Download Congo Alternative for Slash and Burn Project (CASB)

Congo Alternative for
Slash and Burn Project (CASB)
Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)
and preventing slash and burn in the Maringa Lopori Wamba (MLW)
landscape of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Forest Conservation
Community Benefit
Carbon Credits
Biodiversity Conservation
Photo Credits: Paul Thomson, Craig R. Sholley, Amy Cobden and AWF.
AWF is seeking financial support for the Congo Alternative
for Slash and Burn Project (CASB).
For more information please contact:
Jef Dupain
Regional Director West & Central Africa
Nairobi, Kenya
[email protected]
Tel: + 254 728 604 281; + 243 81 66 02 685
Kathleen H. Fitzgerald
Director, Land Conservation
Nairobi, Kenya
[email protected]
Tel: 253 729 406222
www.awf.org
The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is an international conservation organisation headquartered in Nairobi,
Kenya, and focused solely on Africa. AWF’s mission is to work together with the people of Africa to ensure the
wildlife and wild lands of Africa endure forever. AWF has an integrated large landscape-scale approach, called the
African Heartland Programme, which is currently operational in nine landscapes across fourteen countries in central,
eastern, southern and west Africa. In each Heartland, AWF implements its work through four programmes: applied
science and research; land and habitat conservation; conservation enterprise; and capacity building. Climate change
and policy development are cross-cutting themes that are integrated into each of these programmes.
Congo Alternative for Slash and Burn Project (CASB)
Congo Alternative for Slash and Burn Project (CASB)
AWF and Climate Change
congo alternative for slash and
burn project (CASB)
AWF recognises the threat of climate change to Africa and is working to implement an
integrated climate change programme to:
1.
Improve understanding of climate change through education, capacity building and training.
2.
Reduce carbon emissions, forest degradation and deforestation, and generate community and
conservation income through carbon offset programmes.
3.
Mitigate the impacts of climate change through large-scale conservation.
4.
Improve monitoring, scientific assessment and modeling of climate change.
5.
Help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.
ile
R.
N
.
er R
Nig
With increased agricultural productivity inside the non-permanent
forest zone, it is speculated that the amount of agricultural land
needed to support the average household will either stay the same
or decrease, even after taking population growth into account.
Regional Parc W
Congo
Con
go
Samburu
R.
Virunga
Kilimanjaro
Maasai Steppe
Congo
Co
ngo
In 2010 AWF embarked on a micro-zoning program with forest
communities to curb deforestation and slash and burn in the
forest. AWF helped the local communities delineate within
their traditional forest (Forêt Protégée) the areas designated for
sustainable agricultural activities (Forêt Protégée non-Permanent)
and the forest areas to be protected and used for the sustainable
use of non-timber forest products (Forêt Protégée Permanente).
Twenty seven villages were identified and each village signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and agreed to: respect
the defined permanent and non-permanent forest boundaries;
stop slash and burn agricultural and other forest/canopy
conversing activities beyond the designated Forêt Protégée nonPermanente; and not expand their agricultural activities beyond
the designated zone. In exchange, AWF and partners provide:
support for agricultural intensification; technical, financial and
capacity support; a linkage to the agricultural market; and support
for the sustainable use of non-timber forest products in the Forêt
Protégée Permanente.
R.
While communities have benefitted from an increase in agricultural
productivity, more incentives need to be derived to support forest
conservation, decrease slash and burn and improve livelihoods;
therefore, AWF embarked on a carbon offset program.
Zambezi
Za
mb
ez
iR
.
Kazungula
Limpopo
O
ra
ng
eR
.
The congo Heartland
AWF has been working in the Maringa Lopori Wamba (MLW)
landscape in the Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of
Congo for the past seven years. The AWF landscape program aims
to reduce forest destruction, improve natural resource management,
conservation and planning, and improve livelihoods.
The Congo Basin rainforest accounts for more than 60% of Africa’s
biodiversity. The MLW area forms part of the watersheds of the
Lopori and Maringa Rivers and is ecologically signficant, providing
an important refuge for the endangered bonobo, which is endemic to
DRC, as well as numerous rare and/or endemic species such as the
giant pangolin, golden cat, forest elephant and Congo peacock.
The MLW landscape spans 74, 000 km² and covers four territories:
Basankusu; Befale; Bongadanga; and Djolu. The landscape includes
two protected areas: the 3,625 km² Lomako-Yokokala Forest Reserve,
which was officially gazetted in June 2006 and whose conservation
was facilitated by AWF; and the 628 km2 Luo Scientific Reserve where
AWF supports research on the critically endangered bonobo.
Forest cover dominates over 90% of the landscape; approximately
one quarter are swamp and floodplain forests or forested wetlands
reflecting the landscape’s low relief (just under 300 metres on
average) and high rainfall (more than 1.9 metres annually). The rural
and human transformed areas are composed of farms and plantations
and represent less than 7% of the landscape. Human density is
on average 8 people per km². The total human population in the
landscape is estimated at 587,000 people.
Forest threat
The ecosystem integrity and landscape connectivity are
threatened by deforestation resulting from slash and burn
agriculture, unsustainable forest utilization and the bush-meat
trade. Approximately 56,000 hectares (about 0.9%) of the forest
were converted during the 1990-2000 period for the expansion
of slash and burn agricultural activities. Over half of the observed
conversion occurred within two kilometers of a road. Villages are
found stretched along roads, with agriculture concentrated around
human settlements.
The main underlying causes of deforestation are:
• Poverty. Communities lack income opportunities outside the
agriculture sector and resources to invest in more sustainable
farming practices and new technologies.
• Lack of land use planning.
• Open access conditions in protected forests, which as
currently written in the Forest Code, allows for a gradual
conversion of all protected forests into agricultural areas.
• Demography. Population growth increases the need
for food and income.
• Tradition. Slash and burn farming and bush-meat
trade is part of the culture of local communities.
what has been completed
Drivers of deforestation assessment.
Project Idea Note (PIN).
Capacity building for REDD, including training of
trainers, initiated.
Farmers trained on conservation farming.
27 communities signed MOU villages, covering
approximately 1500 km2.
Alternative livelihood assessment completed and
some initiated.
Economic analysis initiated, but a more complete economic
analysis would also be needed in order to capture the full
economic impact of the project on the communities living in
the SOIL project area and for the local and national economy.
The REDD project could reduce deforestation of approximately
195,992 hectares of primary forest resulting in an offset of 25
million tonnes of carbon. The reference area is 679 360 hectares.
This could benefit approximately 16,000 people.
Congo Alternative for Slash and Burn Project (CASB)
Congo Alternative for Slash and Burn Project (CASB)
AWF and Climate Change
congo alternative for slash and
burn project (CASB)
AWF recognises the threat of climate change to Africa and is working to implement an
integrated climate change programme to:
1.
Improve understanding of climate change through education, capacity building and training.
2.
Reduce carbon emissions, forest degradation and deforestation, and generate community and
conservation income through carbon offset programmes.
3.
Mitigate the impacts of climate change through large-scale conservation.
4.
Improve monitoring, scientific assessment and modeling of climate change.
5.
Help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.
ile
R.
N
.
er R
Nig
With increased agricultural productivity inside the non-permanent
forest zone, it is speculated that the amount of agricultural land
needed to support the average household will either stay the same
or decrease, even after taking population growth into account.
Regional Parc W
Congo
Con
go
Samburu
R.
Virunga
Kilimanjaro
Maasai Steppe
Congo
Co
ngo
In 2010 AWF embarked on a micro-zoning program with forest
communities to curb deforestation and slash and burn in the
forest. AWF helped the local communities delineate within
their traditional forest (Forêt Protégée) the areas designated for
sustainable agricultural activities (Forêt Protégée non-Permanent)
and the forest areas to be protected and used for the sustainable
use of non-timber forest products (Forêt Protégée Permanente).
Twenty seven villages were identified and each village signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and agreed to: respect
the defined permanent and non-permanent forest boundaries;
stop slash and burn agricultural and other forest/canopy
conversing activities beyond the designated Forêt Protégée nonPermanente; and not expand their agricultural activities beyond
the designated zone. In exchange, AWF and partners provide:
support for agricultural intensification; technical, financial and
capacity support; a linkage to the agricultural market; and support
for the sustainable use of non-timber forest products in the Forêt
Protégée Permanente.
R.
While communities have benefitted from an increase in agricultural
productivity, more incentives need to be derived to support forest
conservation, decrease slash and burn and improve livelihoods;
therefore, AWF embarked on a carbon offset program.
Zambezi
Za
mb
ez
iR
.
Kazungula
Limpopo
O
ra
ng
eR
.
The congo Heartland
AWF has been working in the Maringa Lopori Wamba (MLW)
landscape in the Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of
Congo for the past seven years. The AWF landscape program aims
to reduce forest destruction, improve natural resource management,
conservation and planning, and improve livelihoods.
The Congo Basin rainforest accounts for more than 60% of Africa’s
biodiversity. The MLW area forms part of the watersheds of the
Lopori and Maringa Rivers and is ecologically signficant, providing
an important refuge for the endangered bonobo, which is endemic to
DRC, as well as numerous rare and/or endemic species such as the
giant pangolin, golden cat, forest elephant and Congo peacock.
The MLW landscape spans 74, 000 km² and covers four territories:
Basankusu; Befale; Bongadanga; and Djolu. The landscape includes
two protected areas: the 3,625 km² Lomako-Yokokala Forest Reserve,
which was officially gazetted in June 2006 and whose conservation
was facilitated by AWF; and the 628 km2 Luo Scientific Reserve where
AWF supports research on the critically endangered bonobo.
Forest cover dominates over 90% of the landscape; approximately
one quarter are swamp and floodplain forests or forested wetlands
reflecting the landscape’s low relief (just under 300 metres on
average) and high rainfall (more than 1.9 metres annually). The rural
and human transformed areas are composed of farms and plantations
and represent less than 7% of the landscape. Human density is
on average 8 people per km². The total human population in the
landscape is estimated at 587,000 people.
Forest threat
The ecosystem integrity and landscape connectivity are
threatened by deforestation resulting from slash and burn
agriculture, unsustainable forest utilization and the bush-meat
trade. Approximately 56,000 hectares (about 0.9%) of the forest
were converted during the 1990-2000 period for the expansion
of slash and burn agricultural activities. Over half of the observed
conversion occurred within two kilometers of a road. Villages are
found stretched along roads, with agriculture concentrated around
human settlements.
The main underlying causes of deforestation are:
• Poverty. Communities lack income opportunities outside the
agriculture sector and resources to invest in more sustainable
farming practices and new technologies.
• Lack of land use planning.
• Open access conditions in protected forests, which as
currently written in the Forest Code, allows for a gradual
conversion of all protected forests into agricultural areas.
• Demography. Population growth increases the need
for food and income.
• Tradition. Slash and burn farming and bush-meat
trade is part of the culture of local communities.
what has been completed
Drivers of deforestation assessment.
Project Idea Note (PIN).
Capacity building for REDD, including training of
trainers, initiated.
Farmers trained on conservation farming.
27 communities signed MOU villages, covering
approximately 1500 km2.
Alternative livelihood assessment completed and
some initiated.
Economic analysis initiated, but a more complete economic
analysis would also be needed in order to capture the full
economic impact of the project on the communities living in
the SOIL project area and for the local and national economy.
The REDD project could reduce deforestation of approximately
195,992 hectares of primary forest resulting in an offset of 25
million tonnes of carbon. The reference area is 679 360 hectares.
This could benefit approximately 16,000 people.
Congo Alternative for
Slash and Burn Project (CASB)
Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)
and preventing slash and burn in the Maringa Lopori Wamba (MLW)
landscape of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Forest Conservation
Community Benefit
Carbon Credits
Biodiversity Conservation
Photo Credits: Paul Thomson, Craig R. Sholley, Amy Cobden and AWF.
AWF is seeking financial support for the Congo Alternative
for Slash and Burn Project (CASB).
For more information please contact:
Jef Dupain
Regional Director West & Central Africa
Nairobi, Kenya
[email protected]
Tel: + 254 728 604 281; + 243 81 66 02 685
Kathleen H. Fitzgerald
Director, Land Conservation
Nairobi, Kenya
[email protected]
Tel: 253 729 406222
www.awf.org
The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is an international conservation organisation headquartered in Nairobi,
Kenya, and focused solely on Africa. AWF’s mission is to work together with the people of Africa to ensure the
wildlife and wild lands of Africa endure forever. AWF has an integrated large landscape-scale approach, called the
African Heartland Programme, which is currently operational in nine landscapes across fourteen countries in central,
eastern, southern and west Africa. In each Heartland, AWF implements its work through four programmes: applied
science and research; land and habitat conservation; conservation enterprise; and capacity building. Climate change
and policy development are cross-cutting themes that are integrated into each of these programmes.