2. Background:
The Sustainable and Thriving Environments for West
African Regional Development (STEWARD) program
is dedicated to empowering communities to adopt and
maintain sustainable livelihoods and natural resource
management to ensure improved health and well-being.
Initiated in 2007, the program is implemented by six
collaborating partners and supported by The United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) and the
United States Forest Service / International Programs
(USFS/IP).
3. Biodiversity
Climate Change
Adaptation
Biodiverse ecosystems
conserved in target
areas
Resilience to projected
adverse effects
of climate change
improved in target areas
Working within four specific targets areas, the
STEWARD program aims to...
Harmonize forest, wildlife & conservation policies
Promote management of natural resources
Develop and promote alternative & sustainable livelihoods
Build capacity & transfer knowledge at all levels
Climate Change
Mitigation
Water, Sanitation
& Hygiene
Greenhouse gas
emissions reduced in
target areas
(WASH) Access to
adequate supplies of
clean water improved in
target areas
4. Addressing Issues of Regional & Global
Significance:
The Upper Guinean Tropical Forest ecosystem is one of
West Africa’s eight major biomes and ranks high globally
for both plant species diversity and endemism. It is believed
that one quarter of the estimated 9,000 species of vascular
plants is endemic.
This forest is now highly degraded, due to the dramatic
encroachment by expanding human activities and
fragmentation that has reduced the forest to approximately
10 percent of its original 1,265,000 sq. km area. What
forest remains is severely threatened by continued use of
unsustainable land use practices, mining and other
pressures.
5. Priority Zone 1:
Sierra Leone & Guinea (Outamba-Kilimi
National Park, Madina Oula, Soya &
Oure Kaba sub prefectures)
Priority Zone 2:
Guinea, Ivory Coast & Liberia
(Mount Nimba & East Nimba
Nature Preserve)
Transboundary Teamwork:
The Upper Guinean Tropical Forest spans across four
countries: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast. In
order to ensure the resilience of both the ecosystem and
the residents, transboundary collaboration is crucial.
6. Priority Zone 1:
Sierra Leone & Guinea
The Outamba-Kilimi Park is located at the northern
border of Sierra Leone. With a diverse landscape,
this park is home to large numbers of fauna and
flora, supporting at least nine species of primates,
220 species of birds, and a sampling of large
mammals such as the leopard and forest elephant.
To provide for their livelihoods and income needs,
many people in the region have resorted to
unsustainable, and sometimes illegal, practices
such as poaching, bushmeat trade and logging.
Unsustainable agricultural practices threaten the
natural environment as well as the longer term
livelihoods of the people.
7. The STEWARD program, through its implementing
partners, CARE, Bioclimate & Thomson Reuters:
Promotes conservation agriculture & best practices
Strengthens forest management of existing forests &
establishes new ones
Develops sustainable value chains for selected
non-timber forest products
Establishes and supports Village Savings & Loan
Associations to promote the development of
alternative livelihoods
Trains communities in monitoring of biodiversity &
carbon stocks
Quantifies current carbon stocks in the project area
Trains local institutions on water catchment
management & forest restoration around water points
Builds capacity for alternative livelihoods, for example
beekeeping
Trains community members in property rights mapping
& documentation
8. Priority Zone 2:
Guinea, Ivory Coast & Liberia
Rising above the savannahs and covered in dense
forests, Mount Nimba (and its surrounding
mountains) contains some of the greatest
biodiversity in the West African region due to
its unique geographical and climatic location.
This area is also rich in iron ore and has
several large mining operations as a result.
Poaching, unsustainable agricultural
practices, bush fires, as well as overhunting of
certain species for both commercial and subsistence use, threaten the very existence of
this important ecosystem and carbon sink.
9. The STEWARD program, through its implementing
partners, AUDER, FFI & Thomson Reuters:
Promotes combined rice/fish production through the
development & improvement of fish ponds
Promotes agro-forestry through training & provision of planting
material from villages nurseries
Strengthens forest management through support for forest
management committees
Trains communities in property rights mapping and documentation
Helps the governments of Liberia, Guinea & Cote d’Ivoire in the
joint management & development of the Nimba mountains through
a Tripartite Platform for its transboundary governance
Region-Wide Initiatives
Regional Policies
Harmonizing and improving policy and legal frameworks
for natural resources management, biodiversity
conservation and climate change within the Mano River
Union (MRU) Member States.
Communications for Development
Increasing knowledge and changing attitudes and
behaviors regarding natural resource management through
a comprehensive Communications for Behavior Change
program, implemented by STEWARD program partner, PCI
Media Impact.
10. Planned Activities:
Conduct a comprehensive review of regional policies and
legislation with respect to natural resources management,
biodiversity conservation & climate change & develop a
clear road map for their harmonization & improvement
Assist in the development & implementation of forest
management plans on community lands to promote
biodiversity conservation
Improve the capacity of forest-dependent communities &
institutions to mitigate & adapt to the adverse effects of
climate change
Promote sustainable livelihoods in communities adjacent
to forests & within buffer zones around protected areas
11. Develop climate-resilient Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
(WASH) systems & services for rural populations
Monitor program impact on land use & land cover change
using remote sensing and satellite image analyses
Develop viable Payment for Ecosystem Service (PES)
models including carbon financing
Develop viable & sustainable Non-Timber Forest
Products value chains
Launch a strategic communications program
incorporating a 52-episode Entertainment-Education
radio drama (in French, Krio, Susu & Liberian English),
call-in shows and community mobilization campaigns
12. All activities under the STEWARD program are
coordinated by the USFS/IP through their
program office in Freetown and are supported
by USAID/West Africa, implementing
partners, national governments, and other
relevant stakeholders.
For more information:
stewardprogram.org
info@stewardprogram.com
