Input to UNFF8 by the Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Transcription

1 Preamble Input to UNFF8 by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) All SADC member states signed and ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Convention on Combating Desertification, and are regular participants to the sessions of the UN Forum on Forests. In response member states have initiated policy and legislative reviews, national action plans and programmes to address amongst others challenges on climate change, the loss of forest cover and land degradation, loss of biodiversity and the means of implementation for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). Furthermore, the SADC sub region has developed the SADC Forestry Protocol (2002), which is the over arching policy framework for collaboration among member states on forest development that also covers the substantive matters of the UNFF. Section I: Substantive Matters of the Forum a. Major Developments and Challenges 1. Forests and climate change There has been major progress in the development of National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) including the review of existing as well as formulation of new policies, legislation and strategies regarding the mitigation and adaptation towards climate change (CC). Several climate change mitigation and adaptation measures such as national tree planting, improved silviculture are being implemented. Furthermore, national, sub regional and international collaboration on CC has been intensified. The key challenges are: Limited awareness and experiences about CC issues/developments related to the forestry sector, including lack of specific forestry fora for sharing data and information, experiences and lessons learned between SADC member states, as well as lack of coordination of different sectors dealing with CC, Limited financial, technical and human resources to implement strategies on CC mitigation and adaptation. Poverty the overarching challenge to any development in the forest sector, Limited capacities to assess vulnerability of affected areas and people, Unknown future developments and relations between CC and natural disasters as well as forest fires, pests and diseases, Weak sub regional institutional structures and governance (e.g. no CC monitoring facility), Limited access to, adoption, adaptation and improvement of technologies to mitigate and adapt towards CC. 2. Reversing the loss of forest cover, preventing forest degradation and combating deforestation There are several actions undertaken at the sub regional and national level to reverse the loss of forest cover and to prevent forest degradation. Forest policies, national programmes and strategies are being adapted and revised to improve protection of forested areas, enhance the planting of trees to minimize desertification, promotion of participatory forest management, cost benefit sharing mechanisms and alternative sources of energy. Intensive programmes towards theses goals are developed in collaboration with NGOs and private sector. Furthermore, trans frontier conservation areas (TFCAs) are being established throughout the SADC member states, enabling the sub region to pool resources for conservation and empower communities in and adjacent to TFCAs to conserve and sustainably use natural resources.

2 2 The industrialization, population growth and dependence of local people on forest resources which leads to deforestation and land degradation, The intensification of agricultural programmes to address food security as well as the cultivation of bio fuels feedstock leading to the clearing of forested land, Lack of water inhibits reforestation programmes, Forest fires, especially coordinating national and cross border actions. Poor benefit sharing mechanisms that do not provide adequate incentives for forest protection to people in and around forests. 3. Forests and Biodiversity Conservation including protected areas In the SADC sub region major progress has been made in the development of national and regional policies, legal and institutional frameworks. The biodiversity programme has been developed and is being implemented through national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and a Protocol on Environment as well as a Strategy on TFCAs have been drafted. TFCAs have been established. Furthermore, there are actions to establish protected areas networks throughout the sub region. Also, community based natural resource management for wildlife and forests initiatives/networks are functional. Inadequate sharing of technical knowledge, experiences and information in established networks Weak law enforcement and governance Inadequate funding for biodiversity and management programmes at national and sub regional levels Inadequate coordination and policy harmonization with other sectors that impact on forests Over exploitation of indigenous forests Uncontrolled forest fires The growing threat of invasive alien plant species Lack of comprehensive national and regional data on forest biodiversity 4. Means of implementation for sustainable forest management Major developments across the sub region include the establishment of national forest programmes, review of national legislation and forestry policy to include SFM. Sub regional developments include the current process to develop a SADC sub regional forest strategy for the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Forestry, establishment of a SADC forestry working group to spearhead the strategy development, and the revival of the SADC Technical Committee on Forestry. Decline of: (a) national budget allocation to forestry and (b) ODA to forest sector in the sub region Inadequate knowledge about and capacity to access funds from global finance mechanisms (GEF, GM, PROFOR) Weak local institutions and skills at community level Inadequate law enforcement and monitoring by forestry authorities and other related institutions Inadequate investment in research and development Commercialization of forestry products leading to over exploitation b. Regional and sub regional experiences on the application of cross cutting issues Finance In general, the forest sector is poorly funded. This is due mainly to the fact that national budgets for forestry are being cut and allocated to other sectors, and revenue generated from the forests is not being ploughed back to the forest sector. Furthermore, the limited valuation of forest products and inadequate articulation of the contribution of forests to other sectors as well as to GDP lead to the underestimation of the contribution of the

3 3 forest sector to the national budget. The lack of financial resources attributed to the forest sector leads to a high dependence on conditional donor funding. However, some sub regional experience regarding the financing of activities related to CC have been made through sub regional bodies such as COMESA BIO CARBON and SADC BIO CARBON FUND. Transfer of environmentally sound technologies Through technology transfer, there has been improved access to and use of remote sensing and GIS in forest management and monitoring, as well as the adoption of clean technologies such as solar and wind energy. Furthermore, there have been actions to develop efficient processing and use methods for forest products. However, there is generally limited technology transfer due to high costs and a lack of skills to take advantage of available technology, limited access to information on available technology, and member states are not capable of keeping pace with the rapid changes in technology. Capacity building Capacity building is taking place in the field of sustainable forest management. However, in general there are limited financial and human resources as well as infrastructure for implementing SFM. Specifically, much capacity building is needed in all fields regarding CC (baseline survey, monitoring, access to carbon markets, institutional capacities to handle carbon funds, etc.). Shortage of trained forestry staff is exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. There is a need to improve institutional capacity at local, national and sub regional levels to implement SFM. Where capacity exists it is often not fully utilized (e.g. forestry education). Awareness raising In general, awareness raising is taking place in all topics concerning UNFF through conferences, workshops, celebrations on climate change, tree planting days, rural theatre on forest biodiversity conservation, etc. However, there is a need to improve awareness on the different values of forests. In general, there is only limited capacity of forest institutions to do awareness raising which includes the lack of appropriate extension materials. Furthermore, there is a need to improve communication with other sectors. Education All topics concerning UNFF are not well introduced into formal and informal educational programmes and curricula at all levels. An exception is SFM, which is well included in primary school curricula and more specifically in university education. However, there is a need for updating the courses to incorporate emerging new technologies, developments, etc. Furthermore, there is a low level of public education and transmission of information on these topics, hence the need to simplify and properly package information for target groups. There is high potential to tap traditional forest related knowledge as it is specifically related to CC, introduce it into school curricula and integrate it with conventional knowledge on CC. There is also a need to facilitate learning from other regions about mitigation and adaptation towards CC. At the sub regional level the SADC Environmental Education Programme (SADC REEP) can be mentioned. Information sharing Sub regional information sharing is taking place through various networks (e.g. the FAO Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) network, Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) Network). However, there is still very little information sharing and access to information on SFM, especially forests and CC in the subregion due to poor infrastructure and systems, outdated databases, and limited access to internet. Furthermore, there is limited access to new scientific knowledge through scientific journals as these are published outside Africa. Information packaging could also be improved to reach different audiences. Forest law enforcement and governance Forest law enforcement is considered weak throughout the sub region even though legislative framework exists. The reasons are mainly the lack of support by the judicial system, lack of capacities to implement FLEG initiatives, limited transparency and accountability, weak legislation in general and the high costs for law enforcement in terms of infrastructure and human resources. In some countries overlapping jurisdictions between central government, district council (or local government) and traditional authorities also cause conflicts in the management of forest resources. It was recommended that in the process of decentralisation there was need to involve local people in law enforcement and management of

4 4 forest resources, and to create checks and balances to curb the abuse of the delegated authority. Delegating law enforcement authority without the capacity to utilize it effectively is problematic. Furthermore, cross border law enforcement needs to be strengthened to curb illegal trade in forest products. c. Key issues to be tackled in the near future Establish a stand alone global forest fund to support implementation of SFM, Lobby for prioritization of forestry in national budgets and strengthen financing mechanisms at national levels such as re investing in forest management, Strengthen cross sectoral linkages and synergies with other sectors such as agriculture, environment, water, tourism, energy and other related sectors, Improve investment in forestry and value addition to forest products to improve the contribution of forestry to the sub region s GDP, Develop national and sub regional strategies (zoning plans, etc.) that determine and define areas for agricultural, bio fuel and forest use to avoid conflicts between food, bio fuel production and forestry, Improve valuation of forestry products and service to accurately reflect the true value of forests in national accounts, Establish incentive schemes for community based biodiversity conservation and forest management, Improve management and control of forest fires, including establishment of a sub regional fire monitoring centre, Develop capacity for CDM and REDD forestry project design, implementation and monitoring, including sharing of information and best practices, Improve trans boundary management of forests and efficient use of wood fuels for industrial and domestic energy supplies to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, Strengthen regional capacity in the collection of accurate data on forest resources, including forest cover and carbon stocks, to facilitate forest management, planning and monitoring, Facilitate implementation of sub regional programmes for combating climate change e.g. coordinating NAPAs, Strengthen sub regional institutional capacity to facilitate and coordinate SFM programmes and initiatives, Strengthen the sub regional Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) process and include Trade. Section II: Characteristics of regional and sub regional cooperation and partnerships a. Examples of existing regional and/or sub regional cooperation in supporting the efforts of countries to achieve sustainable forest management Sub regional cooperation exists in the field of (a) trans boundary conservation areas, (b) integrated fire management (Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe) and (c) trans boundary water catchment management. This type of sub regional cooperation stimulates co financing by donors, however, this financial support being most of the time the main source of funding, there is only little financial support by SADC. By financing these projects through Official Development Assistance (ODA) the application of these funds is often driven by donor interests and not oriented towards strategies developed by SADC member states. Furthermore, there is limited capacity developed to use the funds. Technology transfer within the sub region is taking place especially when new technologies such as community based forest management, forest certification, wood working technologies and biomass energy are tested in member countries, and lessons learned and best practices are disseminated throughout the region. This dissemination process is supported by SADC Secretariat. Sub regional cooperation in capacity building has taken place especially in TFCAs and trans boundary water catchment area management through joint training and enforcement, and formulation of guidelines on cost and benefit sharing.

5 5 There is substantial sub regional information sharing on community based forest management and SFM in general through the (a) establishment of regional networks, (b) provision of information on the internet (e.g. through National Forestry Programme (NFP) facility and (c) the establishment of Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) as an independent regional information resource centre to improve the base of knowledge about economic, political, cultural and social developments. However, there is still a need to improve the capacities of regional universities/institutions and use them adequately. SADC has developed a Regional Environment Education Programme (REEP) to enable environmental education practitioners in the sub region to strengthen environmental education processes. This will be achieved through enhanced environmental education policies, networking, resource materials and training capacity. Furthermore, several forestry training institutions throughout the sub region were strengthened through curricula development, infrastructure improvement, and scholarships for student exchange between different SADC member states. Centres of excellence for forestry training were designated to serve as regional concentration points for knowledge and training on forestry. However, there is still a need to collaborate with other regional natural resources programmes to develop education or training materials on CBNRM programmes. b. Multi stakeholder dialogues and participation addressed in the region Sub regional multi stakeholder dialogue processes are being established, e.g. the steering committees in the subregional river catchment projects (e.g. Tanzania Malawi Songwe river catchment project), the SADC multistakeholder forum on forestry created to provide advisory services to decision makers of member states regarding regional forest and forestry issues, and the fora created by the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE). c. Joint activities undertaken with member organizations of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPFs) and/or major groups IUCN SADC Biodiversity Support Programme SADC IUCN Invasive alien species UNFC FAD IUCN USAID UNFF Congo Basin initiatives/partnership CIFOR FAO UNFF ITTO Workshop on forest governance and decentralisation in Africa in support of the work of the UNFF held in Durban, South Africa d. Preparation of input with government representatives, other regional bodies and stakeholder groups This input was prepared at a SADC Stakeholder Forestry Forum consultative meeting (Nov 17 19, 2008). The meeting was specifically convened to finalize the input, and consisted of representatives from government, non governmental institutions (NGOs, private sector and educational institutions) from all 15 SADC member states.