COP15: protecting forests thanks to local people
We enter the Lama’s forest as a sacred place. It is now sacred by Men who refuse to cut anything there. It is also sacred by the voodoo gods who live there. More prosaically, ecologists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) note with satisfaction the presence of native species. Afzelia africana, Albizia ferruginea, Dennetia tripelata, Gardenia imperialis, Khaya grandifoliola with a height of more than 30 meters. These species testify to the not-so-distant past when the plains of southern Benin were covered with equatorial forests. Today, these dense forest ecosystems cover only 2% of the area. “It won’t go any lower” Ibrahim Djabarou, captain of Benin’s National Timber Office (ONAB) and in charge of the Lama plantation, breathes. Since 2017, Benin law has banned any exploitation and export of wood and charcoal from 3,000 forest remnants, most of which are sacred, totaling 18,000 hectares. Lama alone covers an area of 4000 hectares. Natural pearl.
The llama also almost disappeared. It owes its existence to its location on poor soil unsuitable for agriculture, which is the main reason for the disappearance of trees in Benin. His only interest was wood and bushmeat. Two kinds of monkeys, Cercopithecus erythrogaster and Cercopithecus mona and mammals such as worms provided a cheap source of protein for local populations. Wood is used to heat water and cook food. “Everyone went into the forest and helped themselves as they wanted.” local farmer Wagbl knows Bernady. Today, she sympathizes with Abraham, but forbids him to buy anything. “We consulted with each other, we agreed, it’s a win-win situation.” the forester rejoices. “Today, we protect, and since we are the only ones that exist permanently, it is our duty to fight fires.” Wagble brags about Bernadine.
Challenge for COP 15: respect for local populations
The solution is called teak.
We enter the Lama’s forest as a sacred place. It is now sacred by Men who refuse to cut anything there. It is also sacred by the voodoo gods who live there. More prosaically, ecologists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) note with satisfaction the presence of native species. Afzelia africana, Albizia ferruginea, Dennetia tripelata, Gardenia imperialis, Khaya grandifoliola with a height of more than 30 meters. These species testify to the not-so-distant past when the plains of southern Benin were covered with equatorial forests. Today, these dense forest ecosystems cover only 2% of the area. “It won’t go any lower” Ibrahim Djabarou, captain of Benin’s National Timber Office (ONAB) and in charge of the Lama plantation, breathes. Since 2017, Benin law has banned any exploitation and export of wood and charcoal from 3,000 forest remnants, most of which are sacred, totaling 18,000 hectares. Lama alone covers an area of 4000 hectares. Natural pearl.
The llama also almost disappeared. It owes its existence to its location on poor soil unsuitable for agriculture, which is the main reason for the disappearance of trees in Benin. His only interest was wood and bushmeat. Two kinds of monkeys, Cercopithecus erythrogaster and Cercopithecus mona and mammals such as worms provided a cheap source of protein for local populations. Wood is used to heat water and cook food. “Everyone went into the forest and helped themselves as they wanted.” local farmer Wagbl knows Bernady. Today, she sympathizes with Abraham, but forbids him to buy anything. “We consulted with each other, we agreed, it’s a win-win situation.” the forester rejoices. “Today, we protect, and since we are the only ones that exist permanently, it is our duty to fight fires.” Wagble brags about Bernadine.
Challenge for COP 15: respect for local populations
The solution is called teak. Benin is historically completely alien to Benin. During the colonial period, the first attempts at silviculture failed because this tree was not adapted to the soil and climate. German cooperation provided climate-adaptable seeds from Tanzania in the 1980s. Since then, thousands of hectares have been planted by hundreds of small and large farmers. “The pressure of this industrial forestry on the ecosystems is enormous,” Reveals a recent IUCN report written by the Laboratory of Applied Ecology at the University of Abomey Jalawi, led by researcher Brice Sins. But the Lamada teak saved the primary forest.
Wagble Bernadin (in orange shirt) with members of the Lama Forest Management Association. Copyright LC.
The fate of the forest was determined by understanding between people, which shows one of the main themes of COP15: the involvement of local people in the protection of their nature, the consideration of local cultures and knowledge, respect for the way of life. When the decision was made to plant teak around the forest massif, ONAB established a consultation and management system with 15 neighboring villages. “It takes thirty years for a teak tree to reach maturity and therefore its felling, Ibrahim Djabarou explains. In the meantime, we need to regularly cut random branches to maintain a straight trunk. It is the work of the local residents who can take the branches which are then sold as energy trees.”. These bundles are used both for the construction of local houses, whose walls are made of these branches, and for cooking and heating water. But this time it is impossible to manage this contingency alone. We need collective organization. ““Each village has established a management committee that is responsible for allocating the land allotted to it, dividing the income and deciding whether to use part of it for the development of the community.” Vagbl Bernadin, who heads the committee in his village, says. The 15 presidents then sit on a collective body that deals with matters of concern to the entire Lama array.
Teak, a threat to Benin’s biodiversity
Wagble Bernadin admits this: When the 1997 Benin law began to restrict traditional activities in the forest, the local ethnic group Holly feared they would lose one of their rare resources. to save them. However, since the 2010s, the benefits of collective joint management of the forest have begun to be reaped. “We live better because of the primary, but we were also able to allocate money to improve the school and build the health infrastructure.” Wagbl is happy. In return, local residents invest in monitoring and protecting the natural forest. Thousands of eyes confirm that he is invulnerable every day.
This co-management of primary remnant forests remains an exception. Elsewhere, teak trees abound in the plains of southern Benin. Known for its resistance to the elements and found in Europe as an exterior parquet, this exotic wood is in growing demand. Farmers with access to seeds no longer hesitate to plant, although returns decline after 30 years. “It goes from one hectare to several thousand.” Biodev 2030 technical advisor Is Deen Akambi knows. His work has involved identifying actors in this forestry sector, where commercial links from producer to exporter through sawmills exist, but are poorly organized in unions or collectives.
Improving private sector practices
This program comes from Expertise France, a technical subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AFD), with scientific support from IUCN France and WWF France. 16 African and Asian countries have appealed to the bank through which French development aid passes, asking them to help identify economic actors whose activities affect biodiversity. “It is an original approach, based first on a scientific diagnosis of the effects on the nature of human activity, and then on identifying the organizations, companies and trade unions that control the sector. to improve their experience”, Jérémie Pellet, Managing Director of Expertise France summarizes. Specified sectors? Mining, pastoral farming, fisheries and aquaculture, cash crop farming, food crops, wood energy and timber. Benin chose cotton, a cash crop of subsistence agriculture, timber and forestry. Where nature toasts.
And with teak, it’s very toasty. Nothing grows below the straight rows. Foresters regularly clear brush to eliminate any competition for wood. The birds have fled, the wild beasts no longer visit these silent places. Jacques Dansou is a large farmer who owns his own sawmill. He has an easy life thanks to the teak tree. But he agrees that the Zogbodomey corner has not changed for the better. If proudly shows an endemic Afzelia, is to admit that this tree owes its existence only to its exceptionally strong trunk. Others have been cut down to make way for steep rows. “There are hundreds of hectares like this, but in some places native trees have been protected because the area is not suitable for teak.the farmer explains. We are ready to connect these spaces together so that animals, insects and birds can move again. But you have to tell us how to do it!”
Learn about reforestation conditions
The Biodev 2030 program ended at the end of 2022 with many opportunities to improve biodiversity affected by agriculture and forestry. Rice farmers are considering switching to organic, which yields less but pays better. The cotton sector, vital to Benin’s economic life, is experimenting with good practices such as grazing cattle between the two crops to use their excrement as fertilizer or as a crop rotation between cereals and legumes. Forestry expects a return to exploitation of native species in response to teak development. Forest management plans are implemented, reforestation is now based on land use plans, more space is reserved for nature, and space is reserved for public education and training. But”we have to help“, says Jacques Dansou. Like many countries in the South, Benin is gradually adopting regulations that are more respectful of its environment. The authorities have realized that nothing can be done without the private economic sectors. But the necessary changes require investments outside this area. local actors. The work of Biodev 2030 follows the ways of improvement. It remains to finance them.
