teketay

7/31/2019 teketay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/teketay 1/32

7/31/2019 teketay


-ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF

DRYLAND FORESTS

7/31/2019 teketay


.the Sahel

Item for use Specific Use or Plant Parts Number of

Species*

Timber Structural uses, tools, arts, crafts, furniture,fences, etc.

60 (32)

Fuelwood &

charcoal

64 (39)

Food Leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, gum, other

exudations

68 (22)

Forage Leaves, twigs, flowers, fruits, seeds, etc. 100 (28)

Medicine 107 (25)

Raw materials Gums, tannins, dyes, ash/salts/saponins, fibers 82

Protection & soilimprovement

Shade, erosion control, dune fixation, nutrientenrichment, improvement of soil structure, wind

protection, improvement of water budget, other

positive effects (e.g. fire protection)

39 (20)

Amenity 53 (32)

Source: von Maydell (1986)

7/31/2019 teketay


CAUSES OF DLF DEGRADATION

Natural factorsPhysical environmental factors Climatic factors Biological factors

Anthropogenic factorsDeforestation Overgrazing/grazing by livestock

Unsustainable utilization Introduction of invasive alien species

7/31/2019 teketay


.. .

Socio-economic and policy-related factors

Poverty, population growth and poor economicperformance Inadequate or Absence of land-use classification,

land use and forest policies and legislation Absence of land and tree tenure/ownership right Underestimation of contribution of dryland forests Lack of pricing and incentive policies Inadequate institutional arrangements/set-up for

(dryland) forestry Inadequate or lack of viable dryland forestry

development strategiesWeak forestry research system Insufficient information acquisition, management

and dissemination

7/31/2019 teketay


7/31/2019 teketay


CONSEQUENCES

Urgent need to address causesand the associated undesirable

consequences of DFD if further

degradation of dryland forest

resources is to be prevented.

Requires developing and

implementing realistic or feasible

and appropriateinterventions/measures

applicable to the objective

realities and overall conditions

7/31/2019 teketay


Interventions required: Development & conservation/Institutional

Arrangements:

Continue to f ight poverty by using a viable andrealistic poverty reduc tion strategy :

1) promoting human resources development and

improving access to education and health c are;

2) promoting institutional development based on goodgovernance and full participation of all stakeholders

involved in the fight against poverty;

3) accelerating economic growth with an enhanced role

of the private sector, which shows that the issue ofland tenure, improving market channels and pricing

policies are important; and

4 ) developing growth potential and productivity of the

poor by promoting sectors from which the po or derive

direct benefits, i .e . agriculture and livestock sectors,

7/31/2019 teketay


Providing alternatives sources for energy than wood,

charcoal, dung and agricultural residues to reduce the

pressure from the remaining dryland forests, such as

biogas, solar, wind, electricity (water-based), etc.

Multidisciplinary approach to solve the multi-dimensionaland heterogeneous dryland forest problems, i .e. integrated

approach combining components focusing on sector

development and those targeting on specific areas.

Initiatives to upgrade statistical g athering, data collection,

recording and analyses as well as use of computers to

develop data bases and useful models.

Collect, organize, compile, publish and disseminate the

valuable grey literature on dryland forests that has been

accumulating over the years and shelved by scientists,experts, development agents, etc. in countries of SSA.

Joint forest management: there are already encouraging

starts both in Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Coordination of efforts at all levels.

7/31/2019 teketay


7/31/2019 teketay


• Box 1 . Cognizant of the c ontrac ted c apac ity of

the Government to manage f orest resourc es,

resulting in def orestation and land

degradation, the revised f orest polic y issued in

19 9 8 enc ourages stakeholder involvement in

the management of f orest resourc es. For

instanc e, statement N umber 03 of the Forest

Policy states: "To enable partic ipation of allstakeholders in f orest management and

c onservation, joint management agreements,

with appropriate user rights and benef its , will

be established. The agreement will be betweenthe c entral Government, spec ialized exec utive

agenc ies, private sec tor or Loc al Governments,

as appropriate in eac h c ase, and organized

loc al c ommunities or other organizations of

people living adjac ent to the f orest" . There are

7/31/2019 teketay


Strategies f or c onf lic t management and negotiated

joint programs with c ommunities.

Cooperation/collaboration/Networkin

g: Better institutional c ollaboration, mainly at national

and regional levels

Commitment and ac tive support f rom theinternational c ommunity

Developing strong international , c ontinental ,

regional and national mec hanisms to either prevent

or c ontrol invasive alien spec ies Research:

Making available tec hnic al options f or improved

natural resource management.

Proper valuation of produc ts and servic es f rom

7/31/2019 teketay


Researc h on not only biophy sic al but also

demographic , soc io-ec onomic or institutional

aspec ts of c hanging f orest c onditions, espec ially

as it relates to land degradation and

rehabilitation.

A ddress the several unknowns, e .g. ( i) W hat is the

appropriate institutional arrangement f or

c onservation and utilization of open ac c ess andc ommon property woodland resourc es? (ii)

N ature and requirements of c ollaborative

management models in terms of prac tic al

applic ations - whic h models c an work under whatc onditions? W hat are the perc eptions of

c ommunities on the c ollaborative models?

Indic ating sc ientif ic ally how the c auses of

dry land f orest degradation af f ec t the naturalresourc e bases and rec ommending the need f or

7/31/2019 teketay


Generating solid data showing the ef f ec tiveness

of the intervention/ methodology to be applied

with reliable way s to evaluate the

intervention/ guidelines of managementprac tic es: to help polic y makers determine when

and how they should i ntervene.

Generate knowledge about ec ologic al f ac tors, and

f ac tors that af f ec t human behaviour inenvironmental management.

Inf ormation about the politic al and ec onomic

surroundings, sec toral polic ies, i .e . ec onomic ,

land tenure and f orestry , implic ation of thesepolic ies and the c ulture (by TA LKIN G TO THE

PEOPLE).

Capac ity building of institutions and improving

the researc h environment, espec ially the c areer

struc ture of researc hers (e.g. not muc h is

7/31/2019 teketay


Education/Training/Awareness

creation:

Improvement in the education systemand curricula development, especially

at the University level.

Continuous on-the-job training andexchange of visits to learn from each

other.

Education on population control. Developing human skills in up-to-date

methodologies, program

conceptualization and applications of

7/31/2019 teketay


MGM’T Challenges associated with dryland forest management

could be summarized as:

arresting or retarding further destruction of drylandforest resources

rehabilitation of degraded dryland forests expanding dryland forest resources to meet demand for

energy, construction, wood-based industries and NTFP

keeping sustainable balance between util isation andconservation of dryland forests to improve the qualityof human life

harnessing dryland forest resources to urgently neededsocio-economic development

designing mechanisms to enhance the production oftimber and NTFP for export

reducing or substituting imports of forest products intocountries of SSA

These challenges could be tackled by preparing and

implementing appropriate management plans for thenatural or artificial dryland forests

7/31/2019 teketay


MGM’T?When the huge potentials of dryland forest

resources, which have not been fully andsustainably utilized, are analyzed in thelight of their alarming disappearance ordegradation, the associated consequencesreiterated above and the formidable

challenges laying ahead of us, for sure,trigger a series of questions in our minds,such as:

Do we really have hopes to save and

properly manage the remaining drylandforests and rehabilitate the degradedones?"

Who are the stakeholders responsible forthe management of dryland forests? and

what roles could these stakeholders play?

7/31/2019 teketay


MGM’T? . . .The answer to the first question is yes, but

only if we could address the causes and

consequences of DFD already discussedabove properly and before it is too late, i .e. b yd e s i g n i n g a n d i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e a p p r o p r i a t em e c h a n i s m s o r s t r a t e g i e s f o r t h ed e v e l o p m e n t , s u s t a i n a b l e u t i l i z a t i o n a n d

c o n s e r v a t i o n o f d r y l a n d f o r e s t r e s o u r c e s ,i n c l u d i n g t h e r e h a b i l i t a t i o n o f d e g r a d e da r e a s , b e f o r e t h e i r d e g r a d a t i o n p r o c e e d sb e y o n d t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f r e p a i r .

Since dryland forests are resilient, comparedwith rain forests, they are relatively easier torehabilitate.

The main reason for the dryland forests to bemore resilient is their capacity to store long

lived and viable propagule banks in the soil ,

7/31/2019 teketay


MGM’T? . . .

Good examples of the resilience ofdryland forests witnessed from therehabilitation of degraded areas inSSA can be cited from Ethiopia.

These involve establishinge n c l o s u r e s , areas protected frominterference from humans andanimals, in northern Ethiopia, i .e.Amhara and Tigray National RegionalStates as well as p l a n t i n g t r e es e e d l i n g s a n d g r a s s e s in Tigray (Box2).

7/31/2019 teketay


Fac tors that endanger sustainability of the

rehabilitation initiatives

The ever inc reasing population in the Region in

partic ular and the c ountry in general leads to the

inc rease in the number of landless individuals,

espec ially y outh.

Given the absenc e or sc arc ity of of f -f arm jobopportunities, i f these individuals c ould not be

accommodated by the communities, they may be

f orc ed to use the rehabilitated areas il legally f or

their l ivelihood, e .g. c utting trees/ shrubs f orf uelwood or c harc oal produc tion f or sale.

This would, eventually , lead to degradation of the

areas. The other option is re-distribution of land

sinc e the average land holding is in the order of0.2 – 0.5 ha per household that does not allow

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


This is a known disinc entive f or investment by

households in good management or

c onservation/rehabilitation of natural resourc es.

In addition, sinc e the divided rehabilitated areas

might take longer t ime to give meaningf ul benef it ,

the y outh might dec ide to c onvert them into arable

land to c ultivate c rops f or their immediateconsumption.

This would also lead to degradation.

The two studies made on enc losures in both Tigray

(E miru, 2 001) and A mhara (Tef era, 2 001) revealedthe existenc e of a c onsiderable perc entage of

landless y outh with strong desire of re-distribution

of the enclosures.

Inability of members of the c ommunities to af f ord

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


Soc io-ec onomic investigations on the enc losures

indic ated the lac k of management options f or the

enc losures, and that members of the c ommunities areof the opinion that the objec tive of establishment of

enc losures gives more emphasis to c onservation than

ec onomic utilization.

This implies that unless management options that

ensure more benef it to the c ommunities f rom the

enc losures are developed and put in prac tic e,

sustainability of the initiatives is very questionable.

The prevailing insuf f ic ient/ inadequate institutional

arrangements f or the development, c onservation andsustainable utilization of f orest resourc es, not only in

the two Regions but also in the c ountry at large, as

well as the absenc e of f orest polic y and legislation

have lef t state-owned and c ommunal lands as open-

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


The f ate of rehabilitated areas is really unc ertain

when the FFW sc heme is going to be phased out .

Past experienc es in E thiopia indic ate that the FFWsc heme has its own merits and demerits.

On the one hand, as pointed out above, the FFW sc heme

is advantageous in that it served dual purposes, i .e .

giving ac c ess to f ood f or f ood def ic it households andassists in the ef f ort to reverse environmental

degradation.

On the other hand, the FFW sc heme had been c ritic ized

in that it makes people more dependent on the

approac h than produc ing f ood on their own.

Moreover, “farmers have come to perceive the food as

a wage f or work c arried out f or the Government rather

than as an inc entive to install benef ic ial land

husbandry measures (inc luding planting seedlings on

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


The stakeholders responsible for the proper

management of dryland forest resources

include: government,

non-government & community-based

organizations/institutions,

African Union (AU), United Nations (UN) & European Union(EU),

professional and civic societies/associations,

local and international communities,

development partners or donor communities, CGIARs & RROs/SRROs,

researchers/scientists,

educators,

development and extension agents,

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


7/31/2019 teketay


Each of these stakeholders could play

significant roles through addressing, directly

or indirectly, the causes and consequences ofDFD as well as challenges in future dryland

forest management

For instance, the roles of governments ofcountries of SSA in this connection include: developing institutions with appropriate physical , f inancial

and human resources as well as policies and regulations,

i .e. the Organization(s), that:

prevent deforestation of dryland forests and t he associated

environmental degradation

catalyze the rehabilitation, expansion, management,

sustainable utilization and conservation of dryland forests

by using the resources at hand in the most effective and

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


These polic ies and institutions should be established

not merely on the basis of politic al interest but f or the

ec onomic development of c ountries in SSA . A t the same time, it c ould be possible that good

polic ies and legislations may have been issued, but

only on paper.

Theref ore, unless there are enabling politic al andinstitutional environments c oupled with ef f ec tive and

rational implementation of the polic ies and

legislations, it might be f ruitless to think of short-c ut

solutions to address the c auses and c onsequenc es of

DFD as well as c hallenges in f uture dry land f orest

management.

Similarly , N GOs c ould play c ruc ial roles through

ac tively f ostering the ef f orts of governments and their

organizations in addressing the c auses and

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


They have proved to be very instrumental in c hanging

the perc eptions, attitudes and behaviour of people

towards their environments, l ivelihood diversif ic ationof rural households, ac tual rehabilitation of degraded

dry land f orest areas.

For instanc e, in c lose c ooperation with the f arming

c ommunities, RE ST has been reported to have plantedeight to ten million trees per y ear (with about 6 0-70%

survival rates) on the degraded steep slopes of

mountainous areas of Tigray N RS in northern E thiopia.

In seven years, some 50,000 ha have been planted

with trees using the "f ood f or work" approac h.

Researc h organizations and their staf f members c ould

play signif ic ant roles by improving and promoting

indigenous knowledge, generating new knowledge and

appropriate tec hnologies that c ould be used to

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


In general , the overall

responsibilities of dryland

forest management could be

shared among thestakeholders enumerated

above in countries of SSA if

feasible and appropriatestrategies, programs and

projects are developed and

implemented.

MGM’T? . . .

7/31/2019 teketay


Dryland forest resources have great socio-economic and ecological importance in

countries of SSA.Specifically, they play significant roles in: livelihood diversification of both rural and

urban households, through income generatedfrom sale of products obtained from plant andanimal resources,

wood and food security, providing animal feed,

human health care & environmental conservation.Despite their importance, these resources

have been subjected to severe degradation,owing to several and complex natural,anthropogenic as well as socio-economic and

7/31/2019 teketay


. . .As a result , undesirable consequences, for

example wood famine, degradation of land and

water resources, decline/loss of biodiversityand enhanced global warming, that affect thewelfare of humans, plants, animals and micro-organisms have been observed.

Several challenges could also be anticipated

in future efforts to properly manage drylandforest resources.

To prevent any further degradation of drylandforest resources in SSA, there is an urgent

need to address the agents responsible fortheir degradation with the correspondingundesirable consequences.

This requires appropriate and timelyinterventions from all stakeholders before thedamage to the remaining dryland forest

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

7/31/2019 teketay


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would like to thank the organizing

committee, particularly ProfessorOlavi Luukkanen and Mr. Jorn Laxén,for inviting me to serve as amoderator of one of the themes ofthe electronic discussions ofTACCDA as well as compile andpresent this report in the

workshop.I also thank all participants fortheir interesting and stimulatingcontributions during the E-

teketay

Documents