Transcript ECRP Advocacy Quarterly And Planning Meeting

Civil Society Engagement in
Environmental Policy
Processes
2014 Inter-Parliamentary Hearing on Exemplary
Forest Policies in Africa
September 30th to 3rd October 2014
Nairobi, Kenya
Introduction
• Forests provides goods and services for
livelihoods in Malawi;
• Some of the species include Khaya
anthotheca
(Mbawa)
and
Pterocarpus
angolensis (Mlombwa), Eucalyptus, Gmelina,
Mahogany etc; and
• Regardless of the richness in species, Malawi
is facing one of the fastest deforestation rates
in Africa, highest in the SADC region;
Introduction (2)
• The main drivers of forest loss are
High incidence of poverty and food insecurity,
leading to increasing demand for land and
forest resources;
 Population growth (average 2.8%); and
 Agricultural
expansion
between
19912008..intensive agriculture had increased by
20%.
Introduction (3)
 Tobacco growing (curing is a major nonhousehold user of firewood-2009).
High dependence on fuel wood as a source of
energy for cooking and heating (94%); and
Institutional weaknesses combined with poor
compliance of the law
Forces of Forestry Resources
Trends in Forest Cover
• In 1975, 47% of the territory in Malawi was
classified as forest;
• In 2010, out of the total land area of
94,270,000 ha of Malawi, 3,336,000 ha,
representing 36 %, was classified as forest
(15%-natural woodlands on customary lands,
11% - national parks and game reserves and
10% under forest reserves and protected hill
slopes);
Trends in Forest Cover (2)
• The rate of deforestation, (percentage of
forest cover lost per year) ranged from 1% to
about 3% overall, averaging 2.3% in recent
years; and
• This is the highest deforestation rate in the
SADC region, representing a net loss of some
30,000 to 40,000 hectares per year.
Trends in Forest Cover (3)
Forestry Policy and Legislation
 In 1996, Malawi developed and adopted the
forestry policy followed by a Community
Based Forest Management – A Supplement
to the National Forestry Policy in 2003;
 In 1997 a law on forestry was passed which is
also in use up to date;
 There are also Forestry (Community
Participation) Rules, 2001 and Forestry
(Amendment) Rules 2003; and
 Forestry Department also developed the
National Forestry Programme in 2001 as a
means to put the 1996 National Forestry
Policy and Forestry Act (1997) into practice.
Challenges in Forestry Policy and
Legislation
 Generally the forestry policy and legislation
have suffered implementation like other
policies in Malawi due to
Inadequate community involvement in law
enforcement;
Limited stakeholder coordination and
operationalization of institutions at local
and national level; and
Challenges in Forestry Policy and
Legislation (2)
Forestry policy conflicts with other polices like
food security in some sections; and
Absence of a coherent financing mechanism
for the forestry sector and
 The sector is among the least funded sector
in the National budget especially at local level
National budget tracking and monitoring
between 2005 and 2013 indicated forestry as
among the least funded sectors especially on
operations;
83-93% are for personal emoluments; and
7-27% for day to day transactions.
Civil Society Contribution to
Forestry Sector
• Generally within the sector there is broadened
stakeholder participation in forestry utilization
and management:
civil society,
local communities
private sector
• However, coordinating institutional efforts to
enhance forest governance and community
based forest management remains a
challenge;
Civil Society Contribution to
Forestry Sector (2)
• In addition, there is very limited participation
of stakeholders such as civil society in the
implementation of the related forestry policy
and legislation;
• Most stakeholders participate in the
community level programmes such as
community based forest management and
tree planting etc;
• Programmes in forestry sectors by civil
society are not prominent like in other sectors
such as climate change;
Civil Society Contribution to
Forestry Sector (3)
• There is limited civil society influence in the
policy and legal framework development,
review, implementation and monitoring; and
• Most civil society have challenges to access
financial support to address gaps in the
forestry sector especially policy processes.
Civil Society Contribution to
Forestry Sector (4)
CEPA has:
• Conducted national budget tracking and monitoring
in the forestry sector;
• Engaged the policy makers such as the members of
parliament, directors and department technical
experts on the inadequate national budget
allocation;
• Engaging members of parliament and councilors to
actively participate in reducing deforestation focus
on;
Reducing charcoal production;
Reducing bush fires; and
Embracing low carbon technologies such as cook
stoves.
Civil Society Contribution to
Forestry Sector (5)
• Engaged the department on the need to
review the outdated policy and legal
framework;
• Facilitating development of by-laws for
community based forests in selected districts;
• Facilitating capacity building for local
structures on forestry related policies; and
• Facilitating community and media interaction
on community based forest management.
Forestry Sector Programme
• The forestry sector has had one big
programme
under
Improved
Forest
Management for Sustainable Livelihoods
Programme (IFMSLP) Phase I is a
Government of Malawi programme with
financial support from the European Union;
• IFMSLP phase I was implemented by
Department of Forestry
which presents
another
challenge
for
stakeholder
engagement;
• The programme targeted about 14 forests
reserves;
Forestry Sector Programme (2)
• The focus of this phase I was more on
organization of rural communities;
development of Participatory Forest
Management
Plans
and
Forest
Management Agreements; and
improvement of capacities of rural
communities to sustainably harvest and
sell forest products from customary land
and forest.
Forestry Policy Processes in
Progress
• Government in the process of reviewing
the 1996 National Forestry Policy with
support from UNDP but the process has
stalled; and
• Stakeholder involvement has not been
very inclusive like other policy processes
such as climate change;
Malawi REDD+
• REDD+ has gained momentum in Malawi and
policy processes towards REDD+ have been
initiated;
• The forestry sector has provided space for
stakeholder participation;
• This process has been more engaging than
that of forestry policy review; and
• Civil society have been given roles in the
development of the draft REDD+ strategy and
work plan.
Concluding Remarks
• The forestry sector in Malawi remains the
least prioritized sector;
• Forest degradation in Malawi is still high and
if not controlled all resources will be degraded
in few years to come;
• The forestry policy and legal framework are
outdated;
• Unlike other sectors such as climate change,
the forestry sector policy review has not been
inclusive;
• Civil society contribution to forestry policy
processes remains a challenge;
Concluding Remarks(2)
• Coordination of CSO in the forestry sector
is a challenge;
• The forestry sector in Malawi is among the
least funded sectors; and
• Over the past few years, there has been
an increased participation of Civil society in
the REDD+ strategy development.
Recommendations
• Forestry
related
policy
and
legal
frameworks review needs to speed up;
• Members of parliament need to participate
in forestry policy and legal framework
implementation;
• There is need to harmonize conflicting
policies for effective policy implementation;
• Our members of parliament need to speak
for the people in the National Budget;
Recommendations (2)
• Malawi is planting trees every year, in
addition to the National Forestry season,
there is need for all stakeholders to
monitor survival rates of these trees;
• Our members of parliament need to take
lead in the forestry management in their
respective constituency; and
• Forestry
sector
institutions
needs
strengthening in terms of capacity in
governance and coordination of other
institutions.
THANK YOU
The Future of Forest Resources Remains our
Responsibility