Tropical resources management studies
Experiences in mangrove management
Using rapid appraisal tools to understand tree and kind tenure
Perspectives pour le développement soutenu des systèmes de production agrosylvopastorale au Sanmatenga, Burkina Faso. H. van der Hoek, A Groot, F. Hottinga, J. Kessler & H. Peters. 1993. Tropical Resources Management Paper No. 3. Wageningen, the Netherlands. Wageningen Agricultural University.
This document presents a quantitative household-level analysis of the agrosilvipastoral system in Sanmatenga province in Burkina Faso. The analysis focuses on the relationship between the availability and the actual exploitation rate of elements and resources that determine the farming system's productivity. The availability of resources is defined as the maximum sustainable rate of resource offtake without overexploitation (ecological sustainability criterion). This approach is used to assess what impact the present farming system and proposed development interventions have or will have on ecological sustainability and on household budgets. The central question of this document is whether, given the climatological, physical and socio-economic conditions prevailing in Sanmatenga province, it is possible to develop an ecologically sustainable and economically viable farming system. Activities required to form an ecologically sustainable farming system can be identified. However, their implementation is hindered by a series of constraints, notably the shortage of drinking-water and labour, and the low prices and poor market for cash crops. According to the authors, the only way to enhance the sustainability of current farming systems is to implement an integrated package including loans and/or grants to overcome short-term economic disadvantages.
Indigenous management systems as a basis for community forestry in Tanzania: a case-study of Dodoma urban and Lushoto Districts. G.C. Kajembe. 1993. Tropical Resources Management Paper No. 6. Wageningen, the Netherlands. Wageningen Agricultural University.
This report presents an analysis of the nature of various community forest management systems in two districts of the United Republic of Tanzania and describes various internally generated forest and tree management systems. It demonstrates that a gap often exists between indigenous and externally introduced management systems. In the introduced projects, the concept of participation often is used in the sense that rural people should participate in the professionals' projects rather than that professionals should participate in livelihood improvement of rural people. The interventions generated confrontations as well as varying degrees of collaboration and participation between local farmers and the projects. On the basis of these findings, the study identifies three key "actor" categories to be considered in community forestry projects: farmers, village extension workers and supervisors. The relations between these actors constitute the "middle ground" of community forestry development. This middle ground refers to the totality of social processes and fields within which negotiations take place over resources and development alternatives. The concept helps to understand how strategic actions and interactions of different actors shape the outcome of community forestry projects, as well as how to bridge the gap between internally generated activities and externally sponsored interventions.
The series of Tropical Resources Management Papers aims at a wider distribution of the results of research on tropical resource management undertaken by researchers and graduate students working within the framework of Wageningen research projects. The papers cover a broad range of topics regarding the integrated management of vegetation, fauna, soil and water resources.
Mangrove forest management guidelines. 1994. FAO Forestry Paper No. 117. Rome, FAO.
Mangrove forest management guidelines
Mangroves are unique ecosystems, deriving their form and nature from both marine and terrestrial influences. They are second to none in terms of their natural productivity and the wide range of goods and services they provide on a continuing basis, including forest products, fisheries, wildlife, habitat and protection from coastal flooding and erosion. Yet, because of growing population pressures, leading to changes in land use and to the overexploitation of the resource base, mangroves are being rapidly depleted and degraded. Large tracts are being converted to rice fields, industrial and land development and other non forest uses. A new breed of small- and large-scale farmers are carving out large chunks of tidal flats for shrimp and fish farming. The depletion of mangroves is a cause of serious environmental and economic concern to many developing countries. Yet mangrove forest management is a relatively new science. Mangrove forest management guidelines makes a contribution towards an improved understanding of mangrove ecosystems and towards the development and implementation of plans to ensure their conservation and productive use. It goes beyond wood production to promote approaches to environmentally sustainable, multiple-use management through rational land use and greater responsiveness to people's concerns and needs.
Part I focuses on the ecological and biological foundation for sustainable management planning within a multiple-use framework, including a brief review of the relevant literature. Part II deals with the multiple-use potential of mangroves and discusses selected mangrove-based products. Land use and protection aspects are also covered. Part III covers the assessment of mangrove forest resources through the use of remote sensing, surveying, mapping and forest inventories, highlighting areas where these techniques differ from conventional approaches owing to the specific characteristics of the mangroves. Part IV focuses on the application of technical, managerial, economic and human resources to manage and use mangrove resources sustainably to meet the needs of people and as a tool in rural development without impairing the environment. The environmental impact of mangrove forest management is assessed and conclusions and recommendations are presented. The publication is supported by six case-studies.
Tree and land tenure: rapid appraisal tools. 1994. FAO Community Forestry Field Manual No. 4. Rome, FAO.
Tree and land tenure: rapid appraisal tools.
The failure to understand clearly the existing rights to land and trees has been a common cause of failure of community forestry projects. As a result, individual incentives are often misjudged and the benefits of projects are distributed quite differently from the intention of project designers or participants.
FAO Community Forestry Note No. 5, Rapid appraisal of tree and land tenure (1989), presented a new approach to exploring tenure issues in forestry. "Rapid appraisal" refers to a family of methodologies designed to encourage the participation of local communities in the collection and use of information to improve their livelihoods. The methods put a premium on the usefulness of research as well as the rapidity with which results are obtained.
The current manual translates the concepts of the earlier volume into the practical methodology of rapid appraisal. It addresses, in order, the principal steps entailed in a rapid appraisal study of tenure issues. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to tenure and rapid appraisal. Preparations needed to do a tenure study are discussed in Chapter 2; Chapter 3 suggests practical techniques that have proved useful in gathering information in the field; Chapter 4 presents methods that may be helpful in organizing and analysing the information collected as well as in writing the report; and the final chapter discusses issues that may arise when using the information that has been gathered and it also notes some of the more common problems that may be encountered.
The methods described in the manual place a strong emphasis on community participation. As the author maintains, rapid appraisal is highly dependent on the rapport that is established between the researchers and the local community. The active involvement of the community in the research process is important to the quality of the results that may be obtained.
Most of the author's long experience in developing rapid appraisal techniques in the field has been in the Sahel region in Africa. However, the issues confronted are universal and the manual should therefore be of value to field-level researchers in all regions.
The manual is produced and circulated with the intention that it will be revised and enriched periodically, based on experience gained in different regions of the world in the application of its techniques. Readers and users are encouraged to send comments and suggestions to the Community Forestry Unit, Forestry Department, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100, Rome, Italy.
