Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
similar landscapes, where habitats of high biodiversity value are scattered
in an agricultural landscape, but of course solutions need to be situation
specii c.
There is real local ownership
When BirdLife International (then ICBP)
began working at the Kilum-Ijim forest in 1987 one of the i rst steps was to
assist local communities in the demarcation of a forest boundary beyond
which no further clearance for agriculture would take place. Nineteen
years on that boundary remains largely intact, and traditional authorities
have dealt with the few infringements that have taken place promptly and
ef ectively. Each of the communities surrounding the forest has a working
and legally recognized Forest Management Institution (FMI) and 11 com-
munities have produced forest management plans and now hold legal title
to the resources of their forest (with the management responsibilities that
implies). The project has supported communities in the process of devel-
oping the necessary institutional capacity, and with the highly complex
legal process of forest registration and management plan approval. This
has been combined with a development programme that has demonstrated
methods of improving productivity and sustainability of land use outside
the forest, as well as enhanced production and value of products harvested
from inside the forest (such as honey).
There is real overlap at Kilum-Ijim between long-term community
interests from forest conservation (especially watershed protection but
also non-timber forest products like honey, medicinal plants, fuel wood
and bamboo) and biodiversity conservation. Most of the remaining forest
is on very steep slopes and conversion to agriculture is almost certainly
not sustainable (as landslides in adjacent areas testify) and would lead to
loss of watershed protection functions (again, as demonstrated by many
adjacent areas where springs have dried up). However, whilst most people
recognize the convergence of biodiversity conservation interests with their
own social and economic concerns, and therefore support the project,
the process continues to be undermined by individuals or groups with no
immediate interest in forest conservation - especially graziers (most of
whom are wealthy individuals who are no longer living in the area) and
Prunus africana
exploiters (external, and very often armed). Regrettably
these interest groups have been able to inl uence the judicial process, and
their illegal activities (which are also unwanted by the community) have
been extremely dii cult to control. What this shows is that the interests
and wishes of the majority, who have organized themselves into demo-
cratic community institutions, and who have legally backed rights, can
still be frustrated by powerful or stubborn individuals in situations where
capacity (or commitment) in state authorities is lacking.
