Focus AreasTrust Funds and CentresCross-Cutting Areas and InitiativesSearch |
Forestry/Agro-ForestryThis category covers a range of projects aimed at the regeneration and protection of vegetative wood cover. They include the establishment of fuel wood plantations, the regeneration or restocking of "gum", "green" or "shelter" belts, tree seed projects, agro-forestry projects with the plantation of fruit and multi-purpose trees for the production of wood, fruits, gathered produce, fodder, etc. Initially these projects were developed with the objective to restore the productive potential of the environment. Apart from their specific objectives and the countries of implementation, these projects had essentially the same initial problems and have developed in similar ways towards community and agro-forestry. The first UNSO project in this area in Ethiopia, which started in 1984 on the high plateau around Debre Birhan, Nazareth and Dese illustrates some important aspects. Its original objective was to:
By 1990, some 6000 ha had been replanted at Nazareth and 3500 around Debre Birhan primarily with Eucalyptus globulus. The reliance on a single exotic species certainly posed a potential risk. It was the lack of land that put limits to reaching the initial objectives. Peasants had to give up part of their agricultural lands and pastoralists had to leave the pastures for 4-5 years before controlled grazing was authorized again. The obvious key problem of this and other projects was the lack of genuine participation by the local population. It was not guaranteed that farmers and pastoralists of the region, who had only the right to harvest and sell wood under supervision of project technicians, could profit from the project activities in the long-term. In order to better respond to the needs of the rural and urban populations subsequent projects adopted a more integrated approach of "agro-forestry" or "community forestry". The fundamental principle was to ensure the participation of farmers and pastoralists in a way that would allow them to reap the benefits resulting from project activities. As a result of the changes made in the conceptual approach, the landscape in the respective zones has significantly changed with a mosaic of community or private plantations, more modest, scattered on the higher ranges of the slopes. Farmers who now produce their own Eucalyptus plants can expect to cover their own needs in wood for energy and construction and to generate supplementary income. Also this category of project reinforces the lesson that only a more integrated approach can offer sustainable solutions for and by the producers themselves. Project objectives must respond to the immediate needs of the resource users and improve their living conditions. The experience of UNSO in numerous countries of the Sudano-Sahelian region points to the problem of inadequate institutional and policy frameworks. Quota systems, fixed prices, inadequate subsidies, displacement of populations, the lack of regulations, fiscal arrangements and rules for market access have often stifled efforts to combat desertification and to restore an ecological equilibrium. The following summaries give a picture of the experiences of UNSO in the areas of forestry and agro-forestry:
|
Land Management Topics
|
