Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
January 2010
A Publication of the Centre for Democracy and Development with Support from Rockefeller Foundation
Table of Contents Editorial
Deforestation
The Double Damage: Gender and
It was thought to be a novel, path-breaking intervention when the United
Deforestation in West Africa 3
Nations declared in the late 1980s that the sustainability of “Our Common Future”
ultimately must be predicated on a radical transformation toward development
Oil ExplorationEndangers Nigeria’s
Niger Delta Wetlands 4 practice “that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
the future generations to meet their own needs.” But centuries before this public
West African forests: An Overview 6 call, the Aboriginal people and First Nations of Canada (Mohawks, Inuit, Métis)
were already warning us through their culture of environmental stewardship that
“we do not inherit the land from our fathers, we borrow it from our children.”
Forest Depletion in Ghana leads to Indeed, across world indigenous cultures, this philosophy of inter-generational
the Loss of Medicinal Herbs 7 responsibility and accounting is common.
This edition of West Africa Insight attempts to capture the extents to which
Sources 9 governments in the region are conforming or departing from recent injunctions to
restrain the predatory proclivities of elite cadres and curb the destructive trend in
Monthly News and Current Affairs 10 the consumption of the earth's resources. The focus is on the health of our forest
environment. We find that deforestation thrives and is continuing a-pace, with
ECOWAS Policy Framework and West
devastating consequences for a sustainable future; and that illegal logging for
African Forests 11
underground export trade serves the interests of the region's money makers. The
search for fossil fuels, more productive grazing land for livestock, large scale
Beyond Trees 12
agricultural plantations for production of commercial crops are additional reasons
why forests are fast shrinking and species interactions in ecosystems
compromised. Deforestation reflects the logic of economic consumption that is
fundamentally based on short-sighted goals.
Scientific reports confirm that the continuing erosion of forests in West Africa
is mounting pressures on biodiversity West African biodiversity serves as the
Editorial Team ecological habitat or sanctuary for 40 percent of Africa's mammals and roughly
2000 endemic species of plants. Roughly speaking, only 16 percent of the region's
Editor in Chief
forests is currently identified and technically cordoned off for protection; and
- Jibrin Ibrahim
Editor merely two percent of this endangered physical environment is marked for
- Okon Akiba biodiversity conservation. West Africa's forest environment is severely ill, though
Associate Editor little is being forcefully said about its fast deteriorating condition in the media
- Okechukwu Ibeanu within the region and abroad. Governments in the region are not seriously
Project Officer pursuing remedies or providing new enforcement mechanisms to save the forest
- Daniel Nengak Gondyi ecosystem.
Project Officer (Technical) Deforestation does more than destroy trees and biodiversity. It disarticulates
- Terfa Hemen and disorientates local human communities whose livelihoods are precariously
hinged on predictable and guaranteed access to the resources in their immediate
Researchers
surroundings. Internal displacement, aggravated poverty, emotional sense of
Uchenna Idoko
uncertainty, and rural-urban migration are a few of the severe consequent human
costs. In this circumstance, family units are split and the cultural integrity and
Seno Ngene social heritage of communities face extinction.
Fola Koledewo Contributors to this volume have elaborated these problems in their appropriate
national, cultural, and political contexts. I am persuaded that issues raised and
addressed by them will most likely advance the debates on the need for
alternative methods of human development and environmental recovery. To gain
full flavor of the quality of argumentations and solutions proffered, the reader is
The Rockefeller Foundation is
not responsible for views advised to follow the stories in the sequence that they are presented.
expressed in this publication Okon Akiba
2
The Double Damage: Gender and
Deforestation in West Africa
E nvironmental resources are
often the only resources
available to poverty stricken women
in the tropics. The fertile soil that
women are able to cultivate and
what grows naturally are some of
the resources available to them. On
a larger scale these resources are
the basis for the economic
development of the agricultural
nations of West Africa. Forests are
the basis for sustainable and
predictable progress and
development.
In a number of West African
countries, the forests were until A wood retailer in Mali. (Photo: PREDAS)
recently providing as much as 85% http://www.hedon.info/BP56:WomenAndHouseholdEnergyIn
of locally produced animal protein Sahelian Countries
(this includes bush meats and snails)
Saharan Africa than in Asia and Latin the relationship to, and the uses and
which women trade for their other
America and the Caribbean. Africa's methods of management of, natural
needs. They may also harvest round
forest and woodland of 1,339 million resources among women and men.
wood, sell fuel wood, collect fruits
hectares, constitutes about 20 per cent Some have emphasized the
and nuts, grow mush rooms, sell
of the worlds total. Over 90% of West contribution of food collection by
palm wine, manufacture baskets,
Africa's original forest has been lost; only women to feed the household,
make mobile cages as handcraft, all
a small part of what remains qualifies as while others have shown forests as
from palm trees, as well as raising
frontier forest. Deforestation is the result being a major source of income for
livestock that graze within the forest
of an economy which thinks of the short women. The focus on gendered
environment. Forests are of critical
term solution. The search for fossil fuels, uses of forest resources has helped
importance to the economy of rural
more productive grazing lands for to highlight the differentiated
women in these countries and vital
livestock, and land to grow crops in order access of men and women to
to their well being. This dependency
to serve the needs of the money makers natural resources. Women who rely
on the forest decreases as one
are a few of the reasons why forests are on natural resources will be
moves to other habitats as a result
destroyed. It has environmental adversely affected by their
of deforestation, which in turn
consequences, which impinge directly on degradation as it will undermine
grossly reduces the quality of
the lives of poor rural women; their women's ability to perform their
livelihoods.
workloads are increased as they travel roles, and may increase the amount
In many parts of West Africa,
further to seek fodder, water and fuel, of time and energy women must
tropical forests are disappearing at a
hence they have less time for income invest to perform them. For
much faster rate than many
generation activities to improve their example, in some cases the
governments and their agencies are
standards of living, to invest in natural clearance of communal forests for
willing to admit. While some may
living or to invest in natural resources agricultural production or
argue that this is not peculiar to the
management. commercial forestry has reduced
region, findings indicate that the
The debate about gender and forestry the access of women to forest
problem is more endemic in sub-
has, above all, emphasized differences in products and resulted in the need to
3
commute longer distances for both
d i s c r i m i n a te d a ga i n st a n d l a c k strategies to improve women's
subsistence and cash products.
recognition. Ama Ntowaa, a 56- year- old participation in forestry projects.
“Many destructive activities against
the environment disproportionately widow who supports six Most forestry institutions in
affect women, because most children as on a West African countries are
women in the world, and especially small cocoa male-dominated.
in the developing world, are very f a r m i n There has however
dependent on primary natural
Western b e e n s o m e
resources: land, forests, waters,"
Ghana, laid criticisms of the
says Wangari Maathai of Kenya.
And she convincingly argues down in way in which
further that "Men can trek and go front of a attempts to
looking for greener pastures in bulldozer to institutionalize
other areas in other countries ... but stop a logging women's participation
for women, they're usually left on
company that was have led to the tendency
site to face the consequences, so
intent on hauling away to apply standardized gender
when there is deforestation, when
there is drought, when there is crop her trees, even though her Area Chi frameworks.
ef made a deal with the companies Government policy on forests
failure, it is the women and children
should emphasize the need for rural
who are the most adversely without consulting her. She did lose
women education on how to
affected." about a third of her land before she could practice afforestation and agro-
Due to lush and abundant natural stop them, all for the profit of the logging forestry in order to improve and
resources, Ghana has been severely company and the unscrupulous chief. maintain their farmland including
exploited. In ten years (1990 to Another important debate concerns lack soil fertility, which could be
2000), Ghana lost 16% of its forest of participation by women in the design promoted via seminars and
cover to logging. Women are at risk extension training.
and implementation of forestry projects.
particularly because they simply are There is a dearth of appropriate Idoko, Uchenna
4
South) to Cross River State (South- level, the mangrove forest is
deforestation is projected to
East), is severely compromised and
eliminate 5 15% of species by 2020. currently not under any known
endangered environment. It covers
Deforestation has also exposed the fo r m o f p r o t e c t i o n , a n d
about 70,000km2 of wetlands (the
land mass to erosion and leaching. strategies of biological resource
largest in Africa and the third largest
in the world), making up about 7.5% Other effects include low (quantity conservation are not well
of Nigeria's total land mass and and quality) of agricultural produce developed. The Federal
home to about 20 million. This land and flooding. Oil exploration in the Government of Nigeria should
mass has been the focus of constant Niger Delta wetlands has done more set up agencies to be responsible
exploration for oil by many t h a n re n d e r t h e i n h a b i ta nt s fo r t h e fo r m u l a t i o n a n d
international oil companies. implementation of
marginalized and destitute. It has
The activities of oil environmental conservation and
made poverty and hunger a common
corporations operating in the recovery of the mangrove forest.
cultural experience. An estimated
area have led to oil spillage and Lastly, most ofthe time, oil
70% of the population lives in severe
gas flaring so far the twin-evils companies have failed to
poverty defined in terms of
of oil exploration in the country. report spillages, and
limited disposable
Reports show that there have when they do, the
income, lack of
been no less than 6,817 spills s c a l e o f
healthcare and
between 1976 and 2000. This damages to
d e c r e p i t
simply means that at least one t h e
educational
spill per day occurred over the environment
facilities.
period of 25 years. Moreover, an is frequently
Many do not
estimated 1.5 million tons of oil suppressed.
have access to
has spilled into the Niger-Delta In this regard,
s a fe d r i n k i n g
ecosystem over the past 50 government
water, and this is a
years. As a result, the aquatic and must show more
big source of illnesses.
the terrestrial habitats are in concern about oil clean-
Live expectancy in the Niger
danger of extinction. The entire up methods. Oil companies
Delta is among the lowest in the
marine, brackish and riverine must be compelled to
country. Meanwhile, flaring wrecks
organisms together with the demonstrate more transparency
immeasurable havoc on the health of
flora and fauna species found in their production activities,
the people. Oil rigs emit toxic gases
therein face massive destruction particularly in regard to spillage,
into the atmosphere and toxic gases
following regular oil spills. and their clean-up methods
are also released into the air
Numerous species of fishes, must not compromise the Niger
whenever these corporations set
shrimps, and crab fish are being Delta eco-system.
spilled (onshore) oil on fire in their bid
wasted in great proportions due -Koledowo, Fola.
to “clean up.”
to onshore spillage. When spills
Concerning prescriptions to
occur onshore, or get to the seas
reverse these adverse trends,
from offshore spills, oil
perhaps we can begin by encouraging
companies respond by using
a return to traditional methods of
chemical dispersants and
resource conservation methods
sometimes just simply set the
practiced by the indigenes of the
floating crude oil on fire.
Niger Delta in pre-colonial times,
Deforestation is another
which included selective harvest and
negative product of oil
seasonal restriction on the harvest of
exploitation. Rapid mangrove
the mangrove resources. On another
5
West African Forests: An Overview
6
5
door to soil erosion and Senegal suffers a similar trend; the 1960 had risen to about 11.9
desertification. It is reported country had over 250 trees per million in 2006.
that about 350,000 hectares of hectare during the colonial era,
land in the country are lost to compared to a mere 20 trees per Nengak, Daniel
desertification annually. hectare as reported in 1995.
Sierra Leone is estimated to Drought and a steep rise in populated
have lost an average of 19,300 are largely responsible for these
hectares of forest per year, troubling outcomes. Senegal's
between 1990 and 2000. population of 3 million people in
7 7
6
their importance, they are ten years.
in the horizon. An
nonetheless threatened The role of medicinal plants
estimated 4,000 to
by extinction. in traditional health care
10,000 species
Medicinal plants delivery in Ghana cannot be
of medicinal
a r e overemphasized. More than
plants in
increasingly 250 indigenous trees and plants
the world
threatened that have been analyzed as
f a c e
by various possessing healing properties
potential
environment h av e b e e n s c i e n t i f i c a l l y
l o c a l ,
al, socio- catalogued and reserved for
national,
economic and further research in scientific
regional or
institutional research centers across the
g l o b a l
problems in that country. However, the very
extinction, with
country. At the same time, foundation upon which the
subsequent serious
traditional and indigenous medicinal plant species and the
consequences for local
knowledge about these plants is traditional health care system is
livelihoods and national
weakening and in some cases, threatened by deforestation.
economies. It is estimated that
vanishing altogether. It is estimated According to FAO, the rate of
95% of designated Medicinal
that 117 species of medicinal plants deforestation has increased by
and Aromatic Plants (MAPS) in
are threatened by extinction in Ghana 50% over the last ten years. The
developing countries are
alone. The Food and Agriculture current area of intact forest is
disappearing.
O rga n i zat i o n ( FAO ) h a s a l s o now estimated to be between
In Ghana, for example,
estimated that the rate of 10.9 percent and 11.8 percent
despite the significant increase
deforestation in Ghana has also of the original cover; and 6.9
in the use of medicinal plants
increased by 50 percent over the last percent of the country's total
and the growing appreciation of
land is forest. Deforestation is
doing more than change the
quality of the nation's habitats.
It is creating bare spaces in
which disease-carrying insects
breed and spread malaria, river
blindness and other
devastating illnesses.
Significantly also, since the
majority of the rural poor in
Ghana depend on traditional
medicine for their health care
needs, the high rate of
d e fo re sta t i o n i s h av e a
detrimental effect on the
overall status of general human
Transportation of timber in Ghana http://www.greenfudge.org health in that country.
-Ngene, Seno.
8
Sources
The Double Damage: Gender and Deforestation in West Africa
http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/publications/ogunlade/pakistan%20journal.pdf
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN06339904
Http://laazotenegra.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/top-3-myths-about-women-climate-change-its-a-great-
big-bad09/
Http://www.afrol.com/features/10278
Http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3952:the-need-to-
check-deforestation-in-west-africa&catid=117:news&Itemid=349
http://www.cepf.net/Documents/final.guineanforests.upperguineanforest.ep.pdf
http://www.profor.info/profor/sites/profor.info/files/publication/2009-PROFOR-progressreport-part1.pdf
http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/west_africa/Pages/default.aspx#indepth
Http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=37198
www.nants.org/.../ECOWAS%20Forestry%20Policy%20Paper%20_Final_%20REV%20Jun.pdf
Www.unep.org/roa/docs/pdf/DialogueForests-BiodivSummary.pdf
9
Monthly News and Current Affairs
10
9
ECOWAS Policy Framework and
West African Forests
L ike most regions of the
world, forests in West Africa
face depletion largely due to rural
drawn from both international
conventions and local laws of
governments across the region to
demands for energy, wildlife, and
help proffer a solution to the
medicinal herbs. Importantly too,
problem. It also takes into cognizance
in conflict zones, large swards of
the specific forest characteristics. The
forest are depleted and their
products are sold for acquisition of overall goal of the document is to
arms. Forests across the region provide guidelines that would
account for 17% of the total land enhance the sustainability of both
mass. The vegetation varies from flora and fauna within these forests,
the dense rain forests and semi and also to create room for the
An Oil spill site in the Niger Delta
deciduous forests of the coastal belt restoration of degraded forests.
to the savannah type forests, finally In general the document proposes fire control are prominent in
giving way to the sub-Sahel the need to harness the potential of proposals made to protect the Sahel
savannah of the northern regions of forests to improve food security, and a forest region.
Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. reduction in poverty based on the The policy also offers a variety of
About 72 million hectares or plethora use of forests, the appropriate implementation strategies such as
14% of the region is covered by commercialisation of forests as means of the harmonisation of forest and
forests and woodlands. Guinea integrating them into the region's fiscal policies, forest resource
Bissau with about 60% of land economic development, the need to assessment, sustainable
under forests is the most forested contribute to environmental protection is management of forests and their
country in the region while Niger also prominent in the policy. The b i o - d i v e r s i t y, c o m b a t i n g
with 1% is the least forested. It is document also advocates the use of the desertification and soil degradation,
estimated that about 1.2 million private sector in the management of integration of forestry and land use
hectares of forests are lost annually, forests: the relevant companies are planning with watershed
with Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast expected to provide specialized management, forest industry and
contributing an immense 62% of professional knowledge, including trade, forest research training and
this loss. The dry-land forests are periodic impact assessment, extension extension, mechanism for financing
depleted at an annual average of services and monitoring and evaluation forestry and regional cooperation
0.7%, while that of the humid zone of the forests. and partnerships.
stands at 2.0%. The loss of bio- Also, the policy package looks to the These policies, programs and
diversity, increase in erosion rates, future: to promote agriculture in the strategies notwithstanding, the
reduction of water quality and degraded woodlands, protect rich bio- onus still fall not just on
quantity, loss of livelihood have all diversity, and astute management governments but also on the people
been identified as the negative towards the overall socio-economic and their communities to curtail
impacts of deforestation in the development of the region. There are exploitative activities that hugely
region. plans to initiate local processing from compromise the eco-systems in the
It is with this background that larger agricultural plantations for food region.
a policy framework has been put exports. Drought and desertification
in place by ECOWAS to curtail control through soil and water -Hemen, Terfa
the continuing trend of forest co n s e r vat i o n , refo re stat i o n a n d
loss. The policy framework is development of natural forests and
woodlands, animal grazing and forests
11
Beyond Trees
“If asked to define a forest, most of us will straightaway think of trees. While it is true that trees dominate---a
forest is in fact a community of not just plants and animals, but of micro-organisms as well.” (World Wide Fund
for Nature)