Transcript Over kwaliteit

African forests
between nature and
livelihood resources
Balancing between conservation and
development needs
Mirjam A.F. Ros-Tonen & Ton Dietz; Lecture Mirjam Ros at Rhodes
University Grahamstown, South Africa; January 2006
The dilemma
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Africa has lost 5.3 million hectares of forest between
1990-2000 (FAO 2001) – an area about the size of
France
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315 million people – half of the people in SubSaharan Africa – survive on less than one dollar per
day (World Bank 2003)
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> 70% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa is
rural and depends on forests and woodlands for its
livelihood (World Bank 2002)
Forests need to be conserved for ecological
reasons, because they…
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play a mitigating role in climate change through carbon
sequestration
are gene pools and a source of biodiversity
protect the soils
are important watersheds and regulate water flows
BUT:
 Forests are also an important source of livelihood for
millions of poor people (safety net / poverty alleviation)
Can conservation and forest-related
livelihoods go together?
Livelihoods and deforestation: no uniform relationship
 Forest-expanding livelihood components (LCs):
agroforestry, sylvo-pastoralism, forest enrichment
 Forest-stabilising LCs: collection of forest produce
 Forest-transforming LCs: monoculture commercial tree
plantations (for timber, oil, cocoa, etc.)
 Forest-threatening LCs: overexploitation of NTFPs and
fuelwood, uncontrolled fires, unsustainable tourism
 Forest-destroying LCs: crop cultivation, mixed farming
systems, mining, human settlements
Forest tolerant or destructive livelihoods?
Depends on:
 Type of LCs (c.f. hunting/gathering vs. farming)
 Combination of LCs (e.g. hunting/gathering +
logging)
 Degree of integration into commercial networks
 Population pressure
 Environmental shocks (prolonged droughts, crop
failures)
NO UNIFORM APPROACH TO RECONCILE
CONSERV. GOALS & LIVELIHOOD NEEDS
Matching conservation & development
Several approaches:
 Transition zone management
 Integrated Conservation and Development Projects
(ICDPs)
 Community-based conservation
 Participatory resource management
 Adaptive or negotiated management
 Commercial extraction of NTFPs
Lessons learned (1)
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Prior to establishing conservation areas:
- know how local people use natural resources
- know their role in shaping the ecosystem
Sustainable resource use requires:
- secure tenure arrangements
- recognition of customary land rights
Pro-poor conservation is about rights and obligations
This requires negotiation between stakeholders
- about land-use planning
- about controlled forest (land) use
Lessons learned (2)
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A fair distribution of costs & benefits requires:
- a careful stakeholder analysis
- awareness that communities are not homogenous
Integrating conservation & development requires
effective coordination between conservation
programmes & pro-poor policy actions
Formal/modern and informal/traditional governance
forms should be recognised and integrated (‘neoAfrican governance’)
Integration of local knowledge, skills & institutions
Promising trends (1)
Multi-sector/multi-scale partnerships for conservation &
Sustainable forest use. Examples:

Central African Regional Programme for the
Environment (CARPE)
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Forest Coffee Conservation and Business Development
Project (Kafa zone, Ethiopia)
Promising trends (2):
Neo-African governance
Example:

Loita forest, Kenya
Policy recommendations
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National sovereignty; global watch dogs
Decentralised forest governance (but central government
remaining responsible for law enforcement)
Better coordination between various institutions dealing
with conservation and natural resource management
Promoting local platforms
Stakeholder analysis & entitlement approach
Capacity building, empowerment, awareness raising at
local level
Proper compensation mechanisms for excluded people
Conclusions
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In addition to ecological services Africa’s forests play an
important role as resources for people’s livelihoods
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There will be growing pressure on African forests
(HIV/AIDS, population pressure, increasing urbanisation,
growing demand for forest products, climate change)
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New institutional arrangements are needed for pro-poor
conservation strategies, based on:
- multi-sector / multi-scale partnerships
- amalgation of traditional and modern governance forms
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There are promising examples but claims that a lot has
been achieved are based on a romantic illusion!