Key Messages and Recommendations From
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HOSTED BY Key Messages and Recommendations from the International Conference on Forest Tenure, Governance and Enterprise: New Opportunities for Central and West Africa, Yaoundé 25-29 May 2009 CO-ORGANIZED BY Under the distinguished Patronage of the which consisted of Plenary sessions, working Government of Cameroon, the International groups and field visits. Conference on Forest Tenure, Governance and Enterprise: New Opportunities for Central and The objective of the conference was to catalyze West Africa took place at the Hotel Mont Fébé, new and wider-ranging actions by governments Yaoundé. The conference was organized by the and civil society organizations towards securing Ministry of Forests and Wildlife of Cameroon land and forest tenure in Central and West Africa. (MINFOF), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Central African Forest The expected outputs of the conference were the Commission (COMIFAC), the Food and Agriculture following: Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the 1. Recommendations on the outlines of a Global Alliance of Forest Communities (GACF), the common vision to put in motion forest tenure Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and its reforms; partners CIFOR, ICRAF, IUCN and Intercooperation, 2. Recommendations on the approaches to with financial support of the ITTO, SDC, SECO, DFID, reinforce the collaboration between actors and NORAD, SIDA, US Department of State and the sectors; Government of the Netherlands. 3. Proposals for an action plan to accelerate the SPONSORED BY implementation of reforms in Central and West The opening ceremony was presided by HE Elvis Africa; and Ngolle Ngolle, Minister of Forests and Wildlife of 4. Adoption of priority actions and commitments Cameroon in the presence of Emmanuel Ze Meka, for the implementation of the Conference Executive Director of ITTO. recommendations. Close to 250 participants composed of experts from The participants appreciated the efforts made by Cameroon and other African countries (Angola, countries like Tanzania, Mozambique, Nepal, Brazil, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, China, Guatemala and Mexico with regards to Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, forest reform in order to improve the sustainable RCA, RDC, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, management of forests, the livelihoods of local Zimbabwe), from Europe (France, Italy, United populations and to increase the contribution by Kingdom, Switzerland), Asia (China, India, the forest sector to national economic growth. Indonesia, Nepal, Malaysia), Latin America (Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico), North America (Canada, United The principle results of the conference are States), from regional organizations (COMIFAC) and summarized below. The participants of the international organizations (ITTO, FAO, CIFOR, conference identified key issues, lessons and ICRAF, IUCN, RRI, WWF), representatives of challenges and made recommendations for Governments Civil Society, local communities, governments, international organizations, traditional authorities, elected officials, and donors communities, NGOs, and regional African (EU and DFID) took part in this important gathering, organizations. They concluded the conference by discussing and agreeing on a time-bound set of communities to access and own what they consider activities. This “Objective 2015” is presented at the to be their natural resources. end of this summary statement. 5. Reforms are taking place throughout the world and in several African countries in response A. Key issues on forest tenure, to a growing movement of communities claiming governance and community rights to participate in the processes regarding enterprise in Africa resource use and conservation, but where these 1. Insecure forest tenure experienced by African reforms have taken place their implementation has communities in many countries slows social and been slow. economic development, hampers sustainable 6. Women’s tenure rights under customary and forest management and leads to resource conflicts. formal laws remain largely unrecognized; their 2. Over the past 400 years the African continent rights are insufficiently considered in policy and has experienced extreme trauma as colonial rule law reforms and in the related international refused to recognize customary law and tenure agenda. rights in order to establish state control over 7. Similarly, socially disadvantaged ethnic groups natural resources and to pursue economic goals. that depend on forests for their livelihoods 3. The legacy of colonial control over resources continue to live with insecure resource tenure and passed over to the post-independence African unrecognized human rights. states, who have maintained the state claim of 8. The institutional orientation of forest agencies ownership over forest lands. does not address rights-based development and 4. There is a legal pluralism of tenure in most of tenure; institutional capacity is therefore Africa in which the formal law dominates over inadequate for the effective use of tools for varied customary systems and limits the rights of rights-based development and to respond to tenure issues. 9. Government institutions have been structured in a manner that separates the regulation and management of agricultural land from that of valuable natural resources such as timber or minerals. 10. In many African countries several barriers block the creation of small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) of community forest enterprises (CFEs) in particular. A lack of support for financing, technology, and the integrated use of timber and non-timber forest products restricts the economic possibilities for local communities. 11. Due to a lack of appropriate Conference Sponsor Representatives (from L to R): James Gasana – Intercooperation, Cyrie channels and tools, communities have Sendashonga - CIFOR, Andy White – RRI, Emmanuel Ze Meka – ITTO, His Excellency Dr. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle - MINFOF difficulty expressing and documenting 3 their customary rights in order to interact with c) Forest policies and laws should be formal legal systems. consistent with or build on land laws: The 12. Support for forest tenure reform, forest elements of forest ownership and access governance and community forestry enterprise rights cannot be dissociated from land tenure. development has been neglected by international Forest tenure reform is therefore dependent donors and funding institutions. on a transparent underlying approach to land 13. New and evolving global issues such as climate rights, including clear land tenure legislation change and potential mitigation initiatives, and implementation mechanisms. biofuels production, initiatives such as VPA/FLEGT, d) Forest policies and laws should and the global economic crisis will have an impact accommodate differences within on forest tenure. communities: Individuals and households within a community often have different B. Key lessons emerging from the positions and perspectives on forest use and conference: ownership. These differences must be 1. Forest tenure policy and law reform processes identified and adequately accommodated in are necessary in many countries in Africa. The the development of forest tenure policies and conference identified the following lessons. laws. a) Multi-stakeholder processes to reform e) Respect and recognition of customary policy and law are key: The wide and systems are keys to success: The most organized participation of stakeholders is an successful examples of forest tenure reform, essential element in the development of especially in Africa, are those in which the natural resources policy and legislation. rights established by customary systems have Processes that are biased or that have not been understood and recognized by the been built on consensus among all statutory legal systems for land and forest stakeholders will inevitably lead to conflict tenure. Such understanding and recognition and the depletion of resources. There is a need are essential elements for promoting to build mechanisms to guarantee the equal consensus building, the equitable distribution participation of disempowered groups, of benefits, and sustainable development. particularly women and minorities. f) National policies must recognize the b) A clear policy should be set before laws legality of the customary rights: A balance are drafted: Legal and regulatory between the statutory and customary systems instruments are far more effective when they is a pre-requisite for success. are based on sound policies that have been g) The state plays a key role in the reform developed in a participatory and consultative process: The state, which is at the centre of all way and established on the basis of reform processes, should aim to facilitate such experience. Forest tenure policies and laws processes by providing sufficient political should be sufficiently flexible to space, political stability, and resources. accommodate locally adapted approaches to Commitment and political will are essential the sustainable use of natural resources. In for the initiation, development and the development of the law, field experience implementation of reform processes. is essential and the mechanisms for applying h) Participatory mapping is a tool for the law must be simple to guarantee its empowering communities to negotiate and success. claim rights: Participatory mapping at the necessary condition for the development of SMFEs, and of CFEs in particular. Such access must be legally recognized