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Partnership between public and private actors in forest -sector development
by Edinam K. Glover Luukkanen, O., Katila, P., Elsiddig, E., Glover, E., Sharawi, H. and Elfadl, M.
Category: Science Publisher: Hakapaino Oy, Helsinki, Finland
ISBN-10: 9521036168
Pages: 119
Copyright: 2006
Partnership between public and private actors in forest -sector development.Options for dryland Africa based on experiences from Sudan with case studies on Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania.
This book, in its first part specifically relating to Sudan, attempts to contribute to under-standing the ways of forming partnerships in forest management between the state and local resource managers. Specifically, it presents experiences gained from implementing such partnerships in Sudan, also identifying conditions and hindrances for them that affect local livelihoods and sustainable forest management. The partnerships in forest management between public and private actors are in this study defined as different ways of sharing for-est management powers and associated costs and benefits between the state and private farmers and between the state and rural communities.
The second part of the study is based on an overview of different partnership arrangements in six case study countries. It includes a general description and comparison of forest tenure systems and different forms of partnerships in forest management in Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania in Africa, and Laos, Nepal and Vietnam in Asia.
The specific aims of the second country-comparison part were
•to contribute to the understanding of different ways of forming partnerships in forest management by classifying existing partnerships according to different attributes of partnerships,
•to combine the experiences gained from implementing different partnerships and
•to formulate suggestions for future development of partnerships.
Due to the policies and actual situations in the case study countries this study focused mainly on the partnerships between communities/villages and the state. Partnerships be-tween the state and households were included only in the case studies of Laos and Viet-nam, where forest land allocation to households has a central role in poverty alleviation and in the development of the forestry sector.
Part I.
The results for Part I can be summarised as follows. Collaborative forest manage-ment, especially as observed in two “success story cases” in Sudan (Elain and Elrawashda) represents a progressive shift towards state recognition of the interdependence between the well-being of forests and the well-being of local people depending on them for subsistence and livelihood needs. Especially in these two cases, out of several attempts and “models” to create collaborative forest management in Sudan, it can be concluded that it is possible to arrange the benefit-sharing within the community and motivate the local people to participate in forest conservation and rehabilitation and to achieve community-controlled forest protec-tion.
The cases of the Elain natural forest reserve conservation and the Elrawashda forest re-serve rehabilitation also provide promising examples for participatory management. The systems have won the confidence of the local people and resulted in good forestry practice.
Elrawashda is also a forest rehabilitation success story in which people and the forestry ad-ministration (FNC) have gained mutual benefits. The Elrawashda experience has been transferred to other large reserved forests (Wad Kabo and Shasheina forests, both in Ge-daref State in the Blue Nile region).
Acacia senegal (the gum arabic tree) is commonly the main tree species planted by farmers in Sudan. The forestry administration (FNC) staffs, from the state forest manager to the for-est overseer, are all involved in interaction with the farmers.
The Elain forest in Sudan is a conservation success story which stimulates policy change towards involving the traditional leadership and forest-dependent villagers in forest protec-tion. When forest development in Elain was compared with another area where the policy was to try to prevent people from entering the forest it was found that participation in forest management has led to an increase in forest resources and biodiversity, while prevention of entry has caused forest degradation.
Part II.
Results from Part II can be summarised as follows. In most developing countries the forest resources have since colonial times been under state ownership and management. However, governments have not had the capacity to bring forest resources under sustain-able management. This has in many developing countries contributed to policy changes in search for local-level forest management regimes that would lead to sustainable resource management and improve livelihoods. These management regimes are based on the idea of sharing forest management authority and responsibility, as well as the associated costs and benefits, between the state and the people living in, or close to, the forest.
Table 1. An overview of power sharing and household/community responsibilities and benefits under different types of partnerships, based on case studies in six countries in Asia and Africa (see www.mm.helsinki.fi/mmeko/VITRI/research/publications.html)
Two broad and overlapping types of agreements can be distinguished: agreements that give households/communities the role of “co-manager", and agreements that delegate house-holds/communities the role of a "designated manager". A generalised overview of the sharing of forest management powers, responsibilities and benefits under different types of part-nerships is presented in Table 1. The general trend in benefit sharing goes hand in hand with the power to manage forest resources: the greater the management powers and re-sponsibilities the larger the share of the benefits.
The majority of partnerships aim at rehabilitating degraded forests, planting, afforestation or protection of natural forests. Partnerships in more production-oriented natural forest man-agement have been less common.
The positive role of partnerships in forest sector development is recognised in the forest policies of all six case study countries (Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, Kenya, Mozambique and Tan-zania). Also, the poverty reduction strategies or rural development programmes recognise the importance of sustainable resource management for poverty alleviation. In most of these case study countries, partnerships in forest management are seen as a way to improve local livelihoods through generating income-earning activities and employment. Although the poli-cies in these countries support local participation in forest management, there are significant differences in the role envisaged for local resource managers and in the degree to which management authority and benefits and costs are shared between the state and the local people and communities.
Power-sharing arrangements range from complete state control to almost full devolution of powers to the village level. In one extreme, the state has retained all powers to control and manage the resource. In order to gain cooperation in forest protection or rehabilitation it permits the local people to use forest products for subsistence use or cultivate land under the trees, employs locals for forest protection work, or shares a part of the forest revenue with the local community.
In the other extreme, the power to make decisions concerning the development and utilisa-tion of the resource is devolved to the local level. In between, there is a continuum of over-lapping approaches which are usually based on management agreements (contracts) be-tween households, associations, user groups, community or village organisations, and state authorities. These agreements delegate certain rights and duties to the households or com-munities and range from defining a “co-manager” to agreements that delegate house-holds/communities the role of a "designated manager" or precisely recognise the owner of the resource.
Lessons learnt and suggestions for future development of partnerships
The following lessons learnt are based on the country level case studies on Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, Kenya, Mozambique and mainland Tanzania.
Policy issues
•The legislative framework for partnerships in forest management is in most countries very new and incomplete. Most partnership arrangements have been developed on a pilot project basis. When partnerships are implemented at a national scale, strong government support and political will are needed.
It is essential to develop a clear legislative framework for partnerships including regulations and guidelines for implementation. This framework needs to be applied flexibly by adjusting it to local conditions and site-specific problems and opportuni-ties.
•Secure land and resource rights are essential for establishing incentives for long-term sustainable resource management. Very complicated procedures or the lack of, or high costs of, mechanisms to establish secure rights to forests and forest re-sources are the greatest obstacles to effective community participation in forest management.
A clear, simple and affordable framework for establishing secure rights to forest land and resources to communities and households needs to be instituted.
•Strong, formally recognised community/village institutions are necessary for repre-senting community interests. A clear framework for community representation is needed in order to develop equitable partnership arrangements.
Community institutions should be recognised in the legislation, and clear proce-dures for the selection/election of community representatives are needed.
•The development and implementation of partnerships as well as the day-to-day for-est management activities involve considerable costs that accrue in different forms to participants. The costs for participating are usually substantial for local people as the time spent in meetings and forest management activities competes with their other income-earning activities. The costs for government institutions that facilitate and im-plement partnerships as well as support community institutions in the everyday man-agement operations are also substantial. These costs are covered by the govern-ment budget and/or by funds generated through the partnerships. However, in gen-eral, government funding has been very limited. This has hindered the development of partnerships and led to shortcomings in their implementation. So far, the develop-ment and implementation of partnership arrangements have been strongly depend-ent on donor funding.
For developing sustainable partnerships an equitable benefit-sharing system is needed. It should encourage households/communities to sustainable forest man-agement and create revenues for the government to cover the costs of developing, implementing and supporting such partnerships.
•The majority of partnerships aim at rehabilitating degraded forests, planting and af-forestation. Governments have been reluctant to involve local people in the man-agement of valuable forests. In natural forests partnerships have concentrated on forest protection. Partnerships in production-oriented natural forest management have so far been less common. However, they have shown that partnerships in the management of valuable production forests can lead to sustainable forest manage-ment and create substantial income to local communities and to the lower level gov-ernment institutions.
Partnerships in production forests should be developed to bring production for-ests under sustainable management and to generate real income for households and communities.
Implementation and management issues
•The development of partnerships is a slow process involving building of trust be-tween partners, establishing management regimes, and capacity building in organ-isational and management skills as well as in practical forest management. Continu-ous support is needed also after the establishment of a partnership. Partnerships in forest management should be understood as a continuous evolving process that re-sponds to changing problems. A commitment for a minimum of ten years is generally needed before partnerships are firmly established.
Long term commitment of government and funding institutions is needed to de-velop and establish partnerships.
•To sustain community interest in partnerships, communities need to obtain clear benefits from the arrangement. In beneficiary and co-management models, the bene-fits to communities are usually modest and may not provide sufficient incentives for long term sustainable forest management. In areas with poor forest resources and in protected areas, it is necessary to develop alternative income-generating activities to reduce the pressure on forest resources and to compensate for the restrictions in forest product harvesting. The development of these activities has mainly relied on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and tourism. Although small additional incomes can be very important to poor households and communities, maintaining subsistence livelihoods does not help them out of poverty.
More emphasis should be put in developing resource management that would in-crease incomes to communities and generate funds that can be invested into e.g. agricultural development (food security) and infrastructure. Commercial utilisation of NTFPs and timber should be developed together with value-added production and the development of marketing of forest products. Options for developing equita-ble partnerships between private companies and households/communities should be studied and promoted.
•Shortcomings in implementing forest management partnerships are often related to inadequate assessment of the resources and livelihood strategies of local people.
More emphasis should be placed on assessing the resource base, understanding the livelihood strategies of the local people and identifying their most pressing needs, which could be addressed by developing partnerships. The development of forest management partnerships should be integrated to regional and local-level land use planning.
•Partnerships have not always benefited the poorest or marginalised groups of the community.
Local level resource management institutions (user groups, committees, associa-tions) need to be accessible and open to all community members. The needs of women, poorest members of the community and other marginalised groups need to be assessed and special arrangements may be needed to include these groups in partnership arrangements. The establishment of democratic decision making processes and equitable benefit sharing within communities need special atten-tion. It may be necessary to develop special arrangements to ensure that the needs of the marginalised groups for e.g. fuel wood are met.
Research and training
•People's awareness of their rights in relation to forests and of different policies is central to sustainable resource management as well as to equity and poverty reduc-tion. In general, the awareness of these issues among local people, and even among government officials, is limited.
Campaigns to raise awareness of land and resource rights as well as procedures for formalising them are needed. Also, forest officers should be trained to change their attitude and role from policing and forest protection to facilitating and supporting local people's participation in forest management.
•In general, the research on the effects of different partnership arrangements on the resource base and on peoples' livelihoods and local development has been very lim-ited.
Local-level research to assess the long-term effects of different partnership ar-rangements on the livelihoods of the local people, natural resources and local de-velopment is needed.
FULL CITATION:
Luukkanen, O., Katila, P., Elsiddig, E., Glover, E.K., Sharawi, H. and Elfadl, M. 2006. Partnership between public and private actors in forest -sector development. Options for dryland Africa based on experiences from Sudan with case studies on Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania. Study commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
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Reviews for "Partnership between public and private actors in forest -sector development"
Reviewed by Talaat Abdel Magid
5/29/2008
the book made an intensive review about past experiences and lessons learned. No any mentioning about the experience of donor funded projects in the Northern region of Sudan. Abdel Magid made a thourough review of this experience. I will send this contribution soon to VITRI. The book is excellent contribution to the Sudanese literature
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