Johnson Nkem

Institutional Perceptions of Opportunities and Challenges of Redd+ in the Congo Basin

Tropical forests have a central role to play in a new mechanism designed to mitigate climate change, known as REDD+ (Reduced Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Through semistructured interviews and content analysis of relevant documents, the perceptions of the opportunities and challenges of REDD+ of institutions, who may be directly implicated in or affected by its implementation are investigated. Research takes place in three Central African countries, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Democratic Republic of Congo, which contain the Congo Basin forest. Perception of opportunities include economic development and poverty reduction, biodiversity conservation, network building, and governance reform. Challenges identified include REDD+’s complexity, lack of technical capacity for implementation, opportunities for participation, benefit sharing, and the traditional system of shifting cultivation. Those involved in designing REDD+ internationally need to understand developing-country perspectives, and institutions at all levels need to work together to develop concrete strategies to improve overall outcomes.

Profiling climate change vulnerability of forest indigenous communities in the Congo Basin

The livelihood strategies of indigenous communities in the Congo Basin are inseparable from the forests, following their use of forest ecosystem goods and services (FEGS). Climate change is expected to exert impacts on the forest and its ability to provide FEGS. Thus, human livelihoods that depend on these FEGS are intricately vulnerable to climate impacts. Using the livelihood strategies of the two main forest indigenous groups; the Bantus and Pygmies, of the high forest zone of southern Cameroon; this paper examines the nature and pattern of their vulnerability to different climate risks as well as highlights how place of settlement in the forest contributes to the vulnerability of people in forest systems. Forests provide different capitals as FEGS and make direct and indirect contributions to livelihoods which are exploited differently by the two indigenous groups. The results show that vulnerability of forest communities is structured by lifestyle, culture and the livelihood strategies employed which are largely shaped by the place of settlement in the forest. The Pygmies living within the forests are engaged in nomadic gathering and foraging of non-timber forest resources. The Bantus prefer forest margins and are mostly preoccupied with sedentary farming, using the forest as additional livelihood opportunity. The contrasting lifestyles have implications on their vulnerability and adaptation to climate impacts which need to be taken into considerations in planning and implementation of national climate change adaptation strategies.

Building regional priorities in forests for development and adaptation to climate change in the Congo Basin

Indentifying common priorities in shared natural resource systems constitutes an important platform for implementing adaptation and a major step in sharing a common responsibility in addressing climate change. Predominated by discourses on REDD + (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries) with little emphasis on adaptation there is a risk of lack of policy measures in addressing climate change in the Congo Basin. Forest products and ecosystem services provide security portfolios for the predominantly rural communities, and play major roles in national development programmes in both revenue and employment opportunities. Thus, raising the profile of forests in the policy arena especially in the twin roles of addressing climate change in mitigation and adaptation and achieving resilient development is crucial. Within the framework of the Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation project (COFCCA) project, science policy dialogue was conducted to identify and prioritize forest based sectors vulnerable to climate change but important to household livelihoods and national development. The goal of the prioritization process was for the development of intervention in forest as measures for climate change adaptation in Central Africa. Participants constituted a wide range of stakeholders (government, Non Governmental Organizations, research institutions, universities, community leaders, private sectors etc.) as representatives from three countries directly involved in the project: Cameroon, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. Building on national priorities, four forest related sectors were identified as common priorities at the regional level for focus on climate change adaptation. These sectors included: (1) energy with emphasis on fuel wood and Charcoal; (2) Water principally quality, quantity, accessibility, etc.; (3) Food with emphasis on Non Timber Forest Products, and (4) Health linked to healthcare products (medicinal plants). Using these prioritized sectors, the project focused on addressing the impacts of climate change on local communities and the development of adaptation strategies in the three pilot countries of the Congo Basin region. The four sectors constitute the key for development in the region and equally considered as priority sectors in the poverty reduction papers. Focused research on these sectors can help to inject the role of forests in national and local development and their potentials contributions to climate change adaptation in national and public discourses. Mainstreaming forest for climate change adaptation into national development planning is the key to improve policy coherence and effectiveness in forest management in the region.

Dealing with reducing trends in forest ecosystem services through a vulnerability assessment and planned adaptation actions

Vulnerability of forest ecosystems in West Africa is likely to be aggravated with current and projected climate and human stresses with implications for adaptation and REDD regimes. This is because vulnerability of the forest ecosystems affects economic sectors and millions of people that depend on their services. This study investigated vulnerability of forest ecosystems through land use land cover (LULC) changes and the availability of economically useful forest ecosystem provisioning services in Ghana and Burkina Faso in the face of different stresses using landsat imageries and Participatory Rural Appraisal. Our analysis indicates that current and projected land cover changes and local perception on availability of forest resources in the different ecological zones are facing a decreasing trend due to various climatic and anthropogenic drivers. Ghana shows a transition in the order of high forest, forest-savanna transition, savanna to widely open cultivated savanna, while study areas in Burkina Faso is experiencing a gradual reduction of dense natural forests reserves towards a more sparse vegetation. Local knowledge in addition to observed changes in LULC can be a useful resource in preparing communities and ecosystems for adaptation as well as contribute to the input based adoption of appropriate policies in REDD schemes. Key words: Adaptation, forest ecosystem, land use land cover change, REDD, vulnerability, West Africa.

Climate Change and Forest Communities: Prospects for Building Institutional Adaptive Capacity in the Congo Basin Forests

Tropical forests are vulnerable to climate-change representing a risk for indigenous peoples and forest-dependent communities. Mechanisms to conserve the forest, such as REDD+, could assist in the mitigation of climate change, reduce vulnerability, and enable people to adapt. Ninety-eight interviews were conducted in three countries containing the Congo Basin forest, Cameroon, CAR, and DRC, to investigate perceptions of decision-makers within, and responses of the institutions of the state, private sector, and civil society to the challenges of climate change. Results indicate that while decision-makers’ awareness of climate change is high, direct institutional action is at an early stage. Adaptive capacity is currently low, but it could be enhanced with further development of institutional linkages and increased coordination of multilevel responses across all institutions and with local people. It is important to build networks with forest-dependent stakeholders at the local level, who can contribute knowledge that will build overall institutional adaptive capacity.

Decentralizing Solutions For Rural Water Supply Under Climate Impacts In Sub-Saharan Africa

rectly affect livelihoods and socioeconomic development and threaten peaceful coexistence.4 The break in regular water supply, for example, is costing families on average three hours per day spent on the collection of water for a family of six in rural Africa.5 As an activity predominantly carried out by women and children, long-distance search for water deprives women of other activities, including school attendance for children. Incidence of cholera has also been shown to increase with increasing distance away from water points, which reduces access to both safe water and sanitation.6 In this continent largely dependent on its natural resource bases, the water crisis will affect both the structure and functioning of other ecosystems and their abilities to provide the multiple goods and services driving household livelihoods and national development. Addressing water needs for a warming continent will require a smart approach that integrates the risks surrounding current supplies with longterm needs and future risks in providing place-based solutions that reduces depractice easily fits pro-poor approaches for increasing access to water and sanitation on a small scale and with low investment cost for implementation.8 The nature of the practice varies, however, and the scope of implementation remains limited and uncoordinated in Sub-Saharan Africa, thereby neglecting an important source for a water security solution, especially in rural and peri-urban areas that mostly depend on small tributaries and catchments fed by seasonal supplies. The “Water for the Poor Act” report to the Congress of the United States refers to rehabilitation of rural water systems as a way in expanding access to safe water and sanitation in West Africa.9 Using techniques that conserve water is listed as the second most important of the solutions recommended by experts in addressing global water issues.10 However, public and policy incentivization are necessary in reverting to the old knowledge base and options for water harvesting (Figure 1), in harnessing the enormous potential to address the water needs of the continent. Using lessons learned in small-scale, swift, and flexible actions African demand and supply chains for fresh water are changing exponentially, and in opposite trajectories under different drivers. Water crises in Africa are expected to multiply as climate change unfolds, often with increasingly unpredictable stochastic events.1 Shortages in supply, uncertain changes in replenishment rates for surface water and groundwater, and deterioration of quality that reduces both usability and health safety issues are expected to soar.2,3 This is likely to constrict economic growth and hamper measures for the timely delivery of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In addition, as consumption increases under burgeoning population, the insecurity of water will diUnder Climate Impacts in