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12. REGIONAL UPDATE FOR EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA by B.N. Kigomo[13]


1.0 Introduction

The present updates on forest genetic resources covers the Eastern and Southern Africa (E/SA) countries that includes 22 national states from north to south i.e.; Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Madagascar and South Africa (see Figures 1). Although Sudan largely falls within the Sub-Sahelian African Sub-region, it is included in the present update due to its continued participation in forestry sector development within the Eastern Africa initiatives.

Under the present updates, only general information and trends are reported unless specific data and knowledge are available to assist in elaboration of the states-of-the-art.

The eastern and southern Africa region is mainly covered by tropical dry forests and shrubland ecological zones. Isolated distribution of tropical mountain system zone is found in parts of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi/Tanzania boarder and Madagascar. Tropical moist deciduous forest zone is common in the coasts of Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar, and inland Malawi and Zambia. South Africa and Lesotho have subtropical mountain system zone while Namibia, Angola, South Africa and Somalia are partly occupied by the tropical desert zone. Table 1 shows the land area and forest resource base of the eastern and southern Africa countries (FAO, 2001). Within the framework of the "International initiative on criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management", the eastern and southern African countries, with the exception of Tanzania, Madagascar and Angola, falls within the "Dry Zone Africa Process" (FAO, 2001).

2.0 Policy and Institutional Issues

2.1 Development of Institutions and Roles

Forestry development in the region remained in the responsibility of Forest Departments/Services/Commissions. The regional governments have shown the need to improve governance in the management and use of forest resources, especially the indigenous forests and woodlands. Towards this recognition the regional countries have started to devolve the responsibilities of forestry development from the central government as the main actor to involve the local communities through the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), local community based organization (CBOs), and the private sector. The shift is largely from that of focussed control to regulative for the state departments.

The capacity for the new responsibilities by the departments, communities and private sector is low and presently efforts are underway to improve management capabilities of the new players. Community participation in the management and use of forest resource has met several hitches and on-going activities in the region are more of piloting nature and focused on addressing conflict resolution and restructuring to evolve working governance between the government departments and local communities.

2.2 Policy, Legislation and Strategies on Forest Genetic Resources

Over three-quarters of the regional governments have either recently revised their policy and legislation documents or are working on them. The focus on revision is to involve other players in forest management and use as opposed to the situation in the past where the central government was the isolated player. The role of the civil society, non-government organizations and private investors has been recognized in the revised policies. The revisions have also taken cognisance of the international initiatives especially where ratification has been made by a country.

Policy and legislative documents in the eco-region recognize the need for conservation and sustainable management and use of forest resources but virtually all document refer to conservation of biological diversity rather than specifically to forest genetic resources. The role of protected natural forests and woodlands in this respect is widely recognized by the regional countries.

Issues of Access and property rights, Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), etc. continue to be debated by the various Sub-regional governments. The level of debates seem to have gone down during the last two years as opposed to earlier years where NGOs and governments took more time in the debate on the issues. These issues do not seem to feature as a priority issue of the regional governments. The main concern is one of equitable sharing of the products of joint forest management between the state and local communities. A number of organizations, especially non-governmental, however, still continue to pursue the issue of access and MTAs at regional and international levels. However, a number of countries have entered into Material Transfer Agreements on specific germplasm of interest for their forest development or conservation. Section 3.0 below elaborates further on the MTAs issue.

More than half of the regional governments have taken a strong drive towards privatization of landuse. A few countries have taken a cautious approach to changes in land tenure system and have privatised only land meant for settlement in towns. Very few continue to retain the entire national land as state owned and thus a 100% control and direct involvement of its development initiatives. Privatization and liberalization of fixed and natural resource assets have taken strong place in the revision of the land use and future development policies by the regional governments. There has been, therefore, mixed results of changes in land ownership and tenure. In several countries land has been excised while in a few cases land has been consolidated for common use. In general, forests and woodland areas in the region have continued to decline and this causes certain threat to the forest genetic resources.

2.3 Links with International Action Frameworks/Agreements

Table 2 summarizes the status of ratification of international conventions by the eastern and southern Africa regional governments (FAO, 2001).

Except Somalia all the others have ratified the CBD, FCCC and the Convention to Combat Desertification. Angola and Lesotho, have not ratified the CITES while Angola, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland and Zimbabwe are yet to ratify the Ramsar convention. The World Heritage Convention is widely ratified in the region except by Djibout, Eritrea, Lesotho, Rwanda and Somalia. None of the countries of the E/SA region is a member of the ITTO Agreement of 1994. This is reflection of the low production and consumption capacity of timber and therefore trade by the E/SA regional countries. The proposals of the Kyoto Protocol of FCCC have not made a lot of sense to the E/SA eco-regional governments since none has ratified the Protocol.

The issue of UN Forum of Forests (UNFF) seem to be news to the contacts made in the region, even to personalities working closely with the forestry sector. A few have only heard of its formation but not details on its agenda. It appears UNFF has not been adequately promoted in the E/SA region.

Within the Global Plan of Action for development and sustainable use of Forest Genetic Resources led by FAO, in collaborated with other partners, the SADC member countries met in Arusha, Tanzania 5-9 June 2000 to developed the Sub-regional Plan of Action for FGR (Sigaud P. and J. Luhanda, 2000).

National projects, isolated in nature, and relevant to the conservation and management of forest genetic resources exist in many of the regional countries. The problem is that most are not co-ordinated at the national level and as such do not reflect adequately the requirements of a national forest programme. A number of such projects do not necessarily focus on the priorities of the national forest policy pronouncements.

3.0 Technical and Biological Issues

3.1 FGR Assessments, exploration and Conservation Programmes

A review of the state-of-the-art in the FGR assessments reveal that universities and a number of research organizations are undertaking forest and tree genetic assessments, especially on the diversity of selected species. The objectives of such assessments are either to guide in conservation of the species or habitats of occurrence or to identify provenances as sources of seed for national tree planting development. No new regional based assessment initiatives seem to have been started but the regional assessment and evaluation activities of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Sclerocarya birrea and tree seed species still continues though on a lower scale.

Several countries in the region (Kenya, Namibia and South Africa - Tanzania to start soon) are undertaking tree germplasm exploration and collection through the Millenium Seed Bank Project coordinated by the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. These countries have signed, independently, with Kew, Material Transfer Agreements, meant to enhance germplasm collection and conservation. Conservation through this initiative, however, is focused at generic level. Though, again, operating at a low scale presently, the SADC coordinated SECOSUD programme support national herbaria and plant collections in the southern Africa sub-region.

A number of countries in the region participate in the FAO/UNDP/GEF driven projects which focus on preliquisites to enhanced conservation of biological diversity of selected forest areas. There is lack of strong national conservation programmes supported by action plans, but the presence of large tracts of protected land meant for wildlife/animal parks, compensates by default, and to some extent the needs of national conservation programmes. Countries of the E/SA region have well developed systems of parks and game reserves. Reasonable percentage of forests and woodlands are protected in the countrys’ system of national parks, sanctuaries and reserves egg. South Africa (5%), Kenya (6%), Mozambique (7%), Namibia (11%), Sudan (11%), Tanzania (15%), Uganda (30%), Zambia (32%), Botswana (35%), for example.

3.2 Research on new Forest Products

Although a lot of discussions and debates have expressed the need for sustainable management of forests, especially the indigenous resources, funds to improve management techniques have not increased but declined instead. Research has focussed on multiple use approach to forest management especially as local communities become involved users of forest resources.

Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi, in collaboration with DANIDA, ICRAF and IPGRI are screening species with seed storage problems with a view of developing storage protocols for such seed in the region.

3.3 Activities in Germplasm Procurement and Exchange

Activities of the national seed centres, that used to be generally high at their peak, between 1980 and early 1990s have gone down. The networks of national seed sources have been neglected in management and seed production must have gone down. The governments of the region have scaled down the annual forest plantation programmes where emphasis has shifted to tree planting on farms. Tree planting in farms has less demand in seed quality and the challenge has been the amount of seed rather than quality.

The above situation is slightly different in the case of Zimbabwe which has maintained its forest plantation cover and seed supply/demand situation. The position is even more different with South Africa that has continued to increase its cover of forest plantations through the active role of private investors. About 37% of the E/SA forest plantations are located in South Africa.

Seed for tree establishment is mostly locally collected and only a small volume of seed is exchanged or traded in among the E/SA regional countries. Zimbabwe exports a bit of seed from its seed orchards. It also imports quality seed from South Africa and Australia mostly. The greatest player in the region in seed exchange and export/import is South Africa which is also an international player. South Africa is a member of the Central America and Mexico Coniferous Resource Cooperative (CAMCORE), an expensive membership club dealing with tree germplasm exchange, export/import trade and exchange of expertise in seed and tree improvement.

3.4 Tree Selection, Improvement and Field Evaluation

A number of countries continued to undertake provenance testing mostly for site performance rather than improvement purpose. Most countries in the region do not have a strict tree improvement programme and seems content with the first generation network of tree seed orchards/sources established generally two to three decades ago.

Private companies investing in the plantation programmes have resulted to looking for quality seed from Zimbabwe, South Africa or through the two countries for mainly Eucalyptus seed and to a small extent cypress and pine species.

3.5 Threats to FGR, Protection and Conservation

As stated earlier, forests and woodlands in the E/SA region continue to be over-cut and degraded as people struggle to earn their living, and to settle the ever growing population. The governments in the region have not been able to mitigate the rate of loss of forests and degradation since they have lacked the capacity to provide alternative means of sustaining livelihood of its citizens. In some countries it is clear that the political goodwill to protect the remaining forest resource is lacking.

The huge tracts of dry forests and woodlands common to many of the E/SA countries have been reserved for the development of tourism industry as an alternative source of revenue for the countries. With the present weak economy, it would be difficult for E/SA countries to avail funds to ensure sustainable conservation of natural forests and woodlands outside forest protected areas. It is inevitable, therefore, that the best option for now would be to support the continued protection of the wildlife national parks which has a high potential of providing conservation of forest and tree gene pools mostly under threats outside protected areas.

3.6 Advances in Forest Biotechnologies

Use of molecular markers in genetic diversity studies and vegetative propagation of trees through tissue culture technologies have recently gained acceptance and use in a few countries in the region egg. Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The author has not come across any report of genetic modification of forest trees in the E/SA region. The public in the region is still wary of the involvement in GMOs by their countries.

Within the E/SA region, South Africa private forest companies, in collaboration with local universities, have developed through the traditional plant breeding technologies, hybrids of eucalyptus species for growing in more marginal/transitional rainfall areas. The companies are sharing the hybrid products with other regional countries egg. Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda. The more widely planted in the region is the E. grandis X E. camaldulensis hybrid from South Africa.

4.0 Operational and Organizational Issues

4.1 Training, Education and Extension

Of relevance to the present update, several universities and colleges in the countries of E/SA region have revised their curriculum to include teachings in agroforestry and biological diversity in Natural resources science. More multipurpose trees are needed for integration under the agroforestry farming systems and tree selection and trials have become an interesting entry in the teaching at the college and even lower learning levels.

Since September 1999 several Workshops/Courses have been held to enhance capacity on forest genetic resources in the region. More notable includes:

4.2 Information Management and Dissemination

Information sharing and dissemination remains a big challenge to the regional countries. Even within countries dissemination of information is inadequate. This is largely due to poor regional linkage, low capacity and inadequate facilities to document salient information and to enable acquisition of modern equipment for efficient IT communication.

Recently efforts have been made to forge formal linkages through networks but their operational levels have remained low due to inadequate funding even for small activities. Among the efforts made to improve information sharing and dissemination are:

4.3 Seed Certification and registration

Almost all countries in the E/SA have Tree Seed Centres but at variable size and operational levels. National tree seed regulations with legislative, registration and certification support mechanisms are strong in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. These three countries also have higher capacities for export and trade in tree seed and have national focal Authorities that provide the International Seed Test Association (ISTA) certificates.

The other countries in the E/SA region also have internal regulative mechanisms that operate mostly through the agricultural seed crop controls and through the national relevant line ministries. These later countries have low capacities for international export/import and trade in tree seed.

4.4 Financial Scenarios and Sources of Funding

The most important funding in the region that touches closely to the requirements of FGR is the UNEP/UNDP/GEF Biodiversity Projects Funding. Countries in the region have small relevant activities (research, seed centres, conservation) with FGR concerns funded by UNDP, DANIDA, UNEP, SIDA, GTZ, EU etc. Major funding directed specifically to sustainable conservation and use of forest genetic resources are rare but this requirement is partly addressed within the framework of biodiversity conservation projects.

Generally funding to the forest sector in E/SA regions has gone low during the last half decade or so.

4.5 Development of Regional and International Cooperation

5.0 Recommendations on Priority Tree Species and Activities

5.1 Top Priority Tree Species for Attention of the FAO’s Forest Department

Based on results of the Nairobi FGR Training Workshop of December 1999, the Arusha-SADC FGR Plan of Action meeting of June 2000, reports by regional participants of the meetings, reports by Kigomo on the Sub-region, and consultations with several regional forest experts, a priority tree species list was produced for the attention of the FAO - Forest Department. Also consulted is the report of the 11th Meeting of the Panel of Experts on FGR in September 1999. All these meetings and reports came up with priority tree species for attention and actions.

Fig.1. Countries of the Eastern and Southern Africa Eco-Region.

(deleted from this file to save space)

Table 1: Eastern and Southern Africa (E/SA) Land and Forest Resources

Country

Land area (‘000 ha)

Total Population 1999 (‘000)

Total Forest area - 2000 (‘000)

Percentage of land area (%)

Area per capita (ha)

Angola

124,670

12,479

69,756

56.0

5.6

Botswana

56,673

1,597

12,427

21.9

7.8

Burundi

2,568

6,565

94

3.7

n.s.

Djibouti

2,318

629

6

0.3

n.s.

Eritrea

11,759

3,719

1,585

13.5

0.4

Ethiopia

110,430

61,095

4,593

4.2

0.1

Kenya

56,914

29,549

17,096

30.0

0.6

Lesotho

3,035

2,108

14

0.5

n.s.

Madagascar

58,154

15,497

11,727

20.2

0.8

Malawi

9,408

10,640

2,562

27.2

0.2

Mauritius

203

1,150

16

7.9

n.s.

Mozambique

78,409

19,286

30,601

39.0

1.6

Namibia

82,329

1,695

8,040

9.8

4.7

Rwanda

2,467

7,235

307

12.4

n.s.

Somalia

62,734

9,672

7,515

12.0

0.8

South Africa

121,758

39,900

8,917

7.3

0.2

Sudan

237,600

28,883

61,627

25.9

2.1

Swaziland

1,720

980

522

30.3

0.5

Uganda

19,965

21,143

4,190

21.0

0.2

United Rep. of Tanzania

88,359

32,793

38,811

43.9

1.2

Zambia

74,339

8,976

31,246

42.0

3.5

Zimbabwe

38,685

11,529

19,040

49.2

1.7

Total E/SA Region

1,244,497

327,120

330,692

21.7

1.5

Source: FAO, 2001, State of the World’s Forest

Table 2: Status of Ratification of International Conventions/Agreements by E/SA Countries

Country

Convention on Biological Diversity

FCCC

Kyoto Protocol (of FCCC)

Convention to Combat Desertification

CITES

Ramsar Convention

World Heritage Convention

(IITO Members) 1994 Agreement

Angola

X

X

-

X

-

-

X

-

Botswana

X

X

-

X

X

X

X

-

Burundi

X

X

-

X

X

-

-

-

Djibouti

X

X

-

X

X

-

-

-

Eritrea

X

X

-

X

X

-

-

-

Ethiopia

X

X

-

X

X

-

X

-

Kenya

X

X

-

X

X

X

X

-

Lesotho

X

X

-

X

-

-

-

-

Madagascar

X

X

-

X

X

X

X

-

Malawi

X

X

-

X

X

X

X

-

Mauritius

X

X

-

X

X

-

-

-

Mozambique

X

X

-

X

X

-

X

-

Namibia

X

X

-

X

X

X

X

-

Rwanda

X

X

-

X

X

-

-

-

Somalia

X

-

-

-

X

-

-

-

South Africa

X

X

-

X

X

X

X

-

Sudan

X

X

-

X

X

-

X

-

Swaziland

X

X

-

X

X

-

-

-

Uganda

X

X

-

X

X

X

X

-

Tanzania

X

X

-

X

X

X

X

-

Zambia

X

X

S

X

X

X

X

-

Zimbabwe

X

X

-

X

X

-

X

-

Source: FAO, 2001, State of the World’s Forests

6.0 References

Eyog-Matig, O., Kigomo B.N., Boffa, J.M. 2000. Recent Research and Development in FGR: Proc. of the Training Workshop on Conservation and Sustainable use of FGR in Eastern and Southern Africa, 6-11 December 1999, Nairobi, Kenya. IPGRI/draft form.

FAO. June 2000. State of Forest Genetic Resources in Sahelian and North- Sudania Africa and Sub-regional Action Plan. FD - Working Paper FGR/2E/FAO, Rome.

FAO. 2000. Report of the Eleventh Session of the FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources. Rome, Italy 29 September - 1 October 1999.

FAO. 2000. The World’s Forests in 2000. FAO, Rome.

FAO. 2001.State of the World’s Forests. FAO, Rome.

FAO. 2001. Guidelines for the preparation of regional documents by Panel members. Secretariat, Panel of Experts on FGR. FD-FAO, Rome.

Kigomo, B.N. 1998. Support to preparation for Sub-regional workshop on the "Conservation Management, Sustainable Utilization and Enhancement of Forest Genetic Resources in Sub-Saharan Dry Zone Africa". A report of a mission to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Sunda. FAO, Rome.

Pierre Sigaud and J. Luhanga. 2000. SADC Sub-Regional Workshop on Forest and Tree Genetic Resources. FAO, Rome/SADC, Gaborone, Botswana


[13] Original language: English

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