M. Balinga, J. Groves and T. Sunderland

CONSERVATION AND LIVELIHOODS LINKAGES IN AFRICA:

PROVIDING TOOLS FOR MANAGING TRANSBOUNDARY

BIODIVERSITY IN THE UPPER GUINEA FORESTS

C3/C5 Meeting, 11th – 15th March, Bogor

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE MANO RIVER UNION

Strategic Orientation:

• Consultative meeting of experts from the MRU States held in June 2007 in Freetown, Sierra Leone

• Reaffirmed the need and dedication of member States to collaborate and develop a sub-regional approach to address issues related to the transboundary management of protected areas and resources

• Identified five priority transboundary sites for implementation of collaborative management of biodiversity

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE MANO RIVER UNION

Strategic Orientation: • The Outamba-Kilimi National Park in Sierra Leone, and the

Madina Oula and Ourekaba Forests in the Republic of Guinea;

• The Gola National Forest in Liberia and the Gola Forest in Sierra Leone;

• The North Loma National Forest and Wenequezi in Liberia, and Ziama in Guinea;

• Mount Nimba in Guinea and Ivory Coast and Nimba Nature Reserve in Liberia.

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE MANO RIVER UNION

Operational Constraints: • Limited funds and resources allocated for operational

management and dialogue processes

• Differences in management strategies, resources and outputs

• Differences in policies and governance frameworks

• Lack of technical capacity, tools and data for decision making despite political will

• Inadequate information on status and threats to biodiversity, constraints and management issues including linkages to livelihoods.

INFORMING THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Research Activity:

• ICRAF & CIFOR (LAMIL project) established that building livelihoods considerations into forest co-mgt produces positive outcomes for conservation (2005 – 2009).

• Assessing the population status and conservation threats to chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) and other mammal populations in the Madina oula, Pensely and Soya forests of Southern Guinea

• Funded by: USFWS, CIFOR, USFS-STEWARD • Focus on: Capacity building, biodiversity monitoring,

knowledge sharing with decision makers • Tools: Workshops, line transects, interviews (hunters;

policy makers)

GUINEA SIERRA LEONE TRANSBOUNDARY PARK

DRAFT GAZETTEMENT PLAN AT DNEF

LAND USE ANALYSIS OF GAZETTEMENT PLAN

LAND USE ANALYSIS OF GAZETTEMENT PLAN

LAND USE ANALYSIS OF GAZETTEMENT PLAN

Planned Railway line for Rio Tinto cutting across the Conservation area.

BIOPHYSICAL DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Research Questions

• What are the distribution and relative population sizes of wildlife populations across the target landscape?

• What are the levels of threat and underlying / explanatory factors to the observed status.

• What are the consequent management priorities and implications for design of zoning process?

BIOPHYSICAL DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Distribution of High Conservation Value Spp.

No

.

Species IUCN

Status

Distribution

1 Pan troglodytes

verus

EN Bas Tamisso, Haut Tamisso, Pensely

and Soyah

2 Piliocolobus

badius

EN Bas Tamisso

3 Papio papio NT Haut Tamisso, Pensely and Soyah

4 Pantera pardus NT Bas Tamisso

DISCUSSION

• Threats to wildlife populations, comprised commercial hunting, habitat loss & fragmentation linked to livelihood activities.

• Conservation status significantly affected by: • Demographic / livelihood pressure

• Official status (e.g. gazettement)

• Existing management and institutional capacity

• Accessibility and proximity to urban centers / markets

• Draft gazettement plan is not realistic based on these parameters

• Industrial and economic development are driving change and constitute major threats to biodiversity

• What trade-offs needed and what evidence?

CONCLUSIONS

• Need to adopt an evidence based approach to decision making for integrating conservation and livelihood development.

• Complementary studies required to understand demographics, livelihoods, institutions and governance context.

• Integrating landscape and participatory NRM approaches in the planning process should be key to finding a way forward.

• Developing innovative tools and models for sustainable landscape co-management that provide optimum benefits to ecosystems and people (REDD+ / PES ??)

To achieve conservation and livelihood linkages in Africa we need to consider the question: which stakeholder wants to

conserve what and for what purpose?