community forest governance in liberia
DESCRIPTION
Community Forest Governance in Liberia. … an overview of the process. Dominic Kweme Organizational Development & Governance Advisor PROSPER, TetraTech ARD/CJPS December 12, 2013. People Rules and Organizations Supporting the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (PROSPER). 3 field offices - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Community Forest Governance in Liberia
… an overview of the process
Dominic KwemeOrganizational Development & Governance Advisor
PROSPER, TetraTech ARD/CJPSDecember 12, 2013
People Rules and Organizations Supporting the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (PROSPER)
• 3 field offices• 10 sites in Nimba & Grand Bassa
Counties• 16 clan groups• 151+ villages• ~100,000 hectares• Outreach and awareness
– Education– Supporting rule of law
• Forest management– Implementing law– Capacity building of
responsible institutions• Economic development
– Livelihood initiatives
BACKGROUND CONTEXT: FORESTRY LEGAL FRAMEWORK
The National Forestry Reform Law (2006)
4
Shall classify all lands
Specify areas for the 3Cs: • Commercial• Conservation• Community Forestry• Any other…
Requirement for a National Forest Management Strategy (NFRL §§4.4a-g)
COMMUNITY FORESTS
The NFRL and the Community Rights Law of 2009
6
Community Forestry: The governance and management of Forest Resources in designated areas by communities for commercial and non-commercial purposes to further their livelihoods and development. NFRL §1.3
Intent of the NFRL & CRL• Empower communities to engage in sustainable forest
management: prior informed consent
Objectives of the CRL• Define community and FDA rights and responsibilities of
ownership, management, use and benefits• Establish informed representation• Ownership rights to the forest resources
FMC, TSC v. CFMA: the role of communities
FMC & TSC• Communities are “affected” but
do not own the resources• Concessions manage the
forest• Communities automatically
receive a portion of land rental fees and production fees
• Communities sign Social Agreements with concessionaires
CFMA• Communities own the
resources• Communities manage the
forest• Communities have the right to
negotiate for up to 55% of revenues
• Communities sign contracts with contractors
7
Authorized Community Forestry
A nine step process…
9
A nine step process…
10
A nine step process…
11
A nine step process…
12
A nine step process…
13
How long does this take????
Step 8: Development of governance structures
• Election in community for CA• Selection of Executive Committee• Appointment of CFMB
• Extensive outreach & awareness
• Stakeholder meeting to develop criteria for CA representation
• Outreach on elections
Capacity Building
• Leadership training• Conflict
management• Financial
management• Negotiations skills• Inventory
techniques• GPS training
Challenges
• Laws don’t translate into practice• Good laws need political will,
training and capacity building to implement
• FDA Capacity – Technical support for boundary
demarcation, mapping, management planning
– Training Requirements– Limited staff
• CRL Procedural difficulties– CFMB registration
• Not explicitly covered by VPA
Participation
Thank you….
The PROSPER team thanks you for your support. Please contact the following persons or any PROSPER team member:
• Dominic Kweme, Organizational Development and Governance Advisor [email protected]
• Stephen Reid, Chief of Party [email protected]
• Vaneska Litz, DCOP/CF & Land Tenure Lead [email protected]