Eastern Africa Coastal Forest Programme: Regional Workshop ...

The workshop identified the major causes of forest loss and underlying forces driving this
process. The most important threats to coastal forests are agricultural conversion, charcoal
burning and fuel wood, uncontrolled fires, unsustainable logging and unplanned settlement.
Other threats identified were inappropriately-placed roads and infrastructure, uncontrolled
removal of non-timber products, destructive mining practices and poaching.
Workshop participants also identified the root causes of the threats at local, national and
ecoregional levels. At the local level, the most important causes of forest loss were poverty,
lack of alternative livelihood options for populations living adjacent to the forests, inadequate
law enforcement, low awareness of the value of coastal forests and consequences of their loss,
lack of recognition to cultural values and indigenous knowledge on forests and inadequate
information on the forest resource. In Kenya and Tanzania corruption was identified as a
significant local cause of logging, charcoal burning and unplanned human settlements.
Inadequate environmental impact assessments were cited as a cause of inappropriate
agricultural practices in these two countries. Common to all three countries was inadequate
capacity and resources for conservation management and weak civil society. Global climate
change, structural adjustment and international markets/trade were identified as causes of
coastal forest loss at the global level.
Conservation targets were developed for the East African Coastal Forest Ecoregion as a
whole, as well as for each country represented in the ecoregion. The regional targets
developed were:
1. Decline in quality and quantity of existing coastal forests within protected areas halted by
2010.
2. At least 30% of unprotected coastal forests placed under protection status by 2010.
3. Annual rate of loss of unprotected coastal forests to agriculture, illegal logging and
charcoal burning reduced by at least 50% by 2010.
4. Effective management capacity for protected coastal forests in place and operational by
2010.
5. At least 5 coastal forest landscape restoration initiatives implemented by 2007.
6. 30% of coastal forests support sustainable activities contributing to poverty alleviation
and economic development by2010 without harming habitat and species values.
7. Forest reserves of EACF regarded as protected areas in terms of IUCN criteria.
Each country working group defined conservation targets for that country. Groups then
identified the actions needed to achieve these targets, with an indication as to which
stakeholders needed to be involved in each action.
In order to take the process forward, WWF was requested to continue with facilitating the
regional process through a Regional Task Force. Each county represented will choose an
interim focal point to lead the establishment of a country task force on coastal forests to help
push the process forward. The task force will follow up the targets and actions developed
during the working group sessions to enable the regional programme to move forward.
Sharing experiences will also be encouraged. By April 2002, the regional co-ordination team
should be in place. WWF agreed to circulate the workshop report in March 2002. In each
country, national stakeholder workshops will be held to revisit and refine the action plan as it
applies in each country, as well as to build stakeholder commitment to implementation.
The Tanzanian and Kenyan Protected Area institutions in collaboration with WWF will
finalise their documentation and apply for GEF-PDF Block B funding for developing their
National Coastal Forest Strategic Action Plans. WWF will assess the possibilities for
Mozambique for accessing UNDP-GEF money and also approach its donors for arranging
some mid term funding for implementing programme’s regional and national activities.
Eastern Africa Coastal Forests - 4 - Workshop Report, Nairobi February 4-7 2002