Can we manage forests for multiple uses in the Congo

Basin?

Robert Nasi, Alain Billand, Manuel Guariguata

Yaoundé, 22/05/2013

Timber

• RIL and beyond…

+ Biodiversity

• Use ecology, life history, consider wildlife…

+ Non Timber Forest Products

• Trade-offs but possible

+ Ecosystem services

• Trade-offs but possible; appears in certification schemes (HCV); serious accountability issues…

+ Carbone

• Several risks, trade-offs and issues

…Against threats?

• Climate change, invasive species, land conversion….

The “Compatibility Continuum”

Inactive Active

Coincident

Timber management tools mitigates damage to other uses (roads, skid trails, timber inventorying)

Timber extraction benefits other values (logging gaps, directional felling)

Explicitly manage for both timber and NTFP values

Modes of Interaction

Independent (spatially segregated, or when there is no conflict of use for tree species with NTFP value)

Competitive—e.g., extraction of tree species with both NTFP value for different stakeholders or exclusion of a given group of stakeholders

Complementary—e.g., logging enhances growth/regeneration of NTFP (all else being equal)

Main Issues Many tropical tree species have both timber and

non-timber values that accrue to different stakeholders

Current certification schemes diverge for timber and NTFPs

Forestry education and training biased towards timber

Legal and regulatory frameworks dictated separately for timber and NTFPs

Best harvesting practices/management protocols for NTFPs have little validation

Multiple-uses in the Congo Basin

Wood

Camero

onCAR

Congo DRC

Equato

rial G

uinea

Gabon

17,664

3,200 1,315

75,446

190 1,070

Production Wood energy (x000 m³)

OFAC, State of Forests 2010

Other goods

Fish (catfish and other species)

Gnetum africanum, Gnetum buchholzianum

Acacia senegal, Acacia polyacantha

Bushmeat

Dacryodes edulis

Ricinodendron heudelotii

Cola nitida

Cola acuminata

Beekeeping: bee wax

Tetrapleura tetraptera

Beekeeping: honey

Kigelia africana

Carpolobia lutea, Carpolobia albea

10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 100,000,000 1,000,000,000

613,600,000378,641,309

12,197,5038,089,580

4,040,0002,874,9282,799,330

1,574,661989,504

847,182730,325

585,586430,639

284,013269,083249,938244,420

171,175124,489

94,80361,105

31,50018,000

11,8685,911

78.9

$

Source: OFAC, State of Forests 2010

Timber, management and biodiversity

Land use km2“Ordinary lands” 448,801

Logging concessions 595.381Community forests ≈ 11.000Protected areas 444,973 Source: Nasi et al, 2011

Source: Mégevand, 2013

Selective logging in the Congo Basin

Timber remains the sole managed commodity

Highly selective, few individuals (less than 2) of few commercial species (less than 5) represent more than 75% of the volume harvested (less than 10m3/ha)

Rotation cycles of about 25-30 years; Minimum cutting diameter rules; No post-harvest silviculture

The area under proper management and certification is increasing

Nasi et al. 2006; OFAC, State of Forest 2008, 2010

Impact of certification on harvest intensity

Cerutti et al. 2011

Certified concessions have a significantly reduced harvesting intensity

Harvesting intensity and residual stands

Nasi & Forni, 2006

543210

Are

a im

pact

ed (

%)

30

20

10

0 Rsq = 0.9427

Number of trees harvested/ha

Graphique symétrique(axes F1 et F2 : 54.36 %)

GroupeIndépendant

International

Aménagement en cours

Aménagé

Certifié

Non aménagé

2

3

4 5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

20

21

22

23

26

1

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

F2

(10.

12 %

)

Variables supp. Observations

- Actions concrètes +

+

D

iffic

ulté

s re

nco

ntr

ée

s

-

- Ni les méthodes- Ni les capacités actuellement- Malgré quelques actions

- Vise la certification- Souhaite maintenir ses efforts- > 30 essences exploitéees

Pas encore de résultats

No methodsNo capacitiesLimited activities

Basic intentions, Limited results

Activities limited to legal requirementLimited results

Motivated CEO and some staffLong term effortsEffective field activities

Billand et al. 2009

Pro-biodiversity activities in logging concessions

Only certified concessions show significant activities in favor of biodiversity

Estimates of the value of the bushmeat trade range from US$42 to US$205 million per year in West-Central Africa.

Current harvest in Central Africa alone may well be in excess of 5 million tons annually, could represent more than 20 million ha deforested for pasture!

30 to 80% of the protein intake of many rural populations

Bushmeat hunting in Congo Basin

Why a landscape approach?

High mobility of wildlife (migration, dispersal, extensive territories…)

Conserving Protected areas alone, will not be enough to conserve large sized/highly mobile species with huge ranges (e.g. Elephants) or locally rare plant species

The contribution of production forests to biodiversity conservation is increasingly recognized (e.g. North Congo where gorilla densities are higher in logging concessions than in the neighbouring NP)

Protected areas and logging concessions : surprisingly close neighbors

OFAC, State of Forest 2008

National Parks

Logging Concessions

Hunting areas

Parks, Concessions, Hunting areas : where are flagship species ?Some surprising assessments

Number of ape nests/km2

OFAC, State of Forest 2008

New land-use types

Combine several land use types (e.g. logging concession, protected area, CBFM…) in one land-use management unit that would become an:

Integrated production/conservation landscape

Environmental services

Local incomes

Taxes, fiscal revenues

Sustain rural populationMixed area : protected area and

conservation enterprise

ProtectedArea

Certified logging

concession

Communityforest

Municipalforest

Agro-industry

Hunting,Gathering,Informalsectors

Urban, social space

Billand & Nasi 2006

Realize the economic potential of the conservation side

Manage informal sectors like hunting, fishing or NTFP extraction for local livelihoods

Use part of the income generated by the industrial production side for the conservation area for reciprocal benefits

Foster certification (not limited to timber considerations)

Basic rules

Enabling conditions

Starting funds are needed to cover initial transaction costs

The willingness of the production sector to engage into certification or other biodiversity friendly practices

The willingness of the conservation community to collaborate, share experiences and support the private sector in integrating conservation concerns in management practices

A proactive political support (creating specific land-use units with specific instances for decision making) or, at least, neutral (no undue interference from the State).

Set of key attributes

Complexity

Authenticity

Continuity

Heterogeneity

Proximity

Redundancy

Resilience

Uniqueness

Gustafsson, Laumonier, Nasi 2009

Management principles

Maintain landscape heterogeneity Maintain large structurally complex patches of

natural vegetation Create buffers around sensitive areas Maintain or create corridors and stepping stones Use appropriate disturbance regimes in

management Maintain functional diversity Manage for keystone species Consider endemic, rare and threatened species

The Congo Basin has identified 12 Landscapes designed for shared production and conservation management of forests

Actors (public, private sectors) are aware about the necessity to improve collaboration for concerted or integrated management

But experiences at field level remain limited

Source : Carpe

Some implications for tropical forestry research

“Our major disciplines have long ago ceased to be effective as separate, have in fact

searched for ways of coming together…but are restrained by institutional resistance and

lack of vision” (Ron Burnett 2005)

New disciplines

SocialSciences

BiologicalSciences

“CONSILIENCE: the methods and assumptions of any field of study should be consistent with the known and accepted

facts in other disciplines” E.J. Wilson.

AnthropologyEconomyPolicySociology…

BotanyEcologyGeneticsZoology…

Landscape ecologyEcological economyPolitical ecologyLand use changeHuman ecology

TransdisciplinarySciences

Some final comments Search for a globally accepted definition of sustainable forest

management is pointless Management should be defined by societal demands Outcomes and results should be monitored based on agreed

objectives for management; unrealistic, unachievable or vague targets are of little use

Good management can never be attained through bureaucratic procedures alone.

Best practices require able and motivated managers are available on site to address concerns on a day-to-day basis: capacity building and training are keys!

Sound judgment remains the foundation of good management. Data can inform this judgment, but is not an end in itself

Search for universally agreed definitions is pointless (forests or sustainability)

Strive for continuous improvement to better outcomes when the “best” is unachievable

Scale research appropriately to the research question

Classical forest science has peaked! Grainger (2009) calls for a “new global forest science’” Burley (2004) believes that forest science can be

“restored” with “new interdisciplinary approaches that integrate the work of biophysical scientists and socio-economic researchers”

Research /Science