Promoting Stewardship of Forests in the Humid Forest Zone of Anglophone West and Central Africa FINAL REPORT of a collaborative research project undertaken by The United Nations Environment Programme and The Center for International Forestry Research Project co-ordinators and editors of the final report: Dennis P. Dykstra Center for International Forestry Research Godwin S. Kowero Center for International Forestry Research Albert Ofosu-Asiedu Forest Research Institute of Ghana Philip Kio Forestry Consultant, Nigeria Copyright © 1996 Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Published by Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) P.O. Box 6596 JKPWB Jakarta 10065 Indonesia with support from The United Nations Environment Programme Nairobi, Kenya ISBN 979-8764-09-9 ii PREFACE Sustainable forestry development combines the concepts of economic growth and environ- mental conservation; as such it is reasonable to expect it be on the agenda of many national and international organisations dealing with economic development and environmental conserva- tion. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is one such organisation which gives attention to sustainable forestry development in the context of the United Nations Con- ference on Environment and Development. Agenda 21 gives UNEP a comparative advantage in placing its activities at the interface of the integration of environment and development. It is in this context that UNEP conceived the project whose results are reported in this docu- ment, with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) as the collaborating partner responsible for the project’s implementation. The project focuses on the West African humid forests of Ghana and Nigeria, with information provided on Liberia and Sierra Leone to the extent possible. Cameroon, a country which is officially Francophone but with a large English- speaking population, has been included in the study in order to provide more complete cover- age of Anglophone West African countries where this type of forest exists. The general objective of the project was to integrate all available information on West African humid forest formations in order to catalyse initiatives at national, regional and international levels which may foster the adoption of sustainable forest management principles throughout the region. The project reported here will contribute to a larger joint project currently being undertaken by CIFOR and the Government of France for the Francophone countries of Côte d’Ivoire, Cam- eroon, Central African Republic, Congo and Gabon. An Advisory Group composed of representatives from CIFOR, UNEP, ATO, FAO, ITTO, and several national institutions and NGOs helped oversee the project. UNESCO and IUCN were also invited to join the Advisory Group but were not able to do so, although they were kept informed about the project and its progress. Field work was contracted to the Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) under the direction of Dr. Albert Ofosu-Asiedu, and to Prof. Philip Kio of Nigeria. Under their direction a synthesis was prepared to summarise forest man- agement technologies and options in the region. They also organised thematic workshops which evaluated land use practices and related policies, institutional arrangements, and other forms of government intervention which affect sustainable forest management. Additional workshops examined inter-generational issues and technical forest management issues. A stakeholders’ consultation was also convened to obtain the views of various stakeholder groups. The present report is a product of all these efforts. The report is organised into nine chapters. The first chapter gives an account of the forestry situation in West and Central Africa, with emphasis on vegetation distribution and factors af- fecting forest management. Chapters 2 and 3 highlight past and present silvicultural and forest management practices and also consider management control systems. The relevance of biodi- versity and the role of non-timber forest products are explored in Chapter 4. Intergenerational issues, socio-economic factors influencing sustainable forest management, and the iii Promoting Forest Stewardship in West and Central Africa relevance of policies and legislation are addressed in Chapters 5, 6 and 7. Chapter 8 outlines strategies and incentives which might be adopted to promote sustainable forest management. The report concludes in Chapter 9 with suggestions for research which could be undertaken to fill gaps in knowledge which became apparent in the course of this project. In the hope of maximising its utility to foresters, environmentalists, government decision mak- ers and other interested parties throughout the tropics, this report is being published simulta- neously in both English and French. Copies of the publication will be available without charge from both UNEP and CIFOR until supplies are exhausted. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research summarised in this report was made possible by funding from UNEP’s Environ- ment Fund, with additional support provided by CIFOR. Essential contributions were also made by the Project Advisory Group, numerous scientists from FORIG, consultants who pre- pared background papers for the workshops, and all who participated in the various work- shops. These contributions are gratefully acknowledged. Finally, Dr. Robert Nasí, leader of FORAFRI (a joint CIFOR/CIRAD-Forêt research project focusing on sustainable forest man- agement in Francophone West Africa and supported by the Government of France), very gra- ciously agreed to check this entire document for accuracy. His efforts are very much appreci- ated, but any errors which remain are those of the Editors. The English-language original of this document was translated into French by Mr. Guy Ferlin, Forest Engineer, Les Cigales, Chemin de Bellevue, 83110 Sanary sur Mer, France. iv Promoting Forest Stewardship in West and Central Africa Table of Contents PREFACE .......................................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER 1: FORESTRY STATUS IN ANGLOPHONE WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA........................ 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Physical Features, Vegetation, Land Use and Topography............................................. 1 Geology and Soils ................................................................................................. 1 Climate................................................................................................................. 2 Vegetation............................................................................................................. 2 Mangroves..................................................................................................... 3 Swamp Communities ..................................................................................... 5 Lowland Forest Belts ..................................................................................... 5 Land Use .............................................................................................................. 7 Impact of Population on Forests.................................................................................... 7 Economic Factors Affecting Forest Management........................................................... 9 Forest Resources as Sources of Revenue to Government ........................................ 9 Low Wages......................................................................................................... 10 Low Funding....................................................................................................... 10 Nature of Forest Investment................................................................................. 11 Inadequate Information about Investment Opportunities....................................... 11 Under-valuation of Forest Resources ................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 2: SILVICULTURE AND FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES......................................... 13 Introduction................................................................................................................ 13 The Uniform Systems ................................................................................................. 13 Tropical Shelterwood System .............................................................................. 14 Group Shelterwood System ................................................................................. 16 Uniform Shelterwood System .............................................................................. 16 Walsh System16 Post-Exploitation System..................................................................................... 16 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Uniform Systems....................................... 17 The Selection System.................................................................................................. 18 Improvement (Liberation) Thinning ..................................................................... 19 Salvage Felling.................................................................................................... 20 Selective Felling.................................................................................................. 21 Timber Inventory ...............................................................................................