REPUBLIQUEDUCAMEROUN REPUBLICOF CAMEROON Paix - Travail - Patrie ------------- Peace - Work - Fatherland MINISTEREDE MINISTRY OF THE L'ENVIRONNEMENT ET DES ENVIRONMENT AND FORETS FORESTRY PROGRAMME SECTORIEL FORESTRY AND FORETS-ENVIRONNEMENT ENVIRONMENT SECTOR PROGRAMME ENVIRONMENTALAND SOCIAL IMPACTASSESMENT SUMMARY INDIGENOUSPEOPLEDEVELOPMENT PLANSUMMARY ENVIRONMENTALAND SOCIAL MANAGEMENTPLANSUMMARY ENVIRONMENTALAND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESMEENT SUMMARY The study was realized by the Cameroon Ministry of Environment and Forests, with the support o f a multidisciplinary team o f national and international consultants. It comes within the framework o f preparing the Forests Environment Sector Program (PSFE). It i s motivated by the double concern to optimize the environmental and social impacts o f the Program during its execution and to verify the conformity o f the program to the environmental and social policies of the World Bank, with a view to a financial participation o f the latter. This report i s based, not only on the contributions o f consultants specialized in impact assessment, but also on the general work o f sector analysis, of program formulation, o f dialogue and public consultation including the institutional review of the forestry sector done by the Ministry with the support o f PSFE National Team since it was set up inJanuary 2001. A) Sector impact study relativeto a nationalprogram This impact study covers the entire forest and environment sector. It examines the sector policy developed by the Government since 1994 as well as the new PSFE program conceived as an institutional support instrument for implementing this policy. It brings out action plan and mitigating measures with a view to reducing the negative impacts and optimizing the positive impacts of the program. 0 National georrraphic coverage. PSFE covers the entire national territory without limitingitself to a specific site. Program activities can therefore a priori be developed anywhere in the national territory inthe ten provinces. 0 Sector thematic coverage. As a support program for the implementation of the national policy for the management o f forests and environment, PSFE by definition covers all activity domains and problems linked to the sustainable management o f the forestry ecosystems (in the broad sense), to the interfaces with town planning, rural development, economic growth, industrial development andpoverty reduction, as well as biodiversity conservation. 0 Long-term program with annual planning cycles PSFE i s destined to accompany the implementation of the forestry policy over a period o f 5 to 10 years. All the specific activities of the program cannot therefore be known or determined at the beginning. They will be defined annually according to a participatory programming mechanism. 0 Multi-donor program. PSFE, a government program, will be supported by operations, projects and programs o f all donors interested in the management o f forests in Cameroon. It will serve as the framework for coherence and synergy for all international support in the sector and will ensure that this international support i s well in line with the framework o f the national policy. The present study comes within the framework o f the cycle o f preparing the World Bank support operation, but can serve as reference to other donors or technical or political Cameroon partners. The study has therefore taken into account those particularities inherent in the sector program approach. It consists o f a sector strategic assessment and i s therefore different from a classical impact study o f the "project" type where activities are known with precision before hand and enclosed intime and space. 2 B) Baseline-actual situation The chapter 3 draws up the state of affairs o f the forests and environment sector by referring to similar appraisals drawn uprecently by MINEFand its partners (see Appendix 1) Forestry exploitation is the second economic sector after petrol. Fauna, PFNL, biodiversity in general represent considerable capital and actual and potential riches for Cameroon. The Forestry Law o f 1994, the New Forestry Policy o f 1995 and the Law o f 1996 establish a political and strategic framework for the sustainable management o f forests. Completed by PNGE and PAFN, this policy i s coherent with international environmental guidelines (Rio Summit, the Heads of state's Summit of Yaounde, 1999) and with the national strategy o f the fight against poverty (PRSP). This policy i s presentlyimplemented thanks especially to a considerable plan of sector reforms executed through the third structural adjustment credit (SAC 111).A plan o f urgent actions (PAU) was developed to complete these actions by especially putting emphasis on the anti-poaching and on the stabilization of the sector. This sector policy globally constitutes an apt amelioration to stop the degradation o f natural, forestry, fauna and biodiversity resources. This sector policy has already had positive results, which have shown the political will of Cameroon to ensure sustainable management of forests and their contribution to socio-economic development: A set o f laws and texts which confer a clear, stable and appropriate framework for the management o f forests (access to resources, management and to benefits). The settingup of an indicative plan of land-use allocation which distinguishesforestry spaces consecrated in priority to rural development, to forestry management or to nature conservation. More transparency, participation o f independent observers in concession allocation commissions (access to resources), in forestry supervisory missions (management of resources). Direct sharing o f revenue from forestry exploitation with local communities bordering forest concessions, and the regular publication of the various shares inthe press. Opening up fauna and forestry resources to the community and decentralized management, and equally through contractual relations with the administration. The sharing of roles between the public and private sectors, with the State, the owner of forests and representative of the general interest, which concentrates on its stately functions; and the private sector assuming commercialization and execution functions often through contractual relations with the administration (delegated functions). A reform of forestry taxation, with the simplification of the procedures and the amelioration o f the recovery capacity. A strengthening of the stately supervisory function to discourage poaching and illegal cutting of wood with especially the participation o f independent observers and the participation of the civil society; support o f international NGOs to fight against unlawful acts. The initiationo f a partnership between the different users in a given area and complementary resources, aimed at associating sustainable management, the updating o f customary laws and the respect o f the practices o f indigenous peoples. 3 This political commitment, even ifit has to be permanently maintained and confirmed, no longer seems to be the main constraint in the execution of policies on the field. However, the sector policy i s still labouring to be implemented at the national level due to an increasing discrepancy between the political framework on one hand, and the capacities o f the institutions o f MINEF to implement this policy on the field, on the other hand. Consequences o f the economic crises o f the 80s and 9Os, which have deprived the government o f its means, limitedthe resources of the staff and contributed to disincentive and to the search for solutions independent of state officials. Political and administrative bottlenecks due to the slowness o f the services of MINEF to act as partner o f commercial agents to support them positively; lack o f mediation practices (directly or in mobilizing NGOs and technical bodies) between commercial agents and local populations; insufficiency inthe support to community activities (forests, huntingareas, game ranching). The difficulty to implement policy refoms with the new stakes: new decision centres and new scales o f power. The democratic framework i s there but the actors aren't yet ready to assume their rights and duties. Insufficient synergy between policies o f different sectors: agriculture - animal breeding, hygiene -health - education, general investment framework Stakes and tensions in local societies for access to power and to land ownership with the preponderance o f a new elite of local leaders, the strengtheningo f feudal powers inthe North and the rapid transformation o f acephal societies in the south, making it difficult to build a partnership based on local democratic practices. The problem o f the indigenous peoples who carry out their activities on very vast areas very difficult to determine. Lack o f appropriation o f support from international cooperation, and lack o f sustainability o f projects, duplication between scattered projects that supports the sector policy in a heterogeneous way. The Forest EnvironmentSector Program PSFE i s a national, sector and multi-donor programme, which aims at supporting the Government in its implementation in the field of its policy of participatory and sustainable management of forestry and environment resources. This policy and the programme that supports it have to contribute to improving the lives o f rural populations and to fight against poverty, to ensure the everlastingness o f forestry ecosystems andbiodiversity conservation. PSFE articulates around 5 components, with one mainstreamed (institutional capacity building) and four themes: C-1 Regulation, follow up and environmental information C-2 Development o f production forests in the permanent forestry domain and valorising forestry products C-3 Biodiversity conservation and the development o f fauna resources C-4 Community management of forestry and fauna resources C-5 Institutional capacity building, training andresearch PSFE puts emphasis on the building o f the capacities o f national institutions responsible for ensuringthe sustainable management o f forests. It aims at restoring their capacities to implement on the field forestry policy guidelines.I t aims at reducing the present gap between policies known to be of good quality at the international level, and the weak capacity o f national institutions to translate them on the field, and to ensure their supervision. 4 D) Analysisof ProgramImpactsandMitigatingMeasures PSFE should facilitate the effective implementation of the sector policy. It should contribute to mitigate the risks o f negative impacts mentioned about the sector policy, and thus effectively contribute to slow down the degradation process. It aims at restoring the institutional capacity o f MINEF in the long term, and to reduce the gap between the regulatory reforms and recent reforms on the one hand, and on the other hand the reality on the field where natural resources o f the country degrade, by rendering policies to concrete facts inthe field. The study tries to identify the positive and negative, social and environmental impacts of PSFE for each o f the five components. By the nature of the program approach developed here to support national policy, impacts are rather expressed interms of risks than interms o f established facts. Concerning social risks Even ifthe development of the forestry sector inthe last decades was accompanied by a globally positive social impact, especially with the creation o f job opportunities in rural and urban areas and the creation o f rural infi-astructure, it i s clear that these impacts could have been more. These "missed opportunities" at the social level concern especially access to financial benefits of forestry exploitation, the participation of the civil society in the choice o f management, public information, formally making rural communities responsible for the management o f the forest that they occupy, the creation o f sustainable infrastructure and social services. The forestry inheritance o f the country grows poorer without generating an equivalent amelioration of living conditions o f the local populations. This i s true both for the forest rich south and for the dry and fragile forests o f the north. Itinerant exploitation without development, which was in the mode, has not supported a sustainable development model. In the North, the degradation o f the fragile mountain mass has a negative repercussion on the populations that depend on it for wood: a downward cycle has started. Infuture, these social risks willremain considerable: 0 To see natural resources o f a country dry out without any significant or sustainable contribution to economic development and to rural development, due particularly to illegal exploitation and to the absence o f a development plan; 0 Not to see local communities really benefitfrom community and local council forests; 0 To note a lack o f centralized planning and a lack o f dialogue and participation o f the civil society inthe daily execution o f the policy, giventhe present working habits o f MINEF. It should be noted that the majority of these risks do not arise from the forestry policy itself, but from its insufficient application due to lack o f a political will andor a very weak institutional capacity (scenario without program). PSFE- if it permits to reduce the gap between policies and their application - will mitigate strongly these risks (scenario with a program). It will produce a positive social impact by supporting the development o f community forests, access to benefits from exploitation and transparency and the participation o f the civil society in forestry supervision, the creation o fjob opportunities inindustries. 5 The real social risks generated by the implementation of the forestry policy itself are in fact of two types: 0 Excessive territorial specialization and limitationof access o f the localpopulations to forestry resources(food, wood, arable land) during the processes o f forest zoning, o f classification of UFA and ofparks ; 0 Marginalization o f some indigenous groups (pygmies) by ignoring their cultural specificities, which makes it more difficult for their insertion in standard development formats conceived at the national level, such as community forests and the sharing o f forestry charges, where they couldthenbe de facto excluded. These preoccupations are taken into account in the Policy Framework for Access to Resources (Annex 3), and the Development Planof Indigenous Peoples (Annex 4). Concerning environmental risks Cameroon forestry ecosystems are since several decades victims o f strong destructive pressures (deforestation and erosion of soils in the North, deterioration and forests fragmentation in the South, extensive commercial poaching and extinction o f endemic species, biodiversity loss). The risk of deforestation from forestry exploitation is limited by the very nature of forestry exploitation in Central Africa. As with social impacts, it i s noted that a large part o f environmental deterioration i s not a consequence o f the forestry policy itself, but rather o f the incapacity o f national institutions (scenario without a program). Consequently, PSFE, if it permits to buildthis institutional capacity (scenario with a program), will have a strong positive impact on the environment. Particularly, the implementation o f management plans and control mechanisms should permit to make up for the risk o f degradation o f forest areas open to forestry exploitation, and to the deterioration of natural forests. This risk i s made up for by the emphasis put on the implementation o f sustainable management plans. The two mainrisks linkedto the application of the forestry policy are: 0 An increase inthe huntingand poachingpressure due to the opening up ofregions otherwise inaccessible and to organizing bushmeat channels inwhich could be inserted illegal products o f poaching. 0 An overexploitation o f agricultural and pastoral soils and other resources (firewood, water, PFNL, etc.), essentially in the northern regions, by the reduction of their surface areas resulting from land-use specialization, from zoning and classification (FCt, FC, ZIC, ZICGC, inthe northernregions there will benoUFA). The riskof increase inthe pressure o fhuntingandpoaching has to be mitigated by the integration of fauna preoccupations in the development plans o f forestry grants, by creating new protected areas, through zoning plans which program the reservation o f forests, through the implementation o f an anti-poaching program (LAB). The risk o f over specializing areas, o f reducing access to multi-usage, agricultural, pastoral and forestry areas and the overexploitation o f some agricultural and pastoral areas should be mitigated by implementing an approach o f the type "town planninglland planning" o f zoning rather than an approach having as principalvocation the delimitation o f forestry domains. 6 Concerning extra-sector risks Extra-sector environmental risks, which are not linked to the forestry policy, weigh on the environment: penetration o f farmers and pastoralists into the forest, mining, agro-industries (cotton in the north). Zoning, local negotiation and the formalization of earth allocations should permit to prevent the impacts of the other land speculations that threaten the forest to disappear. Ifthe population growthrate is maintained at 3% per year, the increase inpopulation will bring about very significant needs in agricultural products, and thus the increase in the production of agricultural products through the colonization of forests to the detriment o f forestry land, To prevent this extra-sector risk, it i s primordial that a national land management and agriculture intensification programbe conceived ina coordinated and complementary way. It appears that the PSFE takes little account of other policies and sector programs, especially agriculture and animal production, and considers the process o f decentralization as acquired (or at least as an important, supposition, success factor). It i s necessary to look for synergies with other policies and sector programs, especially PNGP, and to prevent possible malfunctioning and delays o f one and the other. Mitigating measures The study proposes measures aimed at mitigating negative impacts and optimizing positive impacts o f the forestry policy and the support program for its implementation. Giventhe nature o f the PSFE program, measures are o f two kinds: (a) specific recommendations to be integrated in the formulation of PSFE from the final phase of technical preparation-conception of the components; or (b) proposals to set up a system o f follow up - management o f the impacts of the program which will be implementedduringthe entire execution o f the program (Chapter 7). The study has led to the following recommendations (synthesis), which have already beedwill be reflected in the program documents prepared by the Government. It i s important that these documents be equally reflected inthe formulation o f the support projects o f partners of the PSFE: Adjustments in (i) technical conception (approach o f the type the ((town planning )) rather than principally forestry) of the components o f PSFE relative to the completion of the zoning plan and the plan o f earths allocation for regions not yet covered, (ii) the good execution of preliminary consultations to classifying UFAs and protected areas (iii) contractual relations with forestry exploiters and those of sport hunting zones, (iv) encouragement to implement development plans and to build capacities o f the administration for verifying plans and supervisingon the field, (v) the implication and the role o f populations inthe management o f natural resources, (vi) the clarification of the functions o f the administration, NGOs, technical bodies, private contractors. Steps to help change the mentality of the different partner groups concerned with a strategy o f training and building capacities contributing to this change o f mentalities, putting back in place a framework that encourages performance in administration: system o f assessing and encouraging performance, sanction system, such as foreseen in the institutional review. Engaging the institutional reform. An original system o f participatory follow up evaluation, with a plan o f management and - follow up of the environmental and social impacts based on quality, with follow up and management o f the impacts at the decentralized level parallel to the annual planning process and to follow up - evaluation o f the program, with continuous verification (screening) of 7 activities o f the program all through its implementation. Giving responsibilities to SPE, the perennial institution incharge o f environmental monitoring. d) A Plan o f Development for Pygmies, PDPP (Annex 4) and the application o f the procedures o f classifying protected areas and o f UFAs inthe framework of the Master Plan o f Access to Resources (Annex 3). E) Analysis of Alternatives Scenariowith a Program - As concerns the entire sector, the alternatives analyzed are: 1. Continuation o f the present dynamics o f individualproiects without a program Without PSFE, it should be expected that the present dynamics o f dispersed projects will continue, with indeed positive impacts but insufficient to restore a long term capacity of national institutions (no sustainability) and without reversing the present tendency of degradation of resources and o f no economic gain for the national community. The scenario without a program will perpetuate and increase the gap between the policies and the field, which characterizes the present situation. 2. The absence/reduction of external support to the sector, or the concentration o f support to specific sub sectors This option will not also permit to reverse the present tendency described above. It corresponds neither to the will of the government, nor to that o f the international community represented amongst others by donors firmly committed to the sector. As concerns specifically the WorldBank, the alternatives analyzedare: 3. Stop supporting the sector This optionwould be illogical from the standpointthat it is the Bankthat promotedaprogram of reforms o f the policy in the framework o f SAC I11 and then was requested by the government that it support the implementation o f the framework o f the PSFE. It could only findjustification if the program proposed by the government did not conform to the policies of safeguarding the bank, and this i s not the case. 4. Support to the sector without the prom-am amroach (onelmore projects geographically limitedor limitedinsector This option would run counter to the will o f the government and to the Bank's own policies which encourage the program and multi-donor approach, and would prolong alternative 2 whichhasbeen put aside after the analysis. F) PlanofFollow up andManagement ofthe social and environmental impacts The plan of monitoring and management o f social and environmental impacts (PSGI) will be implemented by SPE. This Secretariat i s today completely in-adapted to the tasks that will be assigned to it, both at the SPE and PSGIlevels. A complementary Institutional Review will be usedto adapt, both at the central and local levels, its mandates (of supervision at the local level and of validation at the central level to accompany the annual cycle o f programming-planning o f the PTA o f the following year) and structures (SPE representative in each divisional delegation, creation o f local follow up committees at the 8 provincial and divisional levels with the participation of other ministerial services and the civil society, etc.), organic and functional framework inMINEF. Complementary RI will equally assess the opportunity to create in SPE, a unit dedicated to the implementation o f PSGI, its linkup and modes o f functioning. G) Conformity with respectto the operationalpoliciesof the World Bank The table below verifies point by point the conformity of the PSFE program and the support operation of the bank with respect to the five environmental and social safeguard policies that are applicable. ~Policy ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ Applicable consistent EnvironmentalAssessment (OP/BP 4.01) YES NaturalsHabitats(OPiBP 4.04) YES YES Pest Management (OP 4.09) NO Indigenouspeoples (OP 4.20) YES YES Involuntary Displacements(OP/BP 4.30) YES YES Forestry(OP 4.36) YES YES Securityofbarring (OP/BP 4.37) NO Projectson internationalwater channels (OP/BP 7.50) NO Projectsin ContestedZones (OP/BP 7.60) NO Cultural property (OPN 11.03) NO Tableau 1: Conformity to safeguard Policies The main observations are as follows: OP/BP 4.01 - Environmental Assessment. The present impact study, realized by a multi- disciplinary team not associated to the program, falls within the framework of a preparation process that has undergone numerous consultations and public informationsessions. The building o f the capacities of MINEF, and particularly those o f SPE, guaranties the conception and implementation of an environmental monitoring and a follow up - management system o f the impacts of the program. OP/BP 4.04 -NaturalHabitats. The programdoes not include activities that can bringabout the conversion of natural habitats. On the contrary, by supporting the regional protection of biodiversity and ecosystems through the classification o f protected areas, it will reduce agro- industrial pressures on these milieus as well as the taking into account o f highvalue conservation forests (HCVF) within the framework o f sustainable development plans. The institutional review has been translated by MINEF in the form o f "an institutional development letter" marking the commitment o f GoC in financial mechanisms ensuring the coverage o f recurrent costs o f protectedareas and o frecruitment and deployment o f staff to implement the supervision strategy. OP/BP 4.20 - Indigenous peoples. PSFE will contribute to the juridical recognition o f the customary way of using land and the indigenous people's resources and will ameliorate the application o f some dispositions o f the forestry Law that can have discriminatory effects against the populations (Annex 4). Preventive measures are defined in the Development Plan o f the Pygmies to ensure that they fully benefit from the opportunities created by the new policies: creation of community forests, pre-emptive law, access to their share o f surface charges, employment, protection o f users traditional rights. Moreover, the indigenous peoples will participate in local site follow up committees. 9 OP/BP 4.30 - Involuntary Displacements and Access to resources. PSFE does not include activities that can provoke involuntary displacements of populations. A master-plan (Annex 3) and consultation and locale negotiation procedures exist to prevent and mitigate reductions of access to resources which could result from town planning, classification of permanent forestry domain and the creation ofnew protected areas. OP/BP 4.36 - Forestry. PSFE has been conceived as a sector program that covers all the stakes linkedto forests andthe green environment on the entire national territory of Cameroon. It should also be noted that PSFE will not directly fund forestry exploitation activities but will rather build the capacity o f the administration and the operators to prepare and implement sustainable management plans. PSFE will facilitate the development of independentcertification. H) PlanofDevelopingtheIndigenousPeoples See executive summary Indigenous Peoples Program I)Framework-PlanofAccesstoResources A Framework-Plan of Access to Resources i s already in the most part operational to reduce the risks o f losing access to resources. It especially includes obligatory procedures of public consultation and the maintenance of users' rightsinall circumstances. The National Policy o f Town Planning i s built on two principal dispositions: the National Plan o f Land Allocation (PNAT) and UTOs (UnitCs Techniques OpCrationnel). PNAT defines two main kinds of areas, the Permanent Forests Domain (DFP) and the Non Permanent Forests Domain (DFNP). Each domain is itself cut out into major zone types (forest concessions, wildlife concessions, protected areas, community managed forests and wildlife concessions, council forests), which are each subject to the procedures of classification. Operational Technical Units (UTO) are the territorial units o f the project which aims at making it a common cause o f the populations in a participatory process o f classification which limits their user rights on some zones matchedby recognized user rights inother zones and financial fall outs and compensations. The classification procedures (UFA, Park) are defined by the various 1995 decrees of implementation o f the Forestry Law. They are developed inthree phases: 1. Local Informationand consultations 2. Preparation o f the classification file and the signature o f the decree 3. The demarcation o f land and issuing o f land titles These procedures have been tested and are already being applied (for Example: the National Parks o f Campo Ma'an and LobekC). The forestry law o f 1994 and its implementation decrees o f 1995 guarantee users' rights of the local communities during the classification o f a forest. All classification o f the forestry sector therefore makes secure the customary rights o f the local populations on these spaces and leads to the primacy o f the management choices o f the populations concerned on the national domain areas. Any modification in the right o f access to land and to resources results from State- Community negotiations. Demarcations can only therefore be validated in agreement with the local populations. The Forestry Law stipulates that any classification of a forestry concession, which would lead to the loss o f access to resources, has to define compensations in partnership with the populations concerned. The technical specifications o f contracting companies have to integrate compensation agreements. 10 Finally, the order no. 518/MINEF/CAB o f 21/12/2001 on the pre-emptive(first-users) right (Non Permanent forestry domain), fixes the allocation modalities, giving priority to local village communities, o f any forest that can be reserved as a community forest. PSFE, in the framework of its component 2, will ensure the execution of these procedures through the support o f the holding o f Inter-ministerial Departmental Commissions in charge of zoning and classification, and will ensure the smooth functioning o f already existing compensation mechanisms through institutional support for all the follow up and supervision activities. Inpractice, itturns out that: 0 The recognition of user rights is still less participatory andverynormative, 0 The extension of community managed zones is still determinedby those of UFA,AP and ZIC and village territory and corridor zones are restrictedto the left-over territory, 0 The transition from vast multi-usage village territories to specialized areas necessitates behavior modifications which are hardly compatible with the evolution capacities of the populations, 0 The use of classification processes faces a lot of difficulties\due to its complexity and heaviness, 0 The classification procedures of Permanent Forest Domain are more rapid than those in the non-permanent forest domain and this i s expressedby conflicting relations, 0 Incomes that in principle come from the exploitation o f the conceded zones are rarely assigned to the communities because of their incapacity to present acceptable projects. The specialization of areas is inescapable due to population growth, to the growing scarcity of some resources and to the apparition of new usages like forestry exploitation and ago-industry. The Master-Plan for Access to Resources comprises four points in a position to ameliorate the division o f areas ina way that none o f the socio-economic beneficiaries feels left out: 1. An approach of the type ((town planning/village territory management)), and not strictly forestry and/or conservatory, 2. A supplementary phase of participatory consultationhalidation at the inter-sectodinter- ministerial levels under the form o f a regional and/or divisional workshop, 3. Duringthese workshops, support activities (agricultural intensification, support to the animal breedingsector, etc.) coordinated with the activities o f PSFE, should be programmed for use by other sector programs, especially with PNDP, and other projects, 4. In an ideal planning, classification (and the activities that result from it) should have only taken place subject to the use o f these support activities J) Local Consultations The present study has been subject to local consultations all along its realization. About ten consultations have been heldwith the localpopulations in six provinces (East, South West, South, North, Littoral, and Centre). Two national workshops were organized and 4 joint multi-donor missions with the participation o f NGOs were made. Moreover, the provisional report i s publishedand can be accessedinthe provincialhead quarters. A consultation of the populations will have to be organized after the publication o f the first version of EIE. When it will be finalized it will be made available in the different accessible 11 public places (BM documentation centers, MINEF, SPE, local NGO headquarters, provincial delegations o f MINEF). Finally, a regular program of consultation o f local populations on the social and environmental impacts of PSFE i s beingelaborated by GoC with the support o f CIFOR. Annex 5 summarizes this public consultation effort duringand after the study. K) Conclusions Forests - environment sector policy that Cameroon has had since 1992 constitutes an improvement with respect to the earlier situation. This policy has already had concrete positive effects. However, it i s still struggling to be put in place due to persistent discrepancy with the weak institutional capacities o f national institutions to implement it. PSFE aims at reducing the gap between the policy framework and the execution capacity of national institutions, to restore the capacity o f MINEF to execute, follow up and supervise. The study shows that most o f the negative impacts identified today inthe sector follow not from the forestry policy itself, but from its non-application due to weak institutional capacity. Inthis way, the program - ifit attains its objective - will have largely positive impacts both at the social and environmental levels. All the same, the study has brought out some environmental and social risks that will accompany the implementation of this sector policy. The main ones are: 0 At the environmental level: (i)the risk of increasing poaching activities following the opening up o f hitherto inaccessible land masses; (ii)the risk o f overexploitation o f agricultural and pastoral territories and other resources (firewood, water, PFNL, etc.), essentially in the northem regions, through the reduction o f the surface areas resulting from the specialization o f areas, to zoning and to different classifications (FCt, FC, ZIC, ZICGC, in the northern regions there will be no UFA). 0 At the social level :(i)the risk ofreducing access to some areas and to some resources due to town planning and to the classification of forests and to protected areas; (ii)the risk o f conflicts between the concessionaires and the administration on one hand, and some social groups on the other hand if development outlines such as community forests or the distribution o f forest revenue does not take place; (iii) marginalization of the indigenous peoples (Pygmies), the present compensation measures are not adapted to their cultural specificities. Otherwise, it should be noted that extra-sector risks also weigh on the social and environmental performance of the PSFE, such as the strong population growth combined with extensive agricultural production systems, or the malfunctioning o f thejudicial system. The program should therefore develop links with external policies and programs o f the forestry sector, and act on the global strategies o f rural development, o f the building o f a State o f law, o f the reduction of poverty and the promotion o f the private sector. 12 The following plans are putinplace to accompany the execution ofthe program: 0 A Master-Plan of Access to Resources is already largely operationalto reduce the riskof lost o f access to resources. It especially includes obligatory procedures o f public consultation and the maintenanceof users' rights inall circumstances. 0 A Development Plan ofPygmies has been prepared to ensure that the pygmiescan fully draw on the opportunities offered by community forests, share charges, employment opportunities and to guarantee the quality o f their mode of life. 0 The Environment Permanent Secretariat, the perennial institution having essentially this mandate, will execute a follow up and management plan o f social and environmental impacts. The SPE will be strengthened within the framework o f PSFE inorder to develop the capacity o f environmental monitoring and verification. The study shows that subject to the use o f the three plans, the program proposed i s in conformity with the safeguard policies of the World Bank which are applicable: OPBP 4.01; OPBP 4.04; OP/BP 4.20; OP/BP 4.30; OP/BP 4.36. Recommendations formulated to optimize the impacts o f the program have to be taken into consideration not only in the National Program prepared by the Government, but also in the national and internationalpartner operations that will support this program. 13 INDIGENOUS PEOPLEDEVELOPMENT PLANSUMMARY The Govemment of Cameroon (GoC) has applied for technical and financial assistance in the preparation and implementation of the Forest and Environment Sector Program (PSFE). This program constitutes an important element of the GoC's strategy for poverty reduction. The PSFE is aiming at the sustainable management o f the naturalresourcesto improve the living condition of the people and conserve the biodiversity. The PSFE consists of five components: 0 Environmental management of forestry activities 0 Management of the production forests and the valorization of forestry products 0 Biodiversity conservation and valorization o f wildlife products 0 Community based management o f forest and wildlife resources 0 Reinforcement o f institutions, training andresearch. According to the Operational Directive 4.20 `special action i s required, where Bank investments affect indigenous peoples, tribes, ethnic minorities, or other groups whose social and economic status restricts their capacity to assert their interests and rights in land and other productive resources.' Following the OD 4.20, the main objective of this Indigenous people development plan (IPDP) is to assure that the PSFE will respect the dignity, rights and culture of the indigenous population (IP = Baka, Kola and Aka) in Cameroon and enable situations in which `mechanisms [are] devised and maintained for participation by indigenous people in decision makingthroughout project planning, implementation, and evaluation', and to strengthen the institutions through which IP can participate in their country's development. The OD 4.20 fully recognizes that measures additional to those which are in place for the majority o f the populationmight have to be implemented to enable IP to benefit from the project. This report shows how these goals can be achieved. From the legal point of view the IP (in total around 30.000 individuals gathered in around 300 settlement in 33 councils) are citizens equal to all other people bom in Cameroon, but they have neither the same political influence, legal status, organizational, technical or economic capacity as other groups in Cameroon. The Baka, Kola and Akas, who formerly ranged over broad areas of uninterrupted forest as full-time hunters and foragers, have increasingly been constricted to areas with home `bases' involving agriculture and outlying areas where some hunting and gathering is still practiced, though with different technology from the traditional net hunting. The former interdependence with village agriculturalists, with Baka, Kola and Aka supplying village labor during the hunting off-season, and villagers relying on pygmy production o f meat and forest products from the wild, has become a situation o f increased dependence of pygmies on villagers for cash income, work, and a few govemment-derived social services. Forest related interventions such as logging and biodiversity conservation have increased the marginalization, sedentarisation and impoverishment o f the Baka, Aka and Kola. The IP, who are more dependent on forests than others (huntingand gathering generates more than 65% o f their average livelihood), were often indisrespect o f their traditional utilization rightsforced out o fthe forest with little or no compensation. Has the increased dependence on farming, sedentary life for much o f the year, and the desire to access social services tumed IP communities into simple citizens o f Cameroon like others - a few ethnic groups among many others? Decidedly not. Not a single Baka, Kola or Aka i s working as a civil servant, no `pygmy' i s a member o f any o f the 339 councils, only one o f Cameroon's 13,000 14 villages had an Ip leader prior to the implementationo f an IPDPin the Campo-Ma'an regon. Even in the subdivisions, where IP form 30 or 50 percent of the population, no leaders are themselves Baka, Kola or Aka. Few have identity cards that enable them to participate as citizens, because almost none can afford the US$ 25 or so that it takes to acquire one. Nordo they have birth certificates, needed to register as voters. Rough estimates of cash income indicate that IP households may earn about one third of average rural incomes inthe country. They have no way to acquire rights to `community forests', `communal hunting zones' or to defend their possession of theremnants oftheir `homelands' from outside interests. The PSFE proposes mechanisms to improve the livingconditions o flocal communities through the sustainable management o f forest ecosystems, but at the present state it is most likely, that IP communities will not be able, or enabled, to participate. Put more simple, their settlements are not recognized `communities', and therefore they cannot interact legally with government services. While they are the most dependent on the forest, which generates more than 2/3 o f their subsistence and income, they have no legal access to it. Without special steps, Baka, Kola and Aka will not be able to benefit from the PSFE that is national in scope and inprinciple and by intention open to everyone. There are several major risks resulting from the PSFE, which have to be mitigatedto insure that the Baka and Kolawill not: 0 lose control over the land traditionally utilized by them as source of livelihood and basis for their cultural and social system, 0 become even more marginalized inthe Cameroonian society, 0 disintegrate for the decentralized system o f administration, 0 receive less assistance from governmental services, 0 have less capacities to defend their legalrights, 0 become or remain as dependents o f other ethnic groups, 0 lose their cultural and social identity. The GoC approved the 16 activities of the IPDP (8 of themare already approved by the PNDP) - outlined below - to realize the potential positive impacts o f the PSFE and to mitigate its potential negative impacts. It i s a mutual understanding that only the full implementation o f an IPDP and all its components fulfils the requirements o f the OD 4.20, guarantees that the PSFErespects the rights, dignity and culture of the indigenous people, offers themequal or better opportunities to participate in the benefits and achieves the development objective of the PSFE and `assures that the living conditions of the rural population are sustainable improved through the sustainable management of forest ecosystems'. Some of the recommended activities of the IPDP of the PSFE were already adopted as GoC policy and are marked initalic (PNDP 2003): Establish equal legal opportunities 0 Establishthe necessary capacities to implement an IPDPfollowing the OD 4.20. 0 Establish equal legal conditions for all indigenouspeople (ID-cards). Establishequal legal conditions for all settlements o f indigenous people (village). 0 Establishcommunity forests andor communal huntingzones for all IP communities. 0Establishnew forestry regulations, which legalize the IP to utilize their land, 0Establisha national policy on indigenous people. 15 Establishequaltechnicalopportunities 0 Provide the IPwithtechnical capacitiesto participate actively innaturalresourcemanagement. 0 Provide the relevant GoC staff and other stakeholders with techcal capacities to cooperate successllly withthe IP. 0 Promote research on the IP and provide space for information on the IP. Establishequalfinancialopportunities 0 Adjust the distribution patterns of the forestry revenue to provide the IP with the necessary funds to participate activities and decision makingprocesses. Establishequalorganizationalopportunities 0 Facilitate the representation o f IP inall forest relateddecision making bodies. 0 Facilitate priority access for IP to forest relatedjob opportunities. 0 Establish aparticipatory monitoringand evaluation systemfor the IPDP. Establishequalculturalopportunities 0 Sensitize the Baka, Kola and Aka on the risks of the developmentprocess. 0 Assist IP association in capacity building to preserve traditional howledge, culture and livelihoodpatterns. 0 Foster the creation o f forums for communication and exchange between IPSand other ethnical groups and accompany this process o f mutual understanding. The main actors of this IPDP are the PSFE in MINEF, the sub-department o f marginalized population in MINAS, MINAT, MINEPAT, NGOs workmg on indigenous peoples issues in Cameroon, the associations o f the indigenous people and the Baka, Kola and Aka themselves. At the present level none of the primary stakeholders i s able to implement an IPDP without further training and the assistance on an international technical advisory body, but all stakeholders are willing to act in accordance with the OD 4.20. To increase the synergy of the IPDPs of sector programmes within the poverty reduction strategy (PNDP, PSFE), the IPDPs will be implemented jointly by independent steering committees at national, provincial and council level assembling all along with mutual discussions on the IPDPs. Duringthis pilot phase (1/2004 - 12/2004) an ad-hoc stakeholders. The establishment o f these implementation structures will take time and will develop IPDP committee will start operations. The main focus will be on the establishment o f the institutional framework, the sensitization o f all stakeholders in general and the affected population in particular, the gathering of baseline data and the establishment of community forests and communal huntingzones for all I P settlements. It is assumedthat the 16 activities of the IPDPof the PSFE, with a financial volume of US$ 2 Mill (< 1 % of the overall PSFEbudget), are able to guarantee that the PSFE is executed inaccordance with the OD 4.20 and that the PSFEwill indeedhelp to: 0 strengthen traditional systems o f governance and embrace the notion o f community dialogue and traditional chiefdoms for all ethnic groups; 0 reduce poverty for all ethnic groups and lower the degradation o f natural resources; 0 install an effective management system of the natural habitats, which offers positive impacts to the entire population and the biodiversity (pro poor conservation); 0 respect the dignity, rights and culture o f the Baka, Kola and Aka; 16 assurethat the IPreceive an equal or higherbenefit fromthe PSFEthan other ethnic groups; and assist the IP to increase their legal, political, societal, economical, cultural and psychological situations. 17 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLANSUMMARY Introductionand responsibility inthe execution of the Plan A FESP social and environmental impact assessment was conducted by MINEP/MINFOF with the support of a multidisciplinary team of national and international consultants. The study was motivated by the dual need to maximize the programme's social and environmental impacts during its implementation phase and to verify the programme's consistency with World Bank social and environmental policies, in view of the latter's financial participation. In keeping with its duties, the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Nature shall be responsible for monitoring the Environmental Management Plan (EMP), includingthe preparationo fdocuments requiredfor implementing,monitoringandoverseeing the execution o f mitigationmeasures. The most important o f such documents include regulatory instruments and specifications relating to the implementation o f environmental impact assessments in the forest sector. The decree on impact assessments whose approval features among actions to be implemented prior to credit allocation, shall serve as basis for the drafting o f regulatory instrumentsand specifications on environmental measures applicable inforest zones. Within the context of FESP, MINEP shall be equipped to perform its duties of regulating and overseeing environmental standards. With the support o f a specialized institution, MINEP shall prepare a manual or other such document to ensure verification o f compliance with environmental standards laid down in the implementing decree o f the environmental law (Law No, 96/12 of 5 August 1996). Such manual shall be used duringthe training o f MINEPpersonnel, includingmanagerialstaff transferred to provinces and responsiblefor implementingthe laws and regulations. The training sessions shall be extended to senior executives of the Department o f Forestry, the Department o f forests and protected areas (DFAP) and to senior officials o f provinces responsible for supervisingMINFOF activities. Each year, in the month of September, MINEP shall draw up an Annual Work Plan (AWP) containing the activities o f the EMP, especially (i)a MINEP job description in relation to the EMP, (ii)a list of the human and material resources to be used, (iii) environmental management promotion and protection activities, and (iv) a budget covering all MINEP operating and investmentexpenses. The AWP shall be accompanied by the progress report o f the previous year. There shall be prior deployment o f staff and acquisition o f essential equipment needed for FESP monitoring before the start of financial contributions fi-om development partners. This EMP which is estimated to cost US$2 940 000, is entirely financed with national resources, IDA Credit and GEF grant allocated to FESP. Contentsof the EnvironmentalManagementPlan The EMP concerns measures that can detect, prevent or offset possible negative impacts. Given that certain environment-friendly measures had already been integrated in FESP-supported programmes, the EMP shall above all concern specific institutional capacity-building activities, as well as follow-up and external assessment activities that could not be part o f the programme's major components. Also, given the sector-based nature o f FESP, it will be mandatory for each major and selective investment financed within the context of, and outside the programme, to be subjected to specific analyses and impact mitigation measures, as required by Cameroon environmental laws. There are basically two types of EMP measures: a) cross-cutting institutional enhancement measures; and b) component-based follow-up and possible impact mitigation measures. Cross-cutting;institutionalenhancementmeasures They are supposed to enable national institutions to identify and handle environmental issues within the framework of their traditional functions. The aim here i s to increase the response capacity o f MINEP and MINFOF services to the constant production and adaptation needs o f the environmental normative, monitoring, oversight and protection framework. Such measures come to complement and lay focus on capacity-building activities already plannedby FESP, by making such activities urgent and of top priority. They, for instance, will make it possible to strengthen MINEP as soon as FESP is launched, and ensure that it accompanies the DFAP and Forestry Department (MINFOF) in the assessment, implementation, and control o f the environmental impacts of FESP activities, as well as in the assessment, implementation and control o f the necessary mitigationor compensationmeasures. Component-based follow-up and possible impact mitigationmeasures They include measures that were not already integrated in the programme. These are selected attendant measures of certain components and sub-components of FESP. The EMP adopted within the context of FESPfeatures inthe table appended hereto. Yaounde, Minister o f the Environment and Protection o f Nature '0 B 4 .-6 e0 C I N c .-* wi E 3 E w -0 s