An ALLIANCE culture to safeguard Africa's forests

There are three possible CLPA positions that can
be taken into account when discussing consent:
Consent to continue
the activity with or without conditions;
A rejection with conditions that entail
negotiation;
A flat refusal on the activity to be carried
out.
One of the necessary steps in obtaining FPIC is
participatory mapping. Participatory mapping
is a process of drawing up maps to highlight the
relationship between the land, the resources
that the forest provides and the local population,
including the CLPA. This requires knowledge
of the cultural uses of certain resources (trees,
plants, rivers, animals), identity and history.
The CDHD reported that between 2017 and 2019,
the social team managed to produce 13 maps
in a participatory manner through dialogue and
exchange. As the CDHD observed, one of the aims
of FPIC is to share the profits at the end of any
negotiations. INTERHOLCO does not pay each
individual inhabitant out of the profits to be shared
with the villages directly affected by the annual
timber harvest. The profits owed to the villages
are translated into project specifications,
in addition to financial contributions to the
Local Development Fund. The communities
manage this fund independently through their
representatives. In other words, the communities
choose which projects they wish to support. Not
everything is simple and jealousies can emerge.
We cultivated the fields and
brought in the first cassava harvest.
We are now waiting for the rain to
arrive before we can move forward.
We are happy with the support we
have received. The project helps us
to sell our produce and to have some
money. The fields help us to buy
medicines when we are sick, to buy
clothes, a cooking pot and so on.
The fields are very productive
and yield good
tubers. We will
apply for more
funding so that we
can expand our
activities.
An indigenous woman
The social team had given us the
means to carry out a sacred ritual
in the old village - where there is a
waterfall - for our ancestors. After
we returned home, I developed a
high fever; the spirits were not happy
because I didn't have much money
and they struck me down. I was
really very sick!
An indigenous person
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