0872-B4
Wendy Hinrichs Sanders 1
It is now universally accepted that to guarantee sustainable management of our forests, communities must be involved. It is therefore essential that the criteria and indicators for ensuring sustainability are well articulated and monitored. -Sakeena K. Bonsu, Ghana
Good governance and education seem essential to the sustainability of the world's forests and the nearby communities. Good data which represent, through the use of indicators, the values of a community or nation will provide the opportunity to make better decisions on forest policy which will lead to enhanced stewardship practice in communities and tribes and around the world on public and private lands.
The authors of this paper are participants in the Global Community Based Forest Management Caucus and begin an exchange of research, process and product for developing sustainable forest management ecological, economic and social indicators in ways that respect community values through open and transparent decision-making processes, for collecting data and monitoring indicator targets using participatory research and for reporting in ways that affect public policy. The paper presents background information on the role of communities, nested within nations and the world in the work of criteria and indicators, the questions or challenges for the exchange to study, and the experiences of each community project. Brief descriptions of each project are presented along with contact information.
Projects represented include the Lake Abitibi Model Forest Programme in Canada; African Research Association in Cross River State, Nigeria; Gogebic County, Michigan, USA; Ghana; Development Initiatives Network, Nigeria; Joint Energy and Environment Projects, Kampala, Uganda; EC INCO DEV, Kampala, Uganda; Foundation for Ecological Security, Anand, India.
It is now universally accepted that to guarantee sustainable management of our forests, communities must be involved. It is therefore essential that the criteria and indicators for ensuring sustainability are well articulated and monitored. -Sakeena K. Bonsu, Ghana
Good governance and education seem essential to the sustainability of the world's forests and the nearby communities. Good data which represent, through the use of indicators, the values of a community or nation will provide the opportunity to make better decisions on forest policy which will lead to enhanced stewardship practice in communities and tribes and around the world on public and private lands.
The Global Community-Based Forestry Caucus emerged from the United Nations Preparatory Committee Meeting in Bali and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg with a mission: We are a dynamic global movement comprised of organizations that support community efforts to manage natural resources as a strategy to mitigate poverty and to strengthen the socio-economic and cultural development of communities through the sustainable management of their resources.
Within this structure, a group of practitioners and academia working with communities to develop and monitor sustainable forest management criteria and indicators coalesced. The goals remain to exchange process and product for developing ecological, economic and social indicators in ways that respect community values through open and transparent decision-making processes, for collecting data and monitoring indicator targets using participatory research and for reporting in ways that affect public policy.
The Communities Committee of the Seventh American Forests Congress studied the issue of community based criteria and indicator relevance with these findings. It is important that forest policy and decision makers recognize the link between forest health and community health. A healthy forest helps sustain a community; A healthy community is necessary to sustain the forest. If the community and the local forest are not sustained, the nation and the nation's forests will not be sustainable. If nations and the nations' forests are not sustained, there will be negative global impacts.
It naturally follows that tracking social, economic and environmental indicators at the community level will provide deeper insight to the state of the world's forests and lead to better decision-making and stewardship among public and private landowners.
State, national and global politics, values and quality of life concerns do not occur in isolation or in a vacuum but in the context of people and places. Ultimately policy is interpreted, adapted and experienced at the community level. Regional, inter- and intra-county discrepancies are made visible. Minority and diverse viewpoints are made apparent.
Perhaps most important, the community scale may be the most appropriate at which to address the challenge of understanding how integration of social, ecological and economic variables integrate and affect each other.
Communities and tribes who develop sustainable forest management criteria and indicators and track them gain an opportunity to learn about the forest trends, truths and needs to bring a common language across scales, community sectors and landowners to help a mutual understanding for their forest-related goals. i
The forest company Abitibi-Consolidated Company of Canada joined other model forest partners to develop a harvesting method that was more environmentally friendly and economically feasible, called the Harvesting with Regeneration Protection (HARP) system. HARP minimizes soil compaction by using a well-planned harvesting process to cut trees only above a specified diameter. This system minimizes damage to young seedlings and maintains soil quality for future trees. "We were heading toward changing our harvesting practices, but the model forest by pulling diverse groups together to collaborate on research really made it possible to improve our practices,"notes Jennifer Tallman, Registered Forester, Abitibi-Consolidated Company of Canada.
In 1997, LAMF began development of identifying and monitoring local level indicators (LLI) to demonstrate their goal of being a leader in the sustainable management of Claybelt forests. The General Manager was charged with generating the indicators, and a committee was established to act in an advisory role. LAMF staff then identified local forest values held by concerned stakeholders. To raise public awareness of Criteria and Indicators, the Model Forest prepared a series of short articles that were published in local newspapers.
Initially, the Forest adopted the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers' criteria and critical indicators and later adapted them to local conditions. A set of indicators was developed at 3 workshops of government and industry representatives, reviewed by a consulting team for relevance, measurability, responsiveness to management, and predictability and refined through field assessments. A Local Level Indicator Specialist was hired in April 2000 to lead in refining indicators, developing a monitoring plan and data collection, compilation and reporting. Measurement and reporting will take place every five years which coincides with the Census of Canada and the forest management planning cycle. LAMF will be evaluating this set of indicators, developing targets and thresholds through an online survey, and developing new monitoring strategies.
For more information, call Suzanne Parton, General Manager at 705.272.7810, or visit the Lake Abitibi Model Forest website at http://www.lamf.net. E-mail: [email protected]
It is now universally accepted that to guarantee sustainable management of our forests, communities must be involved. It is therefore essential that the criteria and indicators for ensuring sustainability are well articulated. Fortunately in Ghana the community based forest management (CBFM) idea is receiving credible attention at both the state and local levels.
Some of the measures currently helping to ensure sustainable forest management are presented.
Sharing of major forest revenue to benefit all stakeholders equitably. An example is the "Social Responsibility Agreement" under which the community decides their social needs to be catered for from timber revenue.
Involvement of the communities in decision-making. For example, formulation of policies and forest projects are to go to communities for consultations and comments before implementation. Involvement of communities in the execution of forestry duties, such as fire prevention, reforestation and boundary maintenance. There is a special program known as the President's Initiative for Forest Plantation Development which is enjoying popularity among communities.
Access to goods and serves, such as non-timber forest products. The rules for permits have been reviewed to facilitate access and thereby reduce illegal access.
For more information, contact Sakeena K. Bonsu. E-mail [email protected].
The EC INCO-DEV Project on Indicators and Tools for Restoration and Management of Degraded Forests in East Africa aims to contribute to resolving conflicts prevailing between the needs of different forest stakeholders and the need for sustainable management of the remaining resource in the East African region in Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania. The project will develop a scientific basis and applicable tools for forest ecosystem restoration with diverse stakeholders.
The objectives are to: Establish and validate ecological & socio-economic criteria against which status and processes of forest and its management can be assessed; Assess indicators that permit inference of the status of a particular criterion and to formulate appropriate verifiers; Design and validate nature-based silvicultural tools to gear operations so as to improve local livelihoods and sustain forest resources; and Integrate results into appropriate technology packages and disseminate to target-groups.
To reverse the impoverishment of the resources in the region, there is recognition by governments, development programmes and NGOs that active participation of local communities is crucial. Experiences from the projects' research areas in Adaba-Dodola, shows that communities are empowered with responsibility and right for the management, and receive benefits from the resources and that the rate of deforestation will be substantially reduced. Experiences learnt from the Ethiopian counterparts are shared among research partners in the three countries.
However, forest areas placed under community management were, in most cases, those that are degraded and not productive. Increasing the production potential of these degraded forests require know how about silvicultural practices. But little is known on how to plan silvicultural actions in community forests unlike private and state-owned forests. This is because, in the past attention has been given only to social and institutional dimensions of community forest.
The project targets to come up with appropriate silvicultural practices to improve the productivity of community managed degraded forests to meet local needs, which in turn contribute towards sustainable livelihoods.
Other activities and expected outputs of the project are as follows.
Gaster Kawuubye Kiyingi
EC INCO DEV
P.O.Box 27314, Kampala, Uganda
Tel: 256 (0)41 340684 or 256 (0)77 448110
Fax: 256 (0)41 340683
e-mail: [email protected] OR [email protected] OR [email protected]
This non-profit organization has been active in India for fifteen years and recently initiated work to develop a handbook of its lessons learned. To that end the group developed a vision of the preferred future for their region, the steps to achieve their final image goals and verifiable goals and means of verification. Several of their final image goals will shed light on their work within the region of Anand, India:
To achieve these desired future conditions, the group has developed steps which include efficient management and development within the community institutions, collaboration and interaction with other organizations and groups, administrative and financial assistance, policy, and guarantees to protect the concerns of all. Open and universal membership operating with democratic and local governance will form the framework.
For more information contact Jagdeesh Puppala, Foundation For Ecological Security, POST BAG # 29, Anand,388001,India. Telephone 0091-2692-61303 (office); 61417 (Residence); FAX 0091-2692--62196. E-mail Address: [email protected]
In 1998, the Economic Development Commission released and circulated the a jobs and community action plan. It provided for strategies to bring economic development and benefits for current and future county residents and called for community-based definition of sustainable forestry.
Under the leadership of the Economic Development Commission, Michigan State University Extension, the Gogebic County Forestry Commission and with help from the Great Lakes Forest Alliance, Inc., a steering committee who organized the FACT which included residents from all over the county representing diverse issues and professions. The group targeted ecological, economic and social components of the sustainable forestry definitions, heard from experts in each of those fields and collected baseline data in each pillar. All data were readily available except for a portion of the social component which was collected from local residents through personal interviews.
In 2001, FACT selected specific indicators to measure and analyze for its monitoring and evaluation process through two community workshops and in 2002 the final indicators were accepted. Definition: Sustainable forestry in Gogebic County is forest management that contributes to the economic health of Gogebic County while maintaining the ecological and social/cultural values for the benefit of present and future generations in Gogebic County. This definition was taken to all local governing bodies from school boards and tribal boards to the county board and all endorsed the work. The indicators are presented here.
The group agreed the county forester's office would be the repository of the data and the group will meet in the future to track the data and enhance citizen participation in monitoring. ii
Research has included inventory of plant species useful to local people. The inventories are given back to communities and become important reference documents used in monitoring species loss. For ethnobotanical work, elderly people often recount the loss of important medicinal plants.
For more information contact Sylvanus Abua, Head, Research, Documentation and Policy Unit, African Research Association or Tracey Lynn Draper, Development in Nigeria, Obudu Cattle Ranch, P.O. Box 103 Obudu, Cross River State, Nigeria - Tel. 08037210934 - e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Development Initiatives Network (DIN) is a non-profit organization whose programmes emphasize education, training, policy research and analysis of government decisions, legislation, legal procedures and legal remedies. Projects are also undertaken in connection with community participation in policy development and implementation.
Legal staff have served with the National Committee on Forestry Policy Review to promote forest justice through drafts of the National Forestry Act. Staff articulated the need for community forest management to ensure the full participation of forest communities and indigenous peoples in decision-making in connection with their forests and its resources. They also highlighted the need for governmental institutions to regularly compile and disseminate current information about the national forest estate and its resources to promote environmental awareness and protection.
This marks the first time in Nigeria that forestry policy formulation of the National Committee have been opened to stakeholders such as NGOs, community-based organizations (CBOs), forest communities, indigenous peoples, academics, researchers, and private forestry operators. It is also the first time a National Forestry Act was formulated to address the current fragmentation where the 36 states operate with their own laws and enforcement strategies.
This project aims to share learnings with forestry practitioners in connections with (i) the establishment, role and work of the National Committee in Nigeria, (ii) the types of stakeholder interactions involved in since 1999; and (iii) key policy objectives and implementation strategies it has proposed for the national forestry policy on community forest management, joint forestry management schemes and other civil society action.
For more information contact: Dr. Bola Fajemirokun, Development Initiatives Network, 38 Norman Williams Street, South West Ikoli, Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected]
Joint Energy and Environment Projects(JEEP) is among the pioneering indigenous non-government organizations (NGO) in Uganda concerning environmental protection and natural resource conservation. In 1983 its founders identified deforestation and soil erosion as major threats to health and welfare of Ugandans, given the lessons learnt from the human disaster in the Horn of Africa largely as a result of environmental deterioration. Its vision is "a green Uganda, environmentally safe and clean habitats for the present and future generations and its mission is to stop environmental destruction and promote efficient management of natural resources.
It works to create awareness on the causes and effects of poor environmental management in urban and rural Uganda, to mobilize Ugandans, especially rural farmers, youth and women to actively participate in better natural resource management, and to inform about alternative sources of energy to fuel wood users to enable them to make a wise choice. Documented surveys by JEEP have shown that an average Ugandan family (seven people) using a domestic energy saving stove saves an average of 220 trees per year as they use 10 kg. of firewood per day compared with 25 kg. per day using the traditional three-stone fire. In a year, the same family will save approximately 5.4 tonnes of firewood (based upon three year old eucalyptus tree being equivalent to 25 kg. of firewood).
JEEP coordinates a national effort of NGOs to build and strengthen an Ugandan platform for the generation and exchange of information on the pertinent environmental and development issues related to the UN Word Summit on Sustainable Development to suggest ways to strengthen the trends leading to sustainable development for Uganda.
Jeep also hosts the regional forum of NGOs and CBOs representing more than 30 million people for the East African Communities' Organization for the Management of Lake Victoria Resources to have a clean, productive lake with a healthy riparian community. It seeks to involve local communities in the basin to meaningfully participate in restoration efforts and sustainable use of this shared resource.
JEEP will work toward strengthening and developing links at local, regional and international levels to ensure exchange of information on sound environmental management practices applicable to local communities.
For more information contact: Ruth Kiwanuka, Joint Energy and Environment Projects, Gaba Road, Plot 165 Kabalagala, P.O. Box 4264, Kampala, Uganda. Tel. +256 041 510 310. E-mail: [email protected]
1 Wendy Hinrichs Sanders, Executive Director, Great Lakes Forest Alliance, Inc. and Chair, Indicators Work Group of the Global Community-Based Forestry Caucus and Chair, Indicators and Monitoring Work Group, Communities Committee of the Seventh American Forest Congress - Website: http://www.lsfa.org; E-mail: [email protected]
2 Sylvanus Abua, Head, Research, Documentation and Policy Unit, African Research Association, Cross River State, Nigeria
3 Richard Bolen, Gogebic County Forester and Parks Director, Michigan, United States
4 Sakeena K. Bonsu, Ghana
5 Dr. Bola Fajemirokun, Development Initiatives Network, Lagos, Nigeria
6 Ruth Kiwanuka, Joint Energy and Environment Projects, Kampala, Uganda
7 Gaster Kawuubye Kiyingi, EC INCO DEV, Kampala, Uganda
8 Suzanne Parton, General Manager, Lake Abitibi Model Forest, Ontario, Canada
9 Jagdeesh Puppala, Foundation For Ecological Security, India
i Sanders, Wendy Hinrichs. 2002. Unpublished report. Report to the USDA Forest Service: Charting the Future of the Status of the Forests in the United States: Social and Economic Indicators and Data. Columbia Falls, MT: Communities Committee. Website: http://www.communitiescommittee.org
ii McDonough, Maureen, Leigh Ann Spence and Wendy Hinrichs Sanders, 2002. Sustainable Forest Management Community Handbook for the Great Lakes Region. Hayward, WI: Great Lakes Forest Alliance. Website: http://www.lsfa.org
Paper Presented to: XII World Forestry Congress
FAO, Forestry Department
Via delle Terme di Caracalla
O0100 Rome, Italy
e-mail: [email protected]
Global Community-Based Forestry Caucus