CHANGE FACILITATION : WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

There is considerable strain on Zambia’s natural resources. Forest resources are affected since trees offer many short-term opportunities for benefit. However, forests must be conserved for their vital roles in biodiversity, soil and water conservation and other environmental functions.

The forest sector development objectives in Zambia incorporate the concerns listed as follows:

To develop capabilities of women and men at all levels of government, the private sector and NGOs in forest sector policy analysis, planning, education, training, research and extension ;

To improve the welfare of women, children and men living in rural and urban areas through equitable and complementary participation in sustainable forest resource management and utilisation ;

To provide on a sustainable basis sawn-timber, fuel-wood, poles, fodder and non-wood forest products required by the society ;

To increase the contribution to the national economy through generation of both formal and informal employment for both women and men engaged in the forest sector and the export of forest products ;

To conserve forest ecosystems and biological diversity through sustainable management for the benefit of the present and future generations ;

To protect watersheds in order to ensure sustainable hydro-power supply, overall surface and under-ground water conservation and climate stability ; and

To support sustainable agricultural production and enhanced food security through improved land husbandry, including strategic and local level land-use planning, increased soil fertility and reduced land degradation.

In line with these concerns, it is essential that future forest sector interventions are based on a set of principles based on the current and objective realities of the country. These principles are as follows:

Sustainable forest resource management ;

Capacity development ;

Participatory approach ;

Gender participation ; and

Sectoral integration.

The Action Programme designed to address these objectives within the bounds of the guiding principles is summarised through the four Core or Primary Development Programmes and the three Supportive Development Programmes, which are well detailed in the ZFAP Volume II: Strategies and Actions.

The following are the Core Development Programmes:

The Indigenous Forest Management and Biodiversity Sub-Programme (IFMBC) which intends to manage and utilise the forest resources and biological diversity in forest reserves, open lands, national parks and game management areas on a sustainable basis ;

The Tree and Forest Development Sub-Programme (TFDP) will promote the culture of tree / forest asset creation and ultimately increase the sustainable supply of forest products ;

The Forest Industry and Non-Wood Forest Products Development Sub-Programme (FINWDP) which aims to promote forest industries and non-wood forest on the basis of principles of commercial viability, sustainable management and utilisation of forest resources ;

The Wood-fuel Energy Development Sub- Programme (WEDP) which aims at end-use efficiency and reduces dependency on bio-fuels.

The Core Development Sub-Programmes are complemented by three Supportive Development Sub-Programmes with a series of forest sector policy and institutional reform initiatives. Each programme is designed to reinforce and facilitate realisation of objectives of the core development sub-programmes. These Supportive sub-programmes are as follows:

The Forestry Education and Training Sub-Programme (FETP) intends to strengthen and promote gender sensitive, multi-disciplinary and sustainable forest resources management ;

The Forestry Research and Education Sub-Programme (FREP) aims to strengthen capacity to generate, test and disseminate relevant technologies relating to the sustainable management and utilisation of the forest resources ;

The Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Sub-Programmes (PPMEP) aims at creating, developing and institutionalising policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation capabilities for the forest sector.

The total investment to support the forest sector development in the next 20 years would be US$ 293.6 Million (ZFAP, Volume I, 1998). The private sector share of investment is projected to be US$ 20.5 Million and the rest will come from the public sector.

Areas of investment include management and conservation of biodiversity and indigenous forests, industrial plantation development, wood-fuel energy and forest industries development, institutional strengthening and feasibility studies.

The Forestry Action Programme for forestry development in Zambia will only make a sustainable contribution to the economic development of the country if supported by various national policies, in particular the programme to control population growth, supported by agricultural, livestock and energy policies that alleviate the pressure on land resources.

Planning forestry development needs to consider that planting and use of trees should be balanced with other needs of land-use. An urgent need for land-use policies as well as institutional reform measures for strategic and local level land-use planning is required. Such policies would provide incentives for efficient land-use and management as well as guide development planning and resolve the existing land-use conflicts in the country.