Post on 11-May-2015
INTERESTS, PERCEPTIONS AND IDEAS: INSTITUTIONAL
FRAMEWORK FOR COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE
Samuel Munyua Kimani
IFRI/CRC -Kenya
Kenya Forestry Research Institute
What are weak or strong
a. Policies
b. Institutions?
Effects of decentralization and property reform policies on forest resources
Introduction
Forest conditions and human use of forests are largely determined by the local institutions
Globally, policy and legislation are important management instruments, which can impede or enhance the contribution of a forest resource to national development and sustainable livelihoods
Sustainable institutions are more often costly to create and maintain (Gibson et al., 2000)
Forest excisions and illegal encroachment have led to reduction of forest cover by 4% annually
Objectives
To understand the link between forest condition and the institutions,
To establish the relationship between institutions (political, research and local grassroots) and climate change, and
To analyze institutions interests, perceptions and ideas in natural forest conservation, and in combating climate change.
Study area
Location of Kakamega (A) Arabuko Sokoke (B) Forests and Kenya (C)
Forest Condition and Institutions Kakamega forest is largely a
secondary forest with the original species composition having been cut.
The forest is an ideal example of a forest showing the possibility of artificial regeneration of a forest that indeed mimics a natural condition.
The forest has three distinct canopy layers i.e.
upper storey with an average height of btwn 30 and 50 m
middle storey with an average height of btwn 15 and 30 m and
lower storey with an average height of 10 m high
Arabuko sokoke forest supports remarkable biodiversity that includes endemic and endangered flora and fauna.
It comprises of three distinct vegetation types i.e. mixed forest, Brachystegia sp and Cynometra sp
About 20% of Kenya's bird species of which six are endangered and two of which are endemic
Close to 30% of Kenya’s butterflies have also been recorded in this forest.
These high proportions of endemic bird species, some only known from this forest, make Arabuko Sokoke forest an important endemic bird area in the entire East African coast.
Institutions involved in management/use of Arabuko Sokoke forest
Institutions involved in management/use of Kakamega forest
Relationship between institutions and climate change
In both forest as shown in the Figures 2 and 3 respectively, all the organizations are interlinked through various forms such as collaboration, information sharing, funding, etc.
The circles represent the different stakeholders involved in the use and management of the forest.
The size of the circle depicts the magnitude of the role the stakeholder plays in the management of the forest.
The bigger the circle, the bigger the role played by the particular stakeholder.
The distance of the circle from the forest also indicates the strength of the stakeholder in decision making on forest management.
Institutional Analysis in combating/ adapting to climate change
The IAD Interrelations Framework (Source - Ostrom, et al. 1994)
Research institutions have interests in improving the management of flora and fauna in and around both forests. Their ideas are translated to the local grassroots’ institutions by capacity building and awareness creation through workshops and seminars, co-ordination, technical advice and information sharing. Their perceptions is that the community are better managers of natural resources and jointly plan and implement conservation and management activities towards realizing the stakeholder vision for the forest to remain intact and fully functioning.
The political institutions is interested in restoring degraded habitats through seeking substitutes to forest products such as agro forestry, tree planting, carrying out forest enrichment. However, through teamwork their idea is to allocate different duties to various organizations in line with the government strategic plan. Their perception is that they will mitigate causes of poverty among forest adjacent communities through promoting non consumptive and non destructive use of the forest (bee keeping and butterfly farming), promoting diversification of activities to reduce dependence on the forest and involving local communities in other forest centered activities such as ecotourism and butterfly farming.
The grassroots’ institutions are interested in sustainable resource use with high turnover equivalent to the time they spend in conserving the forest. Their perception is that forest products are free goods and there should be unrestricted access and liberty of making rules that will bend low down towards their expectations. Their idea is to have opportunities to participate in meaningful ways in the management of the forest and as primary beneficiaries of its products and services among other functions. This in essence works towards save guiding the forest resource base by the communities for their own use and as carbon stock and flat forms for carbon sinks, thus enhancing mitigating impacts of climate change.
Frequency Distribution of Different Classes of Combating/Adaptation Practices
Class of Combating/ Adapting to climate change
Corresponding Combating strategies
Frequency* Kakamega Arabuko
Mobility
1. Development projects 2. Wage labour migration 3. Involuntary migration 4. Remittances (joint with exchange)
2 4
Storage
1. Water storage 2. Food storage (crops, seeds, forest products) 3.Animal/live storage 4. Pest control
11 13
Diversification
1. Asset portfolio diversification 2.Skills and occupational training 3.Occupational diversification 4. Crop choices 5. Production technologies 6. Consumption choices 7. Animal breeding
33 27
Communal pooling
1. Forestry 2. Infrastructure development 3. Information gathering 4. Disaster preparation
16 29
Exchange
1. Improved market access 2.Insurance provision 3. New product sales 4. Seeds, animal, and other input purchases; remittances (joint with mobility)
1 13
The flow and linkage of institutions and linkages
Conclusion A combination of political and research institutions enhance
local communities adaptation strategies by providing proven techniques and expertise and this add value to particularly, diversification and communal pooling adaptation
Despite the critical importance of local institutions in shaping adaptive responses to climate change, existing work on research and policy regulations focuses primarily on technological, infrastructure, embankments, dams, flood proof buildings, and provision of new crops as alternative options.
However, even with the efforts by both political, research and local institutions, a number of institutional obstacles such as social resistance to change, weak governance, ineffective institutional arrangements and lack of information on key vulnerability indicators remain a challenge.
General recommendations
A greater role for institutional partnerships in facilitating adaptation to climate change is needed
Before providing resources and external support, the role of local institutions and their linkages must be understood
Institutional coordination across scales, for better planning and implementation must be improved
An adaptive perspective on institutional development must be adopted
“Once climate change rolls over you, if you're not part of the
steamroller, you're part of the road.”
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
Special thanks to AFRICA ADAPT NETWORK
Director KEFRI