PERSPECTIVES OF FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE IN THE REGION:
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FORESTRY OUTLOOK STUDY FOR AFRICA (FOSA)

Secretariat Note

INTRODUCTION

1. Africa’s forest resources are among the richest and most diverse in the world and are crucial for the welfare of its people, as well as for biological diversity and climate regulation. Yet, despite conservation efforts, the destruction of forests, woodlands and wildlife continues unabated, primarily driven by forces outside the forest sector.

2. This paper is based on the findings of the Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA), supplemented with information from country reports. It highlights the features of forest and wildlife sectors in the five sub-regions to generate discussion and recommendations on ways to address key issues.

KEY COMMON ISSUES FACING FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE IN AFRICA

3. An analysis of how the forest sector is likely to evolve over the next two decades if current trends persist and business continues as usual concludes that:

• population growth, migration and urbanization will continue; sluggish growth of the economies and inequitable distribution of income could result in the persistence of poverty, which will be further exacerbated by factors like HIV/AIDS and natural calamities such as drought;

• significant structural changes in most economies are unlikely and dependence on land will persist; growth in traditional tenure systems will continue to prevail and improvement in agricultural productivity will be slow, and most of the increase in production will be through horizontal expansion resulting in forest clearance;

• although policy and institutional reforms are underway, changes are slow in most countries. This would imply an institutional environment characterized by:

a weak public sector with inadequate capacity to implement and facilitate sustainable forest management;

a poorly developed market mechanism, unable to provide a level playing field to the different actors;

an expanding informal sector, but with very limited capacity to manage resources sustainably;

most stakeholders lacking empowerment and incentives.

4. Continued horizontal expansion of agriculture and increasing demand for forest products are likely to result in forest cover loss and degradation more or less at the current rates. This could affect some of the vital environmental functions, like watershed protection and conservation of biological diversity and accelerate desertification and land degradation. Concomitant with these reduced environmental services will be the loss of wildlife habitat and biodiversity, and the depletion of wood and non-wood forest products, including bushmeat, which form the most important source of animal protein for a large number of people, especially in rural Africa.

5. Increasing resource use conflicts may also undermine the economic benefits from wildlife-based tourism. Persistence of a risky environment will deter investment in industrial processing, undermining the potential to enhance employment and income.

6. While outlining what is likely to happen if the “business-as-usual” situation persists, FOSA also articulated other scenarios that offer policy options and investment strategies through which forestry could contribute to poverty alleviation, food security and sustainable development.

7. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is facilitating policy and institutional reforms that emphasise stronger democratic processes, peaceful resolution of conflicts, enhanced transparency, improved governance, poverty eradication and investment in people. Improved inter-country collaboration facilitated through regional and sub-regional economic organizations would open new windows of opportunity for forestry, especially for enhanced intra-regional trade, cooperation to combat illegal logging, management of transboundary parks, etc.

8. Several African countries are moving toward decentralized administrations and participatory approaches are finding wider application in forest management. An active civil society is emerging and key players in the forest sector are gradually being empowered. These positive developments open up new prospects to use sustainable forest management as a means to reduce poverty and to integrate forestry and environment protection into other land uses, especially in the framework of national forest programmes.

SUB-REGIONAL DIMENSION

9. Since priorities and strategies need to take cognizance of the specific ecological economic and institutional environment, FOSA adopted a subregional approach dividing Africa into five subregions. Given below is an overview of the specific situation in each of the subregion, indicating the key priorities for the forest sector.

North Africa

10. North Africa is extremely arid and the productivity of forests and woodlands is very low. An open forest cover of limited species comprises a mere 7 percent of the total land area, with forests and woodlands mostly found along the Mediterranean coast and in central and southern Sudan. Human pressure and drought drastically affect the stability of the ecosystem and the regeneration of trees and shrubs. Notewithstanding the significant afforestation/reforestation efforts made by most countries, there has been a substantial decline in the forest cover as also land degradation and desertification.

11. The relatively high income of the North African countries and the scarce forest resource situation has made this sub-region highly dependent on imports. Although the region accounts for only 21 percent of Africa’s population, in 2001 it accounted for 62 percent of the value of forest products imported by Africa. Despite the limited wood resources, North Africa has an active forest industry that includes family-owned small-scale private enterprises and large state-run complexes. Raw material shortages and other problems have led to low utilization of installed capacity.

12. Several countries have diversified their economies, largely through petroleum production, tourism and manufacturing. However, most countries are confronting problems like deteriorating urban environment and rural underdevelopment. Amplified by the marginalization of certain segments of the population, such consequences are having a direct bearing on land degradation, water stress and desertification and are leading to growing unemployment of the young and educated people.

13. Given the foregoing, the primary role of forests will be in environmental protection and poverty alleviation with particular emphasis on: (i) arresting desertification and land degradation, protecting watersheds and improving the urban environment; (ii) increasing the availability of wood products and fodder for local communities; (iii) improving the production and processing of non-wood forest products; and (iv) encouraging the development of small and medium industries that cater to niche markets.

14. Moving in these directions requires policy and institutional changes that facilitate an integrated approach to land use, with forests and trees better integrated into all land uses. Improvements should focus on increasing the involvement of stakeholders and clearly defining their roles and responsibilities.

East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands

15. Except for Uganda, East Africa has extensive arid and semi-arid areas, characterized by long dry seasons and an annual rainfall below 500 mm. The resulting low productivity of land, coupled with limited opportunities for economic diversification has resulted in unsustainable uses. Most of the population is concentrated in the limited high-productivity highlands of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya, and the resulting intense land use has resulted in severe land degradation with its attendant decline in productivity and down-stream problems like siltation.

16. Forest cover in the sub-region totals 85.6 million ha of which 69.6 million is found on the continent. The annual rate of deforestation between 1990 and 2000 is high, estimated at 0.51 million ha or 10 percent of the annual rate for all of Africa. Natural forest accounts for about 99 percent of forest cover but the area under sustainable management is negligible. Forest plantations cover about 1 million ha and suffer from poor management, illicit felling and encroachment. Farm forestry is becoming an increasingly important source of wood in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

17. Excepting the island countries of Mauritius and Seychelles whose economies are diversified, most other countries are dependent on agriculture and allied land uses. Obviously growth in human and livestock population results in increased pressure on forests and rangelands.

18. Forest products consist of woodfuel, industrial roundwood, and non-wood forest products, including wildlife for tourism and, to a lesser extent, as a source of protein. Environmental services such as watershed protection, biodiversity conservation and support to anti-desertification and land-degradation measures are also crucial.

19. Mauritius relies on financial and business services and tourism while the economy of the Seychelles is based on tourism and fishing. Diversification in these island countries has significantly reduced the pressure on forests, enabling them to concentrate on environmental protection, particularly water supply and scenic values.

20. Key issues driving the forest sector in East Africa include:

• policy and institutional changes associated with the decentralization of forest administrations;

• high population growth;

• poor economic performance of most countries leading to the reliance on land as the main source of livelihoods;

• weak institutional capacity for scientific and technological development;

• depletion of water resources, desertification and land degradation.

21. Strategies should acknowledge the importance of forests for poverty alleviation and environmental protection and should combine the means to produce affordable goods and services with policies to protect and restore upland watersheds. Institutional reforms should help to enhance the role of public sector organizations as facilitators; move more of the informal sector to the formal economy and improve its performance. Additional features should include land tenure policies that respond to expectations, improved regional and increased investment in science, technology and information.

West Africa

22. West Africa is the most densely populated sub-region in Africa, accounting for about 29 percent of Africa’s population. At the current rates of growth, by 2020 the population is expected to reach about 344 million, an increase of about 110 million over 2000. Economic growth of most countries has been rather sluggish during the last two decades. Declining incomes and high external debts and debt servicing often limit the options available to governments, and often forestry gets a low priority in investment decisions. An increase in population coupled with limited options for diversification implies increased pressure on forest land. Civil unrest in many parts of the sub-region further exacerbates the situation. All this would suggest continued loss of forest cover at about 1.2 million ha per year.

23. Forestry interventions in West Africa, however, need to take into account the diversity of ecological and economic conditions in the sub-region. West africa can be broadly divided into two broad zones, namely the dry zone and the humid zone. Steppe vegetation, thorny bush cover and open savannah woodlands the dry zone. The humid zone is more productive and consists of savannah woodlands, semi-deciduous tropical forest and tropical rainforest. Each of these two zones has its associated demographic and economic features, which influences the land use and other allied activities.

24. Considering the rapid population growth, low income, growing unemployment and the continued dependence on land, forestry and wildlife will have to cater to the objectives of poverty alleviation and environmental protection. More particularly, forestry should strive to:

• enhancement of the safety-net function of forests by improving access to a wide range of forest-derived goods, including those that supplement nutrition;

• improving the sustainability and economic viability of the large number of forest-based informal activities;

• support the development of forest-based enterprises to boost employment and income from formal sector activities, particular focusing on labour and skill-intensive but less capital intensive activities;

• stepping up efforts to protect and manage watersheds through appropriate practices and ensuring that watershed protection and combating land degradation and desertification are integral components of all land uses.

25. Much of the focus will be to bring about institutional changes, especially to empower the various actors. Some of the critical areas that require action include:

• revitalization of the public sector, including a redefinition of functions and responsibilities, appropriate changes in structure and organization and building up new skills;

• invigorating community level initiatives, building up from the success stories and progressively enhancing local capacity in forest resource management;

• empowerment of small-scale producers, especially through the removal of legal and other impediments hindering their efficient functioning, improved access to information especially on technology and markets and access to credit;

• facilitation of the development of competitive markets by improving the legal and institutional framework and ensuring certainty over policies

• strengthening of subregional and regional collaboration especially to address common problems and sharing of expertise in research, education and training.

Central Africa

26. Central Africa is the largest forested sub-region in Africa with nearly 46 percent of the area under forest cover. Although the dominant vegetation type is the tropical rain forest, there are extensive mangrove forests along the coasts of Gabon and Cameroon, montane forests in Rwanda, Burundi, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, savannah woodlands in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad, and desert scrub in Chad.

27. Central Africa is the largest producer and exporter of tropical timber in Africa. The sub-region’s share in export of industrial roundwood and sawn wood accounts for 76.8 percent of total African exports of these products recorded for 2000. However, the management of natural forests in Central Africa faces a number of difficulties. In the recent years the scale of logging has expanded rapidly, while the capacity of governments to regulate logging and to enforce sustainable forest management remain far from adequate; Most recently, however, the requirement to prepare management plans to obtain forest concessions and the promotion of certification schemes have triggered the interest of forest industries in the sustainable management of Congo basin forests.

28. Despite the rich resources of Central Africa, most countries are very poor. This is further compounded by the inequitable distribution of income. The growth rates of income in seceral countries have been far below the population growth rates. The situation is further exacerbated by by the heavy debt burden as a significant proportion of export income goes for debt-servicing.

29. In most countries there has been little diversification of the economy and in countries; where such diversification has taken place there is undue dependence on extractive resources , making them potentially vulnerable to resource depletion and changing global market situation.

30. Considering the various driving forces, especially population growth and the limited efforts toward economic diversification, in many countries agriculture expansion is likely to continue. Central africa is likely to become an important frontier for agriculture expansion. This coupled with the increasing demand for wood and wood products could have a significant impact on forest resources. All the indications are that the rate of orest cover loss will continue at the 1990s level or possibly even higher. Increasing demand for non-wood forest products, including bush meat would have significant negative impacts on the conservation of plant and animal species.A number of initiatives are underway to address the problem, but the outcomes will be determined by how the efforts are intensified and widely adopted.

31. The overall development priorities for most Central African countries will be poverty alleviation and environmental protection, ensuring in particular that forest management helps to produce the full range of goods and services on a sustainable basis. Considering the resource richness of the subregion, sustainable resource management consistent with the principles of equity will go a long way towards reducing poverty. The main areas requiring action are:

• increased efforts to implement sustainable forest management, particularly to regulate the scale of operations taking into account the capacity to effectively monitor logging, improvement in the efficiency of revenue collection and implementation of a strict code of conduct for logging companies to ensure adherence to social, environmental and ethical standards;

• increased investment in social infrastructure in forested areas in support of local community development;

• support the traditional informal sector, which plays a critical role in the livelihood of local communities;

• strengthening of institutional capacity, especially that of forest agencies to discharge their regulatory functions effectively as also enhancing the role of civil society organizations to play a pro-active role in forestry issues;

• increased regional and subregional cooperation, especially to develop a common framework to prevent illegal operations and to realise economies of scale in critical areas like research, education and training.

Southern Africa

32. Forestry in Southern Africa is characterized by a number of contrasting features, largely reflecting the differences in social and economic development of the countries. While there is a well-developed wood industry based on high-quality plantations in countries like South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, in most other countries forest industries are poorly developed. Indigenous forests are poorly managed and are overexploited. In most countries, except South Africa and Swaziland, forest cover is being lost at a very high rate due to the expansion of agriculture.

33. Southern Africa has been able to take advantage of its enormous wildlife potential, which forms an important pillar of the rapidly growing tourism industry. While conflicts between different land uses are expected to intensify, Southern Africa has also made a number of initiatives to address them. Local community participation in the management of natural resources, including wildlife, is an important option. Some of the ongoing efforts to promote community-industry collaboration, especially as regards production of industrial roundwood, provide valuable lessons that will have wider relevance.

34. Increasing water scarcity is expected to become an important constraint in expanding the plantation programme in some of the countries. In several countries there will be an urgent need to improve watershed management and this will require a re-examination of the role of forests and trees in influencing the quantity, quality and stability of water yield.

35. Although Southern Africa is economically better off than other sub-regions, poverty and a host of other problems persist. A key concern for all the countries in the sub-region is the very high incidence of HIV/AIDS. Social and economic fall out from the high infection rates and the deaths of large number of economically active people will have significant direct and indirect impacts on forestry. The way land reforms and restitution are implemented will have a significant impact on forests and woodlands.

36. While several of the problems may persist, opportunities are also emerging to promote all-round social and economic development. There has been significant progress in the democratization of government, especially through decentralization. Policies and legislation have facilitated community participation. There are also considerable opportunities to mobilize investment from within the sub-region and the increasing economic integration could further strengthen this.

37. In light of the foregoing, future development strategies need to address the extreme dualism characteristic of the subregion, where a highly developed modern segments of the economy co-exists with poorly developed low-income segments. Some of the priority areas of action will include:

• improving the legal and institutional framework for community management of resources, taking advantage of the lessons from the ongoing efforts; specific attention will have to be paid to improve transparency, access to information and the managerial and technical skills to manage community enterprises;

• strengthening the informal sector by improving access to information, especially on emerging market opportunities, trade channels and technology

• supporting small farmers in the adoption of integrated land use to reduce economic and ecological vulnerability, especially in the context of declining labour availability due to HIV/AIDS;

• revitalizing the public sector to play a facilitating role and to provide a level playing field for all actors and to strengthen the framework for the transpreant operation of market forces.

ISSUES PROPOSED TO THE COMMISSION FOR DISCUSSION

38. From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that forests and wildlife will have to confront a number of problems. While resource constraints will continue to persist, the sector will have to play an important role in alleviating poverty and improving environmental stability. The external environment is expected to change rapidly, providing new opportunities and challenges. It thus becomes important for the forestry profession to collectively consider the different options to meet the emerging challenges. Some of the issues that the Commission may discuss are indicated below:

Revitalizing forest administrations

39. As the economies evolve and mature, forest administrations in most countries will have to address new challenges and assume responsibilities that have not been handled hitherto. In most countries in Africa however, forest administrations have become weaker for a variety of reasons including budgetary constraints and often they are not even in a position to effectively discharge some of their traditional functions. While private sector including farmers and local communities are expected to play an increasing role in the management of forests, still a strong public sector is required to provide a robust framework for other stakeholders to function effectively. It is hence critical to identify how Africa could revitalise its public sector forest administration to play a facilitating role.

Making decentralization and community participation work

40. Most countries are in the process of decentralization of forest administration and to enhance community participation in forest resource management. This trend is expected to accelerate in the coming years. Several lessons can be learnt from the past experience of decentralisation and implementation of participatory approaches. There are several necessary conditions to make them work effectively and the forestry profession has to work very closely with policy makers, planners, non-governmental organizations, research and extension agencies and local communities.

Improving the functioning of informal sector

41. In the absence of opportunities in the formal sector, there has been a rapid growth of the informal sector with many of the forestry activities providing employment, income and basic needs goods to a large number of people. While many of these informal activities are in the illegal domain, they are vital to the livelihood of people. In the absence of legal protection, weak tenure, poor acces to information, expansion on informal sector undermines long term sustainability. It is hence critical to understand what options are available to enhance the performance of the multitude of informal activities, ensuring that they are able to improve the livelihoods of people and at the same time ensure long term sustainability.

Mobilizing resources and enhancing the efficiency of resource utilization

42. The long term trends in external resource availbility suggests the need for increased dependence on internal resources. And all the indications are that the forest sector may continue to remain at the margins as regards domestic resource allocation. This would imply that the sector has to develop innovative approaches to enhance resource availability. More importantly, efforts will have to be made to enhance the efficiency of resource utilization. It is important to share the experience of resource mobilisation and enhancing resource use efficiency so that lessons learnt from them could be adopted widely.

Intregrating forestry in other land uses

43. Increasingly more of the wood and non-wood forest products will be produced outside forests, especially as farmers respond to the emerging opportunities. Policies and legal framework will have to be adapted to facilitate the process and increasingly foresters have to work closely with farmers. The key issue is how quickly the profession can take advantage of the emerging opportunity, integrat forestry in other land uses and end the traditional conflict between forestry and agriculture. In many cases, it will be advantageous to have an integrated land use policy rather than a stand-alone forest policy. All this would require that the profession takes a proactive role in building bridges with other sectors.