Day 2, Session 5: The role of tenure and governance in climate change mitigation and adaptation Presentation by Fobissie Kalame - CIFOR-Burkina Faso

1. What Matters for Adaptation:
Forest Access or Ownership?
Fobissie Kalame
Johnson Nkem
Center for International Forestry Research
Forest Tenure, Governance and Enterprise: New Opportunities for Central & West Africa
Yaoundé, Cameroon May 25-29, 2009

2. Forest policies in West Africa & CC adaptation…
• Forest Ecosystems (FE) provide goods & services used by
communities to adapt to impacts of CC (forest for adaptation)
but are themselves (FE) vulnerable & need also to adapt as
well (adaptation for forests)
• Forest policies & governance determine access & ownership
of forest resources that can support or hinder adaptation of
communities & FE in WA.
• CC objective is lacking in existing forest policies in WA
• If effectively implemented, some elements of forest policies in
WA can help forest at some locations adapt to climatic
disturbances (Kalame et al. 2009)

3. Access to forest resources for adaptation…
Climate
change
Conditionality:
- -human activities are
Nonclimatic impacted by cc
drivers
-these activities are not
Crops always adaptation actions in
-
+ all circumstances
Forest systems
manag’t
practices - Firewood +
exploittn
+ NWFP
-/+
-/+
Forest Livestock
ecosystems -/+
fodder
-/+
-/+ Constructio
n materials
Policy instrum’ts
& calibration

4. Current characteristics of adaptation, forest access &
ownership…
Adaptation to CC Access to forest Ownership of forest
resources resources
Temporal scale Address immediate Address immediate Stagnant or very slow legal
adaptation needs while household needs of NTFPs & policy shift to local forest
planning for medium & for either subsistence or ownership
long-term responses e.g. income generation
NAPA of Burkina Faso &
Mali, national adaptation
action plan of Ghana
Forest resources type Both low & high economic Less complicated local Firm grip, control or
value resources are access to low / ownership by governments
important for adaptation undocumented financial on income generating
but depends on the value resources such as resources such as timber &
resource location most NTFPs. Weak / game in Ghana, and
absence but increasingly firewood in Burkina Faso
growing recognition of
policy objectives and
programmes on NTFPs
Forest resource governance Decentralised structures Forest access mostly Decentralisation, an
involved in the controlled by staff from the opportunity to enhance
implementation of ministry incharge of local forest ownership
adaptation actions e.g. DA forestry
in Ghana and CVD/Mayors
in Burkina Faso

5. “Supportive nonclimatic policies” OR “potential planned
adaptation strategy”?
Elements of an adaptation Modified Taungya System Organized commercial firewood
strategy (Ghana) exploitation (BF)
Clear CC policy objective No, but is part of existing forest No, but is part of existing forest
policy programme policy programme
Reduce vulnerability & increase Yes (fight drought & Yes (fight drought & desertification)
adaptability to CC desertification)
Long-term Yes (25 yrs) Yes (rotational 15 yrs)
Short, medium & long-term benefits Yes but unclear medium term Yes
benefits
Inclusionary, participatory & yes yes
develop’t goals independent of CC
Cost effective Yes, benefit out ways cost Yes, benefit out ways cost
Non-financial benefits Yes (land rehabilitation, household Yes (prevent forest degradation,
food production) household NTFP extraction)
Support other conventions Partially (support desertification Yes (desertification & biodiversity)
control but not biodiversity
promotion)
Monitoring & improvement Yes but still challenging Yes but in effective in practice

6. Conclusion
• Although they are both important, neither forest access nor ownership is a
silver bullet solution for increasing the adaptation of socio-ecological
systems.
• Considering a suite of FEGS under a specific governance context, forest
resource types, locations and temporal scales can help forest-related
decision making on adaptation planning.
• Finding the right incentives for forest policy and governance reforms for
promoting adaptation requires flexibility rather than steadfastness on only one
type of reform.
• Focusing on access to resources could pay more dividends in the short and
medium term for adaptation, meanwhile, ownership of resources could
provide the leverage for sustainability of the adaptation actions in the long
term and to future
climate scenarios.

7. Acknowledgement
•Stakeholders
•EU for funding
•Partners and collaborators
•Colleagues & Students

8. Thank you
Center for International Forestry Research
www.cifor.cgiar.org