Forest Community Conservation Planning for the Ntsubane forest

Dr .Derek Berliner Eco-logic

Mpakerni 2014

IMPROVING FOREST CONSERVATION AND FOREST BASED LIVLIHOODS:

Ntsubane wild Coast

– Protected area and multiple use planning

– Sustainable forest use through zonation

– Forest landscape restoration

– Pilot site Dedeni: Ntsubane forest complex, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape

Forest Community Conservation Planning for the Ntsubane forest

(Mapping degradation in the Ntsubane Forest, Pondoland, Wild Coast)

Aims • Develop a forest use zonation map for Dedeni village resource use

conservation area • Identify a proposed community Protected area (Special Forest Reserve ,

under NFA) • Map degraded areas • Map deforested areas • Map population distribution • Threats

Identifying deforestation

Degradation : AIP:

Forest-> maize-> fallow-> AIP

Forest Zones and uses

Current state of Wild Coast Forest

High road

forest health

Forest livelihoods

Low road

Increased degradation & loss

?

Drivers to the low road

• Maintain status quo (currently on the low road)

• Increased spread of AIP

• Clearing ineffective, no follow up , no reforestation

• Increased illegal harvesting (bark, timber)

• Forest fauna decimated by hunting

• Poor support for PFM /local participation

• Poor management and law enforcement

• Forest based livelihoods minimal

Drivers to the high road

• Principles of Sustainable Forestry Management implemented

• Full support and implementation of Participatory Forest Management

SFM/PFM

What is PFM ?

Community participation and

Community beneficiation from Sustainable Forest Management

DAFF have a clear mandate and obligation to implement PFM/SFM

DWAF Vision for forestry of November 2003 “Forests are managed for people and we need to create an

enabling environment for economic and social development through sustainable forestry, especially at the local level.”

• The National Forests Act (No 84 of 1998) provides the key legal framework for this PFM Policy and Strategy Framework. One of the Act’s purposes is to promote PFM. Chapter 4 (sections 29 – 32) of the Act deals with community forestry which is part of PFM and makes provision for community involvement in the management of forests. The NFA outlines principles for sustainable forest management and gives the Minister the power to set criteria, indicators and standards for assessing and enforcing sustainable forest manageme

DAFF are failing on the mandate

• Forest are rapidly degrading • PFM is not supported • SFM not implemented • Since 2004, when DIFID and DANIDA

establishing PFMs litter or no follow up work • The forest conservation situation in Ntsubane is a

national embarrassment (World Forest congress coming up next year, Durban !)

• Pressure needs to be put on DAFF to implement there mandate