Un-redd programme on forest management in Cameroon - Thesis Example

?UN-REDD PROGRAMME ON FOREST MANAGEMENT IN CAMEROON Introduction The UN-REDD Programme is the “United Nations collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (UN-REDD) in developing countries” (UN-REDD 2009). The Programme was undertaken from September 2008 to assist developing countries prepare and implement national REDD+ strategies. It uses the convening power and expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The UN-REDD Programme has 29 partner countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America; of these 13 receive support to National Programme activities. The Central African Republic including Cameroon, besides other countries such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, and several others not receiving direct support to national programmes engage with the Programme in a number of ways such as observers to the Programme’s Policy Board, and through participation in regional workshops and knowledge sharing enabled by the Programme’s interactive online workspace (UN-REDD 2009). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the UN-REDD Programme in developing countries, particularly in Cameroon in Central Africa. The UN-REDD, its goals, objectives and targets in Cameroon, the UN-REDD in relation to governance, corruption and sustainable development in Cameroon, as well as the challenges or shortcomings in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Cameroon will be examined. Reform in the Rainforests of Cameroon Cameroon, is a tropical country in Central Africa and part of the Congo Basin. “It contains the largest piece of rainforest on the African continent and the second largest area of contiguous moist tropical forest of the world” (Westholm, Henders, Ostwald & Mattson 2009: 44). Cameroon continues to have vast forest resources, and is at the forefront of forestry sector reform in Africa. It is expected that the country will play a constructive role in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD). Cameroon has a population of 16.5 million inhabitants, of which about 30,000 indigenous people live on an area of 4,75,000 square kilometers. A part of the vast 198 million hectares Congo Basin rainforest is in Cameroon, covering 16.9 million hectares, forming 40 percent of the national territory. This forest is rich in fauna and flora providing “food, medicines, fuel wood and construction materials for about 8 million rural Cameroonians” (Aronsen, Lindhjem & Braten 2010: 7). The forestry sector forms the core of the Cameroonian economy, generating about 13,000 formal and 1,50,000 informal jobs, thus becoming the largest employer outside the public sector. Timber is the second largest source of export revenues after petroleum, accounting for 4.8 percent of non-petroleum GDP in 2004 (Aronsen et al 2010). “The deforestation rate is 1,53,700 hectares per year, or 0.72%, according to the National communication, although latest assessments have yielded much lower rates” (Westholm et al 2009: 44). From the year 1994, Cameroon regulated access to its rainforests, balanced public and private interests in those forests, and combined a broad range of economic, cultural, and environmental approaches to the value of the forests, by introducing regulatory and market-based reforms. According to Topa, Megevand and Karsenty (2009), reports based on evidence from historical data and extensive interviews indicate that the reforms brought order among the most highly competing interests, and addressed vital environmental and social issues; however a significant part of the agenda remains incomplete. The reports provide information to the public on the boundaries, ownership, use rights, and management of Cameroon’s rainforests, together with detection and prosecution of illegal activities. There has been improvement of forest governance and collaboration between forest institutions and civil society. Sustainability is the primary goal of management systems in more than sixty percent of Cameroon’s rainforests. Illegal logging has been significantly reduced in parks and production forests, though it persists in rural areas. The restructured forest industry coordinates logging with the forest’s capacity to regenerate, by means of internationally recognized management practices. Further reform is considered necessary, with greater recognition of the customary rights of all people who depend on Cameroon’s forests, regardless of ethnicity. Timber and other forest products such as medicinal plants and bush meat are illegally exploited outside state forests. Hence, Cameroon requries qualified eco-investors to manage conservation and reduce reliance on timber production (Topa et al 2009). It is crucial to increase community involvement in the management of all types of forests. Further, Topa et al (2009) advocate greater attention to local markets and small firms to reinforce forest governance and the forest industry in essential ways. For greater effectiveness in conserving forests, it is considered that rewarding corporate social responsibility with increased leniency of bank guarantees and tax incentives may be as important as punishing corporate misbehaviour. UN-REDD Programme in Cameroon: Its Goals, Objectives and Targets The REDD Readiness process in Cameroon is in its early stages, and awareness at the local level is comparatively low, regarding the opportunities for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD). However, there is increasing interest for REDD, and several actors and agencies are getting involved at various levels. The government submitted the Readiness Plan Idea Note (R-Pin) to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility of the World Bank (FCPF) at the end of July 2008. Consultations with key stakeholders have to be conducted as a part of the REDD readiness process. Cameroon being a UN-REDD country, “has access to funding for activities related to the preparation and implementation of national REDD strategies and mechanisms” (Aronsen et al 2010: 8). Numerous projects concerning sustainable forest management and REDD initiated by multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and donors are being initiated. The European Union (EU) has been undertaking two projects in Cameroon: one pertains to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme in partnership with Bolivia since 2007, and the other is the “EU funding for the African Forests Observatory Centre (FORAF) project that has enabled the production of the first homogenous cartographic cover of deforestation and degradation in the Congo Basin countries” (Aronsen et al 2010: 8). A number of donors such as Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Franc have also initiated different projects. The German Technical Cooperation (GTC) provides technical assistance in monitoring including national biomass and greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Additionally, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in collaboration with Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) and the EU, formed the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG) in 2006, “consisting of government and non-government forest practitioners that focus on exchanging lessons and developing ideas for improving forest governance in Cameroon” (Aronsen et al 2010: 8). None of these projects appear to particularly address benefit sharing. Moreover, several NGOs and research institutes such as the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), conduct information workshops on REDD towards increasing the capacity and awareness of REDD issues. For example, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is building a REDD approach for relevant countries with the purpose of supporting the construction of a portfolio of potential REDD projects. It also provides technical assistance for the conservation and protection of forest areas (Aronsen et al 2010). In 2007, the German Technical Cooperation agency together with the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) initiated a pilot project with the objective of establishing valid scientific projections of potential carbon biomass loss within the REDD framework in Bolivia and Cameroon. This project was to produce a map of the forestry zone, as well as an analysis of the changes that had occurred in the forest cover during the period 1990, 2000 and 2005, based on the analysis of satellite images. The Cameroon study provides the basic framework necessary for implementing similar projects in the Congo Basin region (Westholm et al 2009: 48). UN-REDD Programme in Relation to Governance in Cameroon Countries such as Cameroon which undertake REDD+ programmes will need to strengthen forest governance. It will assist countries “to achieve their emission reduction targets, to ensure that reductions are permanent and additional, and to promote broader sustainable development objectives. Different countries will face unique governance challenges in relation to REDD+, and in the same way, solutions will need to be individually tailored. However, some of the common governance considerations for all REDD+ countries include “capacity, transparency, accountability, participation and coordination as key principles of good governance that should be applied to REDD+ systems and processes” (Davis 2010: 12). Similarly, most proposals identify indistinctly defined land tenure and weak law enforcement as chief governance challenges for REDD+ countries. In most of the proposals there was a lack of consideration of how governance issues could be monitored, reported and verified to increase the effectiveness of REDD+ programmes. This indicates that greater effort is required “to think comprehensively and systematically about issues of governance and monitoring of governance that are important for REDD+.” (Davis 2010: 13). UN-REDD Programme to Counter Corruption in Cameroon Although there are several laws related to biodiversity conservation, the implementation and enforcement of these laws are weak, and corruption is widely prevalent in natural resource management. Thus, expelling illegal land occupants is necessary by the minister in charge of Forests and Wildlife, in collaboration with NGOs (Cameroon 2009). Cameroon has developed an effective mechanism for sharing timber revenues with poor communites; although a very promising concept, the distributions are not being conducted to the required extent. REDD+ for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the plus is a recent addition representing “conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks, as well as the sustainable management of forests” (Science Blog 2011). REDD+ is the term used for a proposed agreement establishing a system to reward developing countries for not cutting down their forests because of the carbon stored in them. If successfully conducted, REDD+ could generate billions of dollars for the world’s poorest communities. A study conducted by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) highlighted the challenges that could arise in trying to fairly distribute REDD+ funds, and attempting to invest the money to improve the livelihoods of forest communities. Corruption and mismanagement of the huge sums of area fee (AF) taxes levied on logging companies results in communities not receiving the funds that they are legally entitled for. To develop a functional system for allocating forest revenues, improving the distribution system alone would be inadequate. Authorities in Cameroon would need to “monitor, detect and sanction embezzlement or mismanagement at the local level” (Science Blog 2011). At the same time the Area Fee money or REDD+ money should not become a substitution for funds that the central government should be providing for effective projects to alleviate poverty, as this would not allow any progress to take place. UN-REDD Programme and Sustainable Development in Cameroon Cameroon expects the adoption of a REDD strategy to improve the understanding of ecosystems and biodiversity protection, help sustain the traditional lifestyles of forest dwellers, improve the forestry sector as a whole, develop its touristic potential and help fight erosion and desertification (Cameroon 2008). Biodiversity is greatly impacted by the clearing of forests for agriculture and logging activities. Numerous activities are considered as priority for promoting biodiversity conservation in tropical dense forests. Among the most important and most highly prioritized are the promotion of sustainable forest management (SFM) and building development and reinforcing capacity for SFM and forest protection. Cameroon’s national report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recognizes the association between climate change and desertification. There have been attempts on local or regional levels to include local communities in undertaking the CBD. However, factors which have slowed the implementation of the Convention include the lack of financial resources, and lack of institutional as well as human capacity. In some cases, conventional management practices and biodiversity interests conflict with one another, impeding the implementation of the Convention. Further, the lack of national inventories makes monitoring difficult (Cameroon 2009). Cameroon has some good starting points in terms of field data and forest inventories; however specific data related to biomass and carbon stocks are not available. The German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTC) collaborates with the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) in the development of a range of REDD tools for Cameroon. One part of this project conceives the development of a national biomassand greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory for the forestry sector in collaboration with Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF), Global Forest Watch and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). “The project seeks to develop technical recommendations in the establishment of a national biomass inventory and monitoring system in line with IPCC guidelines” (Westholm et al 2009: 47). A national biomass map for the year was also to be produced. Closely related to this project is an initiative funded by the Congo Basin Forest Fund, which proposes to quantify carbon emissions from forest loss and degradation in Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, using IPCC guidelines for accounting. The project includes an update of forest cover change from 2005-2010, and will add missing years extending back to the 1990s (CBFF 2009). “Among other activities implemented so far are the development and testing of methods for monitoring deforestation and degradation using national coverage satellite data and the modification and implementation of a method for monitoring forest degradation in a pilot area in the South-East of Cameroon. Thus, Westholm et al (2009) state that using national results, Cameroon would be able to take informed decisions and evaluate technical and economical viability of implementing REDD as a post-Kyoto mechanism. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is developing a REDD system for numerous countries in order to support the development of a portfolio of project ideas that would be eligible for carbon compensation schemes. The objective is to determine the ground activities that support the development of framework criteria and standards for carbon forestry projects in given host countries, and to contribute to the development of national REDD strategies. At the organizational level, on a technical basis it would be valuable to group together and concentrate the purchase and processing of satellite images of the Congo Basin region. Discussions with different partners have been undertaken for installing a direct reception station for satellite images in Libreville, Gabon. However, the length of time taken may not coincide with the timeframe of the REDD negotiation (Cameroon 2008). The Challenges in Reducing GHG Emissions from Deforestation Various initiatives in Cameroon are being undertaken to develop greenhouse gas inventories, a forest cover and deforestation monitoring programme, as well as functioning on-the-ground pilot activities. “Politically and financially, the country is therefore well prepared for a future REDD scheme and will be able to take informed decisions and relatively fast actions” (Westholm et al 2009: 49). However, some challenges have to be resolved particularly in field data quality and availability as well as in the technical areas. A large number of REDD projects are being implemented in Cameroon and the Congo; however there are certain problems and challenges in establishing a credible reference scenario. “Problems prevail in field data quality and availability as well as on the technical side of satellite imagery” (Westholm et al 2009: 48). The quality of data may be low because of different methodologies applied in the inventories, incomplete information, non-representative data, etc. leading to diverging figures on forest area. Further, the existing measurements and sample plots need to be for a larger scale to represent the entire country. The local forest dynamics need to be investigated, not large-scale (Cameroon 2008). The technical challenges includes the large number of days with cloud cover or haze over the country showing unclear satellite images. Further, the availability of satellite images for Central Africa has been restricted; and “since 2003 technical problems with the principle captor used in the region (LANDSAT ETM+) forced users to turn to other data sources” (Westholm et al 2009: 49). Conclusion This paper has highlighted the the United Nations’ collaborative initiative Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (UN-REDD) in developing countries, on forest management in Cameroon in Central Africa. Reform in Cameroon’s rain forests, the UN-REDD’s goals and objectives in Cameroon, governance, corruption and sustainable development in Cameroon in relation to the UN-REDD programme, and the challenges faced in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Cameroon were discussed. It is clear that through the various projects implemented by the UN-REDD initiative in partnership with different agencies, the future prospects of forest management in Cameroon appear bright. Cameroon (2008) reiterates that technical problems are likely to be solved in the near future, mainly through Cameroon’s participation in the Congo Basin Forest Fund, thereby supporting activities to foster readiness for REDD. Cameroon has a historically low rate of deforestation, consequently “reference scenarios and forecasting should take future pressures on forests into account, and not focus merely on historical data for calculating a baseline” (Cameroon 2008). The country’s future REDD strategy will be constructed according to the estimation of future emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and on transformations in forest cover based on econometric and spatial models. Bibliography Aronsen, I., Lindhjem, H. & Braten, K.G. (2010). Experiences with forest benefit sharing and issues for REDD-PLUS in Cameroon. Commissioned by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Retrieved on 15th June, 2011 from: http://www.lindhjem.info/Cameroon.pdf Cameroon (2009). Cameroon Fourth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Republic of Cameroon, UNEP, GEF, CBD. Cameroon (2008). Readiness Plan Idea Note (R-PIN). 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The rainforests of Cameroon: Experience and evidence from a decade of reform. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. UN-REDD. (2009). About the UN-REDD programme. The United Nations (UN) collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) in developing countries. Retrieved on 15th June, 2011 from: http://www.un-redd.org/AboutUNREDDProgramme/tabid/583/Default.aspx Westholm, L., Henders, S., Ostwald, M. & Mattsson, E. (2009). Assessment of existing global financial initiatives and monitoring aspects of carbon sinks in forest ecosystems – The issue of REDD. Forest, Climate and Livelihood (FOCALI) Research Network. Retrieved on 15th June, 2011 from: http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/assessment-of-existing-global.pdf Read More