Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
its 'livelihoods' programme (such as contour ridging, tree production,
live fencing, erosion control and improved livestock feeding). This dem-
onstrated levels of outreach (that is, percentage of respondents who had
received information on the technology) ranging from 24 per cent (for
training in raising fruit trees) to 93 per cent (for training in methods of
controlled burning and alternative land preparation methods) and uptake
levels (percentage of farmers who had received training who then adopted
the technology) of between 49 per cent and 98 per cent (for uptake of con-
trolled burning) (Tsongwain, 1999; Kilum-Ijim Forest Project, 2002).
Assessment of changes in behaviour have been complicated by the
lack of any baseline statistics. However, using qualitative, participatory
methods and a comparative approach (comparing communities that
had little contact with the project, with those that had had high levels of
contact and uptake) has demonstrated the signii cant positive impact of
the project on people's attitudes to the forest and its conservation (Abbot
et al., 1999, 2001).
Discussion
Looking at our two ICDP examples from the forests of Africa, a number
of issues emerge. First, it is clear that neither of these ICDPs is perfect,
even to those who have been involved with them over a period of years.
In this regard we accept some of the criticisms that the ICDP approach
does not deliver as much conservation or development as some originally
proposed it would. But, both of these projects are working in some of the
least developed regions of the world, where billions of dollars of develop-
ment assistance and the best economists in the world have largely failed to
improve national economic fortunes (UNDP, 2001). We therefore believe
that any conservation successes need to be set in the context of greater
economic failures.
Scale and ownership/benei ts
In both of our examples, the projects operate over relatively small parts
of the landscape of biological importance, and focus on maintaining
critical patches of forest cover for their biodiversity values - principally
endemic species with no known economic importance. The values of the
biodiversity are uncosted. The local values for villagers living adjacent to
the forest habitats, in terms of direct cash generated from these forests or
their endemic species, are small. However, in both of our case examples
the local perception of the value of the forest in terms of providing a water
supply through the dry season is high. Numerous villagers in both regions
tell stories of the drying of their local stream when its catchment area
was deforested. The cultural value of the remaining forest is also high in
