Réseau pour la Conservation et la Réhabilitation des Écosystèmes Forestiers
Forest Management in the DRC: The Challenges ahead By Alphonse MUHINDO VALIVAMBENE, Secretary General of Réseau CREF and Joseph BOBIA BONKAW, National Coordinator of RRN
Content of presentation 1. Who is Réseau CREF? 2. Forest management for the benefit of populations 3. Work in North Kivu by Civil Society 4. Recommendations
Who is Réseau CREF? Founding date: 20 May 2003 Thematic NGO Network working in the forest sector in DRC Member of IUCN Global and RRN (Réseau Ressources Naturelles Partners of Réseau CREF andrrn RFN, RFUK Global Witness, 11.11.11 CNCD Belgique RRI USA Christian Aid Fonds Société Civile pour la gouvernance (Christian Aid PNUE Coopération Technique Allemande (GIZ), IUCN Pays Bas, CIDT/ Université Wolverhampton
Forest management for the benefit of local populations Community Forestry: Art 22 «A local community can, upon its request, obtain a part or a complete forest in the form of a forest concession title amongst the forêts that are regularily in customatry hands» (not yet signed into law) Cahier des charges : Process broken down, too much cheating, logging companies push CdCh signed by teams that are not representative of affected communities and Indigenous Peoples in order to facilitate a fast signature of the concession contract Circular note of the Environment Minister highlighting the importance of the social clauses and deferring development of Management Plans as prerequisite for signing the Concession Contracts «because of difficulties for logging companies»
Problems and challenges of forest manangement The majority of measures of the Forest Code focus on industrial-scale logging Signature of application measures in favour of communities are still pending, in particular the Order and Decree regulating Community Forestry Industrial-scale and artisanal logging has not resulted in reduction of poverty in communities on the contrary, these unreglemented logging operations devastate the forests and destroy the support for40 million Congolese Forest policy is still in development but should have preceded the Forest Law and allocation of forest titles for logging
Problems and challenges of forest management The forest sector remains opaque: weak transparency, mediocrity in governance Allocation of forest land has created a de-facto macro-zoning with the risk of ignoring customary tenure rights and the right to survive Attempts to expropriatie land from LCs and IPs in the East by CI: conversion of a customary forest into a conservation concession «communautaire» in the ecological Maiko-PNKB corridor The REDD process as formulated at present raises fear of limited access of communities to investments: the forest revenue redistribution is already broken down
Efforts made in North Kivu by Civil Society Implementation of the GTF Project (Forest Governance and Transparency) in collaboration withglobal Witness Drafting of a Decree governing application measures tant measures of forest management in North Kivu: emphasis on artisanal logging and charcoal production Initiatives in the country s East in community forestry by Réseau CREF: Pilot experiences in the Territoire ofwalikale
Recommendations Review of the Forest Policy of the Partners of the Congolese Government in forest management matters (World Bank, IMF): Policy orientation towards taking into account the traditional rights and interests of communities and appreciating their cultures and local knowledge REDD should develop mechanisms to guarantee the rights and interests of communities by starting to secure tenure of forest land; provision of information to LCs and IPs based on the principle of FPIC; investment funds need to reach LCs and IPs for their development
Recommendations Conservation efforts should be oriented towards the effective inclusion of LCs and IPs Forest land zoning should be based on the mapping of customary rights and actual forest use: participative micro-zoning Environmental education in the service of peace and the territorial dynamics of sustainable management of forest and natural resources Assist the Congolese Government in improving forest governance through capacity building of forest administration at local and provincial level with regard to communities rights