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Vol. 9, No. 3 |
NECOFA CAMROON 2007 REPORT
The Promoters of Environmental Management in Sustainable Agriculture in Highland Regions (PEMSAHR) in collaboration with the Network for Ecofarming in Africa Cameroon Chapter jointly executed a project on Community Forest Management through established sustainable forest management plans based on stakeholder Agreements in 3 Traditional owned areas (forest communities in Buh, Fungum, Benakuma) in Menchum Division) North West Province of Cameroon.
This project was sponsored by Global Forest Facility and the Netherlands Development Organisation in Yaounde Cameroon.
Main objective of the project:
Local forest owners in the the 3 communities are using conservation agreements and amangement plans to conserve and sustainably manage their forest and are meeting their Livelihood needs
The first part of the project involved sensitization meetings on the importance of Community Forest Management in Menchum Division (Fungum, Buh and Benakuma communities).
The objective of the sensitization Meeting was Creation of awareness on the community forestry process and importance to beneficiaries.
Attendance: Men: 60 Women: 45 Youths: 35
The participants were oriented by the facilitators who later hand over the baton to two community members who were quite knowledgeable about their natural forest to take lead. This exercise was quite interesting since it helped those who did not use the forest so often to be able to understand their forest well and the various resources available in there. Forest users used symbols of forest resources like fruits, fuel (firewood), plank, medicines, bee hives, animals, birds, mat material just to name a few and spotted on a sketch which they drew on the ground to visualize their forest.
After the natural resource mapping exercise, further discussions focused on;
Ø What a community forest is
Ø Community forestry law and the reasons why the law
Ø Community forestry process (stages)
Ø Community forestry options
Ø Who and where to obtain a community forest
Ø How activities are carried in community forest
Ø Benefits of community forestry
Community forestry recognize the fact that villagers have access to forest resources to survive and that the forest resources must be protected and managed in a way that they provide a sustainable source of resource for the future generations. From the natural resource’s mapping, it is clear that Bu community have access to their forest and uses the resources on daily basis either for home consumption or to exchange for money which they use to acquire other needs. For example they said they produce mats, collect honey and timbers for sale.
Another discussion was on the 1994 Forestry Law. The law specifically provides for the involvement of the local communities in the management of the forest through community forestry. The government created this law to ensure sustainable forest management, alleviate poverty and to encourage community involvement in the management of the state forest resources. By this, all natural forest in Cameroon belongs to the government. No one is allowed to clear land or cut trees in a forest without permission from the government administration concerned. However the Ministry of Environment and Forestry does not have the means to manage and control every forest in Cameroon. Also, the government wants local communities to be able to enjoy more benefits from forest in their own areas. The forestry law created a new category of forest that allows communities to manage the forests that are found in their own area. This category is community forest.
The participants were enlightened on other options for managing a forest by a community which could either be traditional, a council forest or by a prefectoral order. Since the community is aspiring for a community forest, further discussions were based on this category as the most appropriate option. The participants were drilled on the various stages involved in the acquisition of a community and were made to understand that it is a long process that demands a lot of finance, time and material resources. It was also made known to participants that a community forest is an area of forest allocated by the government to a particular community. Such a forest must be managed by the community itself in a way that benefits the local population and ensures that the forest will be preserved. While the land still belongs to the government, she signs a management agreement with the community stating that the community enjoys all resources and benefits from the forest but must take care of the forest and respect the rules of use that have been agreed by the community and approved by the Ministry in the management plan.
The participants’ brain stormed on the benefits of a community forests as follows;
1. Improve nutrition. They collect spices from the forest freely, bush meat that improves their nutrition.
2. Most often they treat some illnesses with local herbs which they collect from the forest and so go to the hospital only on rare cases.
3. Community forestry to them reduces rural exodus in that some resources which they collect from the forest like mat materials, timber, honey and spices for example provide a ready source for income. This keeps them busy as a result their livelihood s are improved.
4. the community have right to add more value to their forest in order to benefit more if and only if the activity will agree with the forestry law. For example bee keeping.
5. Community forestry ensures sustainability of the forest resources for the future generations.
6. Community has the opportunity to have ownership over their forest.
The community members were reminded of the following;
1) That once the community forest and its management plan have been approved, the community takes over management of the forest while the Ministry monitors them to make sure they are managing the forest as agreed.
2) That having a community forest gives legal protection to the forest and also gives power to redress illegal activities undertaken within the forest by people from outside the community.
3) That a community forest can not belong to an individual or a family but to the entire community which have right to use its resources according to the agreed rules.
4) That activities to be carried out in community forest depends on which the law permits and needs of the community.
There was a question and answer session before the meeting ended.
1. The community wanted to know how endangered species can be protected. The answer to the question was that the internal rules and regulations laid down by the community will specify how the species can be protected.
2. Another question from the community was to know if the forestry department has the right over community forest. The answer was the forestry department plays if the management is not done in accordance with the agreed plan.
3. The 3rd question was to know whether the community can approve the exploitation of the forest to individuals without the intervention of the state. The answer “Yes” provided the exploitation is in line with the approved management plan.
4. They wanted to know what they could do with encroachers to their forest. The answer was at moment there is nothing they could do because the government has not yet handed over the forest to them. What they should do is to intensify sensitization on what they intend to do with their forest to the entire community and their neighbors so that the forest doesn’t completely disappear by the time government gives them the right of ownership.
5. The last question was how to delimit community forest from individual forest. The answer was simple. The boundaries of the forest and those of individuals.
These are the people to take lead during boundary demarcation.
The meeting ended with the distribution of posters of plants and animals that exist only in the Western Highlands of Cameroon and are rare or protected by law.
There was also Training of members of forest management institutions from 3 communities on group dynamics, leadership and conflict resolution in forest governance and Training on Gender in forest governance.
Meanwhile, the other components of the projects are to be continued in 2008.
REPORT OF COORDINATION MEETING HELD AT NECOFA’S INTERNATIONAL OFFICE IN WITZENHAUSEN, GERMANY
ON THE 11th OF OCTOBER 2007
On the occasion of the International TROPENTAG 2007 in Witzehausen –Germany a NECOFA Seminar has been held with the NECOFA members who participated at the TROPENTAG.
The following NECOFA member countries were present in the meeting, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.
The meeting was chaired by the international NECOFA Coordinator Dr. Sahle Tesfai and together with NECOFA members and attended by Advisory body
Mr. Hartmut Gast. The agenda of the meeting as seen below,
The first item on the agenda was the country reports and each country present was given the chance to present their activities in the following order.
According to Peter Lusembo and Jolli of Uganda, the activities of NECOFA Uganda were not smooth running because the National Coordinator got a new job thus could not longer keep in touch with the members. This however, disrupted the functioning mechanism of NECOFA Uganda. Based on this, they proposed that they could temporally use their offices to coordinate NECOFA activities until when they must have had a permanent office for NECOFA.
The country report of Kenya presented by Samuel indicated that NECOFA Kenya has been registered as a CBO (Community Based Organization) and they operate now in 5 districts with focus on community groups, schools and youths.
Their projects so far include school gardens, the teaching/training of teachers and students on environmental issues and they are currently involved in 2 schools and the number will be increased to 8 next year.
They have been involved also in training the farmers in the production of Molo Lamb wool through sheep rearing. The trained youths use the wool in the production of finished products which are then sold to improve their livelihood.
Demonstration plots have also been opened in many regions in Kenya and are used during training sessions with farmers and youths.
The report from Ethiopia presented by Asfaw stated that after the Ghana workshop they have not been performing as expected. He continued by saying that NECOFA Ethiopia has been registered as a professional association. They have also identified private and public marketing sectors where products are being marketed. The project is an alternative coffee market which is supported by Oxfam UK. They are planning to duplicate the efforts of local market exchanges (vegetables)
No report was presented due to the fact that the Country Coordinator was not present in this meeting.
NECOFA Sudan has so far organized 2 workshops on organic farming awareness which brought together students and teachers from schools and colleges. The aim of the workshops was to create awareness on the importance of organic farming. They have also been involved in the promotion of local innovations that are ecologically and environmentally friendly. They have also started with the constitution and legalization aspects of NECOFA Sudan.
Report from NECOFA Cameroon presented by the Coordinator Kum Sylvester showed that they coordinated a training program on the multiplication of tomatoes by cuttings of which more than 50 farmers were trained in this innovations in the Western Province of Cameroon. This project was sponsored by INWENT.
Also in collaboration with PEMSAHR (The Promoters of Environmental Management in Sustainable Agriculture in Highland Regions) NECOFA Cameroon has been involved in the execution of a National workshop on Leadership and Collaborative Management of Forest Environments in Cameroon. This workshop brought together policy makers, NGOs, managers, farmers, and people living adjacent the forest environments. The workshop was sponsored by Siemenpuu Foundation Finland.
Currently NECOFA Cameroon still in collaboration with PEMSAHR Cameroon is executing yet another project on Community Forestry management in Traditional owned Areas through Stakeholder Agreement in the Menchum division of the North West province of Cameroon. This project is sponsored by The Forest Governance Facility and the Netherlands Development Organization.
The following were expectations.
a) That Sudan, Zambia and Tanzania should organize national sensitization workshops so as to create awareness and share experiences
b) That there should be follow up of these workshops and Gast should be contacted for funds
c) That country reports are expected quarterly so as to have them in the NECOFA news letter
d) That a strategic plan for 3 years should be made and each country should send 3 persons so as to come out with a strategic plan
e) Counties should prepare project proposals and send them to international office for funding
f) That there should be regional meetings for NECOFA members
That country chapter should develop its strategic plan and all this plans brought together at the international level and the strategic plans should cover 3 years and the international coordinator will search for funding.
a) It was suggested that since there is much work load on the international coordinator, something should be done to this effect.
b) That the Kumasi strategies developed in Ghana should be implemented
c) There was also the vision to have from each member country a levy which could be used to support the international office and NECOFA members countries should go in for marketing so as to raise income
ATTENDANCE
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