CIFOR scientist Robert Nasi gave this presentation on 8 September 2012 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju, South Korea, during a session co-hosted by CIFOR titled ‘Managing wild species and systems for food security’.

1. Can we manage for timber and
biodiversity in the Congo Basin?
Workshop “Managing wild species and
systems for food security”
Robert Nasi
World Conservation Congress, Jeju, 08/09/2012
THINKING beyond the canopy

2. Logging concessions,
management and biodiversity
THINKING beyond the canopy

3. Land use km2
“Ordinary lands” 448,801
Logging concessions 595.381
Community forests ≈ 11.000
Protected areas 444,973
Designated for Designated for
Land
protection logging
Area Area
Countries Area (km2) % %
(km2) (km2)
Cameroon 465,445 37,450 8.05 60,935 13.09
Central African Republic 620,152 76,743 12.37 34,293 5.53
Congo 342,766 35,993 10.50 147,127 42.93
Democratic Rep. of Congo 2,328,225 261,063 11.21 248,276 10.66
Equatorial Guinea 26,730 5,104 19.09 14,375 42.93
Gabon 262,538 28,620 10.96 90,375 34.60
CONGO BASIN 4,045,856 444,973 11.00 595,381 14.72
Source: Nasi et al, 2011 THINKING beyond the canopy

4. Selective logging in the Congo
Basin
 Timber remains the sole managed commodity
 Highly selective, few individuals (less than 2) of few
commercial species (less than 5) represent more than
75% of the volume harvested (less than 10m3/ha)
 Rotation cycles of about 25-30 years; Minimum cutting
diameter rules; No post-harvest silviculture
 The area under proper management and certification is
increasing:
Year 1995 2008
Managed 0 11.3 M ha
Certified 0 >3 M ha
Managed in prep. 0 21.4 M ha
Nasi et al. 2006; OFAC, State of Forest 2008 THINKING beyond the canopy

5. Harvesting intensity and residual stands
30
Area impacted (%)
20
Nasi & Forni, 2006
10
0 Rsq = 0.9427
0 1 2 3 4 5
Number of trees harvested/ha
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6. Impact of certification on harvest intensity
Certified concessions
have a significantly
reduced harvesting
intensity
Cerutti et al. 2011
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7. Pro-biodiversity activities in logging
concessions
Graphique sym étrique
More Biodiversity
(axes F1 et F2 : 54.36 %)
- activities
Actions concrètes + ++
Only certified
1.
5
Sust. Mangt en cours under way
Aménagement Plan Basic
concessions intentions,
Pas encore
Limited results
de résultats
show significant 1
Activities limited to
legal requirement
activities in favor 2
23
Limited results
of biodiversity
More problems
12
0.
5 6
-
expressed
3 20
International
Difficultés rencontrées
4 5
8 Certified
21 With Plan
Aménagé
F2 (10.12 %)
0
No methods 7 10
-No méthodes
Ni les capacities Indépendant 14 Groupe
Limited activities
- Ni les capacités
actuellement 11 C ertifié
-0 .
5
- Malgré 9 1
quelques actions 13
Motivated - Vise la certification
CEO and
+
- Souhaite maintenir
26 some staffses efforts
Non aménagé
Long term-exploitéees
efforts
> 30 essences
22
No Plan Effective field activities
-1
++
-1.
5
-1.
5 -1 -0 .
5 0 0.
5 1 1.
5
Billand et al. 2009 F1 (44.24 %)
Vari bl s supp.
a e Observati ns
o THINKING beyond the canopy

8. Managing for timber and
wildlife
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9. Bushmeat hunting
in Congo Basin
 Estimates of the value of the
bushmeat trade range from US$42
to US$205 million per year in
West-Central Africa.
 Current harvest in Central Africa
alone may well be in excess of 5
million tons annually, could
represent more than 20 million ha
deforested for pasture!
 30 to 80% of the protein intake of
many rural populations
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10. Barriers and solutions
Main barriers Specific solutions
Sensitisation at the level of elites
Bad governance, influence of Strenghthen local governance
elites and corruption
Strengthen law enforcement capacity
Create incentives to encourage the pricvate
Lack of motivation from sector to engage in taking wildlife into
small or economically account
unstable logging companies Strengthen technical capacities at the level of
national services and the private sector
Unclear definition of
Clarify and formalize roles and
responsabilities among
responsabilities
stakeholders
(TRAFFIC workshop, Libreville, June 2010)
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11. Barriers and solutions
Main barriers Specific solutions
Allocation of a specific budget for wildlife
isssues
Additional costs are incurred Logging revenus (taxes etc..) should also be
to consider wildlife in allocated to support wildlife management
management efforts
Partnerships among stakeholders are crucial
External funding is needed
High demand of bushmeat Sensitization of urban consumers
from external urban areas
and little control/knowledge Better knowledge of the market chain
about the market chain
Lack of largely validated
Develop research and coordinate the
scientific methods and
validation of monitoring methods
protocols to monitor wildlife
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12. Beyond boundaries:
Landscape scale considerations
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13. Why a landscape approach?
 High mobility of wildlife (migration, dispersal, extensive
territories…)
 Conserving protected areas alone will not be enough to
conserve large sized/highly mobile species with huge
ranges (e.g. elephants) or locally rare plant species
 The contribution of production forests to biodiversity
conservation is increasingly recognized (e.g. North Congo where
gorilla densities are higher in logging concessions than in the neighbouring
national park)
THINKING beyond the canopy

14. Protected areas and logging
concessions : surprisingly
close neighbors
OFAC, State of Forest 2008
THINKING beyond the canopy

15. Parks, Concessions, Hunting areas : where are flagship species ?
Some surprising assessments
National Parks
Logging Concessions
Hunting areas
Number of ape nests/km2
OFAC, State of Forest 2008
THINKING beyond the canopy

16. Integrated
production /
conservation territory
 Combine (at least) two major land
use types (e.g. a logging
concession and a protected area)
 with community-based managed
areas
 in one land-use management unit
that could become an integrated
production/conservation landscape
Billand & Nasi 2006 THINKING beyond the canopy

17. Environmental
services
Urban, social space
Local incomes
Agro‐
Certified Protected industry Taxes, fiscal
logging Area revenues
concession
Sustain rural
Mixed area : protected area and Hunting, population
conservation enterprise Gathering,
Informal
Community Municipal sectors
Billand & Nasi 2006
forest forest
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18. Basic rules
 Realize the economic potential of the
conservation side
 Manage informal sectors like hunting, fishing or
NTFP extraction for local livelihoods
 Use part of the income generated by the
industrial production side for the conservation
area for reciprocal benefits
 Foster certification (not limited to timber
considerations)
THINKING beyond the canopy

19. Enabling conditions
 Starting funds are needed to cover initial transaction
costs
 The willingness of the production sector to engage
into certification or other biodiversity friendly practices
 The willingness of the conservation community to
collaborate, share experiences and support the
private sector in integrating conservation concerns in
management practices
 A proactive political support (creating specific land-
use units with specific instances for decision making)
or, at least, neutral (no undue interference from the
State).
THINKING beyond the canopy

20. The Congo Basin has identified 12 Landscapes designed for shared
production and conservation management of forests
Actors (public,
private sectors)
are aware about
the necessity to
improve
collaboration for
concerted or
integrated
management
But experiences
at field level
remain limited
Source : Carpe THINKING beyond the canopy

21. THINKING beyond the canopy

22. To conclude…
We believe that management for both
timber and biodiversity is possible in the
Congo but it requires new thinking in
terms of land-use types and stronger
private–public partnerships associating
production and conservation parts of the
landscape and a renewed long-term
support from the international donor
community.
Nasi, R., et al. Managing for timber and biodiversity in the
Congo Basin. Forest Ecol. Manage. (2011), doi:10.1016/
j.foreco.2011.04.005
THINKING beyond the canopy

23. Please visit us at www.cifor.org
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