Guidelines

Proposed Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment in Community Forestry

Goal

The goal of these guidelines is to assist local communities and NGOs in drafting Simple Forest Management Plans with the inclusion of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This will allow them to make a proper evaluation of the impacts of the community forestry activities on the forest ecosystem in general and unique biodiversity in particular and plan for sustainable use of this biodiversity. The guidelines also help in setting a list of biodiversity indicators that can be used for monitoring the Community Forestry activities and their impact on the forest.

Guidelines

According to Cameroonian law, any application for a Community Forest is subject to an EIA. Therefore, the guidelines are presented as a combination of the procedure to apply for a Community Forest, guidelines for performing an EIA according to Decree No. 2005/0577 of February 23 2005 and guidelines 'Biodiversity-inclusive Impact Assessment', published by the International Association for Impact Assessment, 2005.

The procedure to perform an EIA in community forestry follows a logical step-wise approach, consisting of 11 steps. Each step is described in detail below.

Step 1. Establishment legal entity

The first step is to establish and register a legal entity representing the community, e.g. a Forest Management Institute (FMI) or a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO). This legal entity can submit the application on behalf of the population and a management agreement can be signed by this legal entity.

Step 2. Consultation meeting

The next step is to hold a consultation meeting with all stakeholders in the community forest. During this meeting the proposed boundaries of the forest are presented and agreement is reached about what will be the main purpose of the community forest. A government representative, either the Divisional Officer or the Senior Divisional Officer, is invited to the meeting to observe the process. After the meeting the government representative decides whether in his/her opinion the local population was sufficiently informed and whether everyone was consulted on the proposed Community Forest plan. If the decision is positive, the community can proceed with their application.

Step 3. Screening

The objective of Step 3 is to decide whether an EIA is necessary. In the case of Community Forestry in the Cameroon Mountains, this will in practice always be necessary for any of the following reasons:

1. According to Cameroonian law community forestry plans are subject to an EIA;
2. Any forest in the Cameroon Mountains is likely to harbour protected species, important (endemic) biodiversity and important biodiversity services that may be affected by the activities in the FMP.

Step 4. Scoping

The objective of step 4 is to decide what needs to be studied and how. The Decree No. 2005/0577 of February 23 2005 dictates which steps should be included in an EIA.

1. Description of the environment on the location;
2. Description of the project;
3. Report of the site investigation;
4. Inventory and description of the impacts of the proposed activities in the FMP on the environment and the envisaged mitigating measures;
5. Terms of reference of the EIA study;
6. List of relevant literature.

Items 1, 2, and 3 are part of the Application Dossier. The EIA will therefore be limited to an inventory and assessment of the impacts of the activities described in the FMP on the forest and the livelihoods of the people that are dependent on the forest and a description of possible mitigating measures. The EIA should be performed together with the elaboration of the Simple Management Plan for the Community Forest, as described in law No. 94/01 of 20 January 1994. This is going to be performed through a participatory approach by the community, if possible assisted by an NGO with relevant experience. This description of the EIA procedure will be included in the application dossier for the community forest and submitted to the relevant authorities according to the procedure described in law No. 94/01 of 20 January 1994.

Step 5. Application Dossier

The objective of Step 5 is to submit an Application Dossier by the community. In this dossier the name of the Community Forest is given, the names of the manager of the FMI or NGO, a map of the forest, the primary forest uses and the minutes of the consultation meeting. The results of Step 4 are included in the application dossier.

If the community receives no reply within 6 months or a positive reply from the appropriate government institution to this application, the application is said to have been approved. From this moment on the forest shall be reserved for the said community for a period of 18 months.

Step 6. Select biodiversity indicators

The objective of Step 6 is to agree on a set of biodiversity indicators that can be used as a reference to perform the EIA. A set of indicators is selected that can be used both during the EIA before the Community Forest application is approved, and during monitoring after the Forest Management Plan has been approved and put into effect. A general list of biodiversity indicators for the Cameroon Mountains is available and is presented in the next chapter. It is important for each forest that the list of biodiversity indicators is reviewed and made specific for the area as many endemic species are restricted to a very small range and may not be found in other areas. The final selection of biodiversity indicators should be based on the following criteria:

• All levels of biodiversity (ecosystem, process and species) are covered
• Unique (endemic) elements of biodiversity are included
• Human activities in the forest are included
• Indicators can easily be identified and monitored by local people

Step 7. Perform an EIA

The objective of Step 7 is to actually assess the impacts of the FMP on the forest. The best approach is to perform the EIA in a participatory way, where all stakeholders in the Community Forestry activity can express their opinion and give their input. This is especially important when evaluating the impact of livelihood activities, as the local people are best informed about the nature of these activities and potential impacts on the forest. The impacts of the community forestry activities are classified in three categories: negative (-1), neutral (0) and positive (+1) and estimated for each selected biodiversity indicator. A format for performing the evaluation can be found in ANNEX 1. After the impact assessment, the score of each activity is calculated by summing up its individual scores in the biodiversity indicator lists as is shown in ANNEX 2. Activities are then ranked according their relative impact, a format can be found in ANNEX 3. This Step will result in an overall assessment of the impact of the planned activities impact in the FMP on the forest, being negative, neutral or positive, and show which specific activities in the FMP have the most negative or positive impact on the forest.

Step 8. Select mitigating measures

The objective of Step 8 is to identify and agree on mitigating measures. After the EIA has been completed, alternative methods or mitigating measures that are both technically and financially feasible to reduce expected negative impacts on the forest can be identified. Again this is best done in a participatory approach since the knowledge needed to identify these methods lies largely with the people using the forest. They may also be more motivated to carry out their own alternative methods than if they come from an outside authority.

Step 9. Simple Management Plan (SMP)

The objective of Step 9 is the elaboration of a Simple Management Plan (SMP). This SMP contains information about the community and the legal entity, the name, location and size of the forest, maps of the different forest compartments, its contents, wildlife and main uses. A management plan is included for the following 5 years and an annual plan of operation is elaborated and included. The results of the EIA and the selected mitigating measures are included in this SMP. The biodiversity indicators that were used to assess the impact of the community forestry activities can form the basis of the monitoring plan. The customary rights to the forest (traditional uses for social or religious purposes) are described. The SMP is signed by the legal entity representing the community. In addition to the SMP, a management agreement is prepared which includes a list of the beneficiaries, the boundaries of the forest allocated to them and the special instruction on the management of areas of woodland and/or wildlife, formulated at the behest of the said communities.

Step 10. Review and approval

The objective of Step 10 is to obtain approval of the authorities for the FMP. The results of the EIA, the mitigating measures and the finalized Community Forest application with FMP are submitted to the relevant authorities as described in Decree No. 95/531PM of 23 august 1995 and Decree No. 2005/0577 of February 23 2005 for review and approval. In case the community does not receive a reply from the government this does not imply that the application was approved. It is important to notice that the final procedure for approval of an EIA and Community Forestry application are still under discussion. For the actual status the reader is referred to the local representative of the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF).

Step 11. Implementation, monitoring and evaluation

The objective of Step 11 is to implement the Simple Management Plan. After approval by the government the community continues to manage their Community Forest according to their Management Plan. Each year an annual plan of operation is submitted to the government and after 5 years an updated SMP is submitted. Included in this annual plan of operations is a report of the results of the forest monitoring. Community Forests are attributed for 25 years and this attribution is renewable.