- Africa: Civil Society Participation in the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance process

The Ministerial meeting in the Africa Forest Law Enforcement and Governance process is scheduled to take place in Brazzaville, Congo April 1-4th, 2003. Government delegates as well as representatives from the timber industry, multilateral and bilateral organisations, and civil society are expected to take part in the meeting where a Ministerial declaration will be drafted. The following briefly introduces the FLEG process, then moves on to discuss civil society participation in the up-coming Ministerial.

The FLEG process is the outcome of a number of consultations, conferences and national initiatives organised by multilateral and bilateral institutions that focused on combating the threat posed to forests by illegal logging and trade, corruption and poaching. The G-8 group of industrialised countries launched an Action Program on Forests in 1998, and this motivated the partnership between the World Bank, the UK department for International Development and the US Department of State which led to the focus on forest law enforcement in East Asia and later in Africa.

The FLEG East Asia Ministerial Conference took place in Bali, Indonesia in September 2002. The conference brought together nearly 150 participants from 20 countries. Government representatives from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were present. Representatives from the US, the UK, Ghana, Japan and the Republic of Congo were also in attendance. A number of international organisations and NGOs participated, including FAO, ITTO, CIFOR, the World Resources Institute, Global Witness, the Environmental Investigation Agency and WWF. Indonesian in-country NGOs such as AMAN, Telapak, WALHI also participated.

The declaration that resulted from the Ministerial Conference contained a number of commitments to tackle the problem of illegal logging and was received with enthusiasm by many. The momentum created by the Bali declaration was the impetus to start a FLEG process in Africa (AFLEG), which is being co-ordinated by the World Bank, sponsored by the governments of the United Kingdom, France and the United States.

According to the organisers, the AFLEG process will be different from the Asian predecessor in a number of ways. First, the AFLEG process has not had the same type of build-up as the process in East Asia had. Second, there will be more countries involved in the process --all African governments will be invited-- making the range of issues on the agenda broad.

To ensure that the AFLEG process is credible and effective, there must be meaningful civil society participation. A small number of Indonesian NGOs were involved in the Asian process, and, whilst this helped contribute to the positive declaration that resulted, Indonesian NGOs still felt that participation was not properly addressed and that they were brought into the process at a late stage. Moreover, there was a lack of civil society participation from, for example, Vietnam and Thailand.

It is of key importance that African NGOs participate in the AFLEG process to share their knowledge of the realities on the ground, especially with respect to how illegal and unsustainable logging impacts on forest-dependent peoples' livelihoods. Unfortunately there was little time before the preparatory meeting in Brazzaville between the 18-20th of June, and little information about the AFLEG process was made available to NGOs, in particular African ones. It is hoped that more information will be available to civil society in the months leading up to the Ministerial meeting.

Civil society participation must be meaningful, and it is expected that the hosts of the Ministerial will give civil society representatives the opportunity to influence and have direct input into the drafting of the Ministerial Declaration, which will be the main output of the meeting. Two initiatives are underway to encourage and facilitate civil society participation in the AFLEG process.

Forests Monitor is working to facilitate a greater level of participation at the Ministerial conference and have joined forces with the Rainforest Foundation UK and the Centre pour l'Environnement et Developpement (Cameroon) to achieve this. A preparatory workshop will bring together 18 civil society representatives from Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Central African Republic to discuss the AFLEG process, and to select 8 representatives who will attend the Ministerial Conference. The groups will have time to discuss the main issues surrounding forest law enforcement and governance as well as to prepare lobbying strategies for the Ministerial meeting. The outcome of the self selection process, as well as proceedings from the workshop will be available from the AFLEG section of Forests Monitor's website: http://www.forestsmonitor.org

The IUCN has just been awarded a grant to undertake a similar facilitation project for civil society groups in West, eastern and southern Africa to participate in the AFLEG process. IUCN will be hosting regional workshops, where a self selection process will take place to elect representatives to attend the Ministerial conference in April. Groups from West, eastern or southern Africa who are interested should contact their regional IUCN office, or Forests Monitor who will forward any indications of interest to the IUCN organisers.

By: Forests Monitor, e-mail: mail@forestsmonitor.org . Please visit Forests Monitor's website to find out more about the AFLEG process and civil society participation in this process. You'll also find links to other relevant sites.

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- Chad/Cameroon: Promises and realities of a World Bank funded oil project

The Chad/Cameroon Oil & Pipeline project (see WRM Bulletins 45, 41, 35, 14 and 2) is reaching critical milestones. Most construction activities are scheduled to be completed by July 2003 and initial oil sales could take place as early as November 2003. As a result, completion of construction is more than a year ahead of schedule which had initially been planned to be finalised by the end of 2004.

The speed of construction work stands in marked contrast to the substantial delays of measures intended to ensure the welfare of local people and protection of the environment, some of which may never see the light of day.

Another marked contrast of the project is the level of "comfort" which the World Bank was able to carve out for itself and other lenders to ensure loan repayment by Chad and Cameroon and the lack of protection for the vulnerable and impoverished populations in the regions affected by the project. The World Bank Group's participation in the project was the pre-condition for the Exxon-led consortium to go ahead with the $ 3.7 billion project. The private sector insisted on World Bank Group co-financing for two reasons. First, because it represents political risk insurance in a politically volatile region and secondly because it made it possible to raise additional project finance from the European Investment Bank, U.S. and French export-credit-agencies, a host of commercial lenders and from the sale of bonds. The Bank protects its loans through the establishment of an off-shore escrow account for Chad into which all oil revenues will be paid and from which loans will be repaid before the balance of funds is handed over to the Chadian government. In the case of Cameroon, the Bank is charging the country an extra 10% premium on the loan amount to cushion any potential problems.

Local people on the other hand are bearing the greatest risks. They are suffering serious threats to public health from pollution and disease. In addition, project-induced inflation has further eroded their already meager incomes and, with the doubling of grain prices, there is a risk of famine in the oil-producing region.

The Project Appraisal Document (PAD) of April 2000, which should provide objective information on the basis of which the Bank's Executive Board can make an informed decision, contains the promises of the project to reduce poverty in Chad and promote development in Cameroon, as well as the measures to be undertaken to address possible project risks. But it is little more than a marketing advice. It contains questionable statements (e.g. "Chad has successfully put in place democratic political institutions" (PAD, p.121)), plays down the risks and portrays project benefits in a way that at best can be described as willful naivete.

The latest report by the International Advisory Group (IAG) about its mission to Chad and Cameroon from October 15 to November 4, 2002, as well as the report by the External Compliance Monitoring Group, both of which are working for the World Bank Group, document these problems in some detail. However, the IAG is powerless to get its recommendations implemented and is largely limited to making exhortations to the World Bank, the governments and the Oil Consortium to urgently take fundamental measures that are quintessential "if the development potential created by the project is to be realized". The IAG indirectly recognizes its own limitations by calling for detailed reports and action plans to address the multiple environmental and social impacts of the project now that construction activities in Cameroon are nearing the end. The original intention of the establishment of the IAG was that its own reports would mitigate risks, lead to corrective measures and capacity-building actions. This task is now being projected on to some future undertaking.

Also The World Bank's Inspection Panel Investigation Report of July 23, 2002, which resulted from the Panel's investigation into claims by Chadian citizens that they were harmed as a result of poor implementation of World Bank safeguard policies, reveals intimidation and harassment in the consultation process, thus preventing "full and informed consultation", failure of Bank management to comply with the World Bank's Operational Directive on Environmental Assessment, failure to build national capacity threatening to compromise the delivery of poverty reduction in the later stages of construction and early stages of operation of the pipeline, and that no arrangements have been put in place to deal with fluctuations and large surpluses in the revenue flow representing a serious macro-economic risk which may jeopardize poverty reduction goals. In the case of Cameroon, the World Bank's Inspection Panel is currently investigating a claim by Cameroonian citizens and NGOs that an Indigenous Peoples' Plan (IPP) required to be undertaken in a participatory manner, was developed without consultation and does not include steps to secure land rights for the indigenous peoples.

Most activities to ensure development benefits and protect the environment were meant to have taken place prior to or in conjunction with construction activities. However, in January 2003, construction is nearing completion and most of these activities continue to be in the earliest stages of preparation if they are advancing at all.

Summary from "The Chad/Cameroon Oil & Pipeline Project - Reaching a Critical Milestone", Full report available at: http://www.wrm.org.uy/countries/Cameroon/Horta.html , by Korinna Horta, Environmental Defense, January 2003, e-mail: khorta@environmentaldefense.org

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- Kenya: Lights and shadows in new government's approach to forests

Kenya's new elected president, Mwai Kibaki, has named Dr Newton Kulundu as Environment Minister and well known environmentalist Prof Wangari Mathai as assistant minister. The newly appointed minister has already made a number of public statements related to forests which seem to imply that things might be changing --at last-- in the right direction. However, his statements leave some crucial issues in the shade.

In media interviews, the minister has said that "irregular allocation of forest land to private developers in the country will be revoked soon" and that "disciplinary action will be taken against all Government officials found to have dished out the forest land to politically correct individuals." Additionally, he said his Ministry will liase with the relevant Government departments to have the allocations nullified and the land reverted back to the state.

All the above is good news. However, the minister does not go into great depth in the analysis of the underlying causes of deforestation, and focuses on the (true) fact that Kenyan forests have been depleted by "selfish individuals," but leaving aside at least equally important issues such as land tenure patterns and macroeconomic policies that also at the root of deforestation and forest degradation.

Environmentalists estimate that British colonialists and Kenyan farmers cleared about three quarters of woodlands in the last 150 years, leaving about two percent of Kenya's land area under forest cover. The fact that behind all those processes it would be easy to find "selfish individuals" would be certainly insufficient to understand and address the results of that historical process of forest destruction, that continues to the present day. Unless the underlying causes of forest loss are identified and measures are taken to address them, focusing on corruption alone will not be the solution to the problem.

The other major aspect of the new minister's approach to forests is to increase forest cover. Dr Kulundu's aim is to increase forest cover to 10% within the next five years, but he has not provided details about where and how this would be implemented and on what he means by increasing "forest cover." Hopefully, it might imply the restoration of native forests by and for the benefit of local communities or small scale community-based agroforestry schemes. But it could also mean the plantation of large-scale alien tree monocultures, which could impact further on native ecosystems and particularly on the dwindling water resources already affected by widespread forest loss.

We sincerely hope that the draft Forest Management Policy Bill currently being worked out, which the minister has said will be "aimed at increasing the forest cover in the country" will take on board what Kenyan journalist Mutuma Mathiu advised in May 2002 to the then Conservator of Forests Maj General Peter Ikenye, which ended saying:

"And what exactly is Gen Ikenye's mandate? To say that he will be in charge of the conservation effort would be a contradiction of sorts --there is no conservation.

The way things are, the job is likely to be three-fold. The most urgent task is to define the forests. Are the pieces of forest land which have been criminally degazetted still part of the forest? Can they be re-gazetted? There is also the job of determining the final status of squatters, settlers and land grabbers on forest land. A lot of forest squatters are very poor families. They can't be tossed out into the streets without a parachute. Devising that parachute will require lots of money, hard work, ingenuity and leadership.

Second is the question of protection. Having defined the forests, there will be need to devise new sustainable mechanisms to protect them. This will most probably entail some type of symbiotic friendship between forests and neighbouring communities.

Finally is the question of restoring those parts that have been destroyed. There is no point in filling our country exclusively with exotic trees. I think Environment minister Joseph Kamotho, having admirably absorbed his political setbacks, should now lead the nation in establishing nurseries of indigenous trees and planting them."

In a nutshell.

Article based on information from: "Can Our Forests Breathe At Last?", Mutuma Mathiu, The Nation (Nairobi), May 5, 2002, http://forests.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=10735 ; "Govt to Act On Forest Grabbers , Says Kulundu", Hilton Otenyo, The East African Standard (Nairobi), January 6, 2003, http://allafrica.com/stories/200301060630.html

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- Madagascar: Colonialism as the historical root cause of deforestation

Madagascar's historic problem of deforestation can be linked to the detrimental policies of the colonial state in terms of land use and agriculture. The deforestation problem in Madagascar began when it was annexed as a French colony in 1896. An uncertain political climate and famine followed this annexation, and many of the Malagasy fled to the woods for survival. These farmers started practicing the method of shifting cultivation as a means of survival.

Madagascar's domestic economy, from the beginning of colonial times, has been geared toward export promotion. Exports consisted primarily of coffee, but rice and beef were sold abroad as well. Coffee was originally planted on only the east coast, but expanded across the island when it became apparent that producers were able to generate large profits. Because of this expansion of coffee, the island's economic development was uneven. Rice shortages resulted as early as 1911 because of the excess demand for labor in the coffee sector, and the nation's "food security" began to erode. Rice was also more vulnerable to changes in the weather and cyclones, which exacerbated the shortages. Peasants that once worked cultivating the nation's rice moved into regions where they were able to cultivate coffee because of the higher wages. These peasants would then clear additional land so that they could practice shifting cultivation and generate enough food to subsist.

In response to the increasing shifting cultivation, or tavy as it is called locally, the Governor General prohibited it's practice in 1909. The state's objective of this ban was to try and save what was left of the nation's forest as well as impose "rational forest resource management". However, the land set aside by the state for the nation's rice cultivation was inefficient because of soil problems. The policy was therefore ineffective in erasing Madagascar's rice production problem. The government also thought that the ban would give them a greater ability to collect taxes because it would be easier to locate citizens if they were forced to remain in one place.

The Malagasy interpretation of the ban was almost entirely opposite of the state's intentions. They viewed wage work as equivalent to enslavement and many revolts took place. Not only did the Malagasy ignore the ban, but they illegally burned many acres of forest in protest. "The ban elevated the practice of tavy to a symbol of independence and liberty from colonial rule." The Malagasy viewed shifting cultivation as a sacred means of survival that they were taught by their ancestors.

The forest degradation problem became even more serious when the state decided to open up the island's forests to logging concessions in 1921. Many viewed it as ironic that the state allowed massive clear cutting on concessions while the ban on shifting cultivation was still in effect. More than just the claimed lands were ruined however, because many owners clear-cut lands beyond their concessionary limits. The Forest Service was unable to regulate the concessions because of shortages in labor and "a lack of political will." Much of the illegal felling of trees was completely overlooked and the fines that were levied for violation of the permits were far lower than the actual damages. The combination of these detrimental government policies meant that "roughly 70% of the primary forest was destroyed in the 30 years between 1895 and 1925".

It is interesting to note that the much publicized "population growth" issue didn't become a factor in forest degradation in Madagascar until 1940 when vaccines were introduced that lowered the death rate. During the next 40 years the population increased rapidly from 4.2 million to 9.2 million, and some 4 million hectares of forests were cleared during this 40 year period, as compared to between 3 and 7 million hectares in the 40 year period from 1900 through 1940. Much of this deforestation was, however, still linked to concessions, export promotion, and insecure land tenure, rather than on population growth in itself.

Even more interestingly, much of the process described above can be easily mirrored with what has happened in many other former European colonies throughout the tropics, where the historical root causes of deforestation are clearly linked to the expropriation and exploitation of natural resources for the benefit of the colonial powers. Most of those colonies have now become formally independent, but not much seems to have changed in the unsustainable economic model inherited from colonial rule, which continues producing cheap and abundant raw materials at the expense of people and their environment for the benefit of the North.

Article based on information from: History and Current Crisis of Deforestation (Madagascar)", reviewed by Alane O'Connor, Colby College, 1996, http://www.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/defor-mad.html