more about: <. We live in a free market economy where consumers are free to decide their purchases. The consumer buys as cheaply as possible. All over the world, distribution chains, wholesalers and retailers try to to compete against each other with the highest rebates and the lowest prices. Plastics and other polluting cheap materials which consume a lot of energy in the production stage are already beating and replacing African timber to a frightening extent in industrialized countries. Should timber as the only biodegradable, natural and naturally renewable material be replaced by plastics because it is too expensive ? We are already facing this strong tendancy in Europe. Should timber in poor developing countries be expensive? Should it be replaced by cheap plastics imported from industrialized countries? Timber remains the no. I material in Sub- Saharan Africa. The more expensive it is, the more people will will take a chainsaw to cut trees illegally - and not sustainably, of course. Is this a good solution? Too high prices are pushing African timber out of the market. Moving in the direction of overloading timber with duties and taxes means favouring the use of polluting materials, lowering the value of the forest by lowering demand in consumer countries, lowering exports, encouraging illegal felling, slowing down conservation measures and the process of better forest management. In other words : slowing down development in Sub- Saharan forest countries. 378 The Role of the Private Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa A change of mind, strategy and action of the European Union, donors and development banks should take place concerning this issue. The wish of the private forestry and timber industry sector for close cooperation with the World Bank. The Sub-Saharan forests and also part of the primary forests in the region have to be used - owell-managed)> - for those who do not like the word <>. Used for the benefit of the people, their country and for the sake of conserving their forest as capital, as a natural renewable ressource and the basis of sound development. A.T.I.B.T. set forth its proposal in its June 1994 document (>). Up to now we have seen little change. The private sector, however, is happy to feel a new spirit and see a new team at the World Bank with a good knowledge of African problems. These experts display a new approach in solving problems hand in hand with timber companies and the timber industry. This is encouraging for the private sector especially in the current disastrous market situation with heavy losses for all involved in timber production, the timber industry and timber exports in Sub-Saharan Africa. We - the private sector - are looking forward to a closer, comprehensive and constructive cooperation with the World Bank and those policy makers in Europe who truly want to help developing countries through cooperation and not eco-dictatorship and who have finally understood that there are only two alternatives left to the African forest: Use it together with governments, the population and the private sector, or lose it. 379 African Forest Policy Forum-Proceedings 380 IBRD 29053 30° . , - ; -30, -20 i\ '/t \ 20, 2' _ 1 ' I ' 0 H=x UDO -qTH. AFRICA j .-mu t¢t--J~~~~~~~~~~0 AFU()SUD NO;OL HUIsNiSVB-H9MIAt.i- MAJOR AGROCLIMATIC AND FOREST ZONES /i$ PRINCPALESZONE AGROCLIMATIOUES ET FORESTIERES SU 4D -20- 20' BOjNDARIES OF MAOR REGIONS. FRON71tRES DES PRINCIPALE5 REGIONS \ A . L EST FORESHT ZNES \yMI,IWPAAFRIE _ TROPICAL RAIN FOREST EAST _ FORET TROPICALE SEMPERVIRENTE *AFRCA _ TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FOREST _ FORtT rROPICAtF SEMI DECIDUE 4-E 'E A A AF , T, IRORICAL DRY FOREST .D A U S U 30' FOPE ROPICAE SECHE S 30 MAJR A O NONE OR ICMITED FOREST Z - S MDPEU OU PAS DE FORET M INOTRNARIESNA MOUNDARIES A _E FRONIIERES INTERNAEIONALES Mt ..apk.,b.-p pi-db, tbau.tdtn5lh : e FhO SEi.PER .IEN ndE . 1o 1 -l 1 nl. II Id tb"t G-p bA d- Ln n d - d dFR b-dES T. .h -, TROPICAIE SEMI.DtCIDLIE -, --d. .. 1hWdd-k-p ,-p- 0 500 1000 15S00 (LOMETRSKL46RES/ Ia bgi . .hb 1 nn; -W, thV -, od bD -m- 0 d III -h bo d- I_ _ NON OR LIMTE FhES *h-' -| nb e ennrgo«dn I :n - -. INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES C~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"-I. -p d 0 5 I0 1 00EMtILES/MIUES qaolcnnq' .J an fto pa bn atleen qh %.dBo Gope oc'nn ,. dro..f -la n o '.I a o'._ a. G0p ..a .... 20', le 10' 0 20- 30 40 OD SEPTEMBER 1997/SEPTEMBRE 1997 i I i i I I I i