African governments have traditionally assumed that the main agents from which forest and woodlands need protection are the local inhabitants. As new constitutions and land laws recognising customary tenure come on stream, radical change is in the air. What progress has actually been made in implementing community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) and joint forest management (JFM)?

A report from the International Institute for Environment and Development asks if newly introduced forestry management schemes are necessarily as collaborative, innovative and participatory as they seem. It suggests that only truly participatory mechanisms can bolster the, hitherto somewhat rhetorical, commitment to devolution and halt the loss and degradation of woodland.

Africa has been spared the kind of south-east Asian style rapacious state takeover of woodlands and their leasing to the private sector because of the lesser commercial value of dry woodlands. The report cites a number of positive examples of east and southern African projects involved in asking communities whether forests should be used for commercial gain. Some governments are enabling local communities to act as legal persons. Foresters and advisers are looking to customary stewardship, not customary access, as the basis upon which local parties are involved. Tanzanian experience shows that while local people regard government reserves as ‘fair game’, they will actively protect land where local tenure and guardianship is recognised.

There are, however, some more negative findings. These include:

• The CAMPFIRE wildlife revenue-sharing programme, though much hyped as community-based, does not share any authority with communities. It simply channels a small part of revenue from safari tourism to district councils.
• The management roles given to local people in revenue-sharing schemes rarely extend beyond providing forest guard services.
• Communities which sign up to compacts with government may be abandoning custodial or tenurial claims to woodlands: ‘Through co-management we gained the right to collect fuelwood, but lost the forest’ is a common refrain.
• Zambia’s new Forestry Act stands out by offering the least room for local involvement in so-called Joint Forest Management Committees, which are heavily dominated by government officials.
• Where devolved governance is poorly developed (as in Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia) empowerment of local forest management in new legislation is demonstrably constrained.

The report finds room for optimism that the enforcement of new land laws will give customary owners the constitutional protection associated with private property which was previously only available to the small minority with freehold. Among the recommendations to carry this historic process forward are:

• Governments should follow the examples of Lesotho and Tanzania where devolution of forest management to communities is a stated objective.
• Community forest managers need to be granted the same powers which government forest managers have taken for granted. Revenues from fines and permits must remain with community owners.
• Others should follow Tanzania’s lead and strengthen legislation to give community forest managers powers which are enforceable beyond their own social membership and upheld by local courts when challenged.

Source(s):
‘Making woodland management more democratic: Cases from Eastern and Southern Africa’ Drylands Issue Paper #99 International Institute for Environment and Development by Liz Alden Wily Full document.

id21 Research Highlight: 17 May 2001

Further Information:
Liz Alden Wily
Wisteria House
1 Cullompton Hill
Bradnich
Devon EX5 4NP
UK

Tel: (+44) 01392 - 881 533
Contact the contributor: lizaldenwily@clara.co.uk

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK

Other related links:
'Managing woodland: how does Zimbabwe do it?'

CAMPFIRE aims to empower rural communities for conservation and development

MELISSA works at managing the environment locally in Sub-Saharan Africa

NRMAfrica contains reports from the "Natural Resource Management and Sustainable Livelihoods" project

World Resources Institute aims towards a responsible way of using forests

Refer to the Centre for International Forestry Research