Co-benefits Initiative Zambian Experience

1. Co-benefits InitiativeZambian Experience Presented by: Davies Kashole Forestry Extension Officer Forestry Department Zambia

2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION • Background • Major Uses of Forest in Zambia • Challenges of Forest Management • Required Co-Benefits • Joint Forest Management • Lessons Learned • Conclusion

3. Background • Zambia surface land area is 752,614Km2 • Forests cover about 49.9 million ha (66% of land cover), • The forest vegetation type is mainly Miombo (Semi-evergreen forests); Baikiaea, Munga, Mopane, Kalahari woodlands (Deciduous Forests), Ripian, Swap, Parinari, Itigi, Lake basin Chipya (Evergreen forests), Termitary associated bushes (Shrub thickets), grasslands, wooded grasslands. • Plantations cover about 61,000 ha (7,000 ha under the Forestry Department and 50,000 ha under ZAFFICO, the rest by communities, farmers, schools etc.) • Growing stock = 2.9 billion m3, national biomass (below and above)= 5.6 billion tonnes & 434 million tonnes as dead wood biomass. TOTAL: 6 billion tonnes (ILUA 2008). • About 2.8 billion tonnes of carbon stored in forests

4. Major Uses of Forests in Zambia • The major uses and products from the forests are: • Wood products: e.g. poles, timber, firewood, charcoal • Non-wood forest products: e.g. honey, fruits, mushrooms • Environmental services: Protection of water catchment areas, soil erosion control, cultural and traditions, carbon storage and sequestration

5. Major Uses of Forest in Zambia Cont’d (d) Offer employment opportunities in forest enterprises (e) Business opportunities for household income generation

6. Challenges of Forest Management • The major problem is deforestation and forest degradation, which are caused by various factors: • Expansion of agricultural fields • Unsustainable fuel wood collection (charcoal production, and commercial firewood) • Uncontrolled forest fires • Over-exploitation of timber • Infrastructure development • Encroachment on forests and unplanned settlements • In adequate coordination in land-use planning and management

7. Agricultural Expansion Mining and Mineral Exploration Settlement (In-Migrations) Infrastructure Development Forest Production (Livelihood) Natural Disasters (Flooding) Challenges of Forest Management Cont’d

8. Required Co-benefits • Forests are the lungs of our planet, and if managed sustainably, hold the potential to provide subsistence for a huge proportion of world’s population, whilst averting future climate calamity in their capacity as vital carbon store and sink. • The services and products that forests provide to local communities are the obvious benefits to local communities. • Include conservation of forest biodiversity and maintenance of ecosystem services -

9. Required Co-benefits Cont’d • However, we need to promote benefits that add value in order to ensure biodiversity management: • Local communities being able to make and influence decisions in forest resource management • Revenue generated to contribute to local level development, supporting rural health centres, schools, feeder roads etc • Investments in value addition, e.g., small-scale forest enterprise development.

10. Joint Forest Management • The Zambian version of JFM is not one which aims at rehabilitation, but sustainable forest management. • Involves: • Developing local-level forest management structures (Forest Management Committees) • Developing management plans as a guide to land use and natural resource management • The plan, once approved, is then implemented • Promote enterprise and income generating activities

11. Lessons Learnt • In order to deal with benefits, there is a need to identify drivers of deforestation. • In Zambia, expansion of agricultural fields poses a challenge. • Defining an appropriate benefit-sharing mechanism is an incentive that can help sustainable forest management. • The definition JFM should not centre on a simple description of adjacent communities, but a broader land-use management approach. • It should be clear that there are benefits to accrue for communities and those for the resources (biodiversity). • Biodiversity can be well managed if the communities are able to improve their livelihoods.

12. Conclusion • For co-benefits to be promoted, there is a need to address the needs of local communities. • Government is now implementing REDD+ readiness and ILUA programs to help enhance co-benefits. • The potential of REDD+ to achieve multiple social and environmental benefits also bears the risk of causing social and environmental harm if the REDD+ programs are designed with a focus on emission reduction objectives only. • Zambia’s REDD+ Programme will focus on the possible institutional and governance structures that could facilitate attaining co-benefits and respecting safeguards.

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