Overview of Integrated Landscape Land Use Planning

1. Overview of Integrated Landscape Land Use Planning Mike Chaveas, US Forest Service International Programs CARPE Inception Workshop Yaoundé, Cameroon February 8th, 2007

2. Overview of Integrated Landscape Land Use Planning • Evolution of the CARPE landscape approach • Reasons to Plan on Landscape scale • LUP in CARPE Context • Planning Concepts and Components • Zoning • Landscape and Macro-Zone Planning Guides • Role USFS Can Play

3. Evolution of the CARPE Landscape Approach • Desire to focus USAID conservation funding on priority regions • Areas of concern or high importance chosen to work on larger scale • However, focus of activities still heavily on Protected Areas • USFS was asked to assist with planning processes at the landscape scale

4. CARPE Results Framework: Reduce the rate of forest degradation and loss of biodiversity through increased local, national, and regional natural resource management capacity. • Intermediate Result 1 • Natural resources managed sustainably • Ind 1: Number of landscapes and other focal areas covered by integrated land use plans • Ind 2: Number of different use-zones (e.g., parks & PAs; CBNRM areas; forestry concessions; plantations) within landscapes with sustainable management plans

5. Why the USFS? • Manage ~90 million Hectares under a Multiple Use Mandate • Focus land use planning on landscape scale, working with local communities, conservation organizations and industry • Attempt to balance ecologic, social and economic needs • Individual and agency experience in the region, Africa and the world

6. Why Landscape Planning? • Address issues larger than any single protected area • Assess broader, wide-ranging trends, influences, and impacts and identify the appropriate management strategies • Considers ecological, social and economic aspects of conservation

7. Why Landscape Planning? • Broaden stakeholder involvement • Improve collaboration between multiple management authorities and other partners • Planning efficiency: planning cost/hectare and improved prioritization of use of limited resources.

8. Why Landscape Planning Now? • Concern timing is not appropriate • Management is Happening Now • Concessions being granted • Timber cut, oil and minerals extracted • Bushmeat being hunted • Land being cleared for agriculture • Stakeholders not properly represented • Planning can improve this management • Plan will not be perfect on first draft, but still useful

9. What a Landscape Plan Is Not • In CARPE context, not intended to achieve formal government designation or have landscape recognized as official unit of management

10. What a Landscape Plan Is • Establishes Goals, Objectives, Responsibilities and Priorities • Defines: • What you want the land to look like and what you want to get from it; • How you’ll work to get it that way; • Who will work get it that way; and • When they’d like to get it that way. • Identifies knowledge gaps and fills knowledge gaps • Monitoring tool for USAID/CARPE management

11. Landscape Planning in the CARPE Context • Plans demonstrate how CARPE implementing partners: • 1) assess and analyze issues, activities, resources and uses; • 2) identify current resource protection priorities and trends; • 3) consult, collaborate, and integrate stakeholders; and • 4) focus management activities to achieve desired conditions. • Plans serve as performance monitoring tools for CARPE management

12. Landscape Planning in the CARPE Context • CARPE implementing partners are not the land management authority, therefore to be effective must: • Form strong partnerships with government agencies • Work through consensus of local communities and other stakeholders • Form alliances with industry

13. Landscape Planning in the CARPE Context • CARPE landscape land use planning prioritizes three types of “macro-zones”: • Protected Areas (PA), • Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) zones, • Extractive Resource Zones (ERZ). • Macro-zone management plans incorporated into overarching Integrated Landscape Land Use Plan

14. CARPE Land Use Planning Guides Integrated Landscape Land Use Plan CBNRM Plan(s) ERZ Plan(s) Protected Area Plan(s) • Landscape level plan sets broad goals, objectives, • Macro-zone plans deal with management details • USFS produced guides • - Target audience • - Provides “Tasks” for completion • NGO approach will differ depending on presence of formal authority

15. Key Planning Concepts • Adaptive Management and Planning • Perfect Information Does Not Exist • Planning helps identify critical gaps • Prioritization of the Use of Limited Resources • Desired Condition Planning • Simplify, simplify, simplify

16. Key Plan Components • Desired Conditions • Objectives • Macro and Micro-zones • Guidelines • Implementation Schedules • Monitoring and Information Needs Assessment

17. Planning Constants • Prioritizing use of Resources • Clearly articulating goals • Identifying and engaging stakeholders

18. Zoning • Macro-Zones: • Delineated at Landscape planning level • Often already established (PAs, legal extraction concessions) • Refined at Macro-zone planning level • Macro-Zoning entire landscape? • Micro-Zones: • Delineated at level of PA, CBNRM and ERZ plans

19. Integrated Landscape Land Use Planning Guide • Landscape is a CARPE construct • Not intended to force recognition of landscape by national governments as a legal entity • Tool for implementing NGOs in planning their approach on landscape • Standardizes the process • Desired Conditions and Objectives set broad goals for NGOs operations across macro-zones in landscape.

20. Protected Area Planning Guide • Refining boundaries • Evaluating PA’s official status and management capacity of Gov authority • Describing Desired Conditions • Identifying management Objectives to achieve Desired Conditions • Defining Guidelines • Micro-zoning • Monitoring and Feedback

21. PA Planning Challenges and Lessons • Hesitant to embrace adaptive management • People in parks • Resource prioritization and partnerships • Tendency toward large descriptive documents

22. Micro-Zoning • Different management needs and objectives in different parts of macro-zone • Management actions should differ from rest of macro-zone to create a micro-zone • Entire macro-zone need not be micro-zoned • Fewer micro-zones is preferable

23. CBNRM Planning Guide • Assist in organization of communities to help them manage their resources • Identifying “communities” and prioritizing which to work with • Ensuring full participation/representation • Desired Conditions/Objectives of the community (may not match yours) • Micro-zoning based on needs of community • Guidelines

24. ERZ Planning Guide • Not creating a operational management plan • What to look for in a responsible timber or mining management plan • Partnership opportunities. Role of NGO may vary widely: • Assist with wildlife/habitat safeguards • Working with community stakeholders • Wider ranging environmental safeguards • Providing incentives for improved management • Plan to find your niche in the ERZ

25. How The USFS Can Assist • Guides • Technical assistance on planning as a whole or components of plans as process moves forward • Government to Government relations

26. Thank you for your attention!Questions / Discussion