Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Project targets are clearly formulated
Over the 19 years that BirdLife
International has been working in the Bamenda Highlands, the plan-
ning mechanisms have been constantly developed. Project interventions
were based on a detailed logical framework that was itself created from
a detailed problem tree developed with project staf and villagers around
the forests.
Detailed logframes and workplans have proved critical tools in the
regular cycle of planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and
have been used in a l exible way, with managers prepared to modify objec-
tives (with the agreement of donors) if circumstances made that appropri-
ate. However, what the full problem tree demonstrates is an immense web
of problems that can only partly be solved by a project approach of i xed
duration (and budget). The Bamenda Highlands project aimed to put in
place a sustainable outcome within the constraints of politics and national
economics (the context - national debt and an underpaid civil service).
These factors are not within a single project's ability to inl uence and yet
clearly they signii cantly af ect what can be achieved - and the strategies
that must be put in place to try to accomplish a project's objectives.
Protection components are included
A 1000 hectare plantlife sanctuary
forms a core protection area in the centre of the Kilum-Ijim forests, and
the people-centred approach at Kilum-Ijim also takes place within a legal
context (provided by a Provincial Decree) that imposes (state) controls on
land use (banning inappropriate activities such as burning and grazing).
The project additionally chose to support a traditional protected area in
the form of an ancestor living place (forest) under the authority of the
traditional chief (
fon
). This traditional protected area has been formal-
ized through the creation of local forest management institutions around
the forest who ensure that the boundaries are respected and that resource
utilization agreements are adhered to. Ef ective implementation of the
management plans they produce is in turn monitored and enforced by
MINFOF. Although dif erent from the model of a government-managed
Forest Reserve or National Park, the proximity of the people to the
resource and their acceptance of traditional authority make this model
work. Although no detailed comparisons have been made it is believed
that the level of protection of the forests under the Bamenda Highlands
programme is stronger than those under government protection. The
forest is highly valued culturally, and many taboos and regulations exist
that are enforced by the
fon
and his ruling council (
kwifon
). De jure gov-
ernment 'control' over forests had eroded this traditional authority and
management system, without replacing it with an ef ective alternative
(MINFOF Forest Oi cers were too few, poorly resourced and often not
