Managing the Miombo Woodlands of Southern Africa Policies, incentives and options
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4.3The issue of institutional choice in CBNRM projectsThe issue of institutional choice is central to CBNRM, with appropriate decisions having to be made on whether to use the public domain of elected representatives operating within decentralized arenas or whether to build on existing customary forms – or to meld the best of both worlds. In general, CBNRM projects in Mozambique have entailed the establishment of new institutions without necessarily evaluating the need and relevance of such institutions vis-à-vis the existing ones. In some cases conflicts emerged with the creation of new institutions, as traditional authorities felt that their positions and powers were being taken away. On the other hand, the new institutions faced difficulties in imposing their authority to communities that hitherto were used to free access to natural resources, with such communities naturally showing resistance to the new models of resources use and management. Furthermore, the new institutions, particularly elected committees at the community level showed institutional fragilities, including limited coordinative capacity and impaired authority to negotiate and deal with the government and private operators, as the Derre and Pindanganga projects demonstrate. Neither do such communities have capacity to impose their authority over traditional leaders who are the leaders ordinarily already in place within such settings. For example, some traditional leaders have been involved in illegal actions. The animosity between the committees and traditional leaders often sees the former clandestinely embarking on destabilization activities including conniving with timber operators to sell timber illegally harvested from concession areas. And such activities tend to be prevalent in areas where there are delays in disbursing the 20 per cent dividend of concession benefit. Such practices are reportedly prevalent in some projects, including those in Zambezia, Cabo Delgado, and Manica (CTA, 2006). The Chipange Chetu case study reveals how the local social history has tended to reinforce high levels of community disengagement from most things to do with the state, as evidenced by:
Thus, one of the major initial obstacles to institutionalization of community based forestry initiatives in Chipange Chetu was the fact that many of the local people were wary of the real intentions of the project. Anstey (2002) notes that: “…even after eight months of discussion locally and the implementation of a number of activities such as the PRA process, discussion of objectives and controls over outsider use, there was still a general belief that the programme was for the benefit of the Government or individuals in the NGOs and the talk of devolution to local institutions was merely a variation on a historical theme of local disempowerment.”27 Entrenched attitudes in the Chipange Chetu case fed into community reluctance and disengagement within an otherwise already overly centralized and inefficient decision-making process. The overall result was that the operator and the community simply getting on with their agreement, at the expense of the regulatory actors. In contrast, the Canhane Community seems to have moved more easily towards a change in attitude and awareness of new opportunities. This may be a function of the close and continual support offered by Helvetas over an extended period of time, which has served to encourage and build trust amongst the community. In its most recent phase, it has also benefited from legal support provided by the ASL Program, and the CFJJ-FAO technical assistance that has reinforced the rights-based framework that it has been made clear to the investor as ‘the’ framework within which his access to this prime site will be negotiated. A key insight also appears to be that facilitation by third parties, including civil society, is critical for success. But the contribution of civil society to community based forest management is best considered in relation to sustainability since most civil society interventions suffer from project proclivity. For instance, the NGOs that were facilitating forestry initiatives in Chipange Chetu, including ACORD and OPORTUN reached their exit stages well before community reluctance to participate in the initiatives had been overcome. However, not all civil society actors withdraw because they have reached the end of their timeframes. IUCN is reported to have left Chipange Chetu because of the uneasiness associated with elite contestation of hunting licenses within the area. As Mubai et al (2006) describe, these withdrawals have come at precisely the moment when the community most needs the lobbying capacity and support that these organizations were able to offer. In their absence, the community voice has further been weakened and become vulnerable to manipulation by elite interests. In line with Sally Falk Moore’s arguments28, the challenge in the above Mozambican cases is to create ‘appropriate space[s] where legitimate claims [can] be acknowledged’, instead of opting for the easy way out. 4.4Resource value and benefit sharing arrangementsThe perception that there is potential of gaining tangible benefits from a community resources management project constitutes a critical factor. In most instances it is this factor that determines the motivation for a community to participate in a collective management initiative which in some cases imposes restrictions on their access to, and use of resources. But not all the projects have the propensity of generating significant economic benefits. For instance, most of the community forest management initiatives are located in low vegetation productivity zones that are designated for multiple uses. Resources usually extracted from such areas include low value non timber forest products that do not generate significant economic benefits to the potential beneficiaries. In contrast the projects based on the exploitation of the wildlife, such as the one in Tchuma Tchato, tend to result in larger monetary benefits, with much of the revenue accruing from safari hunting and tourism operations (Nhatumbo et al, 2004). According to the CTA report most communities involved in CBNRM projects in Mozambique access less benefits than they are entitled to, with such benefits often arriving late. Both government and private operators fail to deliver benefits to the communities, partly because of the superficial nature of consultations, the absence of an enforceable contract between the communities and operators, and because of logistical problems. The lack of enforceability lies in the weakness of operators largely dealing with the government instead of communities, with the exception of a few experiences such as the Chipange Chetu. In turn, operators become unaccountable to communities. The uncertainty of benefits undermines community motivation to participate in CBNRM projects. When they do arrive, most of the monetary benefits are allocated to community projects, including the construction of schools, hospitals, roads, grinding mills, water sources, etc. Wherever it occurred, this mode of distributing benefits was reported to register significant increases in the level of resultant support given by the benefiting communities (CTA, 2006). Each of the case study experiences in relation to the issue of benefits and rights accruing to communities are highlighted below. 4.4.1Ancuabe, Cabo-DelgadoMembers of the committee were trained in matters related to the relevant legislation for management of natural resources, a good deal of knowledge has been shared on forest and wildlife law, land law, fisheries law, and the environment law. This fact is seen as a great gain for conservation as the community is gaining awareness about the particular importance of certain precious and/or rare species and pays more attention to hunting seasons by interrupting their hunting activities when it is necessary. The interaction between members of the committee, government and private sector is good. The private sector is the major protagonist of training opportunities for community members, particularly on inspection matters. On the other hand, community members are employed in privately owned operations. This project brought tangible and intangibles benefits for the local community. Tangible benefits included the construction of a school, an accommodation camping for tourists in Ungura and a fountain of drinking water, all infrastructures that contribute to poverty reduction. Intangible benefits consist in the knowledge that the community acquired in terms of natural resources management and concerned legislation. Individual benefits have also been received namely credit packages in the form of livestock and oleaginous seeds for women, fishing equipment, manual wood processing equipment and bush meat, depending on the economic area of interest that a person was involved. The benefits distribution method was defined by the interests groups and by the SPFFB. The management committee have the mandate to decide about participation in resources management, but it has to consult the local community before taking a decision. Requests for exploration of natural resources by interest groups are submitted at the locality level, than go to the village chief and lastly to the committee. Private sector applications are submitted to the committee, which decides after consulting the local community. The power to allocate, transfer and revoke natural resources use rights belongs to the government through the provincial services of geography and cadastre but he committee and the courts are involved in conflict resolution. 4.4.2Chipange Chetu, NiassaAs a result of the training that different NGO’s have provided in the area, local communities acquired a good level of legislation knowledge. Current benefits of the project implementation consist in the production and sale of honey and sawed wood, construction of access roads and health clinics. These roads facilitate communications with areas that were inaccessible before. Furthermore, there is now some openness in the market, and local products can be exchanged internally and in other zones. On the other hand, the community has already received payments resulting from the different activities of the project in the value of 6180 USD in 2001 and 31000 USD in 2004. Economic benefits from sport fishing, game shooting, etc, were also expected for 2005. At the end of each year of activities each community involved must present a report indicating the application of the allocated revenues. The project has undertaken a zoning of the areas with abundance of resources. The contents of the management plan were defined in a participative way involving the community and the technicians of SPFFB. The decisions on participation in resources management are entrusted to the management committee, which is facilitated by SPFFB. 4.4.3Muchanaglane, Sanhote, NampulaThe members of the committee were trained in matters related to legislation governing natural resources management, especially forests and wildlife, land and environment, and have the mission to disseminate that knowledge to the general community. The project has also resulted in benefits in institutional organization and capacity building. Training in financial management and in environmental law enforcement, increase of awareness about the need for conservation of resources, organization of interest groups, delimitation and legalization of the community area and the elaboration of a local management plan, are some of the examples. The vegetable growers group received support in instruments such as sprinklers and hoes. The carpenters have a license for wood exploration and a joint bank account. They pay an annual fee for the license to the district government and have been also able to build furniture to local schools. The carpenters' interest group does manual processing of the wood and has been able to place their products in the local market, in the city of Nampula. Distribution of benefits is decided within the group of interest and the level of satisfaction is considered good. It is important to highlight the high level of community awareness in relation to good practices of resources management. Since the project started, community members have denounced several incidents of illegal activities. 4.4.4Pindanganga, ManicaThe community possesses DUAT with the registration no. 3/2001. This legal instrument allows that any operator interested in the area may obtain the community's acceptance ratified by the committee, which is than submitted to the local administration and the provincial services of forests and wildlife for knowledge. After this process, the interested party negotiates with government authorities which establish an exploration tax from which 20 per cent are deducted in favour of the community. In order to exercise the right to receive this benefit, the community celebrated a contract with the Inchope Wooden Company. This arrangement had to be terminated allegedly due to incompatibility of the machinery used by the company with resources conservation. There was another operator in the community area, named Pita Mujeque Alfredo to whom the community demanded the construction of health clinic, two classrooms and inspection services in Xindahuma. Since the year 2005, the community benefits from 234,00 MTN/m3 of wood and 2,00 MTN/bag of charcoal, besides the 20% foreseen in the forests and wildlife legislation. However, the funds were not yet channelled to the community. The first two amounts are collected locally and they finance the activities of the management committee. Since 2001 the community was licensed for exploration of forest resources, namely for charcoal production, bamboo and wood collection and commercialization. Six members of the committee are subscribers of bank accounts and management is done with support from the local administration that evaluates and approves the use of the money. The use of traditional practices of honey production, the furtive hunting, the bush devastation, and death threats to community agents constitute the main constrains in the development of the project. The transgressors they are imposed punishments that vary from the construction of houses, cleaning, improvement of the infra structures of the camp, confiscation and sale of the apprehended products. 4.4.5Derre-Morrumbala, ZambeziaOne of the decisions taken by the project was to create a nature reserve. As a result of this, no forest exploitation is allowed in the reserve area. While it is considered too early to evaluate project results, some improvements have already occurred. For example, as a result of the project, communities have recovered their forests base and improved their access to the forest product used for producing coffins. Access to firewood also became much easier and closer to community residences. With the assistance of ORAM and FONGZA, community members were exposed to information related to environmental legislation which improved their understanding of conservation objectives and benefits. 37 ponds for fish production were created. The fish is destined for consumption and for reproduction. The largest expectation of community members was opportunities of employment based provided by private loggers. There are interest groups of carpentry and honey production. Some groups received training and basic tools from the Finnish Sustainable Forest Management project. The local government has exercised pressure for all the carpenters in order for them to join the association however there is uncertainty among the group with regard to the benefits that may result from their involvement. The group of interest of beekeepers were being trained in construction of beehives using local material, honey collection and primary processing to ensure good quality. Commercial agriculture (cotton and sunflower) is promoted by AGRIMO, a local private company. As it constitutes an opportunity for the development of the local economy development, it also represent a threat to the of natural resources base, since the expansion of the agricultural areas means the destruction of the forest. Many farmers don't stick to the cotton cultivation and sunflower due to the low prices practiced that does not compensate the undertaken effort. |