A. International structures facilitating TBNRM
Depending on the definition used, there are about 40 intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) in West Africa, indicating the political enthusiasm for regional cooperation (http://www.oecd.org). The IGOs can be subdivided into three groups (http://www.oecd.org):
Organizations that are not specifically involved in natural resource management, but whose objectives and activities are important in the framework of regional cooperation, are succinctly presented here. Those belonging to the second and third categories are dealt with in the following paragraphs, where applicable.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS/CEDEAO) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU/UEMOA) both aim for the economic integration of all West African countries,19 specifically all West African countries using the CFA franc. They seek to reach this objective by liberating the internal market, thereby facilitating the movement of people and goods, and by harmonizing national policies in the field of finance and economics. For the moment, the free movement of people and goods seems to be secured on paper more so than in reality: Persons can go abroad without visas but merchants are charged heavily still when transporting goods—for example, 100,000 fcfa (prices have tripled since civil unrest and political instability began in Ivory Coast) for a truck transporting a load of onions, 35 heads of cattle, or a comparable load, from the south of Burkina Faso to Abidjan (Anonymous 1999).
As ECOWAS covers the whole of West Africa (except for Chad and Mauritania), it has evolved into a structure whose role is to coordinate activities that rely on regional or sub-regional collaboration, be it in the field of economics or finance or elsewhere (http://www.oecd.org). For reasons of efficiency and effectiveness, ECOWAS delegates the work on more technical issues to the relevant national and regional institutions. In the field of natural resource management, ECOWAS and CILSS (see Chapter III, Section F) have been assigned as liaison centers in the process of working out and executing the Sub-Regional Action Programme in the framework of the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD). ECOWAS was designated because of its political power and geographical coverage, CILSS for its technical qualifications in anti-desertification issues (ECOWAS/CILSS/CCD 2000).
The coordinating role of ECOWAS also should be seen as a step in the process of rationalizing the large number of regional structures. Over the years, organisms have been created whenever a need for regional cooperation in a certain field was deemed necessary. This has resulted in such an uncontrolled growth of organizations that many cover overlapping fields of intervention, even beginning to hinder one another’s work. At the same time, the contributions that member states have to pay for these organizations mount to considerable sums, sums that often cannot, and are not, paid, which has, in turn, consequences for the functioning of the various organisms.
The WAEMU recognizes the importance of natural resource management in the West African region. In order to reinforce its role in this field, the chair of the WAEMU has been chosen to host the coordination of the EU project on the transboundary management of the “W” National Park in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger (these countries are members of the WAEMU). The WAEMU also participates in the selection of experts for the project and in the “comité d’orientation” (advisory committee) (Magha et al. 2001).
The Ministerial Lobby Group (GMAP) is an informal group of West African20 ministers of different sectors and representatives of CILSS, Club du Sahel, African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), and the Dutch Embassy, which was formed (in 1999) to strengthen the position of Sahelian countries in discussions with international partners on development issues (http://www.oecd.org). The GMAP is strongly supported by the Club du Sahel and intimately involved in the Club’s regional integration program. The GMAP is exploring a number of issues to evaluate the possibilities and limits of regional integration in West Africa: reform and rationalization of West Africa’s intergovernmental organizations, evaluation of risks and advantages of regional integration for landlocked regions, analysis of advantages and limitations of West African monetary convergence, and analysis of the regional-integration limitations that are implicit in the economic restructuring programs supported by the World Bank and the IMF (http://www.oecd.org).
The OAU/OUA unites countries from the whole African continent with the objective of strengthening their position in the global setting. Major questions of interest are economics and the prevention of conflicts. The OAU has not, however, been able to play an important role (in the management of conflicts) because of its limited means and the diverging ideas of member states (http://encyclo.voila.fr). African integration on the continental level may be reconsidered when the integration processes on regional levels have advanced.
The United Nations (UN) has, within the United Nations for Economic Cooperation in Africa (UNECA), a sub-program on regional cooperation and integration, focusing on facilitating and enhancing the process of regional economic integration, transport and communications, minerals and energy, and transboundary water resources. For the West African region, the UNECA supports regional economic communities, facilitates exchanges among governments, civil society and the private sector, and takes care of coordination of UN activities at the national level (http://www.uneca.org).
1. Issues: Water, fish, and conservation
Current transboundary water management touches upon a variety of issues, some of which refer to the exploitation of water and fish, others of which relate to the conservation of water ecosystems. The exploitation of water is only an issue for freshwater systems. The water is being used for irrigated agriculture or power generation. The infrastructures that have been put in place to control water flow, and to withdraw the necessary water, influence the downstream water availability and have an impact on the functioning of ecosystems up-, down- and off stream. Coordination is imperative for the functioning of a sequence of dams.
Fishing is an issue for marine and freshwater systems. While freshwater fishing is important on a local and national scale, there are international interests at stake—next to local, national and regional ones—in marine fisheries. The exploitation of fish in the waters of one country has implications for the situation of fisheries in neighboring countries, as fish are mobile. This mobility means that the monitoring of fish stocks, necessary for the organization of sustainable exploitation, needs to be done on a regional level.
Nature conservation is concerned with the water itself and all the organisms, vegetable and animal, that live in, and around, the water. In the case of West Africa, most nature-conservation organizations concentrate on the value of coastal and inland wetlands for migratory birds that are, among others, attracted by the richness in fish. Another theme is pollution (industrial, agricultural, urban waste), but this is, so far, only pressing locally and temporarily (in most cases). Problems like infestation with water hyacinth (hindering the functioning of dams, closing up entire waterways) need to be treated on a regional level.
2. Stakeholders21
These different issues involve a variety of stakeholders. In Table 3, the most obvious groups are mentioned together with the interests they have regarding to a resource. The population in general is not mentioned, though it has an interest in, among other things, cheap food (staples from irrigation schemes and proteins from fish) and electricity.
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Table 3.
Stakeholders and their interests in water resources
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Freshwater systems |
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Stakeholders |
Interests |
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Marine systems |
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Stakeholders |
Interests |
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3. Existing organizational infrastructures23
For the management and development of river and lake basins, and the settlement of conflicts, interstate commissions have been created for the Gambia (Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du fleuve Gambie—OMVG), Niger (Niger Basin Authority—NBA), and Senegal (Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du fleuve Sénégal—OMVS) rivers and Lake Chad (Lake Chad Basin Commission—LCBC). The Volta River Authority (VRA) is a Ghanaian structure, established to develop and harness the Volta river in order to generate and transmit hydropower (http://www.winne.com). Most of these organizations date to the 1960s. Also, for the management of marine fish stocks on the western part of the West African coast, an interstate organization has been put in place. The Sub-Regional Commission on Fisheries (SRCF) aims at, among other things, the harmonization of member countries’ fishing policies.
Some international organizations collaborate with these interstate structures, at the same time giving them (technical and financial) support. In this respect WWF can be mentioned for working with the NBA and LCBC in programs focused on the sustainable management of the Niger River and Lake Chad basins respectively. The UN and the EU give support, as do bilateral organizations such as the German and French development cooperation agencies. IUCN has contributed to improving the management of wetlands and water resources in some cases—for example, for changes in the release and floodplain regimes with dams along the Chari River in the Waza region of northern Cameroon or for marine fisheries and mangrove coastal areas in the Bijagos Archipelago in Guinea Bissau.
Neighboring countries are involved in bilateral cooperation commissions that are concerned with all themes demanding coordination, including the management of shared water resources. Depending on the importance attached to cooperation with a specific neighbor, the commissions meet more regularly and have more points on their agendas. The commission treating Niger-Nigeria cooperation issues is the best functioning of all seven commissions. It is the only one with a permanent secretary to ensure the follow-up of planned actions.
Many international organizations, however, work separately with countries sharing the same (water) resources, though sometimes activities are planned on a regional level (like courses assembling people from different countries). Wetlands International (WI) has organized many activities around the conservation of coastal- and inland-wetlands life. Some of these activities are international or regional, others are local or national.
A number of international agreements, giving the outlines for management and conservation of water resources, have been ratified by a number of West African countries:
4. Achievements
Interstate water management organizations exist for practically all shared-water resources. More and more, the member countries seem to realize the importance of these organizations in view of the sustainable and equitable management of water resources (see below).
For the Senegal River basin, an integrated river control project has been elaborated by the OMVS, with interventions in the fields of agriculture, mining, transport, and health (Adams 1985; SRDC-WA 2001).
Advances have been made regarding the known functioning of ecosystems, a necessary condition for the planning of rational exploitation. For Lake Chad, ground- and surface water have been modeled. At the Kainji dam in Nigeria, studies have evaluated the impact of dams on fish populations. For the Niger river, a hydrological forecasting system has been put in place.
5. Opportunities and constraints
The state plays a prominent role in issues concerning water. This is due to:
The interstate basin commissions used to be weak in the sense that they were not able to execute tasks and attain stated objectives. Among their problems:
Since the mid 1990s the commissions seem to have overcome some of their drawbacks. Realizing the importance of the water resources and the necessity to coordinate the use of it on a regional level, member countries have started to pay their contributions (even outstanding contributions) and attend meetings on a regular basis (NBA 2000). The commissions can be reconsidered as partners for structures willing to intervene in their zone of governance, though some support (financial and technical) is necessary.
All countries sharing the same freshwater resources have been confronted with the negative effects of dams (drying up of water courses, shrinking of the agricultural area) built without extensive previous study of environmental and social effects. These experiences have helped motivate countries to take an active part in the work of the interstate water management commissions.
Pests like the water hyacinth (blocking dams, complicating navigation) necessitate actions on a regional level, as local or national treatments cannot lead to structural solutions. A concrete and sizable problem like this can be a starting point for cooperation on more fundamental issues.
So far, many (interstate) organizations have concentrated on the collection of data necessary for the management of water resources. A lot of information (regular monitoring of resources, in-depth information on the functioning of ecosystems) essential for decision making in water management issues still is lacking. This is a relatively neutral activity that needs to be executed before addressing more sensitive questions regarding the exploitation of shared water. Countries are, however, not always willing to provide information on water resources, as water often is considered a domain of sovereignty, as are other strategic assets.
Nature conservation organizations focusing on (migratory water) birds are seeking methods to improve the sustainable management of ecosystems that periodically host these birds. In this way, protected bird species are some sort of “umbrella” animals.24
The fluctuations in freshwater availability (due to rainfall variations) complicate management and exploitation. It is, therefore, impossible to fix exploitation quota in rules and laws. Management needs to be flexible in order to adapt the exploitation rates to the actual circumstances. This only can be assured by authorities who have the competence and power to make decisions (Turner 1999a). The same holds for migratory fish stocks.
A key to success of managing communal resources subject to seasonal and annual variation in productivity is good, timely information about resource conditions. Relatively centralised government bureaucracies are not particularly well placed to collect, analyse and act upon this kind of information. Management decisions are best taken by users, whose welfare is most immediately affected by the condition of resources. But while community members may prove enthusiastic in defending their local resources against encroachment by outsiders, they will be less willing to support vigorous application of rules on themselves. (Lawry 1988)
1. Issues: Conflicts, access to resources, diseases
Pastures are decreasing as a result of the extension of agricultural fields while the accessibility to pastoral areas is getting complicated (transhumance routes being blocked by fields). While farmers own more and more animals, they tend towards a privatized use of crop residues and exclude, in this way, mobile herds from these resources. This means that mobile herders have all the more difficulties in finding suitable forage sites for their herds.
Due to the competition for space and the complementarity of the systems, relationships between farmers and herders can be characterized as love/hate. Conflicts between these groups often are seasonal, occurring mainly at the wet season’s end, when crops near the harvest period and herds are en route from the (semi-) arid zones where water resources have been exhausted. Conflicts are fed by stereotyped images the groups have of each other. Sometimes people provoke conflicts, either by cultivating on transhumance routes or by allowing, deliberately, grazing on non-harvested crops.
In spite of the bilateral or regional agreements that secure transboundary movements of livestock, herders often meet with problems while practicing transhumance in foreign countries. The conflicts in which they are involved are, in essence, the same as the conflicts they have in their country of origin (access to resources, crop damage); the difference is that while abroad, their position is much weaker compared to the autochthonous populations. In extreme cases, conflicts between local residents (farmers) and foreign herders reach the government level and put pressure on international relationships (Sourou and Labey 1995; http://www.gtz.de).
Major advances have been made in disease control since the beginning of veterinary actions (around the 1930s). Still, herders often cite animal health as an important constraint for animal production.
2. Stakeholders
Those immediately concerned by the above issues are the herders themselves. The great number of conflicts in which they are involved concerns other resource users, like farmers, fishers, hunters, and park agents (Table 4).
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Table 4.
Stakeholders and their interests in rangeland and livestock
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Stakeholders |
Interests |
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3. Existing organizational infrastructures
The Projet Régional d’Appui au Secteur de l’Elevage Transhumant (PRASET) was a GTZ-financed and executed project, concerned with pastoral issues in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. The project focused on the harmonization of national legislation and regulations relative to pastoral-resource management, and on the development of mechanisms for conflict management (http://www.gtz.de).
The Pan African Rinderpest Campaign (PARC) came to an end in 1999, with rinderpest being almost eradicated from the African continent. The Pan African Programme for the Control of Epizootics (PACE) has since succeeded PARC. The Inter African Bureau of Animal Resources (IBAR) of the OAU coordinates the program being executed in 32 countries (http://www.fao.org).
The Sahelian countries have worked out bilateral and multilateral agreements to regulate transhumance movements, the animal transit trade, and the control of diseases:
Bilateral accords:
Sub-regional accords:
In the ECOWAS space the free movement of persons and goods is assured (see Chapter III, Section A).
4. Achievements
A transhumance certificate has been developed to facilitate the cross-boundary movements of herders and livestock; the certificate adds to transparency on the side of the herders and on the side of the controlling instances. The certificate indicates the number and types of animals, the vaccinations received, and the itinerary that is foreseen. Herders who plan to cross borders with their animals can obtain the certificate at the livestock services in the country of origin.
PRASET has been organizing workshops for reflection and exchange on pastoral issues and executing studies on traditional management systems for pastoral resources.
The control of trypanosomiases and onchocerciasis in the 1970s in southern regions opened the way for pastoralists to go farther south to Benin (Benoit 1999) and Nigeria (Mortimore 1997). Rinderpest almost has been eradicated from West Africa.
5. Opportunities and constraints
Livestock raising is an economically important sector in the arid and semi-arid parts of West Africa, though it is not sufficiently recognized as such. At all levels of society there is a bias towards agriculture (more easy to control and support, more productive in the sense that with a hectare of millet or sorghum more people can be fed than with the animal products obtained from a hectare of grassland), which is a disadvantage for livestock-raising systems (in terms of financial support, legislation and justice, politics).
Up to the present, state interference, with regard to livestock issues, mainly has focused on the framing of bilateral and multilateral transhumance and disease-control agreements, and on the adaptation of national legislation in an effort to avoid conflicts (http://www.gtz.de). For the management of conflicts on local levels, herders depend on traditional mechanisms and herders’ associations in their own country and abroad. The state level agreements help to avoid the degeneration of conflicts.
The increasing pressure on land and other natural resources stresses the relationships between farmers and herders. In view of population growth, it is certain that this pressure will increase in the years to come. The complementarity and interdependence of both land-use systems should be emphasized to improve the comprehension between user groups. Traditional conflict-management structures exist and function.
The link between the Sahelian and coastal countries is quite evident in the case of livestock: Optimized livestock systems use resources in different ecological zones, and cattle raised in the Sahel are being sold on the coastal markets. The southern countries cannot produce the quantities of meat they need to satisfy the demand of urban-center populations ; this is due to a scarcity of land (high population pressure), animal diseases that limit the possibilities for livestock raising, and the relative wealth of these countries’ populations (demand for protein-rich foods increases with increasing wealth). The sale of surplus European meat on coastal markets profoundly influences West African meat prices, which is positive for the coastal countries where meat gets cheaper and negative for the herders in the meat-producing Sahelian countries. The devaluation of the CFA franc, in 1994, making importation of goods from outside the region more expensive, has had a positive effect on the exportation of animals from the Sahelian countries to the coast.
The exigency of having a transhumance certificate obliges herders to vaccinate animals on a regular basis. But, as borders are permeable, even for large herds of cattle, herders can cross boundaries without a transhumance certificate if they avoid the official frontier guards. Also, conditions for obtaining certificates often are irregular.
1. Issues
The ongoing deforestation, in all ecological zones of West Africa, affects the immediate forest environment, yet also factors in farther away (on a regional and even a global scale). Forests, and trees in general, play a stabilizing role in ecosystems by retaining soil and water.
Logging results quite often in a permanent loss of forest area even as it increases the pressure on wildlife in the remaining forest. This is because the infrastructure necessary for large-scale logging opens the way for cultivators and hunters in the country and in neighboring countries, if the forest is close to the border. Transboundary forests, therefore, need coordinated management, as in, for example, forest massifs in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau.
The zones north of the forest provide critical hydrological services to the forest ecosystem in the south (Upper Guinea forest), which is considered a world priority conservation area because of its high endemism of flora and fauna. Forest fragmentation threatens the viability of biodiversity in the region (CI 2000).
2. Stakeholders
Some stakeholders are interested in the wood (women, logging companies), others in the land on which the forest stands (farmers) or the non-wood products of the forest (herders, conservationists)—see Table 5.
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Table 5.
Stakeholders and their interests in forests
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Stakeholders |
Interests |
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3. Existing organizational infrastructures
CI has initiated a program (1998–2000) to promote the effective conservation of the Upper Guinean Forest in Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The first phase, consisting of a one-year compilation of information and a five-day priority-setting workshop has been completed (see Box 5). Two following phases have been foreseen in which the conservation priorities will be integrated into national planning processes, and in which regional and national conservation actions will be planned together with donors (CI 2000).
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Box 5. Guinea forest The Guinean Forest extends from Eastern Sierra Leone and Southeastern Guinea to Southwestern Cameroon; presently it covers about 181,000 km2 (from originally 1,000,000 km2). The forest hosts 2,000 plant species and 41 mammals that are endemic to the ecosystem; furthermore, there are over 20,000 butterfly and moth species, 15 even-toed ungulate species, and 11 primate species. The forest has been fragmented due to human agricultural activities. Threats to the remaining parts are:
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In the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the conservation of forests is a priority, due to the biological richness of tropical forests and the role that forests play in climatic regulation (carbon sink). For the execution of projects, means are available under the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
4. Achievements
In a regional workshop organized by CI, 146 specialists (representatives from national governments and donor agencies, scientists, and conservation professionals) from 26 countries established the state of knowledge and found a consensus on regional conservation priorities. Working groups collected and analyzed information about biogeography, birds, civil conflict, extractive industries, freshwater aquatic, insects, land use, mammals, marine aquatic, plants, protected areas, reptiles, and amphibians (CI 2000).
On a smaller scale, SOS Sahel has been working on the development of a communal-management system for the classified forest of Takieta, Niger. This 6,720 ha forest had been classified 45 years ago but was subject to climatic and social changes that resulted in a more intensive exploitation of the forest’s resources by farmers, herders, and other user groups. As this forest is located close to the Nigerian border and in a transhumance zone, user groups (herders) from Nigeria have been included in the process leading to a communal-management system. (Vogt and Vogt 2000). This is only one example, but there must be more initiatives of this kind, working on regional cooperation on a local scale.
5. Opportunities and constraints
The conservation of forests is of global importance, as recognized in the conventions on biodiversity and climate change, and therefore can count on international support (the GEF especially has been established for financing projects in the fields of biodiversity and climate change). The West African rainforests are recognized as hotspots of biodiversity. The fact that the largest remaining forest blocks in West Africa are located in frontier zones (CI 2000) should be an impetus for transboundary cooperation with regard to their management.
The effects of deforestation may be felt far away (and some cases, beyond national boundaries) and only after a long time, which makes it difficult to persuade the causing party to treat the cause. The causal relations, unfortunately, are not obvious in all cases. And when they are, proper and competitive alternatives—for example, fuelwood—are not always available. In this case, however, some initiatives have found widespread acceptance (such as energy-saving stoves), and some even aim to attack two problems at a time (for example, biogas from water hyacinth).
1. Issues
The fragmentation of habitats and ranges threatens long-term viability of mammalian-species populations (de Bie 1990). This fragmentation is a consequence of the extension of agricultural lands, which in turn is a result of population growth and reduced soil fertility (increasing pressure on natural resources).
Poaching endangers wildlife inside and outside the protected areas. Wildlife is hunted for bushmeat (bushmeat constitutes an important source of protein for the West African population) and trading. Poachers often cross boundaries to escape from pursuers; antipoaching activities should, therefore, take place on a regional scale.
While on one hand transboundary-protected areas permit large ranges, on the other the efficiency of transboundary-conservation areas is challenged when parks do not have the same conservation principles and objectives.
2. Stakeholders
The local population in and around the parks is composed of farmers, herders, and (part-time) hunters; taking account of their traditional land use, they are in competition with the park (access to land and resources). But when properly integrated into the park management they, too, can benefit from revenues generated by tourists (when working as park guide, as host in the park hotels and camping sites, when selling artisanal products)—see Table 6.
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Table 6.
Stakeholders and their interests in nature conservation
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Stakeholders |
Interests |
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3. Existing organizational infrastructures
The following parks are adjacent to each other, and though the degrees of collaboration vary, at present most are supported by an external partner:
A number of organizations are fighting against illegal hunting. The Bushmeat Crisis Task Force (BCTF) is a coalition of conservation organizations and zoos trying to control the trade in bushmeat in Africa, and in Asia and Latin America, through information exchange between individuals, organizations, and governments (studies, educational campaigns, policy support) (http://bushmeat.org). It has a diversity of projects running in West Africa: sustainable forest exploitation, sustainable bushmeat trade, conservation of chimpanzees, study on the alternatives for bushmeat, study on the relations between biodiversity and hunting (http://bushmeat.org).
As a sub-group of the IUCN/SSC the West Africa Sustainable Use Specialist Group (WASUSG/GSUDESAO) is working on developing methods for the sustainable use of natural resources. The group takes the line that the value of resources needs to be known and recognized in order to achieve sustainable exploitation. The WASUSG, assembling members from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo, focuses on: national, regional, and international trade in wildlife species; the management of shared resources; and the role of protected areas as reservoirs of critical biological resources (http://iucn.org). So far the group has made an inventory of wildlife trade, especially reptiles and birds, in West Africa.
IUCN has a diversity of programs relating to different fields of nature conservation. The West African bureau assists the implementation of international conventions on the national level, produces regional analysis and studies on natural resource management issues, contributes to discussions on environmental policies, supports capacity-building activities, executes demonstration projects (biodiversity-related conservation projects, household energy and wood consumption, environmental education, debt swaps and environmental funds), and seeks to mobilize more members—see IUCN’s Bureau Régional Afrique de l’Ouest (BRAO) strategic document. An important IUCN strategy is to support and advise national governments and, at the same time, increase the level of local population participation in nature conservation. This strategy is based on the idea that conservation objectives can be obtained only if local people who are directly concerned (through resource use) are integrated in the whole project cycle.
The WWF has initiated a program in West Africa on the conservation and development of inland wetlands. Since 1999, WWF has worked with the LCBC and, in 2000, began collaboration with the NBA. Except for supporting (technically and financially) these two interstate commissions, the project primarily has activities on the national level: supporting the designation of wetlands of international importance (biodiversity) as Ramsar sites [Nigeria floodplain, Niger-Benin, Guinea (planned), entire Inner Delta in Mali instead of three existing distant sites (planned)], and organizing field demonstrations for the (low technology) improvement of agriculture and fisheries on the floodplains.
CITES prohibits the trade of endangered plant and animal species.
4. Achievements
A number of transboundary national parks have started to collaborate, with or without the support of external partners. The Badiar (Guinea) and Niokolo-Koba (Senegal) National Parks, for example, have benefited from EU support for the management of both parks. The project has been prolonged for a second phase and extended to two other transboundary areas (Guinea–Guinea Bissau and Guinea-Mali).
The WASUSG has studied the reptile trade in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast, and the bird trade in Mali and Senegal. During a Pan-African workshop on nature conservation and natural resource management, the following points were brought to the fore:
5. Opportunities and constraints
As was observed in a summary of the strategy for the conservation of West African elephants, the largest elephant ranges are transboundary (IUCN/WWF/SSC/AfESG 1999). It is advantageous for individual countries to assign protected areas adjacent to neighbors’ protected areas, as the result will be a larger (transboundary) range for relatively little investment (in terms of surface and costs). The larger scale is of benefit to the animals, plants, and/or ecosystems: More room for individuals permits sounder population sizes. It is supposed, also, that surrounding human populations derive some advantage from a large-size park, as the necessity for animals leave the park in search of food and water might be less.
Where wildlife is, in general, not a major tourist attraction in West Africa (except for ornithological tourists observing birds in western coastline parks, and Sahara visitors), the combination of wildlife and culture and/or wildlife and pastoralism can attract larger numbers of tourists to West Africa.
Regional cooperation in the field of nature conservation enables the pooling of scarce (financial) resources. Also, initiatives giving evidence of regional-level efforts for nature conservation (e.g., one voice on elephant and ivory issues) will attract international support (IUCN/WWF/SSC/AfESG 1999).
The adherence to international conventions like those on biological diversity, climate change, desertification, and wetlands (Ramsar), and the acceptance of approaches like those aimed at involving local populations in natural resource management (including management of protected areas) (Magha et al. 2001), implies that countries are heading in the same direction. Likewise, it facilitates collaboration on natural resource management issues.
The concentration on only one resource [like the OMVS only being interested in water or on one problem (like the antipoaching accord that exclusively foresaw cooperation to combat poaching (Magha et al. 2001)] is too restrictive. Furthermore, it does not bring expected benefits to the biodiversity conservation of ecosystems (effects are limited and do not motivate for further investment in transboundary cooperation) at issue. Each ecosystem is a whole and needs to be treated as such.
The WASUSG has observed that small-scale and local-level initiatives for nature conservation are more effective when rendered as large-scale and high-level actions. Very often ideas for nature conservation are born on the international level, then implemented on the national level, yet on the local level hardly any realizations can be noted. This is because the motivations of locals are not the same as those of the (inter)national decision makers. WASUSG has thus concluded that local initiatives for nature conservation should be supported and that it is better to work on the village than on the ecosystem level.
Some parks, like the “W” National Park in Niger, are frequented by herders who come to have their herds graze, while others traverse the park in favor of Benin or Togo. The former take the risk of being captured by park officers, who can inflict large penalties, or of losing some animals to park predators. In defending themselves and their animals, these herders sometimes kill a wild animal. The scarcity of pastures (for livestock) at the end of the dry season is a serious constraint for the park, as well as for the herders. This argues for land-use plans that consider the limits of the land-use systems for concerned land users. If a structural solution is to be found for the transhumant herders exploiting the park’s vegetative resources, it does not help to restrict oneself to the park’s limits, as the reasons for which they come to the park lie outside.
In this chapter of the report a separate section is being dedicated to the theme of desertification (see the definition provided in Section C of Chapter II earlier ) because it touches on the whole range of natural resources in the Sahel. Moreover, it has implications for the West African coastal countries, directly through desertification in these coastal countries and indirectly through the impact on the Sahelian countries, where it is increasing becoming difficult to maintain land-use systems.
1. Issues
It has been observed that areas which have become unproductive due to overexploitation and unfavorable climatic conditions are being abandoned for ecosystems that are less fragile from a climatic point of view, like fossil valleys and bas-fonds (i.e., patches of lowland) (Thébaud 1995). In these favored regions, competition over access to more stable and strategic resources is growing. Other aspects that relate to the global importance of desertification effects include the distinctive characteristics of the African dry lands in terms of people, cultures, wildlife, and vegetation, and the possible interrelationships between climate change and desertification (Toulmin 1993). As desertification has effects on a large region, the CCD takes the line that the struggle against this phenomenon demands a regional approach, integrating all ecological zones (http://www.undp.org/).
2. Stakeholders
With regard to the desertification issue, all stakeholders (users of natural resources and the concerned states) are touched by the its effects: decreasing productivity, increasing production instability, increasing scarcity of (qualitative) resources, etc. These effects are negative for every stakeholder.
3. Existing organizational infrastructures
A lot of organizations have been set up around the desertification theme. CILSS was established in 1973, in the wake of the drought, and comprises nine countries (Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad). CILSS has developed into a structure that plays an important role in West Africa with regard to themes concerning food security and natural resource management. CILSS is responsible for the following activities:
Under the umbrella of CILSS are:
CILSS is closely supported by the Club du Sahel (set up in 1976) as a forum for informal exchange and brainstorming between partners (public and private) from the north and the south, with the purpose of increasing the impact of development aid. The Club sustains the idea that management of development cooperation should be transferred to southern partners, who should be supported by their northern partners. The Club has widened its view to include the other West African countries, and presently propagates regional integration. It is related to the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD).
Cooperating with CILSS and regional organizations from the north (Maghreb countries) and north-eastern (through the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development—IGAD), which assembles Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Uganda) parts of Africa, is the Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel (OSS). The OSS aims to be a mechanism for improved contact, information sharing, and collaboration between the three regions bordering the Sahara desert.
The CCD resulted from the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) of 1992 and became effective in 1996. The objective of the CCD is to address environmental problems with which countries in the arid and semi-arid zones of the world are confronted. The CCD advises countries affected by desertification on the elaboration and execution of action plans to combat this process of degradation.
4. Achievements
In order to effectively combat desertification, actions have been undertaken on four levels (Toulmin 1993):
Results of CILSS:
In 1999 ECOWAS and CILSS wrote an action program for West Africa and assigned a chapter to transboundary natural resource management. As primary intervention axes, they identified the protected areas, pastoral resources and transboundary transhumance, forests, and fragile ecosystems (humid and arid zones, mountain, and mangrove areas).
Action programs have been prepared on national, sub-regional, and regional levels. In the framework of the CCD regional and sub-regional action programs (RAP/SRAP) are intended to harmonize, complement, and increase the efficiency of national programs. They are being developed in a process of five phases:
5. Opportunities and constraints
CILSS can make propositions for national governments but has no power of implementation.
The OSS was launched in 1990 as a high-level political initiative by former French President Francois Mitterand, with little reference to needs and priorities of local populations. It is reckoned to be close to the French government and therefore has difficulties in gaining support from other donors. So far the OSS has achieved few results, although the needs are there (spanning the gap between French and English languages, learning from experiences).
The execution of plans developed to combat desertification are not secure because, so far, sufficient funds are not available. The CCD, unlike the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), which were equipped with the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), was not supported by the creation of a special fund for the execution of projects, nor was it specifically related to the GEF (although all conventions are somewhat related). Furthermore, the number of donor countries having signed the CCD is rather limited, which means they have not engaged themselves to give substantial and long-term (financial) support.
G. Summary of the case study on “W” Park25
The case study consists of a description of the “W” National Park, an overview of the transboundary management initiatives put into action, and an analysis of the opportunities and constraints with reference to this management approach.
This area is part of a 50,000 km2 complex of protected areas consisting of “W” Park (Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger), the Pendjari and Arly National Parks in Benin and Burkina Faso, respectively, and the Pama and Singou reserves of Burkina Faso. This complex is the largest transboundary protected area in West Africa.
With regard to the management of the park three distinct periods can be distinguished:
From the analysis of successes/failures regarding the effectiveness of park management, some points can be distinguished:
H. Summary of the case study on the Senegal River delta26
Mauritania and Senegal share the Senegal River delta. It is a zone of high interest because of its potential for the socioeconomic development of the region and its ecological value (biodiversity):
At present the delta environment is threatened by increased pressure on its resources (as a result of population growth), effects of the desertification process, and consequences of hydraulic constructions that have been put in place. The spread of invasive aquatic plants (Pistia statiotes, Typha australis and Salvinia molesta) constitutes a major threat.
With reference to the management of the natural resources of the Senegal River delta, several forms of cooperation can be mentioned:
The process of transboundary cooperation started with the development of integrated-management plans for both parks (recognized as Ramsar sites). The plans were aimed at the same objectives and opened the way for discussions and exchanges between the park-management teams. This form of cooperation persuaded the governments of both countries to collectively attack environmental problems that pose a threat to the delta. They formed a consultative body for a project to combat the invasive aquatic plants, organized collective courses for park agents, and signed a protocol on bilateral cooperation in the management framework of Diawling and Djoudj National Parks.
The fight against the spread of invasive aquatic plants, the most concrete example of bilateral cooperation in the Senegal River delta (after the OMVS activities), has resulted in an exchange of information between the countries. The actual activities took place on a national level.
Though advances have been made in the process of transboundary natural resource management (signature of accords, collective courses, exchange of information), no institutional structures have been created and no overall, strategic programs have been developed. This means that the transboundary cooperation seems rather informal and improvised. Reasons for this are the somewhat tense political relations between Mauritania and Senegal (since the ethnic conflicts of 1989, fueled by a border dispute), which complicate the process of cooperation, and the difficulties related to the democratization process. In order to make progress in transboundary cooperation, three conditions are to be met:
Different measures to achieve transboundary cooperation in natural resource management are identified (Gueye 1996):
Activities are proposed aimed at transboundary cooperation regarding control of invasive aquatic plants, including the establishment of scientific and coordinating committees, the organization of a regional priority-setting and planning workshop, and the mobilization of funds on the local, national, regional, and international level.
Through transboundary cooperation energies are mobilized and united to deal with urgent and large-scale problems in a general and sustainable way.
19. In 2000, Mauritania decided to leave the ECOWAS (http://membres.tripod.fr).
20. Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal (http://www.oecd.org).
21. The regional coordinating organizations are not mentioned as stakeholders.
22. Conservationists are reckoned to defend the interests of plants, animals, and/or entire ecosystems.
23. The listing is not exhaustive.
24. The conservation of “umbrella” species includes conservation of other species that have the same or similar habitat requirements, environmental responses, etc. (Walker 1995).
25. The case study was authored by Magha (Niger), Kambou (Burkina Faso), and Koudenoukpo (Benin); the full text of the case study is included in this volume.
26. The case study has been prepared under the coordination of the IUCN Senegal office; the full text is not available.