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CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONGO BASIN FOREST : CAN MULTIPLE MDGS BE REACHED?
By Jeffrey Sayer, Bruce Campbell, and Marieke Sandker
The Congo Basin forest is the second largest forest block in the world. At its heart, the Tri-National de la Sangha landscape (of over four million hectares) spreads over three nations: Cameroon , the Republic of Congo and Central African Republic . This forest landscape allows various indigenous people, such as the Baka pygmies, to live according to their traditions and customs, and is home to some highly charismatic megafauna, such as the forest elephant, chimpanzee and gorilla. The landscape is at the same time a fascinating and dramatic scene; it has high levels of biological and cultural diversity, but also high levels of poverty, and there is a host of major threats to animal populations and the traditional lifestyle of forest dwelling people. In this setting, two MDGs in particular are major challenges: MDG1 – related to poverty alleviation, and MDG7 – related to environmental sustainability. Though there are definite tradeoffs in some cases, the search for synergies between conservation and development is essential if environmental gains are to be maximized and poverty is to be alleviated.
It is within this landscape that that the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is working with WWF and GTZ to explore these synergies and trade-offs. CIFOR has used a modeling tool to visualize and simulate how conservation and development are interrelated. The model demonstrates that to make progress on either conservation or development outcomes, both must be considered simultaneously. As idealistic as the goals of big conservation organizations might be in their efforts to protect large mammals, they are in many cases not very popular with local people who are often being restricted in their search for food and income – a popular complaint being that “they only care about animals, not people” . In the fight against poaching, conservation agencies are not likely to gain the sympathy and collaboration of local people, unless the population is supported with alternative options for income generation.
The modeling tool has been used to explore possible scenarios with the populations of large mammals – as indicators of conservation, and household revenue and village budgets as indicators of development. Different scenarios can be explored as shown in Figure 1. This figure illustrates the possible effects of closing logging sawmills in the region on elephant poaching. Under this scenario, the reason for such a closure is envisaged as a decrease in forest productivity and the withdrawal of logging companies in about 20-30 years when the biggest and most commercially attractive species have all been cleared under an unsustainable logging scenario (as has occurred in some forests in west Cameroon ). From previous experiences, it is evident that the closure of logging concessions and the lack of alternative employment leads to an increase in poaching.
Figure 1: Model output under the scenario of closure of logging concessions in approx. 22 years.
1. Total number of elephants killed outside the national park
2. Total number of elephants killed inside the national park
The model reveals that even if antipoaching initiatives provide an effective short-term tool for species conservation, in the longer term poaching becomes difficult to control unless possibilities for alternative incomes exist. This is especially the case in countries with weak law enforcement. Collaboration with the local population is essential for biodiversity management to be sustainable. To facilitate local involvement, and to acknowledge the sacrifices made by local people, alternative options and benefits must be provided.
Some examples of collaborative conservation efforts are now underway in the region. In Cameroon , the fauna in a buffer zone of approximately one billion hectares is now being managed by the local population. The buffer zones surrounding the national parks consist of concession forests, national safari hunting zones, agroforestry zones, community hunting zones and recently some community managed safari hunting zones. The communities’ management efforts are supported through safari hunting taxes. The funds generated finance development projects for the villages and in some cases eco-guards to control poaching. Whether or not these efforts become a real success will depend largely on the support provided by conservation and development organizations. The purpose of this model is to support decision making around options for intervention: the simulation of scenarios helps agencies consider the possible impacts of different management decisions. Through visioning, and the creation of a management strategy that builds on the synergies between conservation and development, both MDG1 and MDG7 might become a reality in this landscape.
Contact information:
Marieke Sandker
CIFOR Cameroon
Email: M.Sandker@cgiar.org