can we manage forests for multiple uses in the congo basin?
DESCRIPTION
Robert Nasi gave this presentation on 22 May 2013 at a discussion forum during the two-day policy and science conference entitled "Sustainable forest management in Central Africa: Yesterday, today and tomorrow", organized by CIFOR and its partners and held in Yaounde, Cameroon.TRANSCRIPT
Can we manage forests formultiple uses in the Congo
Basin?
Robert Nasi, Alain Billand, Manuel Guariguata
Yaoundé, 22/05/2013
Timber• RIL and beyond…
+ Biodiversity• Use ecology, life history, consider
wildlife… + Non Timber Forest Products
• Trade-offs but possible
+ Ecosystem services• Trade-offs but possible; appears in
certification schemes (HCV); seriousaccountability issues…
+ Carbone• Several risks, trade-offs and issues
…Against threats?• Climate change, invasive species, land
conversion….
The “Compatibility Continuum”
Inactive Active
Coincident
Timbermanagementtoolsmitigatesdamagetootheruses(roads,skidtrails,timberinventorying)
Timberextractionbenefitsothervalues(logginggaps,directionalfelling)
ExplicitlymanageforbothtimberandNTFPvalues
Modes of Interaction
Independent (spatially segregated, or when there isno conflict of use for tree species with NTFP value)
Competitive—e.g., extraction of tree species withboth NTFP value for different stakeholders orexclusion of a given group of stakeholders
Complementary—e.g., logging enhancesgrowth/regeneration of NTFP (all else being equal)
Main Issues Many tropical tree species have both timber and
non-timber values that accrue to differentstakeholders
Current certification schemes diverge for timberand NTFPs
Forestry education and training biased towardstimber
Legal and regulatory frameworks dictatedseparately for timber and NTFPs
Best harvesting practices/management protocolsfor NTFPs have little validation
Multiple-uses in the CongoBasin
Wood
OFAC, State of Forests 2010
Other goods
Source: OFAC, State of Forests 2010
Timber, management andbiodiversity
Landuse km2
“Ordinarylands” 448,801
Loggingconcessions 595.381
Communityforests ≈11.000
Protectedareas 444,973 Source:Nasietal,2011
Source:Mégevand,2013
Selective logging in the CongoBasin
Timber remains the sole managed commodity
Highly selective, few individuals (less than 2) of fewcommercial species (less than 5) represent more than75% of the volume harvested (less than 10m3/ha)
Rotation cycles of about 25-30 years; Minimum cuttingdiameter rules; No post-harvest silviculture
The area under proper management and certification isincreasing
Nasi et al. 2006; OFAC, State of Forest 2008, 2010
Impactofcertificationonharvestintensity
Ceruttietal.2011
Certified concessionshave a significantlyreduced harvestingintensity
Harvestingintensityandresidualstands
Nasi&Forni,2006
543210
Are
a im
pact
ed (%
)
30
20
10
0 Rsq = 0.9427
Numberoftreesharvested/ha
Graphique symétrique
(axes F1 et F2 : 54.36 %)
GroupeIndépendant
International
Aménagement en cours
Aménagé
Certifié
Non aménagé
2
3
4 5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
20
21
22
23
26
1
-1.5
-1
-0 .5
0
0 .5
1
1.5
-1.5 -1 -0 .5 0 0 .5 1 1.5
F1 (44.24 %)
F2
(1
0.1
2 %
)
Variables supp. Observations
- Actions concrètes +
+
D
iffic
ulté
s r
encontr
ées
-
- Ni les méthodes
- Ni les capacités
actuellement
- Malgré
quelques actions
- Vise la certification
- Souhaite maintenir
ses efforts
- > 30 essences
exploitéees
Pas encore
de résultats
More Biodiversity activities ++
Mo
re p
rob
lem
s
ex
pre
ss
ed
++
Sust. Mangt Plan under way
No Plan
With PlanCertified
No methodsNo capacitiesLimited activities
Basicintentions,Limited results Activities limited to
legal requirementLimited results
Motivated CEO andsome staffLong term effortsEffective field activities
Billand et al. 2009
Pro-biodiversity activities in loggingconcessions
Only certifiedconcessionsshow significantactivities in favorof biodiversity
Estimates of the value of thebushmeat trade range from US$42to US$205 million per year inWest-Central Africa.
Current harvest in Central Africaalone may well be in excess of 5million tons annually, couldrepresent more than 20 million hadeforested for pasture!
30 to 80% of the protein intake ofmany rural populations
Bushmeat huntingin Congo Basin
Why a landscape approach?
High mobility of wildlife (migration, dispersal, extensiveterritories…)
Conserving Protected areas alone, will not be enough toconserve large sized/highly mobile species with hugeranges (e.g. Elephants) or locally rare plant species
The contribution of production forests to biodiversityconservation is increasingly recognized (e.g. North Congo wheregorilla densities are higher in logging concessions than in the neighbouringNP)
Protected areas and loggingconcessions : surprisinglyclose neighbors
OFAC, State of Forest 2008
NationalParks
LoggingConcessions
Huntingareas
Parks, Concessions, Hunting areas : where are flagship species ?Some surprising assessments
Numberofapenests/km2
OFAC, State of Forest 2008
New land-usetypes
Combine several land usetypes (e.g. loggingconcession, protected area,CBFM…) in one land-usemanagement unit that wouldbecome an:
Integratedproduction/conservationlandscape
Environmentalservices
Localincomes
Taxes,fiscalrevenues
SustainruralpopulationMixedarea:protectedareaand
conservationenterprise
ProtectedArea
Certifiedlogging
concession
Communityforest
Municipalforest
Agro‐industry
Hunting,Gathering,Informalsectors
Urban,socialspace
Billand & Nasi 2006
Realize the economic potential of theconservation side
Manage informal sectors like hunting, fishing orNTFP extraction for local livelihoods
Use part of the income generated by theindustrial production side for the conservationarea for reciprocal benefits
Foster certification (not limited to timberconsiderations)
Basic rules
Enabling conditions
Starting funds are needed to cover initial transactioncosts
The willingness of the production sector to engageinto certification or other biodiversity friendly practices
The willingness of the conservation community tocollaborate, share experiences and support theprivate sector in integrating conservation concerns inmanagement practices
A proactive political support (creating specific land-use units with specific instances for decision making)or, at least, neutral (no undue interference from theState).
Set of key attributes
Complexity
Authenticity
Continuity
Heterogeneity
Proximity
Redundancy
Resilience
Uniqueness
Gustafsson,Laumonier,Nasi2009
Management principles
Maintain landscape heterogeneity Maintain large structurally complex patches of
natural vegetation Create buffers around sensitive areas Maintain or create corridors and stepping stones Use appropriate disturbance regimes in
management Maintain functional diversity Manage for keystone species Consider endemic, rare and threatened species
The Congo Basin has identified 12 Landscapes designed for sharedproduction and conservation management of forests
Actors (public,private sectors)are aware aboutthe necessity toimprovecollaboration forconcerted orintegratedmanagement
But experiencesat field levelremain limited
Source : Carpe
Some implications for tropicalforestry research
“Our major disciplines have long ago ceasedto be effective as separate, have in fact
searched for ways of coming together…butare restrained by institutional resistance and
lack of vision” (Ron Burnett 2005)
New disciplines
SocialSciences
BiologicalSciences
“CONSILIENCE: the methods and assumptions of any field of studyshould be consistent with the known and accepted facts in other
disciplines” E.J. Wilson.
AnthropologyEconomyPolicySociology…
BotanyEcologyGeneticsZoology…
LandscapeecologyEcologicaleconomyPoliticalecologyLandusechangeHumanecology
TransdisciplinarySciences
Some final comments Search for a globally accepted definition of sustainable
forest management is pointless Management should be defined by societal demands Outcomes and results should be monitored based on agreed
objectives for management; unrealistic, unachievable orvague targets are of little use
Good management can never be attained throughbureaucratic procedures alone.
Best practices require able and motivated managers areavailable on site to address concerns on a day-to-day basis:capacity building and training are keys!
Sound judgment remains the foundation of goodmanagement. Data can inform this judgment, but is not anend in itself
Search for universally agreed definitions is pointless(forests or sustainability)
Strive for continuous improvement to better outcomeswhen the “best” is unachievable
Scale research appropriately to the research question
Classical forest science has peaked! Grainger (2009) calls for a “new global forest science’” Burley (2004) believes that forest science can be
“restored” with “new interdisciplinary approaches thatintegrate the work of biophysical scientists and socio-economic researchers”
Research /Science