The return of the water - IUCN

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8 Conflicts and Conflict Management in the Waza Logone Floodplain By Roger Kouokam, Mark Moritz, Daniel Ngantou and Paul Loth 8.1 Fighting for access to the resources The rich diversity of the natural resources in the Waza Logone floodplain has always attracted many different users. In the past, these users gained access to the resources in an organised way, because the traditional leaders governed the rights to use them. Over the past few decades the authority of the traditional leaders has been eroded among the communities. Consequently, access to the floodplain resources no longer was organised by a generally accepted authority, and serious conflicts resulted when different user groups claimed the exclusive right to use specific resources. A clear example of such conflicts resulting from the breaking down of the traditional power base occurred in the fisheries. The Kotoko, traditionally the most skilled fishers lost their supremacy over fishing rights in their conflict with the Musgum, pragmatic herdsmen turned farmer cum fisher. Since then access to fishing was no longer regulated, leading to an explosion of fishing canals dug in the floodplain. These canals, often several kilometres long, blocked the usual routes of the cattle herds of the floodplain. The cattle that had no alternative route but to go across these canals eroded the walls of the canals with their hoofs, leading to skirmishes between fishermen and herdsmen. Notorious were the clashes between pastoralists and farmers, which occurred when cattle trampled the crops or fed upon crops still on the fields. Wildlife, searching for food beyond the exclusive reserved areas, competed with people for the bush resources. Where the bush was turned into farmland, the cropped land formed a readily available food source for hungry herds. The Waza National Park attracted tourists, but the local communities did not share any of the revenues generated by tourism. Consequently, the people living in the area felt not committed to assist the authorities in the maintenance of the park. Rather, they took advantage of the inadequate surveillance capacity of the government and exploited whatever resources in the park. Figure 8.1 Conflicts in the Waza Logone floodplain 69
The Return of the Water These were the circumstances in which the Waza Logone project started its work. One of the tasks of the project was to solve the conflicts among the users. The conflicts are summarised in Figure 8.1 and are described in more detail in the following paragraphs. The solutions to the problems found by the project are discussed in Chapter 10. Conflicts between herders and farmers Conflicts between herders and farmers usually relate to damage to crops caused by livestock. In the Waza Logone area especially the nomadic pastoralists were involved in such conflicts. Conflicts occurred particularly when the herds entered the floodplain. In order to prevent cattle from roaming onto fields containing food crops, corridors had been established for free passage to and from the floodplain. Existing transhumance corridors shrank due to progressive land occupation by farmers, who established more and more dry season sorghum fields. As a result it became increasingly difficult to keep the cattle herds within the corridor boundaries. After the two pilot releases had been carried out in 1994 and in 1997, not only the sedentary population in the floodplain increased, but also the number of pastoralists that made use of the floodplain. Hence, damage to the farmed land occurred more frequently over the last five years. Another cause of conflict arose when herds arrived at the time that the traditional floating rice was still ripening or before the sorghum had been harvested. Despite the goodwill of the pastoralists, they could not prevent their animals feeding on these crops. Sometimes farmers deliberately caused these conflicts by the establishment of sorghum farms in areas reserved as pastureland. Intentional provocations could also come from pastoralists who calculated that it was worth paying farmers damage and thus allowing animals to feed on crops. A particularly good example is the case of the Uuda sheepherders from Nigeria. The Uuda believed that, as soon as they paid their taxes to the local councils, they had the right to use the pastures as they saw fit. Hence the sheepherders thought that these “grazing rights” permitted them to cut branches of Acacia seyal and A. sieberiana trees to feed their animals. These herders in particular caused grave damage to the environment. This attitude created conflicts with the local communities, who were aware of the importance of trees in the combat against desertification. In some areas, such as around Petté, south of the Waza National Park, the local traditional authority forbade tree cutting. This rule existed throughout the Province, but it had been rarely implemented as in the Petté area. Conflicts between pastoralists and fishermen Conflicts between pastoralists and fishermen were caused by the existence of fishing canals. In 1999/2000, almost 2,500 canals were counted in the floodplain and about 1,000 were situated on the banks of the Logomatya River alone (Figure 8.2). This gave an average of two canals for every hundred metres, while the canals themselves typically were between one and two kilometres long. The dense network of fishing canals frequently intersected the transhumance corridors, and pastoralists could not gain access to pastures without passing through the canals. While passing, the embankments of the canals were damaged by the animals. This added to the costs of scouring the canals. Fishers also claimed that such damage led to a reduction in the fish catch, because the canals remained full of water. The fishers asserted that the fish hid itself in more secure places. Conflicts between pastoralists and the Waza National Park authorities Confrontations between pastoralists and the Waza National Park administration took place whenever herders were caught while illegally grazing their cattle inside the park. They did so because there 70
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IUCN - The World Conservation Union
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The designation of geographical ent
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Table of Contents Foreword vii Cont
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Foreword This book tells the story
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Contributors Dr. Mike Acreman, Head
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from the Atlas de la Province de l
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List of Tables 1.1 Major floodplain
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List of Plates 1.1 Different views
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1 1.1 Floodplains Introduction By P
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Introduction Rainfall in the Sahel
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species of ungulates, such as korri
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From its inception, the Waza Logone
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Part II The Receding Water
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The Return of the Water tonnes to 4
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The Return of the Water that the re
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3 Consequences of the Dam and the D
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eduction in flooding (Drijver and M
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3.3 Socio-economic consequences Con
Page 44 and 45: 4 The Wider Context By Sun Yan Evan
Page 46 and 47: Africa. A third migration route to
Page 48 and 49: The Wider Context The geographical
Page 50 and 51: 5 Hydrology of the Waza Logone Area
Page 52 and 53: variable, the extent, depth, durati
Page 54: Hydrology of the Waza Logone Area C
Page 57 and 58: The Return of the Water brought to
Page 59 and 60: The Return of the Water 1997). The
Page 61 and 62: The Return of the Water dam, the pe
Page 63 and 64: The Return of the Water 1948; Ngog
Page 65 and 66: The Return of the Water into the bu
Page 68: Part IV Living with the Seasons
Page 71 and 72: The Return of the Water While the f
Page 73 and 74: The Return of the Water Most of the
Page 75 and 76: The Return of the Water which the f
Page 77 and 78: The Return of the Water from € 0.
Page 79 and 80: The Return of the Water The Musgum
Page 81 and 82: The Return of the Water check their
Page 83 and 84: Plate 1.2 Kob antelopes at the Mahe
Page 85 and 86: Plate 7.2 Seasonal movements of pas
Page 87 and 88: Plate 7.4 Fishing cannals in the Lo
Page 89 and 90: Plate 7.7 Big fish are only caught
Page 91 and 92: The Return of the Water staple food
Page 96 and 97: Conflicts and Conflict Management i
Page 98 and 99: Conflicts and Conflict Management i
Page 100: Part V The Intervention
Page 103 and 104: The Return of the Water for the Exi
Page 105 and 106: The Return of the Water both techni
Page 107 and 108: The Return of the Water (IUCN 2000a
Page 109 and 110: The Return of the Water 9.5 The Waz
Page 111 and 112: The Return of the Water of the part
Page 114 and 115: 10 The Waza Logone Project in Actio
Page 116 and 117: The Waza Logone Project in Action F
Page 118 and 119: The Waza Logone Project in Action F
Page 120 and 121: The Waza Logone Project in Action f
Page 122 and 123: follow to obtain permits, and also,
Page 124 and 125: started by painting in red trees or
Page 126 and 127: The Waza Logone Project in Action
Page 128 and 129: The project maintained relations wi
Page 130 and 131: 11 11.1 Introduction Economic Justi
Page 132 and 133: Although it is impossible to effect
Page 134 and 135: Economic Justification of Additiona
Page 142 and 143: Figure 11.5 Composition of incremen
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Economic Justification of Additiona
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Economic Justification of Additiona
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12 Tools and Practices for Floodpla
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of the 1994 and 1997 pilot flood re
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Tools and Practices for Floodplain
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A major output from the study was a
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Step 10. Monitor, evaluate and adap
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5. Assess the impacts of options.
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Introduction 137
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Introduction From this premise the
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Introduction One of the most promis
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Introduction reorganisation of the
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Introduction Improving the effectiv
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Map 6.1 Satellite images showing se
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Map 6.3 Positions of two elephants
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Introduction Beauvilain, A. 1981.
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Introduction Gash, J.H.C., C.A. Nob
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Introduction Moritz, M., P. Scholte
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Introduction communities’ and ind
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