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Report No 678-F-001
METSI CONSULTANTS: SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS FOR PHASE 1 DEVELOPMENT
areas and over-utilisation is regarded as a major threat to species survival. Compensation measures through the
artificial propagation of selected species in the upstream catchment areas are intended to supply the market and
relieve pressure on wild-grown plants. Such cultivation has yet to be proven to be effective and, even if this is the
case, production of the full range of medicinal plants used by local people will hardly ever be practically possible.
In the downstream areas the long-term survival of medicinal plant species is not as great a concern because of
the linear nature of the area under impact and the availability of similar habitats along tributaries. The main
objective downstream would be to compensate local users.
Replacement of herbal medicines by synthetics will unlikely ever be total, and medicinal plants are in demand
even in urban centres such as Maseru. However, the experience of the public health compensation programme in
Phase 1A indicates that local people will make use of modern clinical facilities if they are available. Hence,
provision of adequate community public health would be partial compensation for lost medicinal plant resources.
11.4.3 Trees and Shrubs
The field studies undertaken suggested that annual tree harvests, mainly poplar and willow branches, within the
study zones on either side of the rivers downstream of the LHWP structures amounted to about 37,000. Flow
regulation via the Treaty stipulations would reduce this number by approximately 25%. Releasing additional water
would lead to reductions in these impacts but could not eliminate them because of the location of the trees on the
upper benches of the river channel.
A community forestry programme has been in operation in Phase 1A of the LHWP for the past five years, set up
and run by an international NGO as a compensation measure for tree losses in the reservoir catchment. A
170,000 seedling capacity nursery near Ha Lejone provides mainly hardy conifers for outplanting in villages. NGO
staff provide advisory and extension services. Extension of the programme to areas downstream of the LHWP
structures would be practical in terms of availability of expertise and local experience. Planting timber trees within
actual village areas could not only potentially replace lost timber resources but would have the added advantages
of providing easier access to the trees and the supplementary benefits of shade and windbreaks. Quite significant
disadvantages would however be the extensive areas embraced by the downstream river reaches, the scattered
nature of the villages and the lack of vehicle access to many parts.
Shrubs, tree branches, dead wood and other debris make up the bulk of the woody material harvested by local
people along the downstream reaches, and could be as much as 15,000 - 20,000 tonnes annually, depending on
how the field data are interpreted. This represents the bulk of the energy used by these communities for cooking
and heating. About half of this material would be lost to communities following Treaty flow reductions and, as in
the case of timber, substantial increases in flows would be required to reduce the shortfall. This material would
only partially be replaced by woodlot material from community forestry programmes. Adequate compensation of
the energy value of gathered woody biomass would require much more ambitious tree plantings than currently
applied in the reservoir areas or, alternately, might necessitate a technological leap to energy sources such as
solar-powered cookers. Alternatively, or in addition to this, some of the losses could be off-set by a change in the
method of collection of wood, particularly willows. At present, small branches stripped off the trees during wood
collection are left on the banks; if these were thrown into the rivers, some would take root on banks of the
downstream river
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