English - Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The second deliverable unrealized was the on-the-job training and workshop to strengthen the capacity of CBOs to maintain and replicated alternative livelihood activities (3.6.) The objective of this project in Sapo was to define the potential for introducing activities, with the introduction of activities envisaged for the subsequent phase. Following extensive work examining past interventions and considering social, cultural, economic and environmental factors, a roadmap was produced which provided a gendered analysis of training and other capacity-building requirements, identification of financial and technical support required. However, as funding had not yet been leveraged for Phase 3 to support these activities, it was decided not to raise communities expectations by providing initial training for future interventions which may not be sustained, particularly in communities already familiar with empty promises. Nevertheless, communities were keen to share lessons learned, particularly with regards to the outcomes of previous interventions, and explore the practicalities of self-identified future options. Please describe and submit (electronically if possible) any tools, products, or methodologies that resulted from this project or contributed to the results. Proceedings of the CEPF Bushmeat and Sustainable Livelihoods Workshop, Tiwai Island. 16 th -18 th November (2009). Fauna & Flora International Exploring the Dynamics of Bushmeat Hunting and Trade in Sapo National Park (2011). E. Greengrass/FFI The socio-economic setting of communities adjacent to Sapo National Park (2011). A. Manvell Use of Non-Timber Forest Products around Sapo National Park (2011). A. Manvell. Livelihood Diversification Opportunities and Constraints around Sapo National Park, South-East Liberia (2011). A. Manvell All Liberian studies were conducted in partnership with the FDA and the University of Liberia, simultaneously building in-country capacity for social science survey methods. Results of both are being circulated widely amongst local partners, in addition to providing accurate and detailed insights with which to plan future work within the CEPF project and beyond, and are publicly available on the website www.liberianfaunaflora.org. Copies have already been submitted to CEPF. Lessons Learned Describe any lessons learned during the design and implementation of the project, as well as any related to organizational development and capacity building. Consider lessons that would inform projects designed or implemented by your organization or others, as well as lessons that might be considered by the global conservation community. Within Sinoe County, Southeast Liberia, it has become clear that the development of any significant economic alternatives to bushmeat hunting are seriously limited by the lack of access to markets, prevented largely by the poor state of the roads and little communications infrastructure, including no mobile phone coverage in the area to connect producers and tradesman. This largely precludes the development of livelihoods based on products with short storage time, such as many agricultural products, without significant development of associated transport and communication infrastructure. Another important lesson learnt during implementation of this project is related to the way the intervention was viewed by other communities around the Nimba Mountain who were not directly benefiting from it at the time. While exploring the possibilities of starting the construction of a new
facility for cane rat husbandry at Zoo/Seringbara, it became clear that until this facility is put in place the hunters in these communities did not see themselves as associated with ongoing management efforts. This raises the immediate question of the effective geographical scale of this kind of initiative. Some members of one of Nimba CBOs related to pig farming expressed interest in carrying out initiatives privately. This might have two meanings. One is that they might have become confident in their technical abilities that they think they can do it alone (technical and financial sustainability). The second idea is that perhaps they do no longer believe in the ability of the CBO to satisfy their individual needs. The decentralisation of the pig farm in Guinea has proven successful and members are increasingly enthusiastic about the process. Perhaps the lesson to be learned here is that as a CBO this group has been the most successful of all the groups, individual members are still understandably, driven by personal interest. It is the role of the project to support this process which perhaps in the medium to long term will lead to the technical and financially sustainability of the initiative The political uncertainty in Guinea has been the main risk for the project although it did not affect the implementation of field activities directly. The country's capital Conakry where all the riots take place were far enough from the Nimba region (about 1,100 km) The successful implementation of alternative source of proteins and incomes at Lola, Gbakore and Bossou has brought other villages which were initially skeptical and uncooperative to begin to approach the project staff inviting them to start work in their own villages. Practical interventions with outputs that directly benefit the local communities are perhaps the most pragmatic ways to engage with communities and establish viable wildlife management actions especially in the context of resource poor communities. The demand on project resources is obviously very high and only the villages of N'Zoo and Tounkara will be the main priorities in the next 3 years. Project Design Process: (aspects of the project design that contributed to its success/shortcomings) A fundamental factor in the success of this project was that it took the time to understand the dynamics of hunting and trade in bushmeat in the Nimba Mountains and Sapo region, as well as the motivation of all the stakeholders and user groups. Without dramatizing hunting for bushmeat and portraying it as the worse crime committed by the perpetrators, the project design looked at the problem from a local perspective and tried to understand the motivations of all the actors, their fears and expectations as well as their knowledge on the wildlife population and the current and future trends. Perhaps what other similar initiatives usually fail to understand or to take into consideration adequately in the project design is the fact that the main losers or those who stand to suffer most from the disappearance of wildlife in a particular protected or non protected area is primarily the local communities. Engaging with them positively and bringing them to understand what is happening around them in terms of trend in their natural environment more broadly and their wildlife resource more specifically is potentially the most plausible to make any positive and long term impact. Project Implementation: (aspects of the project execution that contributed to its success/shortcomings) The project built on the early achievements of the initial CEPF support at Nimba Mountain in Guinea and tried to refine the approach to consolidate and expand the initiative to other localities around the Mountain. A participatory and inclusive approach not only in the project design, but also in its implementation and periodic evaluation has been the main ingredients in the success of this initiative and the ability to persuade other donors to continue to support the project and its expansion strategy beyond the current CEPF funding pledge. The implementation of the first phase of the Liberian household income and consumption study was seriously delayed due to appalling road conditions around the park. From mid-August, the
Page 1 and 2: CEPF FINAL PROJECT COMPLETION REPOR
Page 3 and 4: Planned Long-term Impacts - 3+ year
Page 5 and 6: ii. Improved understanding of tempo
Page 7: including the preliminary knowledge
Page 11 and 12: Additional Funding Provide details
Page 13 and 14: Information Sharing and CEPF Policy
Page 15: Table 1. Socioeconomic Benefits to

English - Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?