Stocktaking Project: Creation of 'State-of-the-Art' CBNRM Profiles for SADC Countries 

1.0        BACKGROUND

In October, 2008, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded WWF a cooperative agreement through the Leader With Associates funding mechanism for implementation of the Conservation Partnerships for Sustainability in Southern Africa (COPASSA) Project.  The primary function of the COPASSA Project is to promote CBNRM as an appropriate conservation/ development strategy by strengthening networks of CBNRM[1] service providers across Southern Africa.  This award is building upon more than two decades of USAID support and over $250 million[2] in CBNRM and biodiversity conservation investments in Southern Africa. 

CBNRM is an incentive-based conservation philosophy that links conservation of natural resources with rural development and improved rural livelihoods.  The basic hypothesis within the southern Africa CBNRM program is that “for a community to manage its natural resource base sustainably it must receive direct benefits arising from its use.  These benefits must exceed the perceived costs of managing the resources.”[3] This hypothesis has three conceptual foundations: 1) economic value, giving a resource such as wildlife, a focused value that can be realized by the community or land owner; 2) devolution, emphasizing the need to devolve management decisions from the government to the community or local land users in order to create positive conditions for sustainable wildlife management; and 3) collective proprietorship, whereby a group of people are jointly given use rights over resources, which they are then able to manage according to their own rules and strategies. 

The Zimbabwe Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) and the Zambia Administrative Management Design Program for Game Management Areas (ADMADE) were the initial forerunners of CBNRM in southern Africa, with both commencing in the 1980s.  The Botswana National CBNRM Program was initiated in the early 1990s, while the Namibia National CBNRM Program was commenced 1993 through the USAID-funded Living In A Finite Environment (LIFE) Project.  USAID also supported CBNRM investments in Malawi through the COMPASS Project, providing substantial support through two funding phases.  More recently, embryonic CBNRM initiatives have been started in Mozambique and Tanzania, with both countries offering promising potential.

As a way to demonstrate the potential of CBNRM, CK2C will collaborate with the WWF and its COPASSA partners in conducting Stocktaking Assessments.  These Assessments will generate Country CBNRM Profiles for five to seven (depending on budget availability) SADC countries that are implementing CBNRM programs at scale.  This Assessment will focus on CBNRM impacts achieved in the subregion—regardless of source—and the lessons produced.  With an emphasis on impacts and lessons, it will be non-judgmental and will avoid identifying a project as “successful” or “unsuccessful”.  While the studies will describe the genesis and evolution of the country-specific programs, the main goals of the CK2C undertaking are to identify, analyze and assess the various initiatives and to identify opportunities and impediments to further expansion, adoption, and execution of CBNRM in each country The following Terms of Reference lay out the proposed approach, tasks, and deliverables that would be expected of Regional CBNRM specialists who would be contracted by the CK2C Project to assist country stakeholders in this stocktaking process.

2.0        APPROACH:

The objective of the planned stocktaking process will be to assist CBNRM Country Forums [4]to undertake a participatory review and analysis of their CBNRM Programs such that: a) the history of each country’s CBNRM Program is summarized (including the evolution of the working hypotheses that drove the various programs); b) the current scale of the CBNRM effort is quantified, to the extent feasible; c) the impacts of the program are captured; d) lessons learned are recognized; and e) the challenges and barriers to further advancement of CBNRM are identified and prioritized.  This participatory process is intended to assist CBNRM forums in targeted countries to take stock of the progress and impacts their CBNRM programs have made since initial program inception, while concomitantly catalyzing a national level dialogue on the identification and prioritization of challenges and opportunities currently confronting the program.  The resulting Profile will be a “snapshot” in time of each CBNRM Program providing a look at where the program is, from where it came, and to where it may go.

The compilation of the country reports will be consolidated to provide a regional analysis of CBNRM impacts, enabling conditions, strategies to produce the enabling conditions, and threats to the CBNRM approach.  In particular, analysts will compare and contrast experiences across the subregion to determine if there are universal principles for establishing and strengthening CBNRM and if there are common threats.  These assessments will not be judgmental but will focus on successes and best practices. These analyses should inform both national and subregional forums on mainstreaming CBNRM.  

The approach to initiating and implementing the CBNRM Country Profiles is as follows:

A.     The concept of the CBNRM Country Profile and its implementation approach and process are introduced to targeted CBNRM Country Forums by WWF through the COPASSA Project and the WWF Regional CBNRM Capacity-Building Project;

B.     If positively received, the CBNRM Country Forum in each of the targeted countries will help identify authoritative CBNRM Specialist(s) that can participate in the initiative through the CK2C project;

C.   At the same time, WWF and DAI will identify a lead CBNRM consultant to coordinate the entire effort, provide backstopping support to country consultants and facilitate the development of a regional CBNRM status report.

D.     The Country CBNRM Forum would bring together key CBNRM country stakeholders to introduce both the idea of the CBNRM Profile and the appointed CBNRM consultant(s);

E.     As one of several means to continue discussions and exchanges of information following the Assessments,  CK2C, WWF and the various CBNRM Forums will explore developing an on-line discussion group (or Community-of-Practice) through the FRAME website, which is managed by CK2C. We anticipate that this aspect of the initiative will continue beyond the term of this specific assignment and will be supported by CK2C.  

F.     The CBNRM Consultant(s) would collect key reports and papers and conduct a desktop study of the national CBNRM Program with an emphasis on the most relevant

G.    Following the desktop study, the lead CBNRM Consultant would supplement desktop study findings with consultative meetings with key CBNRM stakeholders.  The Consultant would use a customized questionnaire (same core questions for each country) to conduct interviews with stakeholders and document findings;

H.     GIS specialists will collect digital data so relevant CBNRM information and protected areas could can be mapped.  This process would be completed in tandem with the introduction and development of the Geospatial  mapping tool to assist CBNRM forums to create “virtual” visits to key CBNRM sites in their countries;

I.       Following preparation of a draft Profile report, the CBNRM Forum would share the draft with country stakeholders.  Approximately one-two weeks later, the CBNRM Forum would convene a meeting of the forum members and key CBNRM stakeholders to go through the profile to reach consensus on the content of the profile.  During this meeting, particular emphasis would be placed upon reaching consensus on CBNRM challenges, opportunities, and barriers and the prioritization of these.  A key activity in this process would be to guide the participants through the use of the CBNRM Policy Index tool, which would assist stakeholders in the identifying enabling environment challenges, bottlenecks, etc.;

J.      A final glossy report (inclusive of appropriate photos, charts, graphs, etc.) would be produced and submitted to the National CBNRM Forum, CK2C and COPASSA;

K.     Consolidate all profiles into one bound document for sharing at a regional CBNRM conference to be held at a later date.

3.0        SPECIFIC TASKS FOR THE GIS CONSULTANTS:

A lead GIS specialist, provided by DAI (CK2C Project) will work with local GIS consultants in each of the five countries.  The lead consultant will spend approximately 25 days (ideally, 5 days on/in each country) on the assignment while each of the local consultants will spend approximately 5 days on this work.  The consultant(s) would have the following specific tasks to perform:

3.1        GIS Specialist(s) (10 days in each country):

A.   Collect geo-spatial reference information on locations of CBNRM CBO units and protected area units (2 days);

B.   Prepare a national map of all CBNRM CBO units and protected areas (2 days);

C.   Summarize number of hectares encompassed by CBNRM CBO units and protected areas; and

D.   Work with National CBNRM Forum to develop “virtual” tour of CBO units, using the Google-Earth tool, inclusive of mini-profile of each CBO unit (6 days). These data and the geospatial tool will be linked to the FRAME website, which provides for public access.

4.0               DELIVERABLE PRODUCTS:

4.1        GIS Specialist(s):

A.      Map and digital coordinates of CBNRM CBO units, protected areas and natural resource assets; and

B.      Digital copy of National Virtual Tour of CBNRM CBOs and attendant CBO mini-profiles.

5.0        SCHEDULE:

The consultancies involved with the undertaking of the National CBNRM Profiles should be conducted over the period September 2009 – April 2010.

6.0               SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS:

The GIS Specialists will ideally be one person from within the country in which the CBNRM Profile is being undertaken and a second GIS specialist who is familiar with Internet mapping tools that facilitate sharing of spatial information. The local expert will be someone who can readily access digital geo-spatial information for the CBNRM CBO Units and the protected areas.  This person will be trained in the Google-Earth tool application by the international expert, so should have the knowledge and expertise that will lend him/her to training on this tool.