0946-A1

Some Opportunities and Bottlenecks for Forest Certification in Eastern Africa

Fred Owino^[1]

Abstract

In some regions of the world, forest certification is rapidly becoming an important market-based tool for improving forest management by giving market incentives to producers of timber products from well-managed forests. In Africa, some certification initiatives are ongoing in the forest-rich regions of Central and West Africa with some countries, like Ghana, making good progress towards certification. However, there are some major limitations in the forest-poor countries in the Eastern Africa region.

Within Eastern Africa, some pioneering attempts have been made to implement labelling and/or certification. Examples include ongoing attempts by the Malindi Handicraft (Wood Carvers) Cooperative Society in Kenya, the Kilombero Valley Teak Company in Tanzania, and the Uganda Wildlife Authority/FACE certification efforts in Uganda. Already, there is growing interest among some stakeholders to pursue certification as a means to improved forest management. In 2002, two regional workshops were convened with support from GTZ and the International Agricultural Centre. One direct outcome of the workshops is the establishment of a regional network on forest certification. However, there remain some major bottlenecks and urgent needs for capacity building in the region. The needed capacity building should include (i) sensitization of stakeholders on the significance of certification in improving forest management, (ii) ensuring full commitment and ownership of the certification process by all stakeholders, (iii) rapid propagation of knowledge and skills in forest certification among stakeholders, and (iv) encouraging and sustaining networking for exchange of experiences within and among the countries.

1. Introduction

Forest certification is a process by which stakeholders agree and commit themselves to defined forest management standards, accreditation of certifiers and labeling of products (including effective tracking in the chain of custody) from certified forests. Product labeling or “eco-labeling” is the practice by which a mark on the product signifies that it has originated from well-managed forest. Essentially, the process involves verification by an independent certifying body that a forest is managed according to agreed ecological, economic and social criteria (Kruedener, 2000). The essential requirements of an effective certification process are (i) that it is compatible with, and makes positive contribution to Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), (ii) that it is acceptable to stakeholders and credible in the marketplace, and (iii) that it is non-distorting of trade.

The history of forest certification was rooted in the global concerns with tropical forests as were first highlighted in the Tropical Forest Action Plan (FAO, 1985). These concerns also led to the creation of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) in 1986. ITTO embarked on development of guidelines for good forestry practice to stem deforestation and forest degradation. The relevant ITTO guidelines were first published in 1990 and are being applied in some countries. However, the main impetus for evolution of certification schemes was the global consensus on forest stewardship developed during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992.

In some regions of the world, forest certification is rapidly becoming an important market based tool for promoting SFM by giving market incentives to producers of timber products from well-managed forests. Already, several certification schemes are being applied in many countries to promote sustainable forest management (Bass and Simula 1999, Thornber 1999, Lindahl 2000). In Africa, the 13 member states African Timber Organization (ATO) has been in the forefront in development towards forest certification. Since 1996, ATO has been pushing for a Pan African Forest Certification system with technical inputs from the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the International Timber Trade Organization (ITTO). Central in these efforts has been the development of the Principles, Criteria and Indicators (PCI) for sustainable forest management. For example, during the 20^th ATO Ministerial Conference in October 2002, the “Declaration of Kinshasa” which harmonizes PCI for sustainable forest management, was signed by all ATO member countries.

However, the growing interest on forest certification in Africa has, so far, been largely been limited to the forest-rich countries of west and central Africa and in South Africa. In relative terms, certification is still a new concept and practice in East Africa countries. This paper explores the major bottlenecks and opportunities for forest certification in this forest-poor region of Africa.

2. Some prerequisites for forest certification in East Africa context

For a market driven and voluntary process, a critical prerequisite for East Africa will be trade flows in forest products and services sufficient to justify engagement in certification. Long-term forecasts indicate that the region will be a net importer of wood products (FOSA, 2002). Already, countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea are net importers of wood products from South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. However, there is sizeable export of wood products from some of the countries like Tanzania and Uganda. For example, Tanzania is currently exporting wood products to as far as Afghanistan while limited amounts of wood products from Uganda and Kenya end up in markets in Europe. Although certification has yet to be applied for non-wood forest products (NWFPs), the region is, and will continue to be a significant exporter of commercially valuable NWFPs. Sudan is the leading exporter of Gum Arabic in the world. Moreover, most of the countries in the region are keenly exploring possible trade in forest services via, for example, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol which calls for certification. Indeed, it is more the interest to trade in forest services which is propelling the current certification attempts in the region.

The second important prerequisite for certification is the development of appropriate PCI for sustainable forest managent in a participatory process ensuring ownership by the stakeholders. So far, countries of the region have participated in Dry Zone Africa Criteria and Indicators (C&I) inintiative, with technical and other inputs from UNEP and FAO. Some specific efforts have made to develop C&I for sustainable management of Miombo woodlands, with techical inputs from CIFOR. However, these developments have yet to reach a the stage of practical application at the forest level. All the countries still need to develop forest management standards to be agreed on by stakeholers in certification.

The third important prerequisite is public education and awareness, among the various stakeholders, on the potential roles of certification in improving the standards of forest management. As in other regions of the world, it is recommended that a bottom-up approach be adopted by countries and regions in developing appropriate certification processes. Central in this approach is the establishment of National Working Groups (NWGs). However, NWGs will not be effective if the various stakeholders have not been sensitized on the benefits and their expected roles in certification process. Public education and awareness remains a big challenge for all countries in the region.

3. Highlights on forest resources and their management status

With a total forest cover of about 85.6 million ha, East Africa has about 13.2% of the total forest cover in Africa. Forests cover about 21% of the total land area albeit with great variation among the countries (see Table 1). In all the countries deforestation rates are high, as shown in Table 1. The major forest formations are dry open woodlands with low levels of wood production, but whose contribution to local economies by way of producing wood fuel, fodder, non-wood forest products, etc. is most significant.

Table 1: Forest vegetation cover and change by country 1990 - 2000

Source: FAO (2001)

Currently the estimated area of plantations in the sub-region is about 1.2 million ha accounting for less than 1% of forest area. However, the actual area taking into account stocking and the extensive excisions could be much less. Most of these plantations feature fast growing exotic species like Pinus patula, Cupressus lusitanica, Eucalyptus spp, etc. More recently, poor management, illicit felling and encroachment have reduced plantation area and productivity considerably. Current annual planting programme in the sub-region is less than 10,000 ha.

The most widespread forest type is savannah woodland and thicket with proportion of 62.9% of all forested area in the sub-region. This type is found in all the countries and is habitat for rich diversity of wildlife. The Miombo woodlands of Tanzania extend over a wide area, constituting 19.9% of total area under forests. Montane forests of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania spread over an area adding up to about 11 million ha. (15.8% of all forested areas). They are the most threatened forests from human settlement and expansion of agriculture. Mangrove forests are found along Red Sea and Indian Ocean coasts and accounts for 0.19% of total forest cover. Industrial plantations in the sub-region account for a meager 0.93% of all forested areas (some 651,000 ha.), which compares poorly with 1.5 million ha. plantations in South Africa alone.

For a variety of reasons the standards of forest management has steadily declined in the last two decades, in all the countries of the region. All the countries have found it difficult to effectively implement the old forest policies in the face of drastic changes in population pressures on forests. The countries have made slow progress in the needed policy and institutional reforms. Deforestation and forest degradation has accelerated to crisis levels in countries like Kenya. The common constraints to sustainable forest management among the countries of the region:

• Inadequate policy and institutional reforms for well functioning forest sectors;

• Steadily declining public and private sector investment in forest management and conservation;

• Lack of PCI for sustainable forest management;

• Rampant illegal activities in forests including logging, cultivation and settlement;

• Intense competition with agriculture for land and politically sensitive unresolved land settlement problems;

• Lack of and/or poor application of management plans; and

• Traditional land and tree tenure systems, which work against tree growing and protection of trees and forests by communities and individual farmers;

• Inadequate arrangements for local communities participation and benefit in forest management and conservation.

4. Some initiatives and opportunities for certification

Already some stakeholders have made noteworthy efforts towards certification within the region. For example, international trade in wood carvings from Kenya peaked at some US $ 4 million per annum some ten ago. It has since been declining partly because some overseas consumers’ demand for certified wood. More over it was locally recognized that the trade in wood carvings was impacting negatively on the limited remaining natural coastal forests. Therefore, an initiative is on-going in Kenya involving wood carving co-operative societies in the use of alternative “good woods” grown in farm woodlots to relieve pressure on natural forests. This particular initiative is supported by UNESCO’s Man and Plants programme. The initiative has already established dialoge with international certifying bodies.

The Kilombero Valley Teak Company (Tanzania), the Escarpment Forest Company (Tanzania) and the Busoga Forest Company (Uganda) are pioneers in the regin in exploring forest certification with the ultimate aim of carbon offset trading. The Kilombero Valley Teak Company has moved furthest in commissioning and external audit of its forest management operations (J. Haule, 2002, pers. comm.). While they reconized the high costs involved in these attempts at certification, their standards of forest management have greatly improved through the audits. Moreover, there is also a growing number individual forest owners in Kenya and Uganda who are keen to benefit from carbon offset trading. Such farmers could benefit through collective certification arrangements as is being tried in some European countries. Needless to stress that such avenues will only bear fruit if and when the relevant Kyoto Protocal mechanisms are operationalized.

There is another interesting initiative in Uganda involving the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the FACE Foundation of the Netherlands. This particular initiative focuses on management and conservation of some forests which fall within national parks but also involving the participation and benefit by local communities. Again, the ultimate aim of this initiative is to benefit from carbon offset trading. Since some of the forests to be covered have been degraded, this kind of initiative has great promise as both additionality and permanence of carbon sinks can be realized in such protected areas. Indeed, there are many degraded forests within national parks throughout East Africa which could benefit from carbon offset funds.

5. Bottlenecks to certification

While there is growing interests and number of initiatives in the region, there remain some major bottlenecks for certification to thrive. There remains the challenge to create and sustain demands for certified forest products and services in local, regional and external markets. Non-governmental organizations (NGOS) and civil society groups have a big role to play in sensitising consumers towards creating demands. Some NGOs, like the Environmental Liaison Centre International, are already actively participating in the recently established East Africa Forest Certification Network. But important questions remain: how large can the local and external markets be? What will happen if the expected benefits through Kyoto Protocol mechanisms are not operationalized in the medium time frame?

Another important bottleneck to certification is the current lack of PCI agreed on by stakeholders both at national and regional level. For closed natural forests, the ATO/ITTO harmonized PCI could be considered for adoption to specific situations of the region. However, for the vast savanna woodlands of East Africa require a different set of PCI which can be derived from the Dry Zone Africa initiative. This is a big technical challenge as there exists little knowledge and know-how in managing and conserving these open forests types.

The third bottleneck to certification in the region relates to the appropriate scheme to be adopted. A few initiatives have explored the use of international certification schemes like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and have realized that there are some important aspects of the schemes that call for modifications to suit specific situations in the region. Even the emerging Pan African Forest Certification scheme will need to be adopted for the region. In considering appropriate certification scheme to be adopted in the region, the pertinent evolving of national standards for forest products and trading agreements under regional bodies like the East African Community, the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) need to be taken into account.

6. Future outlook and actions

Although East African are relatively poor in forest resources, the existing forests are critical for the counties’ ecological stability and livelihood of forest dependent communities. Most of the countries fully recognize this and have expressed commitments to sustainably manage their limited forest resources. To that end, some of the countries have embarked on forest sector reform programmes and on development of comprehensive national forest plans (formally Masterplans). It is expected that the countries will soon be engaged in developing PCI for sustainable forest management individually or collectively. There is strong interest in carbon offset trading, which calls for some aspects of the certification process. It is also expected that recently established East African Forest Certification Network will work towards certification taking root in the region.

Given the above outlook, there is need for East African countries to address their needs and appropriate arrangements for forest certification. The logical starting point should be capacity building for the process. The process of formulating and agreeing on a strategy for capacity building in forest certification will have to involve relevant stakeholders including public institutions, the private sector, NGOs, representatives of local resource user groups, auditors and training institutions. Thus, the focus in capacity building efforts, in the immediate future should be to:

• sensitize stakeholders on the role which certification can play in improving forest management standards;

• ensure full commitment and ownership of the certification process by all stakeholders;

• propagate knowledge and skills in forest certification among stakeholders; and

• encourage and sustain networking for exchange of experiences within and among the countries.

7. References

Bass, S. and M. Simula. 1999. Independent Certification/Verification of forest management. Background paper for World Bank/WWF Alliance workshop. Washington, Dc, 9 - 10 November 1999.

FAO. 1985. Tropical Forestry Action Plan. Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics. FAO, Rome.

FAO. 2001. State of the World’s Forests 2000. FAO, Rome.

FAO/FRA. 2001. FAO Forest Resources Assessment Report 2001. FAO, Rome.

FOSA 2002. Forestry Outlook Study for Africa Report. The African Forestry and Wildlife Commission and FAO.

Kruedener, B. 2000. FSC forest certification - Enhancing social forestry development? Forests, Trees and People Newsletter No. 43, p. 12 - 18.

Lindahl, K. 2000. Certification Toolbox - The Why, How, What and Where of certification. Forests, Trees and People Newsletter No. 43.

Thornber, K. 1999. Overview of global trends in FSC certificates. In Instruments for Sustainable Private Sector Forestry. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).10 p.