Linking Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: the case of Great Apes An overview of current policy and practice in Africa Chris Sandbrook and Dilys Roe 2010 Contents Acronyms 3 1 Introduction 6 2 Apes, Poverty and Livelihoods in Africa 8 The Distribution of Great Apes in Africa 8 Human Development in African Range States 10 3 Poverty focus of major ape conservation initiatives in Africa 11 Ape-Specific initiatives 11 Other international conservation organisations and initiatives 15 4 Inventory of initiatives to integrate ape conservation and poverty reduction in ape range states 21 Angola 21 Burundi 22 Cameroon 24 Central African Republic 31 Cote d’Ivoire 33 The Democratic Republic of Congo 34 Equatorial Guinea 42 Gabon 44 Ghana 46 Guinea 48 Guinea Bissau 50 Liberia 51 Nigeria 53 Congo 56 Rwanda 58 Sierra Leone 64 Tanzania 66 Uganda 69 5 Summary of experience 76 Attention to poverty and development within national biodiversity policy 76 Policy Provisions for community-based natural resource management 78 Experience in Linking conservation and poverty reduction in practice 78 Opportunities and constraints 84 1 List of tables Table 1 The distribution of great ape sub-species in African range states 8 Table 2 Integration of ape conservation and poverty reduction amongst international conservation organisations and initiatives 15 Table 3 Integration of conservation issues into environment-development initiatives 19 List of boxes Box 1 Lessons learned from ICPDs for REDD Implementation 85 List of figures Figure 1 Examples of Integrated Conservation and Development strategies categorised according to the Blomley & Namara (2010) framework 80 Cover photo: Alastair McNeilage 2 Acronyms ACF African Conservation Foundation ACODE Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment AFLEG African Forest Law Enforcement and Governance AMFN African Model Forests Network ARA African Research Association ARCOS Albertine Rift Conservation Society BCFS Budongo Conservation Field Station BCI Bonobo Conservation Initiative BCT Bushmeat Crisis Taskforce BMCT Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust CAR Central African Republic CARE Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere CARPE Central Africa Regional Programme for the Environment CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CBFM Community Based Forest Management CBFP Congo Basin Forest Partnership CBNRM Community Based Natural Resource Management CDC Community Development Committee CED Centre for Environment and Development CERCOPAN Centre for Education, Research and Conservation of Primates and Nature CFM Collaborative Forest Management CFR Community Forest Reserve CI Conservation International CIAD Centre International d' Appui au Developpement Durable CIFOR Centre for International Forestry Research COMIFAC Central African Forests Commission CREMA Community Resource Management Area CRSFS Cross River State Forestry Service CSO Civil Society Organisation CSSL Conservation Society of Sierra Leone CSWCT Chimpanzee Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Trust CTPH Conservation Through Public Health DAE Decentralised Administrative Entity DFGF Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund DFGFI Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International DIN Development in Nigeria DNFF Guinea Forest and Wildlife Department DRC Democratic Republic of Congo EEEGL Enterprise, Environment and Equity in the Great Lakes region EG Equatorial Guinea ERuDeF Environment and Rural Development Foundation 3 FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation FDA Forestry Development Authority FF Forest Fragment FFI Flora and Fauna International FGLG Forest Governance Learning Group FLEGT Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade FMU Forest Management Unit FPP Forest People’s Programme FSC Forest Stewardship Council FZS Frankfurt Zoological Society GDP Gross Domestic Product GEF Global Environment Fund GO The Gorilla Organisation GPS Global Positioning System GRASP Great Ape Survival Partnership GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit HDI Human Development Index ICCN Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature IF Intact Forest IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IGCP International Gorilla Conservation Programme IIED International Institute for Environment and Development IISD International Institute for Sustainable Development INCEF International Conservation and Education Fund IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature JGI Jane Goodall Institute LAMIL Landscape Management for Improved Livelihoods LTCR Lac Tele Community Reserve MBIFCT Mgahinga Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Conservation Trust MEF Ministry of Forestry Economy MGVP Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project MUZ Multiple Use Zone NBSAP National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan NCF Nigerian Conservation Foundation NGASP National Great Ape Survival Plan NGO Non Governmental Organisation NNF New Nature Foundation NP National Park NTFP Non-Timber Forest Product PA Protected Area PAB Protected Areas for Biodiversity PACT Private Agencies Collaborating Together PEAP Poverty Eradication Action Plan PEI Poverty and Environment Initiative 4 PES Payments for Ecosystem Services PFM Participatory Forest Management PGS Projet Grands Singes PHE Population, Health and Environment Initiative PMC Population Media Centre PRB Population Reference Bureau PROBICOU Pro Biodiversity Conservationists of Uganda PROGEPP Project for Ecosystem Management in the Nouabalé-Ndoki Periphery Area PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PSG Primate Specialist Group RDB Rwanda Development Board REDD Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation REMA Rwanda Environmental Management Authority RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds SACOLA Sabyinyo Community Livelihoods Association SCNL Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia SODEFOR Societe De Developpement Forestier SATP Sustainable Agriculture Training Project TACARE Tanzanian Lake Tanganyika Catchment Reforestation and . Education TANAPA Tanzania National Parks TCCB Tayna Centre for Conservation Biology TL2 Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba project TNC The Nature Conservancy TNS Tri-National de la Sangha TRIDOM Dja-Minkebe-Odzala Tri-National UGADEC Union of Associations for Gorilla Conservation and Community Development in Eastern Democratic of Congo UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation USAID United States Agency for International Development UWA Uganda Wildlife Authority VEF Village Enterprise Fund VLFR Village Land Forest Reserves WCF Wild Chimpanzee Foundation WCS Wildlife Conservation Society WILD Wildlife Landscapes and Development for Conservation WWF World Wildlife Fund/Worldwide Fund for Nature WWP Wildlife Wood Project ZICGC Zones d’Intérêt Cynégétique à Gestion Communautaire 5 ZSL Zoological Society of London 6 1. Introduction Since 2004 IIED has coordinated an international network of conservation, development and indigenous/local community rights organisations who are interested in improving their understanding of, and sharing their experience in, the links between biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction. The Poverty and Conservation Learning Group (PCLG) works by collecting, analysing and disseminating information that can help shape better policy and practice – through its web portal (www.povertyandconservation.info), through workshops and symposia, and through occasional publications. Since 2009 the PCLG has received additional support from the Arcus Foundation to help achieve three goals: 1. To promote ongoing learning and dialogue on poverty-conservation linkages at the international level. 2. To increase attention to mainstreaming poverty concerns within conservation policy and programmes – particularly at the national level – and to build better and stronger linkages with existing initiatives that are focusing on development policy. 3. To introduce a great ape component to PCLG - by including ape-specific elements within our core networking and information dissemination activities and by focusing our mainstreaming efforts on conservation policies, programmes and locations that are relevant to great ape conservation. This report is the third PCLG output supported by the Arcus Foundation grant.1 The purpose of this report is to document current efforts to link great ape conservation and poverty reduction in the African, ape range states. It is intended to provide a quick inventory of which organisations are working in which countries and using which approaches in order to highlight potential areas of collaboration and/or potential sources of experience and lessons learned. It is also intended to highlight other initiatives that are intended to link environmental management with social concerns - poverty reduction, governance, economic development - with a view to encouraging greater linkages between these initiatives and those that are focussed on conservation. Following this report we are planning the following activities: 1) A learning event for ape conservation organisations to share experiences on their attempts to link conservation and poverty reduction. This would improve their effectiveness and efficiency, where so many conservation organisations still carry out development oriented interventions uninformed by previous experiences elsewhere, both good and bad. 1The other two outputs include a presentation on great ape conservation and poverty reduction at our 2010 symposium (details available on www.povertyandconservation.info); and a report in IIED’S Natural Resource Issues series reviewing experience of integrated conservation and development projects in Mgahinga and Bwindi Forest National Parks in Uganda (Blomley, T., Namara, A., McNeilage, A., Franks, P., Rainer, H., Donaldson, A., Malpas, R., Olupot, W., Baker, J., Sandbrook, C., Bitariho, R. and Infield, M. (2010) Development and Gorillas? Assessing the impact of fifteen years of integrated conservation and development in South Western Uganda, Natural Resource Issues No. 23. IIED, London) http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=14862IIED 7 2) South-South learning exchanges / events around key issues where knowledge gaps are the major problem. Examples emerging include (i) experience of other species-based programmes in addressing poverty reduction; (ii) community-based monitoring approaches;, (iiii) human wildlife conflict mitigation strategies and experiences with compensation, and (iv) REDD / carbon mechanisms that accommodate biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation. 3) Establishment of multi-stakeholder learning groups in selected countries, potentially building on existing groups where there is interest, and using models of good practice. These might include the IIED-supported Forest Governance Learning Groups (FGLG) and Environmental Mainstreaming Learning and Leadership Groups. 4) Facilitating a high-level workshop in at least one country to encourage mainstreaming of biodiversity into development policy / practice – in coordination with the UNDP/UNEP Poverty Environment Initiative. This report is intended to be a discussion document. It was compiled by means of a desk-based review of literature and on-line resources, complemented by email correspondence - and in some case personal interviews – with representatives of the different organisations listed. We are aware that there is a bias towards conservation organisations and their work on poverty reduction, with few entries for development-oriented organisations and their work on biodiversity. There are also few entries for state-based actors and initiatives. We hope that the production of this report will encourage those that have not been included (and indeed those that we may have unintentionally misrepresented) to inform us of their work in order that we may include it in a revised version. Please do not hesitate to contact us with details of your work where appropriate and/or if you would be interested to be involved in other activities of this project: [email protected]. 8 2. Apes, poverty and livelihoods in Africa Great ape ranges coincide with some of the poorest countries of the world – particularly in sub- Saharan Africa. Great apes attract a great deal of conservation interest and funding, due to their close genetic relationship with humans and their status as global flagship species for conservation. Highly endangered great apes are often protected through strictly controlled and enforced conservation areas that can – intentionally or otherwise – have negative impacts on the livelihoods of the already poor local communities, through restrictions on resource access and so on. Great ape conservation projects, such as the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) have been at the forefront of efforts to assess and monitor the socio-economic impacts of conservation, and to create meaningful conservation incentives for local people. At the same time, the economic benefits derived from great ape conservation – for example from tourism – are not often shared with local people at a level that generates real incentives for landscape-scale conservation. As a result a potentially valuable resource does not only fail to realize its full poverty reduction potential, but the actual, or perceived, negative impacts of conservation may result in local antipathy – or even outright hostility - to conservation efforts. The distribution of great apes in Africa Africa is home to four species of great ape. These are the bonobo or gracile chimpanzee (Pan paniscus), the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei). Chimpanzees and gorillas are further divided into eight sub-species. These are the western chimpanzee (P. troglodytes verus), the Nigeria / Cameroon chimpanzee (P. troglodytes ellioti), the central chimpanzee (P. troglodytes troglodytes), the eastern chimpanzee (P. troglodytes schweinfurthii), the cross river gorilla (G. gorilla diehli), the western lowland gorilla (G. gorilla gorilla), the eastern lowland gorilla (G. beringei graueri) and the mountain gorilla (G. beringei beringei). Great apes are distributed across 23 countries in Africa although in two of these (Mali and Sudan) populations are very small and in a further two (Burkina Faso and Togo) populations are likely extinct (Table 1). The distribution of great apes in Africa, as well as the locations of protected areas and some information on threats, can be seen using the interactive mapping service provided by Apes Mapper at http://www.apesmapper.org/. Table 1: The distribution of great ape sub-species in African range states Country No. of ape Ape sub-species Population size Forest area sub-species (Km2) & % of total land forested Angola 2 Central chimpanzee 200-500 Western Lowland Gorilla Rare Burkina Faso 0 or 1 Western chimpanzee Likely extinct Burundi 1 Eastern chimpanzee 300-400 940 (3.7%) Cameroon 4 Nigeria / Cameroon 3,380 238,580 (50.2%) chimp Central chimpanzee 30,000 9