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First sub-regional workshop to promote Forest Landscape Restoration in West Africa. Ghana, 25 – 27 March 2003

Workshop Report

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3

Executive Summary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

1. Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61.1 Background --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61.2 Objective ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.3 Organisation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.4 Opening Ceremony ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. The Concept of Forest Landscape Restoration ------------------------------------------------------------------------------3. Threats to Forest Landscape Restoration in West Africa ------------------------------------------------------------------

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4. Forest Landscape Restoration Experiences in West Africa --------------------------------------------------------------- 84.1 East Africa Cases -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 94.2 West Africa (Ghana) case ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9

5. Discussion on FLR Experiences and Policy Opportunities ----------------------------------------------------------------6. Group Work on Landscapes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6.1 Group 1: Nimba / Fouta Djallon Landscapes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------6.2 Group 2: Kyabobo-Fazao-Malfakassa Landscape -------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. Forest Landscape Restoration and Environmental Conventions ----------------------------------------------------------7.1 Forest Landscape Restoration links with Forest Carbon Sequestration under the Kyoto Protocol -----------------7.2 Opportunities offered by the Convention on Biological Diversity ------------------------------------------------------

8. Selecting Landscapes for Forest Restoration -------------------------------------------------------------------------------9. Establishing Partnerships and Negotiation for Forest Landscape Restoration ------------------------------------------10. Forest Landscape Restoration Measuring Indicators ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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11. Forest Landscape Restoration Workshop Recommendations ----------------------------------------------------------- 18

12. Conclusion and Next Steps --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1913. Closing Statements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2213.1 Vote of Thanks --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2213.2 Closing Address -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22

Workshop Annexes

Annexe 1: Workshop Programme ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Annexe 2: Speeches of Opening Ceremony----------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------Annexe 2.1 Welcome Address by the Chief District Executive -------------------------------------------------------------Annexe 2.2 Orientation Address by the WWF WARPO Representative --------------------------------------------------

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Annexe 2.3 Opening address by the Minister ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27

Annexe 3: Concept of Forest Landscape Restoration by Stephen Kelleher------------------------------------------------- 29Annexe 4: Forest Landscape Restoration Case Studies ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 30Annexe 4.1 East Africa Cases by Virpi Lahtella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Annexe 4.2 West Africa Cases (Ghana) by Victor Agyeman ----------------------------------------------------------------

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Annexe 5. Potential Links with Carbon Sequestration and the Kyoto Protocol ------------------------------------------- 34Annexe 6. List of Workshop Participants --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35

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List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

AAC : Annual Allowable CutAfDB : African Development BankCBD : Convention on Biological diversityCCD : Convention to Combat DesertificationCDM : Clean Development MechanismCEO : Chief Executive OfficerCI : Conservation InternationalCIFOR : Centre for International Forestry ResearchCOP : Conference of the PartiesCSIR : Council of Scientific and Industrial ResearchECOWAS: Economic Community of West African StatesEPA : Environmental Protection AgencyEU-ACP: European Union – Africa Caribbean and PacificFAO : Food and Agricultural OrganisationFFI : Fauna and Flora InternationalFLR : Forest Landscape RestorationGBSA : Globally Significant Biodiversity AreasGDP : Gross Domestic ProductGEF : Global Environment FacilityGHG : Green House GasICRAF : International Centre for Research in Agro-ForestryIIED : International Institute for Environment and DevelopmentINGO : Indigenous Non-Governmental OrganisationIPCC : Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeITTO : International Tropical Timber OrganisationIUCN : International Union for the Conservation of NatureMA : Ministry of AgricultureMERF : Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources.MINEF : Ministry of the Environment and ForestsMME : Ministry of Mines and EnergyMPOA : Malaysian Palm Oil AssociationNBSAP : National Biodiversity Strategy and Action ProgrameNEPAD : New Partnership for Africa’s DevelopmentNFAP : National Forestry Action ProgrammeNGO : Non-Governmental OrganisationNTFP : Non-Timber Forest ProductOAU : Organisation of African UnityPRSP : Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (a poverty abatement process)SBSTTA: Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological AdviceTUC : Timber Utilisation ContractUN : United NationsUNDP : United Nations Development ProgrammeUNEP : United Nations Environmental ProgrammeUNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeUNFF : United Nations Forum on ForestsUS : United StatesUSD : United States DollarWARPO: Western Africa Regional Programme OfficeWCMC : World Conservation Monitoring CentreWWF : World Wide Fund for natureWWFF4L: WWF’s Forests for Life target driven programme

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Executive Summary

Context

The first sub-regional workshop to promote Forest Landscape Restoration in West Africa, was hosted by the Ministry of Lands and Forests – Ghana, and facilitated by the Western Africa Regional Programme Office of the World Wide Fund for nature – WWF. The workshop took place from 25 th through 27th of March, 2003 at the Marina Hotel in Dodowa – Ghana. The organisation of the workshop was preceded by communication for collaboration, with high level officials of ministerial departments responsible for forestry, NGOs in countries of the West African sub-region, and regional / international sustainable forest management partners including the FAO, CIFOR, ITTO, IUCN and CI. A multi-stakeholder planning meeting for the sub-regional workshop was held on Thursday 14th November 2002 in Abidjan, during which the development of a questionnaire, to collect country-level FLR information was proposed, and the period of March 2003, scheduled for holding the workshop.

Objective of the Workshop

The aim of the workshop was to raise awareness and advocate adoption of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) in West Africa. The specific objectives were:

1. To enhance understanding of forest landscape restoration; meaning, raison d’être and processes for implementation in West Africa;

2. Share experiences on the subject, within and out of the West Africa sub-region;

3. Learn, using examples of policy and field initiatives affecting forest landscape restoration;

4. Identify priority issues and areas of Forest Landscape Restoration;

5. Produce action plans and next steps for implementing Forest Landscape Restoration.

Participation

Thirty five workshop participants represented nine (9) West African countries, namely: Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. Participants came from governmental departments and parastatal agencies, national and international NGOs, bilateral executing agencies, intergovernmental institutions and the private timber sector. The workshop was opened by the Vice Minister for the Ministry of Environment and Science in Ghana, in the presence of the Regional Representative of WWF for West Africa, and the Chief District Executive of Dodowa, acting as host of the event.

Methodology

Development of the workshop programme was guided by responses received from participants through a questionnaire, earlier transmitted to Ministers of the concerned governmental agencies and CEOs of the most active forest sector NGOs in West Africa. Analysis of questionnaire responses revealed the necessity to harmonise understanding of the Forest Landscape Restoration concept early on, during the workshop, and reserve a field trip for the last day of the meeting. Before coming for the workshop, a number of documents were transmitted to participants to enhance their familiarisation with the FLR concept. One of these, was the synthesis report (in English and French), of the last international experts meeting on Forest Landscape Restoration, that took place from 27 to 28 February 2002 in Costa Rica. A number of panel boards carrying pictures and related information, were displayed at the workshop venue to convey the raison d’être of Forest Landscape Restoration.

Following its opening, the workshop, progressed through an alternation of expert presentations, discussions, work in groups, and plenary sessions, during which outputs of the various group-work, were presented for discussion and upgrading. The workshop programme was structured around three features, namely: i.)- definitions and experiences, ii.)- national and international policy instruments affecting forest landscape restoration and iii.)- effective action towards forest landscape restoration and recommendations. The work in groups produced detailed national action plans, and recommendations read at the end of the meeting.

Definitions

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Forest Landscape Restoration was defined as a planned process that aims to regain ecological integrity and enhance human well-being in degraded or deforested forest landscapes. The concept has been in development, including field testing, in the last couple of years, under the leadership of WWF and IUCN. Its development followed deductions that conventional tree planting schemes have singularly failed to restore the range of forest goods and services necessary to maintain healthy ecosystems and contribute to human well-being. Moreover protected areas and conventional forest management are increasingly viewed as inadequate in checking the ever increasing degradation of global forest resources, which are depleted along with important forest functions. The vision for restoring degraded forest landscapes is to have diverse and connected landscapes that will support viable populations of native species throughout their natural range, meet essential human needs, and enhance the ability of key ecosystems to resist and adapt to threats.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The workshop was administratively closed by the Coordinating Director of the Damgbe West District, though not before participants read a joint motion of thanks to the government of Ghana for hosting the workshop and the World Wide Fund for nature – WWF, for facilitating the event. The following recommendations, developed through group effort and harmonised in plenary, were read out by a designated participant during the workshop’s closing ceremony:

“A the end of fruitful deliberations of the workshop, to promote Forest Landscape Restoration in West Africa, hosted by the government of Ghana and facilitated by the World Wide Fund for nature - WWF, regrouping representatives of 9 West African countries namely: Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria, we, the workshop participants, this 26th day of March 2003, recommend as follows:

1. That, WWF and partners, should be engaged, as soon as possible, in initiating at least one pilot Forest Landscape Restoration project in the sub-region;

2. That, Governments, and concerned national and international partners should set up a mechanism or mechanisms to finance Forest Landscape Restoration pilot action in each West African country;

3. Partnerships in Forest Landscape Restoration should be encouraged through processes such as Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), as well as through collaboration on specific site projects or related initiatives;

4. Executing partners should integrate forest landscape restoration principles and concept into on-going planning phases of projects such as the Mt. Nimba, the Fouta Djallon, and Kyabobo-Fazao-Malfakassa;

5. Governments and intergovernmental agencies should encourage integration of Forest Landscape Restoration in forest programmes and other national rural development, and poverty alleviation planning and programming processes;

6. That, WWF should collaborate with NGO partners and the appropriate ministerial departments in West African countries to collate and synthesise information on existing Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) initiatives in the sub-region, in order to initiate a data-base on the subject, and promote the exchange of experience;

7. That, the functional approach advocated by Forest Landscape Restoration, and seen as a means of alleviating poverty and enhancing the socio-cultural well-being of local communities, should be promoted at the country level, through national workshops involving; NGO’s, government departments, intergovernmental agencies, the private sector, local communities, and interested stakeholders;

8. Governments, and other national and international partners involved in sustainable forest management, should engage in a continuous education and awareness programme, on Forest Landscape Restoration;

9. WWF should collaborate with national governments, NGOs and regional / international partners such as the FAO, IUCN, ITTO, and eventually CIFOR in the identification of forest landscapes in the West African sub-region, needing FLR action;

10. A Forest Landscape Restoration network, to be facilitated by WWF and national focal points, should be promoted in West Africa, for information sharing. Focal points could have the added role of monitoring national Forest Landscape Restoration activities;

11. Considering the multifunctional approach advocated by Forest Landscape Restoration, appropriate techniques and strategies should be developed for communicating and promoting the process, including communication tools for its use as a major sub-regional forest land-use planning process, and finally;

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12. That, WWF and other national and international partners should continue to provide support in West Africa, with the objective of promoting achievement of concrete Forest Landscape Restoration results;

END.1. Introduction

1.1 Background

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Tropical Moist Forest of West Africa measured more than 1.2 million square kilometers. Commercial forest exploitation intensified during the colonial period, and colonial forest policies were largely maintained after independence. These policies, and attendant practices, promoted activities such as forest clearing for agriculture and / or grazing, large-scale expansion and intensification of commodity crops such as coffee and cacao, and forest clearance to claim land. These actions resulted in conversion of vast expanses of forest to non-forest, and left much of the remaining forested areas fragmented and degraded. Today, the forest cover of the entire region covers no more than 15 – 20 % of the original extent. The West African forest is consequently considered one of the most degraded tropical types on the planet, and has been classified by WWF as critical, endangered and vulnerable.

The degraded condition of West Africa’s forests has exacerbated poverty and, in combination with population growth and irrational government policies, stimulated the expansion of low-intensity, unsustainable techniques such as clearing forests with fire, increased bush meat trade, and irrational log export. These practices have, in turn, fostered replacement of natural semi-deciduous tropical forests with highly human-modified formations. With more than 200 million of the sub-region’s inhabitants directly depending on forest resources, their continuous erosion, is leading to untold hardship, especially among the poor.

According to the World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC), less than 5 % of West Africa’s moist forest in coastal lying countries, from Sierra Leone to Nigeria are under protection. Forests outside of protected areas are highly degraded, deforested and fragmented, rendering them vulnerable to threats and stresses, such as climate change, invasion by the Sahara desert and mass in-migrations fueled by civil war. These forest areas remain, however, critical for the maintenance of various environmental, social and economic functions, and enormous restoration potential exists to regain not just forest cover, but forest functionality. Restoring functions in critical forest landscapes of the sub-region will stimulate numerous environmental, cultural and economic benefits. Environmental benefits include biodiversity habitat, wildlife corridors, soil stabilization, de-fragmentation, increased habitat connectivity, and watershed rehabilitation; cultural benefits will include sacred forests, totem habitats for conservation etc, while economic benefits accrue from increased availability of forest goods and services, to include fuel-wood, fodder, non-timber forest products, construction timber, etc. Previous efforts within the sub-region to attenuate forest degradation have so far had little real effect. Poor cultural techniques continue to lead to soil erosion, loss in soil fertility and consequent poor crop yields, weak forest governance systems remain in many places, and perverse policy incentives resulting in negative environmental impacts and forest clearing are still in place. The degradation of the sub-region’s principal watershed in Guinea is leading to a drop in water levels in neighbouring countries; extensive agriculture is leading to expansion of the Sahara desert thereby inducing averse and unpredictable climatic patterns; fire and irrational forest exploitation are both leading to the rarity of key fauna and flora species. It is obvious that the loss of biodiversity and other forest functions constitute threats to the livelihood options available to the poor within the sub-region.

Forest Landscape Restoration is a planned process, that aims to create a balance between ecological integrity and human well-being. The process targets initiatives supposed to restore lost or diminished forest functions considered to be useful for human well-being. Such functions include but are not limited to; forest biodiversity survival, micro and macro climate regulation, water supply in good quality and quantity, good soil water percolation and erosion control, good soil nutrient cycling, plant pollination and dispersal of reproductive plant parts, good soil formation, adequate production of food sources etc. It is believed that the restoration of West Africa’s forest landscapes will contribute in reversing degradation of the sub-region’s economic, social and biological wealth which is bound in its forest and other biomes. It was on this background that the workshop on FLR was organized and held in the West African sub-region.

1.2 Objective

The aim of the workshop was to raise awareness and advocate adoption of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) in West Africa. The specific objectives were:

To enhance understanding of forest landscape restoration; meaning, raison d’être and processes for implementation in West Africa;

Share experiences on the subject, within and out of the West Africa sub-region;

Learn, using examples of policy and field initiatives affecting forest landscape restoration;

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Identify priority issues and areas of Forest Landscape Restoration;

Produce action plans and next steps for implementing Forest Landscape Restoration.1.3 Organization

The workshop was jointly organized by the World Wide Fund for nature - WWF and the Government of Ghana, at the MARINA hotel, Dodowa - Ghana. Thirty five participants from 9 West African countries attended the three days workshop, drawn from national government services and agencies specialized in forest regeneration and restoration, a number of international multilateral and bilateral agencies represented in West Africa, and non-governmental organizations. Simultaneous interpretation services facilitated translation from English to French and vice-versa during the workshop’s plenary and group-work sessions. A number of documents on forest landscape restoration produced by WWF and partners i.e., the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), were distributed to participants during the workshop. These documents include:

The summary report of the international experts meeting on Forest Landscape Restoration organized by WWF and IUCN on 27 and 28 February 2002 in Costa Rica [English and French].

Forest Landscape Restoration, working examples from 5 ecoregions, by WWF [English and French]. ITTO guidelines for the restoration, management and rehabilitation of degraded and secondary forests [English]. Africa’s Dry Forests – Time to Re-engage, and agenda for priority research, by CIFOR [English].

1.4 Opening Ceremony

Three speeches marked the opening ceremony of the workshop, which began at 09.00 am. These included:a.)- a welcome address by the District Chief Executive for the Damgbe West District;b.)- a workshop orientation speech by the Regional Representative of the WWF West Africa Regional Programme, and c.)- a formal opening of the workshop by the Minister of Environment and Science for Ghana.

The three opening speeches, mentioned some achievements in Forest Restoration and provided directives to be pursued by the FLR workshop participants.

In the first speech, the Chief District Executive of the Damgmé West District, indicated that there were visible signs of a reduction of valuable forest functions in Ghana. The current rationing of electricity, which is due to a drop in the water level of the Volta dam, responsible for generating hydro-electricity for the country, was a typical example. He indicated that the drop in the water level of the dam in recent years, was surely due to a reduction in vegetation cover, drought and a consequent increase in water use upstream. The Chief District Executive called for collaboration and requested that restoration should include amenity planting, including the maintenance of city lawn and woods, stressing that these trees and shrubs have a significant environmental impact, as they ensure a convenient micro-climate in the city, check the possible devastating effects of strong winds and storms, and reduce dust and sound movements.

In the second speech, the WWF West Africa Regional Representative, Souleymane Zeba, presented the three strategic components of WARPO’s regional programme; on forests, freshwater and marine resources. The components were justified simply as the base for primary products such as bush-meat and agricultural land in the case of forests; fish in the case of marine resources; and irrigation water and fish in the case of the Freshwater component. Souleymane went ahead to ask a number of questions, eventually used in the workshop’s group work. The questions were:

- How can we work towards the restoration of degraded forest landscapes? - How shall we analyse the shortcomings and threats to identify priority landscapes? - How shall we determine socio-economic and ecological criteria and indicators to assess our progress or failures? - How shall we eliminate the major political and economic incentives that contribute to forest loss and degradation? - Where should we start with the first FLR cases in our countries?

The third speech or opening address by the Minister of Environment and Science, was delivered by Mrs. Esther Nyamkye, Vice-Minister of Environment and Science. The Minister indicated that the FLR concept is part of the policy defined by the current Ghanaian Government within the framework of its Poverty Reduction Strategy. She then went ahead to reveal amongst others, that in September 2001, Ghana launched a National Forest Plantation Development Programme, in its Brong-Ahafo region. The aim of the programme has been to restore at least 20,000 hectares of degraded forest-land all over the country per year; address the wood deficit situation in the timber industry; create jobs and alleviate poverty, especially in forest fringe communities. The Minister indicated that although the programme will be receiving World Bank and AfDB support, other development partners should support the initiative, which is aimed at job creation, poverty reduction and environmental restitution. She hoped that the workshop will produce practicable recommendations, for restoring degraded lands in the West African sub-region.

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The full speeches from the three presenters are attached as Annexe 2 of this report.

Technical Session I:

2. Concept of Forest Landscape Restoration

The session was led by Stephen Kelleher, Deputy Director of the WWF-US’s Global Forest Programme. The speaker presented Forest Landscape Restoration as the reaction to a need. He revealed that forest resources contribute 90 % of the welfare of 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty the world over, and that most terrestrial biodiversity was located in forests, which provide a multitude of functions to humans and to other biodiversity (e.g.: soil stabilization, genetic base, raw materials…).

Unfortunately, approximately 15 million hectares of forests are lost yearly, leaving an ever increasing surface of degraded forest. This is why efforts through WWF’s ‘Forest For Life’ Programme, on protected areas and sustainable forest management in collaboration with other partners, is no longer sufficient to reverse the huge forest deficit.

It was reiterated that FLR is a process meant to establish a balance and link between ecological integrity and people’s well-being in deforested or degraded landscapes. The elements that make FLR different from other concepts, were enumerated, and include:

1. the working scale being the landscape; 2. it focuses on the restoration of goods and services and of forest processes rather than on tree planting;3. it is a combination of forest quality and quantity concepts; 4. it involves strategic alliances with the public, including discussions and negotiations between private & public

sectors and civil society; 5. it involves identification of the underlying causes of forest degradation or loss; 6. it considers a set of solutions rather than a single approach and, is a long-term prospect as opposed to short term.

Stephen presented a multiplicity of linkages or relations that could be developed through FLR, with a variety of partners, as well as the main processes (international conventions and policies) on which FLR could build. He also mentioned current mechanisms such as poverty reduction strategies, desertification, climate change etc, that could benefit or integrate FLR.

The presenter described WWF’s restoration tool, under five points: [TRIKA]

1. Training in: identifying priority areas according to both ecological and socio-economic criteria; ensuring monitoring; involving stakeholders and negotiating agreements and results of technical restoration;

2. Research on: division and viability of areas; compilation of current restoration methods; inquiry into who does what in restoration; FLR and carbon related knowledge; initiatives that lead to forest degradation and loss; exploration of mechanisms for determining the value of forest goods & services & sustainable financing of forests;

3. Implementation: to increase the size of on-going projects; to build capacities; to share experiences and lessons drawn; to test the monitoring environment and; to build partnerships;

4. Knowledge / information / communication: development of information tools; dissemination, sharing and exchange of important and critical information;

5. Advocacy at the following levels: international (CBD, UNFCCC, RAMSAR…); regional (UE, ECOWAS…); national (land policy, National Reforestation Programme…).

Stephen’s complete power-point presentation is attached as Annexe 3 of this report.

3. Threats to FLR in West Africa

The session was led by Jean-Paul Lorng - WWF consultant. Jean-Paul presented a summary of responses to the questionnaire, transmitted to participants before the workshop, in January 2003. The threats were categorised into five (5) groups:

1. Political: Responses from the FLR questionnaires revealed that political will or commitment by Government authorities towards forest (landscape) restoration was generally insufficient. This was mainly because most forestry

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departments did not have the infrastructure and capacity to integrate objectives of forest regeneration with even limited regard for conservation, into their own exploitation oriented objectives.

2. Legal and Institutional Environment: Most countries of the sub-region did not have a favourable institutional environment for FLR. The framework for forest (landscape) restoration as concerns ownership of the regenerated resource, was still a contentious issue in many countries of the sub-region, while planning and coordination capacity of restoration activities was still assessed as low in as many countries.

3. Funding: Financial support by Governments was assessed as persistently low, and external funding was not adapted to the realities of beneficiary countries, i.e., they provide very little discretion for adaptive management.

4. Participation of Actors: Participation was assessed as low, though with increasing interest by the private sector. It was also noted that there was insufficient public awareness on the subject of forest regeneration (FLR).

5. Incentives: Inducements for pursuing FLR ware noted to be marginal in several countries and as such, could not elicit massive adhesion of actors other than the state. Moreover, conditions for access to forest resources was not clearly defined in several countries of the sub-region.

Questionnaire responses revealed that restoration remained largely an initiative of Government, which unilaterally ensures its planning and implementation. The common type of reforestation was, planting trees that were often exotic, for economic objectives such as in the supply of timber, energy and construction wood. Notwithstanding, a few restoration initiatives with functions other than economic, were being conducted in Nigeria, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. These need to be supported.

4. FLR Experiences in Africa

4.1 Eastern Africa Cases

The session was led by Virpi Lahtela of IUCN/BRAO. Three cases of FLR were presented from the Eastern Africa region. In the first of these cases, Acacia wood-lands in northern Kenya were regenerated through a process of protecting Acacia seedlings and trees. This enabled the restoration of 30,000 hectares of land with good quality Acacia. In the second case, restoration using local species chosen by the population led to the securing of pasture forest in Tanzania. The initiative has been responsible for the reclamation of 250,000 hectares of degraded land since 1985. In the third case, restoration of multiple functions was pursued by the FACE UWA initiative in Uganda since 1994. The venture succeeded because it addressed the different needs and aspirations of various stakeholders on the landscape.

The lessons learnt from the cases and ensuing discussions were, that:

While research was useful for effective FLR, it was not always necessary to wait for research or external funding to pursue FLR on the ground. Popular commitment has proven in the past, to be a main asset;

The preferred ‘‘bottom-top’’ approach could start at any time. In fact, it could now with a strong individual. Strong personality and good leadership always helps to catalyse and ascertain follow-up and effective execution of

the process; Strong grassroots involvement, as well as an enabling institutional environment with traditional management rules

and government support are a necessity.

Virpi’s full power-point presentation is attached under Annexe 4 of this report.

4.2 Western Africa Case (Ghana – Global Forest Perspective)

Ghana’s experience in forest regeneration was presented by Victor Agyeman, of the Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG). Victor underscored Ghana’s Sustainable Forest Management Programme, indicating that the country had a comfortable lead over many others in sub-Saharan Africa, as concerns conventional forest restoration. He revealed that the Government of Ghana addresses FLR through an integrated forest management programme that includes; improvement of tenure, resource use rights and participation; a ban on log export and the illegal use of chain saws; integrated forest and wildlife management; wildlife, biodiversity and environmental conservation; plantation development and a reviewed taungya system which strives to improve the benefit flows, especially to poor and marginalised local communities. Victor’s power-point presentation is attached under Annexe 4 of this report.

Technical Session II

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5. Discussion on FLR Experiences and Policy Opportunities

This technical session was divided into a discussion and policy session, both chaired by Souleymane Zeba, WWF Regional Representative for Western Africa. From previous presentations, it was agreed that some form of FLR was practiced in most West African countries, with classical approaches contributing very little to the attainment of forest functionality. An example of functionality oriented restoration was presented from Nigeria, where the Government launched a Nypa Palm Eradication Programme in that country’s Delta State in 2002. The Nypa Palm is an exotic invasive species introduced in Nigeria by the British colonial administration in 1906, to check coastal erosion and stabilise eroded beaches. The species is however invading mangrove sites and eradicating the latter with a negative toll on the survival of several fish species, thereby affecting the welfare of local communities, which depend on fish for their livelihood. The restoration initiative is expected to eradicate the Nypa Palm and regenerate local mangrove species through an integrated control process to involve all stake-holders. Functions being restored are economic (fish – breeding site for fish and crayfish; tannin production – from mangrove bark for dying fabrics, including fishing nets); environmental (protection against sea storms; carbon sequestration etc.); social (broad stake-holder participation; fuel-wood for fish drying; bark of mangrove trees used in medicines etc.); biodiversity (re-establishment of disrupted food chains i.e., between water birds and insects; shade for water birds, water antelopes and aquatic fauna; and nesting sites for bats). The initiative has since been linked to the government’s poverty reduction strategy.

Another forest functionality initiative was reported for the Fouta Djallon highlands in Guinea. The massif, though located in the central part of Guinea, has a range which extends into Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone. It is also the source of the most important rivers of West Africa namely, the river Niger, the Senegal, the Gambia, Kaba, Koliba and Kolenté. More than 70 % of these regional rivers originate from the Fouta Djallon highlands. Considering its importance, the OAU, UNDP, UNEP and the Guinean Government as early as 1981, launched the Fouta Djallon Highlands Integrated Development Regional Programme, covering the eight riparian countries of Guinea, Gambia Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The Programme sought to combat desertification, drought and natural disasters, with impacts on the Fouta Djallon highland ecology, through forest restoration. Functions targeted for restoration have been economic (employment --); ecological (soil erosion control; flood control-); biodiversity (natural forest conservation; protection of head-waters); and social (water supply --) etc.

In another case in Burkina Faso, it was revealed that a project was in the pipe-line for the restoration of 202,400 hectares of forest, by planting trees along the banks of rivers and reservoirs; manage the Bontioli wildlife reserve and rehabilitate 300 km of feeder roads. It will also involve the demarcation of 180 village lands and curb the destruction of forests and environmental degradation. The African Development Bank (AfDB) was in the process of approving a loan of US $16.6 million to Burkina Faso to finance the forest management project in the drought-prone West African country. It was also revealed that the funds will be used to promote income generating activities among people living near the forests. The project, which will become operational in 2003, shall involve the participation of the populations living near the forests and enable them to improve their living conditions.

Pertaining to opportunistic policies, the session chairman – Souleymane, indicated that there were a number of international and regional policy instruments that could support FLR, including: the NEPAD, PRSP, World Bank policy for forest sector in Africa, African Development Bank’s policy for forest sector in Africa and, the ongoing discussions in ECOWAS. Concerning NEPAD, it was indicated that issues related to environment and biodiversity could benefit only when tackled in an integrated and holistic manner, i.e., it would be easier for NEPAD to support cross-border programmes and initiatives involving one, two or more countries than single stand-alone ventures. National components of the environmental initiatives could then be managed by the beneficiary governments. FLR provides such cross border opportunities to benefit from NEPAD support. Projects such as the restoration of downstream basins or mountain areas common to several countries (Fouta-Djalon, Mount Nimba, Volta Basin…) could be eligible for NEPAD. Concerning poverty reduction strategies (PRSP): With national discussions currently evolving at different stages, FLR may not encounter the same level of success as envisaged for NEPAD if presented as a cross border package. FLR will therefore preferably be introduced to the PRSP at the country-level discussions as a national initiative, with the conviction that, FLR will effectively contribute in poverty reduction.

Subsequent discussions in plenary enabled participants to share viewpoints and examples on national and regional policies favourable to FLR and how FLR objectives could be integrated into these policies. The possibility of presentating the FLR concept to populations for adoption was also discussed.

6. Group Work on Landscapes

This session involved splitting workshop participants into two groups, with each group working on a preferred landscape within the West African sub-region. Each group was expected to provide a descriptive summary of their landscape, and provide responses to the following questions:

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i. Who are the main stake-holders within the landscape ?ii. What are the major causes of degradation of the landscape ?iii. What are the specific threats to FLR on the landscape ?iv. What are the opportunities for promoting FLR on the landscape ?v. What activities could be undertaken to promote FLR on the landscape ?vi. What should be done or put in place for FLR to succeed ?vii. How can FLR be integrated into current policies ?

The two groups reflected on the following landscapes:

Group 1: Mt. Nimba Landscape: Made of representatives from Liberia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Sierra Leone.Group 2: Kyabobo-Fazoa-Malfakassa Landscape: Made of representatives from Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, and Burkina-Faso.

Group Results:

6.1 Group 1: Mt. Nimba Landscape

Description:

The Nimba mountain landscape transgresses the national boundaries of Guinea, Ivory Coast and Liberia. Exploration of iron ore on the range dates back to 1909. However, due to the diversity of the landscape in terms of both morphology and vegetation, and the rarity of its endemic fauna, 19,500 hectares of the forest was gazetted in 1943; with 14,500 hectares being on the Guinean side and 5,000 on the Ivorian side, and another 20 kilometres of the un-gazetted range extending into Liberia. The landscape has been gazetted successively as a Strict Nature Reserve (1944), a Biosphere Reserve (1980) and a World Heritage Site (1981). Since 1991, the Nimba ‘high conservation value forest’, was enlarged to incorporate all the land forming the Upper Cavally River Basin in Guinea, covering an area of 145,200 ha., and arranged as a cluster, of three core zones totalling 21,780 ha (Mount Nimba, Bossou and Déré), a buffer zone of 35,140 ha, which surrounds the three core zones and a transition area of 88,280 ha, the boundaries of which correspond to the river-shed dividing the Cavally, Gouan and Mani river basins.

The Fouta Djallon highlands meanwhile, was described as the water tower of West Africa. Seven of the region’s major rivers, including the Niger, Gambia and Senegal, take their rise from these highlands. Notwithstanding, the Fouta is very degraded, although it remains the home of the northernmost population of chimpanzees in Africa. It is also renowned for its wide diversity of insects, mainly butterlies, and fish from its numerous streams and rivers. The Fouta Djallon remains an area characterised by high rainfall, although this is reducing along with its characteristic sub-montane species of Parinari excelsa and Parkia biglobosa. A number of fragmented classified forests still exist. The potential for external partnerships in the area is immense.

The Mt. Nimba Group came up with the following responses:

i. Current stakeholders and partners: Governments (Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast); local populations; resource exploiters (timber, mining, agriculture and animal breeders); funding agencies; academic and research institutions; protected area agencies.

ii. Principal causes of degradation: Mining by the ex. Company - LAMCO in Liberia; Commercial logging and agriculture on the periphery of the World Heritage Site; civil war in Liberia causing the interruption (for 15 years) of restoration work on areas degraded by mining; population movements and refugees from civil war causing pressure on wildlife; wild fires from increasing subsistence agriculture.

iii. Major threats: War on the western half of Ivory Coast; uncontrolled hunting and poaching; risk of extinction of certain species; disturbance and destruction of the habitat by displaced people; on-going mining exploration in Guinea.

iv. Opportunities: World heritage site, hence supranational importance; USD 11 million project to be financed by GEF; interest and support by funding agencies; progress towards a tripartite agreement between Guinea, Ivory Coast and Liberia for conservation of the Nimba Landscape; envisaged convention between the government of Guinea and the Rio-Tinto mining company for the latter to pay for conservation expenses of the landscape; restart of mining in Liberia within the framework of a new forestry law, with provisions for forest protection and rehabilitation; political support by NEPAD due to trans-boundary status of the landscape.

v. Activities to promote FLR: Continue reforestation (through the FLR functional approach) suspended by the civil war; re-evaluate biodiversity potential of the landscape; redynamise the Mt. Nimba tripartite initiative (FFI); promote related activities, i.e., reforestation associated with animal husbandry, agro-forestry etc; protect wildlife corridors; improve management of the buffer zone; pursue research; protect identified rare species through in-situ or ex-situ conservation.

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vi. Mechanisms for success of FLR: Harmonisation of policies; identification of stakeholders on each side of the landscape; many actions already exist.

vii. Integrating FLR into existing policies: Review existing policies; propose and appropriately formulate current policies while integrating FLR; adopt a convincing approach for integrating FLR in specific policy frameworks.

6.2 Group 2: Kyabobo-Fazoa-Malfakassa (KFM) Massif.

Description:

The Kyabobo-Fazao-Malfakassa landscape is a continuous mountain range constituting the eastern limit of the upper Guinea forest. The landscape is contiguous in geomorphology, topography, vegetation and species, from eastern Ghana to western Togo. On the Ghanaian side, the core conservation area i.e., Kyabobo Range National Park (21,400 ha) is a new protected area (awaiting gazettement in the near future), while the Fazao-Malfakassa of Togo (192,000 ha) was gazetted as early as 1951. The landscape as a whole, is host to a mixture of sub-montane forest and savannah woodland, separated by extensive gallery forests. Several threatened species occur including the chimpanzee and elephant. Poaching and illegal honey collection, constitute major problems especially at the Ghana – Togo border. The landscape meanwhile, has been described as a high tourism potential area (IUCN/UNEP, 1987).

The KFM group came up with the following results:

i. Current stakeholders and partners: Local communities and local authorities: livestock breeders; hunters; farmers; charcoal producers; construction timber exploiters; traditional chiefs; local representatives of central government, including protected area agencies of Kyabobo and Fazao-Malfakasa and ; regional authorities.

ii. Principal causes of degradation: Poaching; bush fires; illegal harvesting of construction timber and wood for charcoal production; slash and burn agriculture.

iii. Major threats: Widespread poverty; inappropriate land tenure policy; increasing population pressure; shortage of alternative job opportunities; lack of access to financial and other resources.

iv. Opportunities: Existing partnership with international agencies; community participation in FLR; collaboration and good governance; .

v. Activities to promote FLR: Sensitise local community residents on environmental benefits of the landscape; maintain gallery forests; identify animal corridors; encourage community forestry and agro-forestry; consolidate the core protected areas; pursue participative resource management; involve communities in the maintenance of buffer areas; pursue management of valleys and slopes.

vi. Mechanisms for success of FLR: Set up a mechanism for the equitable sharing of resources; promote a bilateral framework; set up a planning framework to identify the roles and responsibilities of the different stake-holders.

vii. Integrating FLR into existing policies: Set up an efficient legal framework that favours FLR; promote the Algiers convention.

Technical Session III 

7. FLR and Environmental Conventions

This session was delivered in two parts:

i. FLR and Environmental Conventions : Potential links to Forest Carbon Sequestration under the Kyoto Protocol, and the CBD’s Ecosystem Approach, presented by Stephen Kelleher, and

ii. Links between FLR and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) presented a day earlier, by Professor Alfred Oteng-Yeboua of SBSTTA. Meanwhile, it was agreed that restoration guidelines proposed by the Convention on Humid Areas or Ramsar, would be discussed in a later session, on “selecting restoration landscapes”, to be led by Martin Nganje – WARPO Forest Officer.

7.1 Potential FLR Links to Forest Carbon Sequestration under the Kyoto Protocol

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In the first of this two part session, Stephen made an overview of WWF’s policy on climate change and forest carbon sequestration, followed by the link between FLR, Biodiversity, livelihoods and the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. The entire paper of the first of these two presentations is attached under Annexe 5 of this report.

In the second presentation, Stephen indicated that forest carbon sequestration and the potential use of sinks under the CDM of the Kyoto Protocol was controversial. The issue has provoked much debate, research, analysis and differences of opinion. The inclusion of afforestation and reforestation under the CDM at Marrakesh, and the current work programme being developed by SBSTTA, provides the opportunity to explore both the risks and opportunities that could be presented to CDM project implementers. Such risks include:

i. Social impacts: Lack of adequate or effective local input, participation and benefit sharing, displacement of economic activity, displacement of people and reduced access to land resources by local people

ii. Environmental impacts: Perverse incentives for sustainable forest management, intensification of forests leading to more chemical inputs, simplification of structure and function, inappropriate and large scale exotic species plantations.

iii. Permanence: Projects could be at risk from natural causes such as fires and pests, as well as human induced causes (agricultural conversion, fire, maintenance)

iv. Leakage: This involves the displacement of economic activities, people and carbon if project design is flawed and or land tenure disputed.

v. Scientific and measurement uncertainty: This involves questions of whether carbon and atmospheric benefits of sinks projects can be quantified, measured and monitored at an appropriate scale.

Stephen proceeded with a presentation on how FLR could appropriately address the above questions and risks, as follows:

Pertaining to Leakage and Additionality: FLR creates additional forest and carbon assets FLR targets both design for ecological and social benefits It is not business as usual but promotes change and incentives for maintaining forest asset Stabilise land-use with links to land-use policies and positive local incentives.

Pertaining to Permanence: Promotes land tenure and positive land-use options It constitutes an incentive for forest (and carbon) maintenance and protection Provides opportunities for diverse forest species and forest functions Increases forest resistance and resilience to threats

Environmental and Biodiversity Co-Benefits Promotes corridor restoration, fragment reduction, habitat restoration, resistance and resilience Increase species diversity Integrate ecological services – hydrological, soil stabilisation, desertification Reduces pressure on natural forests, augments buffer zones, promote in frontier forests to avoid perverse incentives

for natural forest conversion Forest quality and diversity, not just carbon quantity

Social Co-Benefits Enhances livelihood through integrated land-uses – multiple goods and services such as agro-forestry, timber and

non-timber forest products, fodder etc. Promote land tenure security – link to policies to reduce negative land-use, community forestry etc. Increase productivity through multiple use approach Create real partnerships for long-term gains and reduce perverse incentives for forest clearing.

7.2 Opportunities Offered by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

The session was led by Professor Alfred Oteng-Yeboua, Chairman of SBSTTA-CBD, and Deputy Director-General of CSIR Ghana. Professor Yeboua indicated that, according to article 8f of the Convention on Biological Diversity, ‘each contracting party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosytems and promote the recovery of threatened species, inter alia, through the development and implementation of plans or other management strategies’.

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Pursuant to this, a CBD study to understand the main issues in restoration and rehabilitation, evaluating critically costs and the scientific and technical implications of proposed restoration/ rehabilitation programmes and determining their value for conserving and recovering biodiversity has identified the following potential problems under the topic as including:

Lack of well- developed restoration/rehabilitation techniques; High costs of restoration /rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems, including ecosystems invaded by alien species; Lack of information on the effectiveness of restoration and rehabilitation activities in sustaining biodiversity; Lack of incorporating monitoring and evaluation in restoration/rehabilitation programmes. Insufficient local community participation in planning, developing and implementing restoration and rehabilitation

programmes and need for better incorporation of traditional knowledge. Lack of techniques to reproduce or propagate some rare and threatened species. Lack of incentives to recover rare and threatened species.

The presenter advocated for these difficulties to be addressed and resolved. He mentioned that the CBD experts group on forests had stressed ;

That restoration of forest biological diversity in degraded forests and deforested lands was an issue of growing importance in both the developed countries and the developing world; and

That there is a need to focus more on the potential for synergy from combining different forest categories, including primary and secondary natural forests, agro-forests and new forest plantations, to achieve a specified range of forest biological diversity and related goods and services.

That the means to restore forest biological diversity in different situations are poorly understood and research should be increased in this area.

Moreover, the 6th Conference of the Parties, in it’s decision VI/22 on forest biological diversity adopted an expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity in which three elements were established:1. Conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing;2. Institutional and socio-economic enabling environment;3. Knowledge, assessment and monitoring.

It is in the first element that aspects of restoration and rehabilitation are considered.

Meanwhile, 3 goals in the first element provide direct specific objectives and activities for restoration and rehabilitation, notably, to:

i. Apply the Ecosystem approach;ii. Protect, recover and restore forest biological diversity;

iii. Reduce the threats and mitigate the impacts of threatening processes on forest biological diversity.

Professor Yeboua indicated that the SCBD was anxious to do the following:-

Create a web-page on "restoration and rahabilitation of degraded ecosystems" with links to existing initiatives on restoration in particular; WCMC, IUCN, and WWF websites.

Include reports on the restoration activities in the reviews of programmes of work on inland water ecosystems, marine and coastal biodiversity and agricultural biodiversity and in the thematic reports on forest biodiversity.

Draw attention to restoration activities in meetings of the Collaborative partnership on Forests and liaison group (CBD, UNCCD,UNFCCC)

The presenter reiterated that all these underscored the fact that the CBD agrees that a global initiative on Forest landscape Restoration (FLR) can facilitate exchange of resources and information among countries; serve as a pilot for other biomes; facilitate co-ordination and development of partnerships; generate political commitment; involve all stakeholders including local communities; promote capacity-building and mobilise funding.

After discussions and clarifications, it was concluded that, due to the rapid degradation of West Africa’s forest resources, there was a necessity to progress with FLR using an adaptive management approach. The session ended with work in groups.

Discussions

The preceding presentations generated a lot of interest and discussion, with participants requesting clarification on participation in carbon credit initiatives. Some questions raised, included:

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- What activities qualify for FLR within the framework of a carbon credits initiative ?- Can local communities benefit from carbon credits ?- Are there guidelines for CDM programmes ? Which type of guidelines for developing countries ?- Are there accounts anywhere on loss and benefits from FLR or carbon credit initiatives ?- Some governments have committed to large afforestation schemes, should such schemes be abandoned ?- Can we start FLR now without first working on our national policies and legislations ?- What could be the minimum duration to generate funds for a carbon sequestration initiative (through the CDM) ?- What can we do now to ensure that populations are aware of the benefits of FLR ?- etc.

It was revealed that the World Bank has released a format for participation in the new Bio-carbon Fund, that could be consulted or retrieved from the internet.

Satisfactory responses were provided to all questions (found in previous and following presentations in this report). The forum agreed that weak policies might attract plantations that could be unfavourable for local people. There is a need for environmental screening before projects can benefit from the opportunities offered by the CDM.

8. Selecting Landscapes for Forest Landscape Restoration

This session was led by Martin Nganje, who started by revisiting forest functions in terms of goods and services offered by the forest milieu. The following functions were discussed:

1. Micro and macro climate regulation, 2. Water supply in good quality and quantity, 3. Good soil water percolation and erosion control, 4. Unhindered soil nutrient cycling, 5. Pollination, including the dispersal of reproductive plant parts, 6. Good soil formation, 7. Adequate production of food and food sources,8. Useful non foods and other material sources ie resins, latex, dyes etc, 9. Biodiversity, and the conservation thereof,10. Shade and wind erosion control (buffer),11. Cultural and traditional rites,12. Air particle and sound filter,13. Supply of pharmaceutical products,14. Wood and related ligneous material,15. Wildlife habitat and corridors,16. Eco-tourism and adventure,17. Research and Education,18. Employment for collectors,19. Leisure (past-time) and scenic beauty,20. Existence value.

The session continued with a revisit of the different types of landscape stake-holders. The following were enumerated:i. Local communities: not homogenous [gatherers & collectors, farmers, graziers, hunters, tapers, charcoal-makers etc-]

ii. Government [agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries, territorial administration, forestry, environment, rural development, tourism, industrial development – ]

iii. Parastatal Agencies [hydro electricity corporations, government executing agencies, ie Forestry Commission or SODEFOR of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire respectively -- ]

iv. Private sector [industrial agricultural and forest plantations, timber exploiters, tourist corporations ie hotels, miners, water bottling corporations --]

v. Advocacy organisations and associations ie INGOs and NGOs.

The following framework was provided for selecting restoration landscapes:

Social: existence of leadership and social organisation, land tenure system and security, historical land-use pattern, level of stake-holder collaboration, existence of previous successful locally inspired initiatives, on-going projects, technical and financial capacity of beneficiaries.

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Biophysical: condition of vegetation, river basin, soil degradation, ecosystem type, topography –

Political and Administrative: legal status – gazetted?, enabling national / local policy, legislation, available information on the landscape, trans-bordering –

Economic: rural economy (grazing, farming etc), governance, --

The session covered aspects on the design of FLR projects, and continued with a review of the guidelines for restoring humid areas, as specified in the Principles of the Convention on Humid Areas or Ramsar.

In the annexe of the Ramsar COP 8, a first observation states that “The need to reverse wetland degradation, in addition to the recognition of benefits associated with wetland restoration, has led to initiation of numerous restoration projects globally. Although there is increasing interest in wetland restoration and opportunities are widespread, efforts to restore wetlands are still sporadic, and there is a lack of general planning at the national level. Individuals and organizations interested in restoration often work in isolation and without the benefit of experience gained on other projects”.Principle 9 of the annexe of Ramsar COP 8 notes: “Careful planning (of restoration initiatives) will limit the possibility of undesirable side effects. For example, careful planning can allow restoration projects to avoid problems such as increased numbers of mosquitoes, unwanted flooding, or saltwater intrusion into sources of drinking water. To assist in planning, an assessment should be made of the features of the site under consideration, and the factors that may affect its feasibility and success”.

Principle 11 of the annexe of Ramsar COP 8 rightly notes that "the maintenance and conservation of existing wetlands is (however) always preferable and more economical than their subsequent restoration" and "restoration schemes must not weaken efforts to conserve existing natural systems". Both quantitative data and subjective assessments clearly show that currently available restoration techniques almost never lead to conditions that match those of pristine natural ecosystems. As a corollary to this, trading high-quality habitat or ecosystems for promises of restoration should be avoided except in the case of overriding national interests. However, restoration of individual sites can contribute to ongoing management of existing high quality wetlands by, for example, improving overall catchment condition and contributing to improved water allocation management”.

Principle 14 of the annexe of COP 8 indicates that wetland restoration should be an open process that involves local community stakeholders as well as stakeholders who will be affected by a project even though they may be geographically distant from the project, for example, stakeholders living well downstream. All stakeholders, including local communities and indigenous people and sectoral interests both in situ and ex situ, should be fully involved in a wetland restoration project from its earliest stage of consideration through its implementation to its long-term stewardship.

Pertaining to restoration objectives, and performance standards, Ramsar COP 8 notes that many wetland restoration projects suffer from poorly stated (or unstated) goals and objectives. Without clearly stated goals and objectives, projects lack direction. By attaching performance standards to each project objective, stakeholders are forced to consider closely their goals and objectives, and often the development of performance standards leads to revision of goals and objectives. An example of a goal for a project might be to increase the quality of wildlife habitat. An associated objective might be to improve habitat value for certain species, such as migratory waterfowl. Performance standards associated with this objective could specify the number of breeding pairs of several key species that are expected to use the site after restoration has been completed.

Finally, pertaining to the effective choice of restoration sites, , Ramsar COP 8 indicates that in many cases, restoration projects begin in response to conditions on a particular site, and thus the site is specified at the project's outset. However, some projects begin without a site. In these cases, several sites might be assessed before a final project site is identified. A proposed procedure for identification of potential restoration projects can be divided into three phases:  Phase 1: aims to identify the spatial need for restoration of wetland functions and to set environmental constraints for restoration in each case.  Phase 2: is more landscape specific, and evaluates the sustainability of the potential restoration projects through a synthesis of the environmental constraints derived from phase 1 and the socio-economic characteristics and other particularities of the catchment.  Phase 3: is the final outcome, whereby the evaluation of the previous two phases permits identification and prioritization of potentially sustainable restoration projects. This final phase stems from the need to make sound decisions on wetland resource management and leads to successful, cost-effective projects with broad public acceptance.

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 The presenter indicated that an advantage of using catchment restoration as an objective for FLR was that biophysical units, which are managed at political or economic levels, allow identification of linkages between ecological services, flexible in scale, and flexible in terms of time of intervention.

9. Establishing Partnerships and Negotiation of Compromises for FLR

This session was led by Jean-Paul Lorng. While making reference to the partners identified above by the previous presenter, Jean-Paul grouped them in four categories as follows:

Technical partners (for : ecological criteria, training, development alternatives, economic value of FLR,…); Political partners (for: integration into PRSP, PE3, local and regional development plans, legal instruments…); Financial partners (for: medium - and long-term investments); Experience exchange partners (international exchanges, capitalisation of experiences, research-action ---).

It was indicated that in order to be effective, partnership should be a cooperation that is beneficial to all parties, addressing their different objectives and vision for a common goal. Working together requires partners to help one another to attain their common goal or objective. It was agreed that there is a dire necessity to; define clear objectives, share responsibilities and above all to share the fruits of success.

Partnership was also described as learning together, being prepared to take risks, to be flexible, to invest in a long-term relationship, to strengthen one another’s capacities, to anticipate problems as progress is made, and to settle disputes as they arise.

Concerning the negotiation of acceptable compromises among partners, Jean-Paul indicated that the process starts with the definition of a common vision at the level of the landscape being considered.

Debates generated by the presentation raised some questions such as difficulties of establishing Partnerships between the Government and Communities, as well as guaranteeing sustainable actions besides the involvement of Government. The issue of financial assessments of FLR was also discussed in terms of how prospective investors could be convinced of its profitability. In response, numerous cases were cited in Latin America, where communities involved in landscape restoration were benefiting from royalties paid by water bottling companies, other cases involved carbon sequestration, quantified through carbon knowledge projects, and conservation – concession approaches, promoted by some conservation partners.

10. FLR Measuring Indicators

This session was led by Martin Nganje. Using a framework developed by the WWF Forest Landscape Restoration co-ordination Unit in Gland – Switzerland, Martin pointed out that FLR indicators should monitor authenticity of the landscape, referred as its naturalness or ecological integrity, including resilience / resistance and the provision of benefits. This was defined as “maintaining the diversity and quality of the ecosystems, and enhancing their (ecosystems) capacity to adapt to change and provide the needs of future generations”. The following table was presented:

Criteria Examples of specific indicatorsIndicators relating to authenticityForest composition and pattern

Amount/proportion of natural forest (i.e. forest made up of natural species and allowed to develop natural characteristics)

Proportion of forest containing several different successional stages (measured against natural forest type of the region)

Forest ecosystem function and process

Distribution of rare or threatened forest-dependent species Amount of a specific indicator associated with natural forest processes – e.g. dead

timberForest fragmentation and extent

Area of forest in the landscape compared with original forest extent (use FAO definition of forest)

Median size of forest standsIndicators relating to environmental benefitsEnvironmental services Water quality and quantity

Changes in stream sediment load1

1 Note that whilst carbon sequestration might seem to be an ideal indicator, any use of this would require careful handling to ensure that WWF’s position on the Kyoto Protocol of the Framework Convention on Climate Change is not undermined.

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Environmental resilience and resistanceIndicators relating to secure livelihoodsIncreased livelihood opportunities

A proxy measure of food, shelter, clothing, education etc, e.g.: Number of jobs supported by forests in the landscape Numbers of key NTFPs available on a sustainable basis

Reduced human vulnerability

Need indicators relating to specific “pressure points” within a landscape

Increased equity Specific indicators will be needed relating to targets in a landscape, e.g.: Number of traditional livelihoods supported Opportunities for participation in management decisions

Maintenance of cultural values

Specific indicators will be needed relating to targets in a landscape, e.g.: Protection/restoration for sacred sites in forests Number of recreational visits to forests and woodland

Enabling political and institutional environment

Enabling legislation Funding Positive government incentives

The framework, and the criteria and indicators, are a theoretical model undergoing field tests and are modified accordingly, before being finalised for general use.

11. Workshop Recommendations

Workshop participants working in country teams produced recommendations, which were harmonised in plenary and read out by a designated participant during the workshop’s closing ceremony:

“A the end of fruitful deliberations of the workshop, to promote Forest Landscape Restoration in West Africa, hosted by the government of Ghana and facilitated by the World Wide Fund for nature - WWF, regrouping representatives of 9 West African countries namely: Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria, we, the workshop participants, this 26th day of March 2003, recommend as follows:

That, WWF and partners, should be engaged, as soon as possible, in initiating at least one pilot Forest Landscape Restoration project in the sub-region;

That, Governments, and concerned national and international partners should set up a mechanism or mechanisms to finance Forest Landscape Restoration pilot action in each West African country;

Partnerships in Forest Landscape Restoration should be encouraged through processes such as Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), as well as through collaboration on specific site projects or related initiatives;

Executing partners should integrate forest landscape restoration principles and concept into on-going planning phases of projects such as the Mt. Nimba, the Fouta Djallon, and Kyabobo-Fazao-Malfakassa;

Governments and intergovernmental agencies should encourage integration of Forest Landscape Restoration in forest programmes and other national rural development, and poverty alleviation planning and programming processes;

That, WWF should collaborate with NGO partners and the appropriate ministerial departments in West African countries to collate and synthesise information on existing Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) initiatives in the sub-region, in order to initiate a data-base on the subject, and promote the exchange of experience;

That, the functional approach advocated by Forest Landscape Restoration, and seen as a means of alleviating poverty and enhancing the socio-cultural well-being of local communities, should be promoted at the country level, through national workshops involving; NGO’s, government departments, intergovernmental agencies, the private sector, local communities, and interested stakeholders;

Governments, and other national and international partners involved in sustainable forest management, should engage in a continuous education and awareness programme, on Forest Landscape Restoration;

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WWF should collaborate with national governments, NGOs and regional / international partners such as the FAO, IUCN, ITTO, and eventually CIFOR in the identification of forest landscapes in the West African sub-region, needing FLR action;

A Forest Landscape Restoration network, to be facilitated by WWF and national focal points, should be promoted in West Africa, for information sharing. Focal points could have the added role of monitoring national Forest Landscape Restoration activities;

Considering the multifunctional approach advocated by Forest Landscape Restoration, appropriate techniques and strategies should be developed for communicating and promoting the process, including communication tools for its use as a major sub-regional forest land-use planning process, and finally;

That, WWF and other national and international partners should continue to provide support in West Africa, with the objective of promoting achievement of concrete Forest Landscape Restoration results.

12. Conclusion and Next Steps

This session involved a plenary discussion followed by work in country groups to propose FLR actions at the national and regional levels, and finally, an assessment of the attainment of the workshop objectives. The plenary session reviewed opportunities for advancing FLR through national, regional and international binding and non-binding environmental instruments. National level opportunities could be accessed through the NFAPs, the PRSPs, and the NBSAPs, while regional level opportunities would preferentially be accessed through the NEPAD, the Niger Basin Initiative (NBI), and the Volta Basin Authority. Projects such as the restoration of trans-boundary landscapes i.e., the Volta or Niger Basin watersheds, or mountain areas common to several countries i.e., Mount Nimba, Kyabobo-Mazao-Malfakassa…, could be eligible for NEPAD support due to their regional impact. Whatever the national or regional process pursued, it is necessary to sufficiently sensitise governments on the FLR concept and involve forestry and related planning departments in future FLR work, since these are usually involved in developing project concepts for inclusion in national programmes.

At the level of country groups, participants were guided by the following ideas:

Activities to be undertaken to promote Forest Landscape Restoration; Those responsible for the follow-up of activities; Probable Calendar of execution ( short term = 1 to 6 months; middle term = 6 – 12 months; long-term more than 1

year).

As a main output of the workshop, “next steps”, from the group work, are presented below:

COTE D’IVOIREActivities Responsible Organisation Schedule

Vulgarise the Accra workshop report including the reports of previous FLR workshop.

MINEF May - June 2003

Set up a provisional committee to reflect on FLR MINEF June 2003Identifier areas suitable for FLR Provisional committee June / July 2003Create a national co-ordination committee Provisional Committee Octobre 2003Set up FLR working group for each identified landscape National Committee From 12/2003

GUINEAActions Responsible Organisation Schedule

Undertake restitution of the outcome of the Ghana workshop MME – MA/EF ; Guinée-Ecologie Avril-June 2003

Set up a team to work on FLR (write ToR) MME – MA/EF ; Guinée-Ecologie Avril-June 2003

Undertake state of knowledge of FLR and the application of Conventions related to FLR.

3 months

Undertake a study on the context, opportunities and constraintes of FLR in Guinée

MME – MA/EF ; Guinée-Ecologie -

3 months

Identify pilot FLR stakeholders MME – MA/EF ; Guinée-Ecologie Juillet 2003Hold a national workshop to share information of the subject and findings.

MME – MA/EF ; Guinée-Ecologie Juillet 2003

Preparation of management plans MME – MA/EF ; Guinée-Ecologie 12 monthsImplementation of management plans MME – MA/EF ; Guinée-Ecologie 2004

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TOGOActivities Responsible Organisation Schedule

Re-activate the multi-disciplinary team on the environment.

MERF 1 to 2 months

Undertake a balance sheet on FLR initiatives in Togo MERF 2 to 3 monthsIdentification of one priority FLR site per economic region.

MERF/WWF and others 2 to 6 months

Identify and plan FLR work to be undertaken. MERF/WWF and others 6 to 12 monthsValidate results of the FLR identification work. MERF/WWF and othersDefine mechanisms for monitoring and execution. MERF/WWF and others 12 monthsResearch and funding MERF/WWF and othersImplementation. MERF/WWF and others 1 to 6 years

NIGERIAActivities Schedule

Identify a national focal point (FDF) and a national facilitator (NCF) Immediately (1st month)Organise a national workshop with stakeholders on FLR 3rd monthSet up a National Working Group. 3rd monthOrganise sensitisation and exchange of information. 3rd monthConduct a national inventory of forest landscapes for restoration in each of 5 ecological regions within the context of the National Forest Development Programme, and international initiatives such as NNJC, the lake Tchad basin and trans-boundary initiatives between Cameroon and Nigeria.

6th month

Write-up a National Plan of Action for FLR  : Principles and criteria for setting-up FLR 8th monthConsolidate and harmonise on-going national programmes to integrate the concept of FLR (ex : Mangrove/fresh water swamp Ecosystem (Reforestation of mangroves/nypa palm control ; Sudan / Sahel (DDc programmes; NNJC trans-boundary planting; Micro water shed; CBFM activities in Rainforest zone).

8th month

Constitute partnerships within each FLR landscape. 8th monthMobilise efforts for the implementation of programmes ( institutional networks, capacity building, fund-raising, capacity needs assessment and sustainability criteria)

10th month

Establish monitoring–evaluation tools, main orientations and standards 8 – 9 month

SIERRA LEONE Activités Responsible Actors Schedule

Organise national workshop with stake-holders Government; NGO Short termRestoration (nurseries and creation of adapted plantations with local species):

Government; NGO, Local communities

Short term

Community development projects (animal husbandry, bee-keeping, vegetable gardening)

Government; NGO Middle and long term

Protection of landscapes Government; NGO; other stake-holders

Long term

Advocacy Government; NGO (Local/Int.) Long termTraining (Gardes and local guides) Government Short, middle and long

termMonitoring Government; NGO; local

communitiesLong term

Undertake research University of Sierra Leone Long term

BURKINA FASOActivities Responsible P. Schedule

Identify partners in the different countries WWF,UICNBRAONATURAMA

1 month (From 06/03)

Encourage and facilitate co-operation between countries: Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Bénin, Togo

Permanent

Produce status report on FLR in the above 6 countries using consultants on the following themes : Case study per country ; Study on trans-boundary initiatives; proposal of project sites.

Consultants 6 months from October/November 2003

Organise national restitution and information workshop in view of the following outputs: network of partners (national, sub-regional); identification of funding

NATURAMA IUCN, WWF 

Long term (from December 2003)

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opportunities; choice of pilot landscapes; write-up of a detailed action plan. MINECV,

GHANAActivities Responsible (Leader) Schedule

Establish a National Working Group on FLR FORIG 3 monthWrite up ToR for the national working group FORIG 3 monthIdentify sources of funding FORIG / WWF WARPO 3 monthUndertake a study to identify FLR initiatives and write-up a synthetic report.

Working Group 3 month

Restitute workshop results in a bid to identify gaps at the level of knowledge and at the level of currently implemented restoration initiatives.

Working Group 6 month

Develop a strategic plan for the implementation of FLR Working Group 9-12 month

LIBERIAActivities Activities Duration

1. Education

- Workshop- Media coverage- Identify contact persons at the level of local communities- Encourage academic institutions to include the concept of FLR in their training programmes.

6 month

2. Develop a national policy on restoration

- Include FLR in existing national reforestation policies. 1 month

3. Capacity building - Train selected individuals from local communities to enable them participate effectively

Short and middle term

4. Research - Undertake socio-economic surveys- Undertake biophysical surveys

6 month

5. Ensure sustainable funding - Develop and apply a viable and equitable funding mechanism to support FLR

Short and long term

6. Promote transborder collaboration.

- Joint rehabilitation of degraded transborder landscapes Short and long term

SENEGAL

1. Organiser un atelier national sur la RPF - Définir le concept - Intégrer le concept dans les programmes d’action de projets (RPF)Public - DEFCCS

- D / Environnement- CNCR (Organisation de Ruraux)- Représentants de projets (RPF) (PEIES, Projet Sénégal / Mauritanie )- ONGs (ENDA, Environnement)- Recherche Forestière

- Responsable: Coordination. Régionale- Facilitateur: DEFCCS / Recherche forestière. / Dir.. Environnement (Court Terme)

2. Créer un groupe de travail sur la RPF (Court Terme)3. Diffuser les résultants de l’atelier (Court Terme)4. Ressortir les liens entre la RPF et les différentes conventions internationales (CCC / CLO/ CBIODOV)5. Elaborer un plan d’Action (Moyen Terme)6. Choisir 4 sites pilotes (de préférence des sites, des projets opérationnels (Moyen Terme)7. Développer des partenariats au niveau des sites retenus (Moyen Terme)8. Créer des comités villageois de gestion des paysages retenus (Long Terme)9. Faire un Diagnostic participatif des paysages retenus (Long Terme)10. Elaborer des projets RPF (Long Terme)11. Rechercher des financements (Long Terme)12. Etablir de contrats RPF avec le comités villageois (Long Terme)13. Définir un ensemble un système de suivi- Evaluation (Long Terme)

An examination of the progress of the workshop and an informal assessment of the level of attainment of its objectives, revealed an outstanding success. All participants testified to the workshop’s remarkable success.

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13. Closing Statements

13.1 Vote of Thanks

The following vote of thanks was read out by a designated participant during the closing ceremony chaired by the Co-ordinating Director of the Dangbe West District:

“Under the initiative of the WWF and with the support of the Government of Ghana through its Ministry of Lands and Forests, an important workshop on the restoration of degraded landscapes in West Africa was organised from the 25th through the 27th of March 2003, in Dodowa – Ghana.

This workshop brought together about thirty experts representing forestry administrations, State and Para-state organisations, International organisations, associations of forestry promoters and NGOs from Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia, Togo, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Côte d‘Ivoire.

At the end of deliberations, the workshop would want to express its sincere gratitude to the Government of Ghana for its assistance in facilitating the hosting of this important meeting.

The workshop would also want to make a specific motion of gratitude to Mrs. Esther Nyamkey, deputy Minister of Environment and Science of Ghana and to the Chief Executive of the Damgbe West District, who honoured us by their presence at the opening ceremony of the workshop.

Please accept our sincere thanks.

13.2 CLOSING ADRESS BY THE DAMGBE WEST DISTRICT COORDINATING DIRECTOR AT THE FIRST SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION IN WEST AFRICA

Regional Representative of WWF,Distinguished Workshop Participants,Ladies and Gentleman,

I am highly honoured to be invited to officially close this first sub-regional workshop to promote forest landscape restoration in West Africa, which has been running for the past two days.

First of all, permit me to congratulate the organisers of this workshop and the planning committee who selected Dodowa as the venue for this very important meeting. I have reliably been informed that you had a very successful opening yesterday, which was led by the Honourable Deputy Minister of Environment and Science. I have also been told that you had very interesting technical sessions, where various presentations were made by highly qualified resource persons. I understand that the contributions made by individual participants were very valuable and I believe the objectives of the workshop have been achieved.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the challenge, however, would be the effective implementation of the valuable recommendations that have been made during these two-days brainstorming workshop. I will urge each participant present here today to ensure that important decisions and recommendations that have been agreed upon will be communicated to the appropriate authorities in their respective countries. I believe strongly that this is the only way we can get political commitment from our governments for the implementation of actions agreed upon at such fora.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to learn that you will be going on a field trip tomorrow to actually have a critical look at the landscape of this area. As you go out, you will see for yourselves how the ecology has been degraded over the years. Even though several attempts are being made to reverse the trend of degradation, the results have not been satisfactory.

I hope that, while on the field trip you will have the opportunity to interact with some of our local people and communities and I entreat you to begin the sensitisation on forest landscape restoration right there.

Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to thank all of you for coming, and I hope this workshop will be the beginning of the crusade on forest landscape restoration in Africa and other parts of the world.

At this point, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour to declare this first sub-regional workshop to promote forest landscape restoration in West Africa duly closed.

I wish you all a pleasant field trip tomorrow and for those who will be travelling outside Ghana, I say, “Bon Voyage”. For those who will wish to come back to Ghana in future, I say, you are always welcomed.

Thank you and God bless you.

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Annexe 1: Workshop Programme

24 th March

- ARRIVAL OF PARTICIPANTS.

- INDIVIDUAL FAMILIARISATION WITH THE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS ON FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION (Documents to read).

- SETTING UP OF FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PICTURE DISPLAY

25 th March

08.30 REGISTRATION

09.00 OPENING09.00-09.10 Opening courtesies [Workshop Facilitator]09.10-09.20 Welcome Address by the District Chief Executive of Dodowa09.20-09.30 Address & Presentation of Workshop Objectives by the Regional Representative of WWF 09.30-09.40 Opening Address by the Minister of Lands and Forests – Ghana

09.40-10.00 Coffee Break

TECHNICAL SESSION I

10.00 DEFINITION AND EXPERIENCES IN FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION 10.00-10.30 Concept and Evolution of Forest Landscape Restoration [ Stephen K. ]10.30-10.50 Threats to Forest Restoration / Regeneration in West Africa [Lorng Jean-Paul]10.50-11.30 FLR Experiences in Africa [short presentations from West African participants & Virpi L of

IUCN ]11.30-12.00 Questions and Discussion [Workshop Facilitator]12.0-12.40 Group Work [questions per group: i.- what are the advantages for working at the landscape scale ? ii.-who are the principal actors ? iii.-what will work ? what wouldn’t work and why ?]

12.40-13.00 Presentation of Group Results [Workshop Facilitator]

13.00 BREAK13.0-14.0 Lunch Break

TECHNICAL SESSION II

14.00 FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION AND NATIONAL POLICY14.00-14.30 Policy and Legislation Affecting FLR [ Souleymane ZEBA ]14.30-15.00 Questions, Discussion & organisation in Working Groups [Facilitator]15.00-16.00 Work in 3-4 Policy Groups [Questions per group: i.- how and where does FLR fit with the

policy ? ii.- how can it be developed into a strategy or strategies and actions ? iii.- in which existing policies or programmes do the strategies fit ?]

16.00-16.20 Coffee Break

16.20-17.20 Presentation of Group Results [Workshop Facilitator]17.20-17.45 Questions and Discussion : End of Day 1 [Workshop Facilitator]

26 th March

TECHNICAL SESSION III

08.30 IMPLEMENTING FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION : SESSION I08.30-08.50 FLR and Environmental Conventions I: Potential links to Forest Carbon Sequestration under

the Kyoto Protocol and the CBD’s Ecosystem Approach [Stephen K, Alfred Yeboua]

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08.50-09.20 FLR and Environmental Conventions II [ Convention on Desertification: Georges-H. Oueda]09.20-09.40 Selecting Landscapes for Forest Function Restoration [ Martin ]09.40-10.00 Creating Partnerships and an Enabling environment for Forest Landscape Restoration [Open

discussion to be led by the Facilitator ]10.00-10.40 Questions and Discussion [Workshop Facilitator]10.40-11.00 Coffee Break

11.00 IMPLEMENTING FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION : SESSION II11.00-11.20 Designing Forest Landscape Restoration Initiatives [ Facilitator]11.20-11.40 Monitoring Progress of Forest Landscape Restoration Initiatives [Martin ]11.40-12.00 Questions and Discussion [ Workshop Facilitator]12.00-12.30 Next Steps in FLR - Group Work – Facilitator. 12.30-13.00 Presentation of Group results

13.00 BREAK

13.00-14.00 Lunch Break

14.00 IMPLEMENTING FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION : SESSION III14.00-14.15 Developing a Sample FLR Initiative: Set-up Groups. 2 landscapes to be targeted [Facilitator]14.15-15.30 Group Work15.30-16.15 Presentation of Group Results [Workshop Facilitator]

16.15-16.30 Coffee Break

16.30-17.15 Questions and Discussion [Workshop Facilitator]17.15-17.25 Presentation of Recommendations and Workshop Communiqué [ Participant]17.25-17.30 Closing Remarks [ Director of Cabinet / Co-ordinating Director of Dagmé West District]

27 th March

08.30 FIELD TRIP.

Landscapes to be visited:

- Adumenya [Historic Baobab, Gyekumwe legendary forest, Village bee-hives & meeting site in sacred forest]- Shai Hills [Caves and wildlife, as ancestral home of the Dagme Shai, expelled by the British in July 1892]- Aburi Botanical Garden [ex-situ conservation and spectacular plant relations]

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Annexe 2: Speeches of the Opening Ceremony

Annexe 2.1 : WELCOME ADDRESS BY THE DISTRICT CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF DAMGBE WEST DISTRICT ASSEMBLY, DURING THE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION WORKSHOP - MARINA HOTEL DODOWA: 15 to 17 March 2003

The honourable Minister of Environment and Science,The Regional Representative of the WWF – West Africa Programme,Honourable Representatives of Bilateral & Multilateral Establishments Represented in Ghana,Distinguished Participants,Dear Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen;

I am very pleased to welcome this august assembly to Ghana and to Dodowa, an ancient town in the Damgbe West District Assembly, to participate in this all important workshop. To those of you coming to Ghana for the first time, permit me say AKWABA ! We hope you will be touched by the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality and you will carry good memories of our dear country back home. We wish to assure you that the District Administration will collaborate with the organisers of this workshop to ensure your comfort and security during your stay in Ghana.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the hosting of the first West Africa sub-regional workshop on forest landscape restoration in Ghana is not only historical but very significant for the socio-economic advancement of Ghana. Not long ago, Ghana and indeed most countries of the West Africa sub-region were rich in natural resources with abundant fauna and flora. Our ecosystem was indeed a haven for many endangered species world-wide. For example, in the past, a journey from Accra to Dodowa was very interesting and spectacular as one had to pass through low-lying terrain with diverse beautiful scrubs and orchards which portrayed the beauty of nature. The city of Accra was also a beautiful green land with avenue trees and flowers of diverse colours.

Today, the situation is not the same. Our environment is degraded. As you travel around, you are likely to see partial and totally degraded woodlands with bare soil. The reasons for this changing environment are ; excessive harvesting of trees for timber and fuel-wood, unsustainable farming practices, uncontrolled sand winning and quarrying for all sorts of construction materials, and annual bushfires. All of these activities impoverish and degrade the environment ranging from the pollution of watercourses, to widespread loss of soil and soil fertility, which leads to a decline in agricultural yields and a continuous cycle of ever increasing poverty. I hope that the subject of this workshop and its output will address these issues and provide a framework and a road-map towards their solution.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the problems associated with excessive forest landscape degradation bring to the fore, the issue of water resources. I do not know whether we still need more research, but I am convinced by experience that as the vegetative cover disappears, the level of water in our rivers and dams drop. The sharp drop in the level of water in the Akosombo dam in the recent past has often led to an eventual drop in power supply, provoking what we now hear of – power rationing ! It appears to me that no one institution, Ministry or Department can resolve this problem single-handedly. We shall all need to put our hands and heads together at the level of the cities, at the level of the nation and at the sub-regional level of West Africa. This is all the more reason why we identify very strongly with this first sub-regional workshop on forest landscape restoration.

We hope that amenity planting, city lawns and woods will constitute part or an aspect of the type of restoration to be addressed by this workshop as these trees and shrubs have a significant environmental impact, including the production of a convenient micro-climate in the city, checking the possible devastating effects of strong winds and storms, reducing dust and sound movements etc.

Honourable Minister, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, I shall not end my address without expressing gratitude to the organisers for choosing the city of Dodowa, close to Accra for this first sub-regional meeting on forest landscape restoration, as well as to you all, for honouring and making yourselves available for this workshop. I wish you all an enjoyable stay in Dodowa and hope that the objectives of this workshop will be achieved.

Thank you.

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Annexe 2.2: MESSAGE FROM SOULEYMANE ZEBA , WWF REPRESENTATIVE FOR WEST AFRICA, TO THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION (DODOWA, GHANA, 25-27 March 2003)

Your Excellency, The Minister of Environment and Science,Your Excellency, the Chief of the District of DodowaRepresentatives of Diplomatic Missions and International InstitutionsHonourable Guests from national and West African institutionsDistinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to highlight the remarkable co-operation that has been developing over the past years between West African countries and my organisation, namely the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). We are happy to note that WWF is more and more considered as an ideal partner for conservation and sustainable development. As a global network represented in more than 100 countries, in all the continents, WWF is a solution-oriented organisation, with a great added value for developing countries through its expertise, its international advocacy campaigns on our environment and the living conditions of local people.

In West Africa, our regional programme 2001-2005 aims mainly the sustainable use of 3 strategic products: Forests, Freshwater, and marine resources. As you know, our economies are based on agriculture and extractive products. Coffee, cocoa, cotton, fish, timber, meat, bush-meat, etc., are produced from our lands, rivers, and seas, for our consumption, but also for international markets. These lands that were the birthplace of great civilisations for centuries are threatened today.

In West Africa, only 14% of our original forests remain. A large proportion of our land surface is degraded, which in addition to its conservation implications is resulting in huge damage to the well-being of millions of people. Deforestation is heavy within certain areas and much of the original forest cover has been removed to open land to agriculture, logging and hunting. Today, only 130,000 km2 or 10% of the original cover is considered to contain pristine forests.

Therefore, it is obvious that conservation strategies that rely solely on protected areas and sustainable management of remaining forests have proved insufficient, either to secure biodiversity or to stabilise the environment. Reversing this degradation is one of the largest and most complex challenges of this 21st century. Unless we meet this challenge, poverty reduction strategies are condemned to very few short term results.

Your Excellency,

We are proud to be here today, in our beautiful Ghana, to discuss about how we can work with Governments and communities to help restore important Forest Landscapes.

The questions are:

How do we work to restore these degraded forest landscapes ?How do we analyse the gap and the threats to identify priority landscapes ?How do we determine socio-economic and ecological criteria and indicators to track our progress or failure ?How do we eliminate major economic and policy incentives contributing to forest loss or degradation ?Where to start with the first cases of forests landscape restoration in our countries ?

This workshop is designed to give enough content to a potential programme of forest landscape restoration in our region.

I am particularly happy for the quality and the wide experience of participants.I would like to express our sincere thanks to the Government of Ghana, for the support and the friendship they have granted us, since the beginning of the preparation of this workshop.

Thank you for your attention.

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Annexe 2.3 : ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND SCIENCE DURING THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO PROMOTE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION IN WEST AFRICA, 25th to 27th March 2003

Colleague Minister of State,Your Excellencies, Ambassadors,Representatives of International Organisations,Distinguished Workshop Participants,Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to share my thoughts with you at the opening of this workshop, which is the first sub-regional workshop to promote forest landscape restoration in West Africa. In the first place, I wish to express my profound gratitude to the organisers of the workshop for this noble initiative and for selecting Ghana as the venue for the programme.

Distinguished participants, you will agree with me that all over the world today, forest and wildlife resources are declining at a rather faster rate than they are being replenished or regenerated. This situation, if not reversed, could pose a serious threat to the economic, social and biological wealth of many nations especially those of us in the developing countries, whose livelihood is most dependent on forest and wildlife resources. It is in this light that I deem this workshop as a timely intervention and a very important initiative for the sub-region.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as you are aware, previous efforts within the sub-region to reverse the trend of forest degradation have so far had very little effect. Forest and wildlife resources in the sub-region continue to be degraded as a result of overexploitation of timber resources either through legal or illegal logging by concessionaires, illegal chainsaw operations, mining and mineral exploration, excessive slash and burn agriculture, perennial bush-fires, indiscriminate poaching of wildlife, overgrazing, insufficient involvement of communities in the management of the resources, coupled with negligible economic returns to the land and resources owners.

Ladies and gentlemen, the forestry sector plays an important role in the national economy and is firmly integrated in our rural economies. The sector contributes about 6 % of GDP, earns 11 % of the country’s foreign exchange and provides about 30 % of export earnings. The total wood export earnings per annum is about USD 170 Million. The sector makes substantial contribution to Government revenues through fees and taxes and provides direct employment to about 75,000 people and indirect employment to over 2 million people.

In spite of the importance of the forestry sector, it has not yet received the necessary support it deserves, leading to rapid depletion of the forest resources. Statistics show that at the turn of the 20 th century, Ghana had about 8.6 million hectares of forest-land. However, due to excessive deforestation, Ghana has only about 1.6 million hectares of forest left. This indicates a deforestation rate of 65,000 hectares per annum. It is indeed estimated that the annual loss of timber, cash and food crops to wildfire alone is currently at 3 % of GDP. Wildfire has therefore severely reduced not only the productive capacity of our forests but it has also had major impacts on other functions of the forest, including water supply, soil fertility and wildlife.

Fellow participants, in order to sustain the socio-economic functions of the forest and wildlife resources, and to maintain environmental quality, the Government of Ghana has put in place pragmatic measures to reverse the trend of deforestation and land degradation. If you will permit me, I will mention a few of these measures being pursued.

a)- The President’s Initiative on Reforestation

Ladies and gentlemen, in September 2001, the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E., J.A. Kufuor, launched the National Forest Plantation Development Programme, in the Brong-Ahafo region. The aim of this Presidential initiative is to restore at least 20,000 hectares of degraded forest-land all over the country per annum; address the wood deficit situation in the timber industry; create jobs and alleviate poverty, especially in the forest fringe communities.

So far, 17,000 hectares of various timber species have been established all over the country under the Taungya System. The planting target has recently been expanded to 80,000 hectares per annum with the active involvement of both the private and public sectors. Under the programme, public sector institutions such as the Forestry Commission shall undertake commercial plantation development while corporate institutions and Timber Utilisation Contract (TUC) holders would also be provided with opportunities for investing in large-scale commercial forest plantations.

27

Similarly, schools, the Department of Park and Garden, Metropolitan and District Assemblies and Unit Committees would be mobilised to implement the urban forestry aspect of the programme. This involves tree planting in parks, open spaces, along roads, recreational centres and specially designated areas.

The plantation programme is currently being funded by the Government of Ghana through the Forest Plantation Development Fund. However, additional support is expected from the African Development Bank, the World Bank, Green Funds and the private sector. I would also particularly encourage other development partners to support this initiative, which is aimed at job creation, poverty reduction and environmental restitution.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, other programmes being pursued include the following:

b)- Restoration of vegetation in heavily mined areas by mining companies;c)- Biodiversity conservation, which involves the demarcation and protection of globally significant biodiversity areas all over the country;d)- Savannah Resources Management and wood-fuel production;e)- Wildlife Protected Area Management and watershed management;f)- Enhances agricultural development programme to ensure a more intensive land-use system

Ladies and Gentlemen, apart from these programmes enumerated above, the Ministry of Environment and Science has put in place effective policies and regulations to guide quality environmental management in Ghana. In addition, the Government has signed various international environmental management conventions and agreements to guide sound environmental management in Ghana. Prominent among these are the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Catagena Protocal on Biosafety.

Distinguished workshop participants, in order not to bore you with a long address, I wish to state again that this workshop on forest landscape restoration is a timely intervention and a laudable initiative worthy of commendation. The subject falls directly within policy directions of the current Government (Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy) and I hope with the presence of all the technocrats gathered here today, this forum would come out with a very effective and practicable recommendations for restoring degraded lands in the sub-region. It takes a collective effort to overcome the threats of deforestation and environmental degradation on the livelihood of mankind, and I believe strongly that the time to act is now.

Ladies and Gentlemen, on this note, I now have the utmost privilege to declare the First Sub-regional workshop to promote Forest Landscape Restoration in West Africa, duly opened.

Finally, I wish you a fruitful deliberation during the period of the workshop and may you have a pleasant stay in Dodowa, Ghana.

Thank you all for your attention and may God bless you.

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Annexe 3: Power-point Presentation on the Concept of FLR by Stephen Kelleher:

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Forest Landscape Restoration, Responding to a need:

Forest resources directly contribute to 90 % of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty (W.Bank)

The majority of terrestrial biodiversity can be found in forests

Forests provide a range of functions to people & biodiversity (eg; soil stabilisation, genetic pool, raw materials etc)

YET ……..

►An area the size of Nepal is lost each year (15 Million ha.)

►A much bigger area is being degraded

WWF-F4L

This loss and degradation impacts on people and biodiversity

►Biodiversity hotspots : The 25 hotspots which once covered 12% of the lands surface are now reduced to 1.4% of land (C.Biol)►Desertification : Affects in total, the lives of 1/6th of the world’s population►Arable land: It is estimated that 0.3 to 0.5 % (5-7 M ha. Of total world arable land is lost annually due to land degradation (IIED)

Forest Landscape Restoration:

Definition:“A planned process that aims to regain ecological integrity & enhance human well-being in deforested or degraded landscapes”. WWF-F4L

What makes FLR Different ?

√ Scale: Landscape√ Focus on restoring goods, services & processes of forests rather than planting trees

√ Encompasses forest quality and forest quantity√ Strategic Alliances : involving people, discussions & negociation between private, public & civil society.

√ Strives to address root causes of forest loss / degradation√ Involves a package of solutions rather than a single approach√ Emphasises a long term perspective

FLR requires working at many levels

WWF- F4L

What is different ? AIM

√ To restore forest goods, services and processes for people and biodiversity√ Habitat, migratory routes & nesting grounds √ Non Timber Forest Products√ Soil stabilisation and watershed quality

What is different ? DUAL ROLE

Quantity as well as quality

Eg: Portugal: Second largest Eucalyptus plantations in the world – (over 300,000 ha.):√ Working with communities to develop guidelines for the implementation of afforestation subsidies. WWF-F4L

What is different ? Strategic Alliances:

Working with local communities, government, research institutes and business

√ √Involves people as active partners√ Addresses negotiating trade offs√ Requires locally appropriate solutions√ Recognises need for a mix of skills and resources

Eg: New Caledonia:

√ Working as key technical partner together with 8 local partners√ Restoring dry forests (10,000 ha. Left very fragmented)

√ Opportunities for links to other dry forests (Madagascar, Vietnam, Mexico, Costa Rica, West Africa Sahel---)

WWF-F4L

What is different ? Addressing root causes:Eg: Bulgaria forest strategy:

√ The Bulgarian gov. adopted strategy in 2001 to:- Halt further conversion of flood-plain habitat- Replace at leat 1/3 of plantation with restored forest√ Based on economic analysis, to look at costs / benefits and alternatives

What is different ? Package of solutions

Eg: Malaysia

√ Working with decision makers at national level through legal & policy measures to reduce natural forest conversion√ Establishing a local forest restoration committee by District office (local gov.)

WWF-F4L

Annexe 4: Power-Point Presentations on FLR Case Studies.

Annexe 4.1: East Africa Cases by Virpi Lahtella

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Malaysia continue:

√ Working to engage both private sector (oil palm companies & civil society to identify important areas for restoration.

Working with:√ Communities to reduce human elephant conflicts√ Oil palm companies to improve forest management standards and best practice√ Industry representatives (MPOA, Malaysian Palm Oil Association) to develop common views √ Buyers of palm oil to encourage selective buying

China: Complementing Protected Areas & well managed forests

√ Panda habitat corridors (estimated decrease in habitat by 37% in the next 50 yrs) √ Addressing root causes of degradation (eg: Grain for green) √ working with local communities WWF-F4L

Linkages

WWF’s Restoration target = Action-oriented learning network. WWF-F4L

.Looking Forward: Opportunities and Priorities

1. Implementation:

- Scaling-up current projects- Network of projects- Building capacity- Sharing lessons learnt- Testing the monitoring network- Building partnerships

2. Training:

- Mapping of priorities > based on ecological as well as socio- economic criteria- Monitoring- Engaging stakeholders and negotiating agreement- Technical restoration issues

WWF-F4L

Looking Forward: Opportunities and Priorities

3. Research:

- Fragmentation and viable areas (effect on species)- Collection, compilation of actual restoration methods- Survey on who is doing what in restoration- FLR and carbon knowledge- Incentives that drive forest loss and degradation- Valuing goods and services – Exploring mechanisms for valuing forest goods and services- Lessons learnt- Sustainable financing of restoration

4. Knowledge / Information and Communication

- Developing information tools- Disseminating, sharing, exchanging critical information- Lesson learning

5. Advocacy

- International (eg: CBD, UNFCCC)- Regional (eg: EU, NEPAD, ECOWAS, AfDB)-National (eg:land tenure issues, national afforestation programs)

Partners Processes Issues

IUCNCIFORICRAFCAREWorld BankITTOGovernments:(UK, Costa Rica, Uganda)UNEP-WCMC

CBDCCDITTOUNFCCCUNFFEU-CAP SAPARDUK initiative on FLRNEPAD

-Poverty alleviation- PAs & SFM- Multi-disciplinary (social, agric.)- Multi-layered (policy practice)- Desertification- Climate Change- Fires

Forest Landscape Restoration: 3 Lessons – E . Africa

1. Acacia Woodland Recovery in Northern Kenya

The Challenge:

► Droughts; relief camps > vast land degradation

The Activities:

►Protection of Acacia seedlings & trees: > 30,000 ha of land restored to quality Acacia tortilis woodland. How ?: - Goats - Customary reserves grazing area rules - Strong individual - Community commitment

The Lessons:

►Little external involvement – internally driven. WWF-IUCN

2. Reserved Wood-browse Areas in Tanzania

The Challenge:

► In 1985, much of the landscape transformed into semi-desert

The Activities:

► Over 250,000 ha of degraded land restored since 1985.How ? - HASHI Programme in 1986 - Restoration of ngitili

The Lessons:

► Work with locals► Build on existing institutions► Decentralisation > land right to rural communities

WWF-IUCN

Annexe 4.2 : FLR Ghana Case by Dr. Victor Agyeman

Forest Landscape Restoration in Ghana

Ratio of Deforestation to Reforestation (PlantationTropical Africa - 32:Tropical America - 6:1Tropical Asia - 2Ghana (High Forest)- 20:1(pre 2002)Ghana “ - 1:1 (Since 2002)

Source: World Resources Institute (94-95)HOW DEGRADED ARE THE FOREST RESERVES IN THE HIGH FOREST ZONE OF THE COUNTRY? UNDERLYING CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION IN GHANA:

POLICY FAILURES LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNANCE WILDFIRE HIGH POPULATION GROWTH AGRICULTURE LOGGING SURFACE MINING

LOG EXPORT AND CHAIN SAW BAN Log export ban in 1995 to secure resource base Problem is that such a policy accord “environmental considerations” priority over “financial considerations” Chain saw operation ban in 1999 to prevent illegal exploitation and increase revenue Impacts among others are: Loss of about US$1.7 million to government through non-payment of stumpage fees by illegal chain sawers Depressed domestic prices creating a disincentive to processors supplying the domestic market

POOR REGULATION OF TIMBER INDUSTRY CAPACITY Systematic increase in milling capacity – currently 5 times the AAC High level of exploitation Illegal harvest exceeds AAC by 2.5 times Decreased efficiency of industry due to obsolete machinery and lack of skilled labour

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3. Restoring Multiple Functions : FACE-UWA in Uganda

The Challenge:

► Forests largely destroyed due to civil wars and poor agricultural practices.

The Activities:

► Since 1994, aim to establish up to 25,000 ha and approx. 10,000 ha to date. Primary focus is Carbon► Conflicting community needs and project activities► IUCN & UWA pilot tested collaborative management approaches

The Lessons:

► Multiplicity of functions ► Increased involvement of people

WWF-IUCN

For FLR to make an Impact, it is necessary to:

► Build on existing practice► Engage the full range of stake-holders► Generate, learn and share lessons► Use as far as possible, existing co-ordination mechanisms

Main lessons learned so far:

► There is no need to wait for research or funds > bottom-up activities can be started now► There is need for a strong individual to catalyse the process► There is need for a strong commitment at the ground level► There is need for a strong enabling institutional environment ie (traditional rules, government support etc

WWF-IUCN

FOREST RESOURCE ALLOCATION Lack of transparency Inherent weaknesses in legislation TRMA,1997 (Act. 547) and TRMR (LI 1649) Inequitable distribution of the timber resource due to the absence of limitation on TUC holdings by companies Low pricing of timber, which is not allowing the country to optimize the use of available timber resources Problem of stumpage sharing between the Government and the landowners

TIMBER PRICING AND BENEFIT SHARING Forest resource pricing is currently not based on market forces. Forest fees, including stumpage fees have not been reviewed since they were set in 1998 Stumpage value represents the maximum amount, in a competitive market, that a timber utilisation contract

(TUC) holder will be willing to pay for harvesting a tree or stand.

POOR RESOURCE RENT COLLECTION AND INEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF RENT Poor capture of economic rent Lack of effective action plans to undertake a series of fiscal and regulatory measures to tackle the

unsatisfactory harvesting and wood rent collection

INCIDENCE AND IMPACTS OF FOREST FIRESPOOR AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

IMPROVING TENURE, RESOURCE USE RIGHTS AND SECURING PARTICIPATION Improving lands management Promotion of customary tenure systems and institutions Easy Access to land and Security of Tenure Streamlining of land administration

INTEGRATED FOREST AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT Forest and Wildlife utilisation and protection Enhancing community-based (collaborative) resource management Enhancing resource-based enterprises development Equitable distribution of costs and benefits (Benefit Flows enhanced) Maximisation of revenue through enhanced efficiency and increased production of value-added products Capacity Building Improved law enforcement and governance

SAVANNAH RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Development of essential infrastructure, institutions and systems for water, forest and soil management Sustainable on-reserve management Integrated watershed management off-reserve Development of sustainable woodlot production systems Efficient establishment, utilisation and marketing of woodfuel National Action Plan Against Desertification

WILDLIFE, BIODIVERSITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION Demarcation and development of management plans for Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GBSAs) Review of all Wildlife Protected Areas Management Plans and costing of the plans Active involvement of local communities in wildlife resource management in PAs and off reserves Enforcement of Wildlife laws and Regulations Capacity building of EPA, establishment of NAFGIM,updateof Land cover/Landuse map of Ghana, review of

National Action Plan to combat drought and desertification

PLANTATION DEVELOPMENT Increase forest cover by 20,000 ha per annum

Ø Creation of JobsØ Poverty alleviationØ Enhance livelihood support activities

Facilitation of “Modified Taungya”, Farm Forestry, small-holder and commercial plantation development

REVIEW OF MODIFIED TAUNGYA PROGRAMME

Plantation programme suspended in the late 1970’s due to: Financial problems Pest Infestation, especially of indigenous species

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Abuse of Taungya System Inequitable Benefit Sharing, especially to participating Farmers

ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF THE MODIFIED TAUNGYA Farmers will essentially be owners of the products FC, landowners and forest fringe communities will be share-holders Farmers to remain on the land till maturity Farmers will carry out most of the functions including prunning, maintenance and tending FC will be responsible for training the farmers, inventory/stock surveys and Auctioning or marketing of

products. Land Lease agreement will be signed (Taungya group, FC Chief Executive and Landowner)

OBJECTIVES Review current benefit sharing framework Develop an equitable framework to:

i.)- Improve the benefit flows, especially to poor and marginalised local community peopleii.)-Ensure that anybody who wants to participate in plantations is not marginalised either in participation or negotiation process

BENEFIT SHARING FRAMEWORK OLD SHARING FRAMEWORK

FC (Govt.) - 60% ASL - 4% Dist. Assem. - 20% Trad. Auth. - 7% Stool - 9% Community - 0% Farmers - 0%

Annexe 5: Potential Links to Forest Carbon Sequestration under the Kyoto Protocol, by Stephen Kelleher

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“Climate change is happening. Greenhouse gas levels are rising and are now at their highest atmospheric concentrations for more than 400,000 years. This increase is attributed to human activities. Consumption of fossil energy is driving this trend, accounting for about 80% of human-caused CO2 emissions. Land disturbance – burning, loss, and degradation of forests, rangeland and soils – accounts approximately for the remaining 20%. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that at least one-third of the world’s remaining forests may be adversely affected by changing climate, especially in the boreal zone where the warming will be greatest. The Hadley Centre for Climate Change at the UK Meteorological Office has predicted that, by 2050, forests globally will become a significant net source of CO 2

emissions. This will lead to even greater emissions of carbon dioxide, contributing to a climate change cycle already well-underway. Climate change impacts on biodiversity are already evidenced by shifting migration ranges of insects and animals, modified flowering and fruiting cycles, and species extinctions. Additional impacts include drought or flood-induced die back, conversion to grassland, steppe, or desert, increased vulnerability to pests, fire and invasive species. The prospect of broad-scale forest loss due to changing climate places a premium on slowing the rate of climate change, while working in tandem to protect forests by reducing fragmentation and increasing resilience to climatic stress.

Decisions at Kyoto Protocol negotiations in 2001 allow the use of certain carbon sequestration activities, and carbon ‘credits’ gained through these activities, to meet industrialized countries' Kyoto emissions reductions commitments both at home and overseas. Forest carbon sequestration (sinks) is (are) characterized as an increase in carbon stocks on the land base through such activities as afforestation, reforestation, agro-forestry, forest restoration, etc. Parties further agreed to the principle that any sequestration project should contribute to the "conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources". While WWF has opposed the use of sinks due to its conviction that permanent fossil fuel emissions reductions must be the prime focus of efforts to address climate change, coupled with concerns about potential negative outcomes of badly designed or implemented sinks projects, these Kyoto decisions have moved the process forward in ways that influence WWF’s work and engagement on forests and climate in general, and forest carbon sequestration/sinks in particular. WWF accepts the outcomes of the Bonn and Marrakech agreements on forest carbon sequestration because it is critical to get the overarching Kyoto framework for emissions reductions into force.

WWF believes that as such, carbon sinks have a potential role to play in the fight against global warming provided measures to enhance sinks are taken with appropriate care. Restoring forest ecosystems and changing farming practices could also help protect biodiversity and promote a range of other environmental and social values, including clean water and land tenure reform. At the same time, measures to enhance carbon sinks can pose potential risks to biodiversity and local livelihoods if implemented incorrectly, and could compromise efforts to reduce GHG emissions. It is imperative that adequate environmental and social safeguards be put in place to address these risks. Fossil fuel combustion remains the major cause of global warming and any global warming program must focus primarily on clean energy solutions to the problem of rising industrial and transportation-sector emissions.

WWF will work with governments, industry, NGOs and local communities to play an increased and proactive role by initiating a series of pilot forest sinks projects to explore how risks can be mitigated and benefits enhanced. These projects, through activities such as habitat restoration and reduction of forest fragmentation, can enhance our knowledge and help increase the resilience of forests to climate change. WWF will also identify and publicize projects that pose a threat to biodiversity, local communities or climate change, and will explore constructive ways to work with partners to identify and mitigate potentially negative projects. To develop this approach, WWF is working with governments, particularly those in lesser-developed countries most susceptible to climate change impacts, to explore sequestration options that pose the least risk, and could potentially benefit biodiversity and sustainable development efforts. WWF's current approach to sinks, particularly in lesser-developed countries, focuses on forest landscape restoration that advances biodiversity and livelihood objectives, not solely carbon gains”.

ANNEXE 6: List of Workshop Participants

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FIRST SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO PROMOTE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION IN WEST AFRICA

25th –27th March 2003

WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS

CÖTE D’IVOIRE INSTITUTION ADDRESS1. AHIMIN Olivier(S/Director Reforestation)

SODEFOR 01 B.P 3770 Abidjan 01Tel.225 22 44 46 16

Olivierahimin@hotmail.com2. AUGOU T. Antoine(S/Director Reforestation)

MINEF Tel. 225 07057969Augoutch@hotmail.com

3. Martin NGANJE(WARPO Forest Officer)

WWF 08 P.B. 1776 Abidjan 08Tel. 225 22 44 87 86

Mnganje@wwfwafrica.org4. Jean-Paul LORNG Consultant 01 B.P. 3770 Abidjan 01

Tél. 225 05 64 62 54Jpaul_lorng@hotmail.com

5. Kalé Gbegbe(Project Officer)

WWF 08 P.B. 1776 Abidjan 08Tel. 225 22 44 87 86

gkale@wwfwafrica.org6. Souleymane ZEBA(WARPO Representative)

WWF 08 P.B. 1776 Abidjan 08Tel. 225 22 44 87 86

szeba@wwfwafrica.org7. Djatta Ouattara(Workshop Accountant)

WWF- WARPO 08 P.B. 1776 Abidjan 08Tel. 225 22 44 87 86

Odjatta@wwfwafrica.org GHANA

8. Dominic BLAY(Senior Researcher)

FORIG – Kumasi Tel. 233 05160123Fax. 233 05160121

dblay@forig.org9. M.H. Duku Ministry of Environment and

Science10. Christopher Manu(Conservation Director) Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth Tel: 233 21 512 311

foe@ghana.com11. Ishmael Dodoo(Forest officer - GWS)

Ghana Wildlife Society P.B 13252 Accra, GhanaTel. 233 21 665 197wildlife@ncs.com.gh

12. Joseph OSIAKWAN(Planning Officer)

Ministry of Lands and Forests P.B. M 212, AccraTel. 233 21 666711

osiakwan@mlf-gh.com13. J.A ARMAH(Syndicate President)

President, Ghana Timber Association - Takoradi

C/O Mr. Joseph OsiakwanP.B. M 212, AccraTel. 233 21 666711

14. Hubert Idwaltz KfW (GTZ)(GTZ Forum)

PO Box. 39233 21 031/28179

15. Mike Pentsil FPDC mikepentsil@yahoo.com

16. Mme Esther Nyamkwe Deputy Minister, Ministry of Environment and Science

PO Box M 232Accra 233 21 666 049

17. Victor Agyeman Ministry of Lands and Forests P.B. M 212, AccraTel. 233 21 666711

18. David Kpelle(CI-Ghana Forest Officer)

Conservation International P.B. KA 30426, AccraTel. 233 21 773893

19. Peter Addai Consultant (Interpretation)

Box: CT 521 Accra

20. Theophile K. Seddoh Consultant (Interpretation)

Box: CT 521 Accra

21. Emmanuel TACHIE- Environmental Protection Agency P.B. M 326

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OBENG(Programme Officer)

(EPA) Tel. 233 21 662465etachieobeng@yahoo.com

GUINEA22. Mamadou S. DIALLO(CEO)

Guinée Ecologie 214 Rue DI 501, Dixinn. B.P 3266, ConakryTel. 224 11 216888

dmsaliou@afribone.net.gn23. M. Saliou DIALLO(Technical Adviser)

Ministère de l’Environnement B.P. 295 ConakryTel. 224 11269962Fax. 224 414913

saliouprof@yahoo.frBURKINA FASO

24. Georges H. Oueda(NRM Officer)

NATURAMA 01 BP 6133 Ouagadougou 01,Tel. 226 364959

Oueda1@hotmail.com25. Virpi Lahtela(Programme Assistant)

IUCN lahtela@hq.iucn.org

TOGO26. Moumouni A. KERIM(Director)

Direction de la Faune & Chasse B.P 335 Lomé, TogoTel. 228 221 4029

direfaune@yahoo.fr27. Folly Yao DJIWONU(Director)

Direction de la Protection et du Contrôle de l’Exploitation de la

Flore

B.P. 7728 Lomé, TogoTel. 228 221 4604yfolly@yahoo.fr

NIGERIA28. Alade ADELEKE(Conservation Director)

Nigeria Conservation Foundation P.B. 74638 Victoria Island – Lagos, NigeriaTel. 234 –1-2642498

aaledekerdi@hotmail.com29. Mr. S.A. Okonofua(Deputy Director)

Federal Department of Forestry P.B 468 GARKI, Abuja, NigeriaTel. 234 09 3144551Fax. 234 9 3144552

SIERRA LEONE30. Abdoulai Barrie Conservation Society of Sierra

LeoneP.B 1292 Freetown,Tel. 232 22 229716

ahbarrie@yahoo.com31. Aiah P. Koroma Conservation Society of Sierra

Leone CSSL 2 Puke St. Freetown232 22 22 97 16

LIBERIA32. James COLEMAN

(CEO)Society for the Conservation of

Nature in LiberiaP.B. 2628 MonroviaTel. 231 06 552 040

scnlib2001@yahoo.com33. Alfred KOTIO (S-Director Reforestation)

Forestry Development Authority P.B. 10-3010, 1000 Monrovia 10, LiberiaTel. 231 510864

SENEGAL34. Maguette KAIRE(Senior Ecology Researcher)

ISRA / CNRF B.P 2312 DakarTel. 221 8323219Fax. 221 8329617

Maguette.Kaire@ird.snINTERNATIONAL

35. Stephen Kelleher(S/Director GFP WWF-US)

WWF Stephen.Kelleher@wwfus.org

36. Prof. Alfred Oteng-YebouaChairman,

SBSTTA-CBD.P.O.Box M 32 Accra – Ghana

Tel. 233 21 777651 - 4

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