WWF-UK:
conserving forests in Africa

Korup National Park. E. Parker

In recent years WWF UK has become increasingly active in conservation projects in Africa. This involvement is now large enough to require the UK headquarters to have en 'African desk' section, currently headed by Richard Barnwell. Not all of the projects are concerned with forests although they do form a large proportion.

WWF in totality has numerous projects in forest areas of Africa, however this article will focus only on those with more immediate connection to the WWF'UK office.

Six African countries are currently targeted by WWF UK - Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Madagascar. All the projects involved have some ODA funding under the Joint Funding Scheme. Projects in these countries have in common the philosophy that progress towards forest and biodiversity conservation can only be made by full involvement of the local communities; without their support conservation in the long term is unachievable. Specifically, the WWF Forest programme seeks to achieve its aims by encouraging people to:

Cameroon

Perhaps the best known involvement of WWF UK in Africa is the Korup project in south-west Cameroon. Korup is a major centre of biodiversity, indeed it has the largest number of plant species of any rain forest yet described in Africa. The purpose of the project is to protect and manage the Korup National Park and to integrate it into regional development plans. The programme links park development, environmental education, scientific research, tourism development, rural development, sustainable natural resources utilisation, the development and use of indigenous forest products, and the provision of facilities in response to articulated local human needs. It is therefore a very complex project requiring an interdisciplinary approach. A wellestablished national park is now functioning, with good anti' poaching controls in the south of the Park and increasing wildlife populations; an embryonic tourism industry is emerging in consequence. There is a major rural development programme operating outside the park with local communities, plus a parallel forestry/agroforestry project looking at timber and non-timber forest products. A resettlement programme is in progress, plus an environmental education component and a biological and research inventory programme. The project is a joint Government of Cameroon, ODA, GTZ, EU and WWF-UK activity. The programme manager is a Cameroonian, Mr Victor Balinga.

Kenya

Coastal forest in Kenya has been under increasing pressure from agricultural and tourism expansion. WWF has worked closely with the National Museums of Kenya and local government authorities to develop a conservation plan for the country's lowland coastal forests. The plan is based on the traditional cultural importance of sacred forests called "Kaya Forests." The aim is to have all the Kaya Forests and sacred groves in the Coast Province gazetted as national monuments and to initiate or-improve sustainable forest management practices. The project is assisting local communities take legal action against developers intent on encroaching on sacred groves - this is part of the process of gazettement. Non-Kaya coastal forests are also now being considered. In addition the project has assisted with the establishment of a Coastal Forest Conservation Unit under the National Museums of Kenya with the remit of protecting the forests from further destruction and providing rehahilitation wherever possible. A WWF project around Lake Nakuru in the Rift Valley of Kenya is assisting rural communities with a major tree planting programme on farms. The trees provide a valuable resource and assist with soil conservation.

Tanzania

The Udzungwa Mountains are a forest isolate of the great belt of Equatorial rain forest to the west. They harbour numerous endemic species and are an area of high biological diversity. WWF is assisting the Tanzania National Parks to establish a national park in the region and to promote intensive tree planting by people living near the park. Activities include village agroforestry programmes. The park was gazetted in 1992 and headquarters have been built, tree nurseries have been set up in villages and are responding well to local demands. Tanzania National Parks have recently established a Community Conservation Service Unit and are allowing local communities access to the park for collection of dead wood for firewood and medicinal plants, under a management system. Small scale tourism is developing. Local women's groups have been allocated communal lands on which to plant trees. There is promotion of fuel-efficient clay stoves made on site to reduce fuelwood consumption. An education programme is working with local schools.


Brown lemur, Madagascar. P. Goriup/Pisces.

Madagascar

Madagascar, an island of immense unique biological diversity, is a major global conservation priority. Not surprisingly WWF has a major programme in the island. Given the immensity of the task, practical activities and objectives must be prioritised in order to quickly safeguard those biological communities most at risk, while longer term strategies are developed. The approach involves multi disciplinary tactics including protected areas management, ecosystem~specific management programmes, threatened species conservation, improved natural resource utilisation, research, educational and training opportunities, and above all integration of local communities into conservation initiatives. The institutional capacity of the Forest Department has been greatly enhanced by the recruitment of several hundred "Agents de protection de la Nature", made possible by a WWF debt-for-nature swap.

Nigeria

WWF is still active in Nigeria (September 1996). Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with over 88 million people and a population growth rate of 3.4% annually. More than 90% of the moist forest zone has been deforested. The WWF programme in the country involves several projects but with a principal focus in the Cross River National Park and the surrounding Oban Hills.

The Oban Hills are contiguous with the Korup National Park in Cameroon and various efforts by different conservation and development agencies are operational. WWF, working in close association w'ith the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and the Federal Parks Service, is managing an integrated conservation and development project in the north of Cross River National Park. The park boundary has been demarcated, and there are programmes to eliminate illegal hunting, logging, and land clearance. Outside the park in the support zone, there is a rural development programme. This is improving access to rural villages, improving agricultural practices, has put in place a revolving credit fund to promote income generating activities, is developing a rural health programme, and an education programme with schools and adult groups.

A related project aims to protect the forests within the northern sector of the Cross River National Park - the Boshi Okwangwo Division - which shelters Nigeria's only gorilla population.

The Gashaka Gumpti National Park project supports the Nigerian Conservation Foundation to assist the Federal Park Service to develop a new national park and to promote improved living standards for local people. This mountainous region is a mosaic of diverse habitats with altitudes ranging from 450 m to 2400 m above sea level situated in Adamawa and Taraba States. These mountains shelter the headwaters of some of the major tributaries of the River Benue, Nigeria's second largest river and are therefore crucial to Nigeria's water supplies.

In the years ahead WWF looks forward to increasing its contribution to forest management and the peoples of Africa.

WWF-UK, Panda House, Weyside Park, Godalming, GU7 1AR.