GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN TIMBER EXPLOITATION

Transcription

1 .: I,. : ~. ;' ', " (, ; PILOTING COLLABORATIVE FOREST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN OFF RESERVE AREAS IN SOUTHERN GHANA,, t ' ITTO/FSO PROJECT PO 41/95 Rev. 1 (F) i i:- :\- '.i.. i ~ ~ ~ GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN TIMBER EXPLOITATION :.:! ; - 1 : :-. Project Directorate Resource Management Support Centre Forest Services Division, Forestry Commission July, 2000

2 ,! ;... I ;, '. I, i j :" i f""_ I~Directorate <~ DR. KWESt T.ORGLE MR. ALEXANDER B ASARE OR. KYEREH-BOATENG MR. ATTA OWUSU MR. KOFI MAINU NANA OPIAH MENSAH MR. WALLACE KOOMSON MRS. VALERIE FUMEY NASSAH The Project Directorate ITTOIFSD Project PD Rev.l (F) Resource Management Support Centre Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission July,2000 l

3 1.0 INTRODUTION Ghana abounds in a lot of forest resources, which contribute to the growth of the economy. Timber for instance, now ranks as the fourth foreign exchange earner after gold, tourism and cocoa. Aside this, the timber industry provides jobs to a considerable number of people. Unfortunately, the timber resource is diminishing at an alarming rate. This is attributable to factors such as unsound farming practices, intensive and unsustainable logging, indiscriminate wildfires, and high demand for wood for both local construction and export. " :.' L >: I' Timber from off-reserve areas contributes 0.5 million cubic meters of the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) of 1 million cubic meters, while the capacity of the industry is about 3.7 million cubic meters. This implies that demand for timber for industrial and domestic use far exceeds the supply. The excessive demand for timber has thus led to series of illegal timber operations. As an intervention Military Task Forces were formed to assist staff of the Forest Services Division in halting illegal operations. It appears little has been achieved. There was also a change in policy, which placed the control of timber harvesting in offreserve areas under the remit of FSD. Again, the control of off-reserve timber by the introduction of District quotas has been unable to solve the problem. i I',,. ".., 1 ' " I I ' i. 1 ' I, i' The purpose of the guidelines is to look at the role local communities can play to ensure sustainable timber harvesting in off-reserve areas. 2.0 PRINCIPLES AND RECOMMENDED ACTIONS To ensure effective involvement of the local communities in controlling timber harvesting identified issues termed principles have been developed. These are supported with recommended actions to be followed in order to attain the stated goal. '," j. I. ',,' 2.1 IDENTIFICATION OF TUC AREAS Timber Utilization Contracts (TUCs) are put in place under the Timber Resources Management Act, 1997 Act 549 to replace the Concession or Lease system for timber harvesting. This is to ensure that the grant of timber rights will be in a manner that secures the sustainable management and utilization of the timber resources. Principle 1 During the TUC identification process there should be consultation with the landowners, caretaker chiefs, alienation holders, representatives of the District Assemblies and the Traditional council. Their consent and endorsement are sought before an advertisement could be made. Hardly do they consult the farmer who actually tills the land and this acts as a disincentive. The consultation also comes too late in the TUC award process.

4 The consultation should be broadened to include the actual farmers who cultivate the land, other stakeholders and Community Forest Committees (CFCs). - The consultation should start at the time of undertaking reconnaissance surveys. - Throughout the process there should be transparency and adequate publicity. r. I.! SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AGREEMENT (SRA) Regulation (L ) requires that under the TUC system there should be a Social Responsibility Agreement (SRA) to assist the inhabitants within the contract area with such amenities as shall be specified in the agreement. This should be at a cost of not more than 5% of the annual royalty accruing from the operations under the TUC. District Managers should be made to provide communities with estimates the volume of harvestable trees, which is equivalent to 5% of the royalties. I i' i I.. I I.: I: ' : I. ; I Principle 3 Benefits accruing to communities are in most cases not properly accounted for: This can defeat the objectives of the SRA. - To ensure transparency it is recommended that the District Assemblies and Traditional Authorities should properly document and account for all receipts from the contractors. Projects should be implemented according to the communities' laid down procedures. Principle 4 The conduct of the contractor and his staff in the course of their operations is a source of conflict with the community. - Contractors should strictly follow provisions in the Logging Manual (i.e. courtesy to the people, respect cultural norms such as taboo days. Non-disruption of agricultural activities etc.) Principle 5 Once the Contractor fulfils his part of the arrangement under the SRA communities should reciprocate by protecting the timber resources. Communities should assist in preventing illegal timber operations Communities must check the spread of wildfires. - The Contractor's operations should not be impaired.

5 Principle 6 A radical shift from the old informal arrangement to SRA is the creation of new opportunities such as employment, which leads to improvement in the Socio-economic conditions of the local communities. Communities should avail themselves of the provisions of the SRA in terms of Scholarships Livelihoods Access to off-cuts Supply of lumber for local use... 0 ' 2.3 LAND USE The present land use in Southern Ghana will have several implications for resource exploitation, some of which can create conflict. In off-reserve areas of Ghana the primary land use is agriculture. Principle 7 Conflicts between timber harvesting and agriculture are detrimental to sustainable management of timber resources. I i' Communities should be well motivated to see exploitation as a normal land use. - Timber harvesting should be planned with the community representatives in such a way as to cause minimum disturbances to crop farms. Principle 8 Given the right incentives a majority of farmers are willing to nurture and protect trees. Incentives for forest management can best be provided if linked to timber exploitation. -The farmers who actually till and protect the trees should have a fair share of the timber royalties. Contractors should be made to provide farmers with lumber for domestic use. 2.4 LOGGING OPERATIONAL PLAN A 5-year operational plan for off reserve is prepared by the contractor and submitted as part of the application for a TUC. This may have to be amended, having gone through the evaluation process. In addition the TUC holder is to prepare his annual logging plan which will need the approval of FSD prior to timber harvesting.

6 Principle 9 Contractors are not obliged to show these plans to the local communities. If the communities have access to these plans it will improve their understanding and relations with the contractors. Since these documents provide vital information against which the contractors' performance could be assessed, their preparation should be made compulsory or else the contractors should not be allowed to commence operation. The plans should be made accessible to the communities. 2.5 PRE-FELLlNG INSPECTION,.! I I I I I I '. " A pre-felling inspection is required before yield is given out to carry out harvesting. Prior to this contractors are expected to identify trees they wish to fell and mark them with a band of red paint. This is to ensure easy identification of the trees. The applicant then provides FSD with information on trees identified and request for a pre-felling inspection to be undertaken. Principle 10 Contractors hardly mark the trees identified. Some Contractors do not even undertake this exercise. It is also difficult to get the representatives of the communities and the farmers to participate. Contractors who refuse to undertake this exercise should be denied the permit. The participation of the representatives of the communities and the farmer should be a pre-requisite. Landowners and other stakeholders must take active interest to ensure that the right procedure is followed. 2.6 LOGGING ROADS Many serious environmental effects are caused by bad road alignment and design. Generally speaking, roads, which are well designed from an environmental standpoint, are also cheaper to build and to maintain. Principle 11 Most often Contractors construct logging roads in off-reserve areas through farms thereby causing a lot of damage to crops. This happens because the farmers or community representatives are not consulted in the design and the end result is conflict generation.

7 I:. I' : )' the people must be consulted during road alignment in order to reduce conflicts. Roads should be aligned and constructed to standards that permit the most economical movement of machinery and do not promote erosion or undue concentration of drainage water Bridges and culverts on roods should be designed, taking into account a predictable flood recurrent interval. Alignment through environmentally sensitive areas such as swamps and sacred groves should be avoided. Roads should be serviceable after extraction of logs so that communities can make use of them. 2.7 HARVESTING SYSTEMS Harvesting is one of the greatest causes of environmental changes. Careful planning and consultation with interested parties are essential before the operation begins., ~ t Principle 12 Sometimes harvesting is done without consulting the farmers on whose farms the trees are and this results in conflicts. Felling is not done selectively but based on availability of trees, which is in conflict with sustainable timber harvesting. Felling is done anyhow, resulting in considerable damage to crops. I.' i. "..; - I :. 1! -I Consult with the community and farmers in particular to obtain their consent before harvesting since it is an offence to fell trees against the wishes of the farmer. Avoid clear felling in favour of selective felling. Practice directional felling and fell as close to the ground as possible Fell into tract openings to reduce crop damage. Principle 13 Logs especially from off-reserve areas are not properly marked and this makes their tracking difficult. This is usually done by illegal operators. Ensure that every log is marked with; the species code locality mark contractor's tree number which is a sequential number beginning with 1, being the first tree felled since registration of the Contractor's property mark the log number which is the number of the log cut from the tree; log number 1 being the butt log and the contractor's property mark.

8 Principle 14 Log yards constructed are usually bigger than the recommended size of % of a hectare. Topsoil is not replaced after use and there is no provision of drainage structures. t ' i Log yards must be kept as small as practicable and should not be more than one quarter of a hectare in area. - Topsoil are to be put back after the operation. Log yards must be provided with drainage structures that prevent run-off onto roads or towards streams. They should be scarified prior to use. After logging operations have been completed the area should be deep ripped, topsoil replaced, desirable natural trees planted and drainage structures maintained. i. _. ;,... /~ 2.8 COMPENSATION TO FARMERS This is the amount paid to farmers for crop damage during timber operations on their farms. I': " ; i I "', I! I,, "I r Principle 15 By and large compensation paid to farmers for crop damage is either inadequate or not paid at all. Such a practice is a disincentive to farmers, some of whom deliberately destroy the trees by setting fire or slashing down potential saplings even before the contractors get to them. Fixing of compensation should be based on current realities Farmers must be given sufficient incentive to leave trees on their farms Contractors who refuse to pay compensation promptly should not be allowed to continue with their operations. 2.9 LOGGING RESIDUE This entails off-cuts, rejected logs, branches and other parts of fell tree usually left in the bush during timber operations to get rotten. Principle 16 A good proportion of timber is left in the bush to go waste. Contractors refuse to remove crooked and slightly defective logs. Regulation requires that where logs are left in the bush to go waste or logs have been abandoned a penalty of ten (10) times the current maximum royalty for that species be charged.

9 Millers must be encouraged to make use of residue Local communities should be given the option to utilize off-cuts and rejects for a livelihood. The tree volume used to calculate stumpage should cover every utilizable wood including the stump and bigger branches instead of the utilizable bole Enforce regulations on abandoned logs MON ITORING Monitoring is carried out to gather information in order to assess performance and where necessary to modify practice. FSD staffs are responsible for monitoring of harvesting practices and drawing to the attention of the Contractor any unacceptable methods.... ; ~. ~, I I. Principle 17 Local communities are normally not involved in monitoring since they see it as the responsibility of the Forest Services Division. - As spelt out in the Forest and VVildlife Policy of 1994, there should be collaboration with the local people in forest management. The entire community should therefore be encouraged to be vigilant and assist FSD so that illegal operations are eliminated. Everyone has the right to ask a contractor working on their land to produce a permit and to check that drivers have been issued with a Conveyance Certificate. The local communities should be encouraged to insist on their rights ILLEGAL TIMBER FELLING Due to high rate of rural unemployment most of the rural dwellers I-'ave I! t'-"'e'" Of'..-I!l'_!uvv f.() iu"'aa'.! ll f,'mb",r. v:!vatj ""''''''lo, tatioln ~I:I 1'0" It-re; +h'" Ir ' Ivelihf"l-"\r.! _.. _ivv~l Principle 18 IlIega! Contractors refuse to obtain permits or seek the consent of farmers before embarking on their operations. Loca! communities sometimes connive with them or show apathy. Lack of job opportunities compels some rural folks to take to illegal timber operations. Recommended A.ction Viable cottage industries should be identified and harnessed to provide rural livelihood opportunities. Community forest communities (efcs) and other concerned groups should be empowered to assist FSD to control iilegal exploitation of timber. There should be more education on the importance of conserving trees.

10 I' 1 - ~! CONCLUSION The control of timber harvesting outside forest reser\!es has been a difficult task for the Forest Services Division. This has resulted in fast depletion of timber in these areas. The best bet of resolving the situation appears to be the involvement of the loca! communities in the management of forest resources in off~reserve areas. I;!.! " " \ 1..! I I,I i i l"j,