Community Forest Ownership:

Key to Sustainable Forest Resource Management

The Gambian Experience

A Case Study Prepared for the International Workshop on Community-Based Natural Resource Management

The World Bank, Washington, D.C.

by Foday Bojang, Director of Forestry and Dominique Reeb, Forestry Adviser - GTZ/DFS
Forestry Department, No. 5 Marina Parade, Banjul, The Gambia
e-mail: forestry.project@commit.gm

1. Introduction

At the turn of the century The Gambia was still covered by dense and almost impenetrable forests. In 1981 about 430.000 ha or 45% of total land area were classified as forest , it was estimated that this area was further reduced to about 340.000 ha or 30% of land area in 1988. Likewise, the degradation of the forest condition is so severe that most closed forests have disappeared leaving only a tree and shrub savanna of poor quality. The Gambia belonging to the group of the least developed countries, with an average income of $325 per capita , its population of 1,025,000 (1993) relies mainly on forest resources for its energy needs.

The main cause of forest destruction are annual fires which burn systematically most vegetation. This is in combination with human activity resulting from the high population density (96 inhabitant/km2) and its growth rate of 4.1% per year (1993 population and housing census).

While the seriousness of deforestation and the resulting environmental degradation with its socio-economical consequences were timely acknowledged, the situation in The Gambia with regard to forest management and since the official introduction of the concept of scientific forest management by the colonial administration in the latter part of the 1940's, has been one of state control and manipulation. In the early 1980's it became apparent that the prevailing forestry practices were inadequate to halt the destruction of the country's forest resources and that new approaches would have to be sought to meet the challenge of preserving a sufficient forest cover.

It is in this context that the Forestry Department supported by a German funded project (the Gambian German Forestry Project, GGFP) started in 1984 to initiate a concept of natural forest management. The authors, Mr. F. Bojang, Director of the Forestry Department, has been involved in this case since 1980 and Mr. D. Reeb, GGFP expert and policy adviser to the Director of Forestry, since 1987.

2. The initial situation

As a result of the introduction of the state owned Forest Park concept in the 1950's and of the Forestry legislation in 1977 which invested the state with overall power over the national forest resources, the local population that claimed ownership of surrounding forests began to develop apprehensions which lead to a feeling of alienation and finally their unwillingness to involve in the protection and management of 'their forests'.

Because the communities no longer see the forest as theirs they began to perceive all their activities in the forests as 'illegal' with the consequent result that forests utilization practices became increasingly damaging. This behaviour was enhanced by the restrictive Forest Regulations. Consequently the forest resource base of the country continued to deteriorate as a result of lack of public concern and an increase in population pressure and illegal activities.

This institutional framework deprived the rural population of responsibility for forest management, although it was the most affected by deforestation, while the forestry administration was entrusted with a mandate it was unable to accomplish due the lack of human and material resources.

In the mid-1980's when more knowledge was gained in The Gambia about the state of forests and about the potential of natural forest management, it became clear that the government will never be in a position to manage on its own the forest resources countrywide and that a new approach would have to be found to save the remaining forest cover.

3. The change process

3.1 The introduction of community forestry

The introduction of Community Forestry in The Gambia was born out of the realization by the Department of Forestry of the futility of its efforts at protecting the nations forest resources without the committed and willing involvement of the local community. The department also recognized the inadequacy of the policy under which it was operating as well as the inadequacy of the Forest Act and Regulations. Although the policy and legislative environment remained the same at the start of the programme, the commitment to change approach within the department and the Ministry responsible for forest as well as the commitment within government to see that the negative trend in forest degradation is halted and eventually reversed, made it possible to implement community forestry. The long-term demand by the local communities to allow them to manage their own forest facilitated the process.The first community forestry interventions were realized in 1990.

3.2 Institutional arrangements for community forestry implementation

The introduction and application of community forestry is one of a process of confidence building and is demand driven. One of the primary conditions a community has to fulfil before a Community Forest Management Agreement is entered into between it and the Department of Forestry is the creation of a Forest Committee at the village level. This Committee, which is generally formed on the base of the already existing village institutional structure, has representation from both the male and the female members of the community, is responsible for all work organization at village level. Its members are assisted by the extensionists and forestry staff in areas such as participatory problem and solution analysis, work planning and preparation of management plans. They also receive training in rudimentary forestry practices such as forest protection, tree nurseries, plantation and utilization as well as in basic book keeping. Where necessary and possible, training in other revenue generating economic activities is also provided. Other members of the community benefit from this training through their participation in work implementation and through their committee members.

Basically, community forestry implementation distinguishes three phases: a preparatory phase during which the forest management by local communities is prepared; a preliminary phase during which the communities shall demonstrate their capacity in forest protection and management; and a consolidation phase during which the communities gain further managerial and technical forestry skills aiming at self-management. For the development of confidence between a participating community and the department it has been found necessary to develop a mutually agreed Preliminary Community Forest Management Agreement (PCFMA) for the preliminary phase and Community Forest Management Agreement (CFMA) for the consolidation phase between the local community and the department on behalf of the government.

The basic idea of the PCFMA is to develop suitable conditions for community forest management. It gives time to conduct negotiations, manage eventual conflicts over land ownership and allows the villagers to demonstrate their genuine interest in protecting their forest. The PCFMA is valid for a period of three years and is then automatically replaced by the CFMA if the community has shown its ability to manage their forest.

This CFMA grants permanent ownership rights over the forest resource of a clearly demarcated forest to the community or communities and specifies details on the extent of cooperation with the Department of Forestry, such as technical assistance and on the specific responsibility of both parties. With the CFMA the communities are entitled to keep the benefits derived from their forests. The only condition attached to the CFMA is to manage the forest resource according to a simple management plan.

Every agreement signed with the community is accompanied with an attestation from the traditional chief to the effect that the community has customary ownership of the land that they claim or they have permission from the chiefs office to annex the forest land for their community forestry activities. Through this the traditional leaders are involved from the beginning. Many community forests already established are being jointly managed by two or more villages. It is in the negotiations of these joint managements that the traditional chiefs have been found most useful. As traditional seats of arbitration, the involvement of the chiefs helps to stem any future conflict between claimants of the land concerned.

The community, through their forest committee, is also required to open a bank account into which all revenue from the forest management activities are paid. While part of this money could be used by the community to finance development activities at the village or larger community level, the agreement requires that a certain proportion, about 40%, is reserved for reinvestment in their forest. During the PCFMA stage they are exempted from all taxes. After the CFMA, while still exempted from all licence and permit fees they are required to pay 15% of their collections into the National Forestry Fund as contribution towards the development of the forestry sector and community forestry in particular.

Extension work is carried out by teams of private extensionists and foresters. The Department of Forestry saw the need to collaborate with experienced NGOs especially in the field of extension. So far two strong and renowned NGOs are participating in community forestry.

The practice of community forestry is not without problems however. As surprising as it may seem, it takes a long time to create the sense of forest ownership among the villagers. This is the result of profound mistrust about governmental actions and policies. This sense of ownership has to be carefully build up during the PCFMA stage. To achieve that objective the use of financial or material incentive is avoided. No compensations are given to the villagers for the protection and plantation work they are accomplishing in their forests. A task decided by the forest committee and executed by the villagers without external support strengthen the perception that they are the real owners of their work and therefore of "their forest".

3.3 Management Activities

Forest management at the community level is based on the principle of management planning. With technical assistance from the department communities prepare simple management plans which guides their intervention in the forest area. Adapted tools are used for adequate visualization and documentation of the plan. One of the key pillars of the management plan is the establishment of fire protection structures around the forest such as green belts. The interventions at the community forest level are based on the successful experiences on natural forest management of the Gambian-German Forestry Project which has demonstrated that keeping fires out of the forest is the most important initial intervention for a successful revival and development of the forest.

4. The outcome

4.1 The policy and legislative review process

For the sustainable countrywide implementation of community forestry the Department of Forestry saw the need to review and revise both its Forest Policy and Legislation, based on the successful experience gained during the past years, in order to create an appropriate and conducive environment for local community and individual involvement in forest management. Today, The Gambia has a forest policy that calls for community ownership and a drafted legislation that regulates and secure community forest ownership. The Forestry Department is mandated by the policy and the draft legislation to implement the new institutional arrangements.

It has been found necessary to follow a long process of public participation in the review and revision process of the policy and laws in order to avert any future significant negative developments that may hamper the development and expansion of community and private forestry in The Gambia. The consultation reaffirmed the need to devolve authority for forest management to the local communities as public appreciation of the proposed changes and introductions was amply demonstrated by the participants during that process.

4.2 The growing importance of community forestry in The Gambia

Already over 6000 ha of forest have been brought under active community management since the introduction of the programme in 1990. Applications have been received in respect of the management of over 7000 ha additional area. There are 41 established community forests while over 50 are awaiting the agreement. More than 300 villages are now involved in community forestry in The Gambia. Applications from new villages are received in large number. The rippling effect of community forestry is considerably higher than previously expected. While in the past forest land was considered as marginal land reserves, people are now considering them with a different perspective.

Due to the importance of community forestry a visible trend in the reduction of bush fires is taking place. The absence of fire is certainly the best criteria to measure the success of forest management. Fire prevention and control is extremely difficult in absence of proper alternative. Community forestry constitutes such a valuable alternative for the rural population. The improved control on forest resources and particularly on firewood exploitation will help to change the status of wood being more or less a free access resource. In the future community forestry should lead to a much improved sustainable system of exploitation.

5. The Lessons learned

The rural population is already much aware:

One of the most important lessons learnt by The Gambia during the past six years of implementation of Community Forestry is that communities are much aware of the economical and environmental consequences of deforestation and therefore are prepared and willing to participate in forestry activities provided the government creates the right environment for their participation.

Suitable institutional environment initiates self development:

A study has shown that among the first villages to have participated into community forestry the forest committees have build up confidence in managing their forest. As a result the communities have decided to use the same mechanisms to manage other natural resources such as farm and range lands.

The importance of clear ownership rights over natural resources

Natural resources can be managed by the population if and only if their ownership status is clearly established and understood. For forest resources which are managed on a comparatively long term basis, the ownership rights should not be limited in time by the government. The ownership should be permanent on the condition that the owning communities are not depleting their forests.

During community forestry implementation and contrary to what is often believed, it has been found that the communities were not seeing the forest primarily as a source of revenue. Access to forest ownership is their first motivation because they fully understand the importance of preserving the forest to meet their own needs and to secure their future without interferences from outsiders.

The Gambian experience can be replicated in other countries if the political will is there:

Exchange visits with villagers of neighbouring countries have already taken place and have created a mutual interest for the development of a common concept. In that respect the Gambian experience has shown that with sufficient political will and courage the empowerment of the local communities can lead to a much improved forest management. Furthermore the rural population has proved that they can be entrusted with such responsibilities.

The later aspect has relevance beyond the Sub-region. It is showing that the origin of the problem has often been misunderstood. While it is true that forest degradation results from demographic growth, poverty and poor education it is basically a problem of institutions inhibiting constructive actions due to the lack of security of tenure and benefit for communities or individuals to manage natural resources.

While six years experience is indeed short to draw any decisive conclusions with regard to adopting community forestry as the policy instrument for achieving the policy objective of keeping 30% of the total land area under forest cover and managing 75% percent of this, we in The Gambia are convinced that it is the only objective course of action in the present socio-economic conditions towards a sustainable management and utilization of the forest resources.