Copyright © UNDP 2006 All rights reserved Printed in Kenya Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations, including UNDP, or its member States United Nations Development Programme U N D P Decentralized Governance of Natural Resources Part 1: Manual and Guidelines for Practitioners First edition Prepared by UNDP Drylands Development Centre Photo Credit:UNDP Table of contents Foreword vi Acknowledgements ix Summary xi I. Introduction 1 II. Purpose of the manual 3 III. What is decentralized governance of natural resources? 5 IV. Principles pertaining to the decentralized governance of natural resources 7 V. Initiating and improving the governance of natural resources 11 A. Democracy: A precondition of decentralization 12 B. Analysis of constraints, risks and opportunities 13 C. Mainstreaming the governance of natural resources into the decentralization process 17 D. Information and awareness raising 30 E. Participatory approach and decentralization 31 F. Capacity-building 33 G. Fiscal decentralization: Financing local development 36 iii H. Control, checks and balance 38 I. Monitoring and evaluation 41 VI. Conclusions 45 Annex 1. Information resources 51 A. Key reference materials 51 B. Agencies providing technical and fi nancial support 52 Annex 2. Sources of information for preparation of document 53 A. National reviews 53 B. Electronic forum on decentralized governance of natural resources 54 Information and case study boxes Box 1. Decentralized governance of natural resources 2 Box 2. Key parameters relating to democratic functioning, downward accountability and representation 12 Box 3. Mali: Legal and regulatory context of decentralization of natural resource management 17 Box 4. Devolution of rights and responsibilities: Matters for consideration 17 Box 5. China: Overcoming the constraints of a centralized bureaucracy 19 Box 6. Implementation and enforcement of decentralization laws and regulations 21 Box 7. Issues relating to institutions 22 Box 8. Nepal: Developing local self-governance structures 23 Box 9. Lesotho: The need to support institutional reforms 25 iv Box 10. Peru: Integrating natural resource issues into local planning processes 27 Box 11. Mali: Local development planning guide 27 Box 12. Mali: Need for capacity-building in data collection and management 30 Box 13. Criteria for effective participation in the decentralized governance of national resources 31 Box 14. Main partners in the decentralized governance of national resources 32 Box 15. Key capacity-building aspects to consider 34 Box 16. Turkmenistan: Requirements for harmonization of natural resource management 35 Box 17. Kazakhstan: Need for further fi scal decentralization 37 v Foreword Many countries around the world are engaged in the process of decentralization to enhance governance and growth at local level. In many of these countries a large proportion of the rural population depends directly on natural resources for their livelihoods. These resources are not only vital to their well-being but can generate the financial resources, through taxes, fees and other payments, to run democratic local institutions. The decentralization of the governance of natural resources is a means of ensuring improved environmental management while increasing equity and justice for local people, including women and marginalized groups. When properly implemented, it strengthens the democratic process by involving local institutions and communities, ensures effective transfer of power to the local level, increases accountability, improves local revenue collection and allows more effective sharing of knowledge for sustainable natural resource management. Decentralized governance for natural resources can thus lead to genuine participation in the development process, greater food security and increased economic opportunities for the poor. It helps raise awareness about the links between democratic processes, local governance of natural resources and alleviation of poverty and hunger. The UNDP Drylands Development Centre, through its Integrated Drylands Development programme, has provided support to countries to: Q Mainstream governance of natural resource policies and practices into national democratic processes and processes of decentralization; Q Improve knowledge of governance of natural resources through analysis, documentation and dissemination of successful approaches and best practices; Q Strengthen capacities of local institutions and communities to ensure participatory, transparent, accountable, equitable and efficient use and management of natural resources for local development. vi The decentralized governance of natural resources has now emerged as one of the main approaches being adopted by many governments for promoting effi ciency, equity and justice in the management of natural resources. Policies have been adopted and institutional reforms initiated to facilitate decentralized governance of natural resources around the globe. Most of these efforts are recent, and there is need to continuously gather and analyse lessons learned to better inform policy and to improve the performance of programmes and projects in the governance of natural resources. This manual is an output of the Integrated Drylands Development programme of the UNDP Drylands Development Centre. It is expected to serve as a basis for learning from experiences and to help practitioners improve on current and future eff orts for the integration of governance of natural resources into national decentralization processes. Philip Dobie Director Drylands Development Centre vii Photo Credit:UNDP Acknowledgements This document is a synthesis of information drawn from three main sources: a review of experiences and best practices from 12 selected countries; experiences and contributions received from individual experts through an electronic forum conducted in December 2004 and January 2005; and a literature review. Special thanks go to the twelve national reviewers: Lineo Mdee (Lesotho), Kifle Lemma (Ethiopia), Edwin A. Gyasi (Ghana), Mawade Made (Senegal), Nampaa Nangoun Sanogho (Mali), Kebin Zhang (China), Sharachchadra Lele (India), Meruert Makhmuova (Kazakhstan), Jamal Annaklycheva (Turkmenistan), Ibrahim Magdi (Morocco), Taghi Farvar (Iran), and Mauricio Casanovas Sainz and Jairo Escobar (Bolivia). Substantive contributions were received from Joseph Opio-Odongo, Policy Specialist, Environment, UNDP Regional Service Centre for East and Southern Africa; Nadiya Nduku, UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific; Anders Knudby, Programme Officer, Environment, UNDP Eritrea; Vijaya P. Singh, Biodiversity Analyst, UNDP Nepal; M. Badarch, Director, Nature and Environment Consortium, Mongolia; Hou Xinan, Assistant Resident Representative, Head of Governance Cluster, UNDP China; Angelo Bonfiglioli, Senior Technical Adviser, United Nations Capital Development Fund, New York; Maoulound Ndiaye, UNDP Mauritania; Mahamane Toure, former Head, Local Development Unit, Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS); Jean Jacob Sahou, Programme Manager, UNDP Benin; and Batkhuyag Baldangombo, Programme Offi cer, UNDP Albania. Special thanks go to Sarah Anyoti, UNDP Drylands Development Centre Information and Communications Specialist, who has edited and provided invaluable advice on the design and layout of the manual, and has worked tirelessly with Richard Mugeke, UNDP Drylands Development Centre Information Management Associate, to support the electronic forum. Mounkaila Goumandakoye, UNDP Drylands Development Centre Policy Adviser, initiated the process and teamed up with Winston Mathu (Consultant) to undertake ix the main task of overseeing the entire process, including synthesizing national reviews and facilitating the e-forum discussions. Any errors relating to technical interpretation or substantive presentations are those of the authors. x Summary This publication – Decentralized Governance of Natural Resources, Part 2: Experiences and Lessons Learned – has been prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Drylands Development Centre as part of its activities under the Integrated Drylands Development programme.1 It aims to promote learning from experience to enable practitioners to improve on current and future efforts to mainstream and integrate governance of natural resources into decentralized governance processes. It focuses on lessons learned about risks, constraints and opportunities in the decentralization process, and on the best approaches and practices from the various countries and regions. It also looks at capacity needs for effective decentralization and experiences gained in fiscal decentralization, a necessary source of funding for local development. The main lesson or conclusion reached is that in countries where decentralization has been embraced as a national goal or strategy and a national policy put in place (for example Bolivia, Ethiopia, India and Senegal), the process of decentralization has proceeded much faster as a result of the institutional and legal reforms that were initiated. In other countries, decentralization has taken place as part of the overall global democratization process (for example China, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan). In these countries, the process of decentralization has been much slower, and not as effective. Factors responsible for this include sociopolitical influences left over from past centralized systems of governance; weakness