HSBC Project: Process Framework E4474 V2 GOVERNMENT OF ZIMBABWE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND CLIMATE HWANGE SANYATI BIODIVERSITY CORRIDOR (HSBC) PROJECT PROCESS FRAMEWORK MARCH 2014 1 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Table of Contents Item Description Page Executive Summary 6 1.0 Introduction 8 1.1 Purpose of the PF 9 1.2 Preparation of the PF 10 1.3 Background of implementing entities 11 2.0 Project Description 19 2.1 Project location 20 2.2 Project activities 24 3.0 Legal, Policy and Administrative Arrangement 28 3.1 Constitution of Zimbabwe 28 3.2 Environment Management Act 29 3.3 Parks and Wildlife Management Act 30 3.4 Land Tenure 31 3.5 Traditional Leaders Act 31 3.6 Water Act 32 3.7 Administrative and Legal Procedures 32 3.8 Participation of NGOs 34 3.9 World Bank Safeguards Policies 35 4.0 Socio Economic baseline 36 4.1 land Use Pattern 36 4.2 Administrative arrangement 37 4.3 Cultural standing 39 4.4 Livelihoods 40 4.5 Demographic 42 4.6 Education 43 4.7 Vulnerable grounds 44 5.0 Community consultation and engagement 46 5.1 Community stakeholder profile 46 2 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 5.2 Engagement of partners 49 5.3 Stakeholder consultation discussion 50 6.0 Impact Management 65 6.1 Project Affected People Criteria 66 6.2 Impact analysis 67 6.3 Impact assessment 71 6. 4 Measures to mitigate negative impacts 77 7.0 Grievance and conflict resolution 81 8.0 Monitoring arrangements 86 9.0 Conclusions and recommendations 88 References 92 List of tables 1.1 Populations statistics 11 4.1 CAMPFIRE livelihoods activities 41 6.2 Analysis of impacts 68 6.3 Key for impact evaluation 72 6.4 Impact evaluation 73 8.1 Summary of responsibilities 87 List of Figures 1.1 Geographical location 13 2.1 Location HNP 22 3 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CAP Chapter DA District Administrator CBNRM Community Based Natural Resources Management EMA Environmental Management Agency EMMP Environment Management and Monitoring Plan EMP Environment Management Plan ESIA Environment and Social Impact Assessment ESMF Environment and Social Management Framework ESMP Environment and Social Management Plan FC Forestry Commission GoZ Government of Zimbabwe HNP Hwange National Park HSBC Hwange Sanyati Biodiversity Corridor ICA Intensive Conservation Area IPPF Indigenous Peoples Planning Framework KAZA Kavango Zambezi NGO Non-Governmental Organization NRM Natural Resources Management PA Protection Areas PAP Project Affected Persons PF Process Framework PWMA Parks and Wildlife Management Authority RDC Rural District Council 4 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework REDD Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation TFCA Trans Frontier Conservancy Area WWF Worldwide Wildlife Fund 5 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The GEF through the World Bank is funding the HSBC project that will be implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate. The HSBC project consists of four subprojects that are implemented through four implementing partners which are coordinated by WWF. The four implementing agents and their respective subprojects are EMA (land degradation), CAMPFIRE (livelihoods), Forestry Commission (Climate Change) and PWMA (Biodiversity). The project triggered the following World Bank environment and social safeguards policies  O.P 4.01 – Environmental Assessment Policy.  O.P 4.04 – Natural habitat.  O.P 4.36 – Forests Protection.  O.P 4.11- Physical Cultural Resource.  O.P 4.12 – Involuntary Resettlement.  O.P 4.10 – Indigenous Peoples. An ESMF was developed to comply with the OP 4.01, 4.04 and 4.36 while an IPPF was developed to address the requirements of O.P 4.10. This Process Framework addresses the requirements of OP 4.12. The PWMA and the Forestry Commission subprojects gave rise to this PF. The project location for the PWMA is the HNP while the Forestry Commission is focusing on the Ngamo and Sikumi Forests. The two subprojects are anchored on the existing restriction of access to the gazetted forest and national park area. The location of the two subprojects generate and impact zone that includes the two districts namely Tsholotsho and Hwange. The areas that are most affected by the project activities are Tsholotsho wards 1,2,3,4,5 and 7 and Hwange wards 13,14,15,16 and 17. A Process Framework (PF) describes the process by which affected communities participate in identification, design, implementation and monitoring of relevant project activities. The key partners in the implementation of this PF include EMA, Forestry Commission, PWMA, RDCSs through CAMPFIRE, traditional leaders and the local NGOs. The implementation process will be anchored on the existing local communication networks and committees. 6 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework In this PF, PAPs are those people who depend on a certain level of access and use of a given resource to maintain their standard of living. As a general guideline, PAP include all families and their dependants living in or near the HNP/Forest/Buffer zones and are dependent on it on a continual or seasonal basis. The following measures have been put in place to ensure minimum negative environmental and social impacts to the local community;  ESMF  Environmental Screening Planned Activities Environmental Impacts Social Impacts  ESMP to be prepared and approved before works begin.  Process framework  IPPF The real interventions against any potential negative social within the community arising from project implementation are quenched through the integration of CAMPFIRE component in the HSBC project. The implementation of the PF will therefore best be made with the total and consistent participation of the CAMPFIRE. The PF has devised a grievance and conflict resolution procedure that revolves around the use of traditional leaders for internal and lower case conflicts. The procedure also has informal mechanisms that include management intervention, Ministerial interventions and also Presidential interventions where required. The formal mechanism will follow the magistrate court at a local level and an appeal route that can end to the Supreme Court, however dialogue and informal settlements will be encouraged. The PF also has put in place mechanism for the involvement of the local community in the monitoring of the effectiveness of the project interventions including the conflict resolution and mitigation of the applicable negative impacts accompanying the HNP and the forests operations. For the success implementation of this PF, the CAMPFIRE livelihoods component need to be closely merged with this PF so that the CAMPFIRE interventions are instrumental in quenching the anxiety that the local community may have as a result of the existing restriction to the HNP and the forest areas. 7 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION The HSBC project area spans across two provinces namely Matabeleland North and Midlands. The affected area of the two province covers 6 Districts namely Tsholotsho, Hwange, Binga, Gokwe, Nyaminyami and …. Across this landscape is a diverse landuse pattern that includes settlement area, commercial farms, gazetted parks and forestry areas and also the giant water body (Kariba Dam). Of great interest in this PF are the game parks, forest areas and the surrounding human settlements. The project area hosts five of the country’s 24 gazetted indigenous forest areas. They are; Sikumi, Ngamo, Mzola, Kavira and Sijarira. However, the project will focus on Sikumi and Ngamo forests. This is in recognition of the fact they neighbour Hwange National Park- the reservoir of wildlife in the project corridor. Consequently they provide continuity for wildlife movement within the corridor. There is also no commercial timber logging and human settlements in the two forests. Furthermore the forests interface with communities who derive their livelihoods from them by accessing grazing, thatch grass, firewood and other non-wood forest products. Zimbabwe has 26 wildlife areas that consist of 11 national parks, 6 safari areas, 10 recreational parks, 2 botanical gardens and 2 botanical reserves that cover 5.2 million ha. The 26 areas constitute the Parks Estate. The Hwange –Sanyati Biological Corridor Project area hosts three National Parks (Hwange, Chizarira and Matusadonha) and two safari areas (Chete and Chirisa). The Parks estate neighbours with some communal land, gazette forest areas and privately owned conservancies. The estate also hosts migration wildlife routes across the different neighbouring land use systems. However, the routes are not well understood and require further research as they impact on the sustainable management of wildlife in the corridor. The project will focus on Hwange National Park (HNP). The two districts that share a direct interface with the HNP and the gazetted forests are Hwange and Tsholotsho. 8 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework The HNP and the gazetted forests have some restriction of access by the surrounding communities thereby constituting some form of involuntary resettlement in terms of the O.P 4.12 – Involuntary Resettlement Policy. The restrictions in the gazetted forest area and national park do generate for form of negative impact to the community wellbeing and livelihoods. This PF acts as a means to the identification and management of the potential impacts of the project on the surrounding communities. While this location of the project gives rise to the requirement if the IPPF, the PF only focuses on the participation of the local communities including the IP within the project area while an IPPF that was also developed for the project will focus on IP only. The general issues pertaining to the IP will be discussed to the extent that is common the non IP communities. Issues specific to the IP will be dealt with in line with the IPPF. 1.1 PURPOSE OF PROCESS FRAMEWORK A Process Framework (PF) describes the process by which affected communities participate in identification, design, implementation and monitoring of relevant project activities and mitigation measures. The purpose of this PF is to ensure participation of Project Affected People (PAP) while recognizing and protecting their interests and ensuring that they do not become worse off as a result of the project. Specifically, the PF will: i. Describe activities that may involve new or more stringent restrictions on use of natural resources in the project area. ii. Establish the mechanism through which the local communities can contribute to the project design, implementation and monitoring. iii. Identify the potential negative impacts of the restriction on the surrounding communities. iv. Describe the mitigation and compensation measures required. v. Describe the grievance procedure or process for resolving disputes to natural resource use restrictions. vi. Describe the participatory monitoring arrangements with neighbouring community members. Through this PF, the PWMA and the Forestry Commission will establish the status quo of the community livelihoods and forecast the expected direction and magnitude of any change 9 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework brought about by the restriction of access to the park and gazetted forest on which this proposed project is anchored. The PF will also assist in; • Assessing and describing the administrative and legal procedures including (i) previous agreements between communities and government relating to access to natural resources, and (ii) the administrative and financial responsibilities for the key stakeholders; • Establishing the criteria for eligibility by which PAP will be determined and measures to ensure that their living standards do not deteriorate as a result of the project; and • Identifying how the affected communities will benefit from the project and the measures that will be implemented to assist them improve or at least maintain their standards of living. The PF will therefore allow the HNP and the Forestry Commission to sustainably configure their subprojects for the maximum participation of the Hwange and Tsholotso communities in the design and implementation of the subprojects activities. 1.2 PREPARATION OF THE PF In preparing this PF, a desk study was conducted to review the World Bank Involuntary Resettlement policy and how it applies to the HSBC project and specifically the communities surrounding the HNP and the gazetted forests on Sikumi and Ngamo. A review of other PFs from the World Bank InfoShop was done in order to broaden appreciation of the application of the policy in other countries in similar projects. A desk study also ensured a fair appreciation of the project area using the various project related maps. Documents that describe the project were also reviewed in order to appreciate the facets of the project that are likely to impact negatively or positively on the surrounding community. A field visit was undertaken to the HNP, Ngamo and Sikumi forests and the surrounding to have some consultations and get some first-hand information about the socioeconomic setting of the local community and also appraise them of the project activities. Since this PF will be implemented in an area with some IPs, a visit to the San community in Tsholotsho was conducted and a meeting with the San community was convened. Following a detailed presentation of the project activities by the implementing parties, a discussion on the community’s views of the project was undertaken. The community contributions were recorded for inclusion in the PF. Some visits to the San households and non San households were taken as part of the social assessment of the community. Discussion was held with the 10 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework local NGO working with the San community. An interview with the headmaster of the local school was made to ensure a wide range of input from the community. Project information from the PWMA and FC were also instrumental in the formulation of this PF. Some direct contributions from the responsible officials of the PWMA and FC were also incorporated especially on issues pertaining to park management and forest management. Consultation with the local Chief, District Administrators for Hwange and Tsholotsho also contributed to the formulation of this PC. Relevant government offices also participated and contributed. 1.3.0 BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION While the MEWC will sign the grant facility with the World Bank, the implementation will be done by the various organizations under the jurisdiction of the ministry. WWF will coordinate the implementation of the project. The implementing partners for WWF are EMA, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Forestry Commission and Campfire. While the PWMA and FC are the two organizations that will utilize this PF, an overview of all the implementing agencies for the HSBC project will be given because they have some indirect application of this PF especially in the utilization of the local networks in the implementation of the PF 1.3.1 CAMPFIRE CAMPFIRE Association is the lead agency for the Community Areas Management Programme For Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) and is a registered Welfare Organization (W.O/15/94). This organization will lead the implementation of the Livelihoods focal area of the HSBC project. Its mandate is to promote the interests of rural communities in the sustainable management of their natural resources in partnership with government, civil society organizations and the private sector. It has a compliment of eight staff centrally located in Harare and technically supported by CAMPFIRE departments within participating districts. The Association’s main funding source is a levy on CAMPFIRE activities carried out in the CAMPFIRE districts. 1.3.1.1 CAMPFIRE AND RDCS Zimbabwe has a total of 60 RDCs (the lowest level of government in rural areas). Sixty-five per cent of the country’s population (12.974 million) lives in rural areas. Most of the latter 11 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework areas receive low and erratic rainfall and are on infertile soils. Consequently, the bulk of the communities realize low dry land crop yields and are food insecure. Wildlife management is therefore an important livelihood option in some districts with 57 of them being part of the CAMPFIRE programme that covers about 5 million ha. Figure 2.1 shows the geographical location of the CAMPFIRE districts. 1.3.1.2 CURRENT CAMPFIRE PROJECTS IN THE HSBC The Hwange-Sanyati Biological Corridor covers six districts namely: Binga, Gokwe North, Hwange, Kusile, Nyaminyami, and Tsholotsho. The districts are involved in CAMPFIRE largely through sport hunting that also creates employment for the local population. In addition, commercial timber logging and fishing are important income sources in Tsholotsho and Hwange respectively. Table 1.1 shows population statistics of CAMPFIRE wards in the six districts. Table 1.1: Population statistics of CAMPFIRE wards in HSBC District District size No. of Wards Population Population of (ha) wards in in of Campfire district CAMPFIRE district wards Binga 1 305 800 25 21 138 074 118 824 Gokwe North 1 824 600 36 14 244 976 98 009 Hwange 376 963 20 19 62 649 58 240 Kusile 773 500 26 23 164 469 87 936 Nyaminyami 794 300 12 11 43 654 33 342 Tsholotsho 784 400 22 11 113 895 59 602 The Campfire component of the project will focus on Binga, Hwange and Tsholotsho districts. The districts were preferred because of the following realities:  Hwange and Tsholostho are the only districts in the HSBC that share boundaries with Hwange National Park (HNP), the wildlife reservoir for the project.  Binga district is exposed to human wildlife conflict as it borders protected areas such as Chizarira National Park, Sijarira forest and Chete safari area. In fact the district forms a natural link between Hwange National Park and other protected areas found within the corridor; and, 12 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework  All three districts suffer from competition for space between people and wildlife. CAMPFIRE will play an important role in the implementation of the PF in that the potential benefits of the natural resources in the restricted areas will get to the community mostly through the livelihoods projects of CAMPFIRE. The project benefits will be accrued to the whole participating community and not to individuals. The CAMPFIRE livelihoods activity will draw some resources from the restricted forest and park areas through the movement of game from the source area to the buffer areas where the safari operations are. Through these safari operation, the community will benefit out of employment and royalties paid to the CAMPHIRE through the RDC. So the communication between the direct implementing partners of the PF and the community will be catalyzed by synchronizing the CAMPFIRE activities with the implementation of this PF. Figure 1.1: Geographical location of the focal districts 1.3.2 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AGENCY The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate. Its mandate is derived from the Environmental Management 13 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Act CAP 20:27 that provides for the sustainable management of natural resources and protection of the environment; prevention of pollution and environmental degradation; and preparation of national environmental management plans across the country’s land use systems. The Agency has a staff compliment of 260 people strategically located throughout the country. Its funding comes from two sources namely; own revenue generation efforts and government grants. In 2010, the Agency generated $8.2 million and received $0.8 million in government grants for recurrent expenditure. Of the total amount $2.7 million went towards staff costs. Capital expenditure totaled $1.1 million that year. EMA has its Head Office in Harare, but is well represented at every local area. The organization has offices in the 10 provincial capitals and also in the two major cities namely Harare and Bulawayo. EMA also has an office in each of the 60 districts in the country and has active environmental committees in each ward. The representation goes further down from the ward to village level where volunteers are engaged in various environment management responsibilities. EMA is responsible for the land degradation focal area of the HSBC project. 1.3.2.1 EMA COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMES EMA routinely undertakes capacity building training for key stakeholders to instil a culture of environmental stewardship. The stakeholders include traditional leaders, local authorities such as rural district councils (RDCs), environmental sub-committees and local resource monitors as demonstrated by the following: i. The country has 359 environmental sub-committees of which one is in Chireya ward. Sub-committees are constituted by elected representatives of local communities and receive grants to facilitate their operations. In 2012 these grants totalled $60 000 and were channelled through RDCs and; ii. There are 324 resource monitors (volunteer environmental watch dogs at local level) throughout the country and one of them is in Chireya. The Agency assists the monitors with bicycles to improve mobility, regalia for ease of identification and funding for text messages to relevant authorities that deal with environmental issues (e.g. EMA, Forestry Commission and Zimbabwe Republic Police). The local representation of EMA at all levels configures the organization for effective implementation of any such environment related projects. Some of the subproject activities of PWMA and Forestry are related to the EMA functions and the EMA environmental 14 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework management committees within the communities will also offer an enhancing effect in the implementation of the PF by the two key players. 1.3.3 FORESTRY COMMISSION The Forestry Commission (FC) is a parastatal organization under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management. Its mandate is derived from the Forestry Act (CAP 19:05 as amended in 1999) and is to provide for regulation, management and capacity enhancement within Zimbabwe’s forestry sector. The Act regulates forest use on state land, commercial farming areas, and gazetted forests. The Commission has a staff compliment of 673 people strategically located throughout the country. Its main funding sources are Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) grants and revenue from own resources. The organization’s plan is to progressively increase own revenue receipts and reduce on government grants in future. In 2012 it had a recurrent budget of $4.8 million from GoZ and $2.8 million from own resources. Of this amount, $4.4 million went to staff salaries. A total of $0.8 million was allocated to capital expenditure. Forestry Commission is represented in each of the 60 districts in Zimbabwe and also in every Gazetted Forest Area. The Forestry Commision is responsible for the Climate Change focal area of the HSBC project. 1.3.3.1 FORESTRY COMMISSION ACTIVITIES IN GAZETTED FOREST AREAS Zimbabwe has 24 gazetted indigenous forests that cover about 800 000 ha. Their size ranges from 567 ha (Ungwe) to 144 000 ha (Gwaai). The forests were gazetted between 1926 and 1960 to control the wanton harvesting of commercial indigenous timber species used to produce mine props, railway sleepers, flooring parquets and furniture. According to Zimbabwe’s land use classification, gazetted indigenous forests are located in natural regions IV and V, which are characterized by low and erratic rainfall and are on the fragile Kalahari Sand ecosystem. The forests are important for watershed and soil protection (catchment area protection), biodiversity conservation, wildlife habitats and as a source of commercial timber and non-timber forest products such as honey, mushrooms, edible insects and indigenous fruits. The forests are generally critical for the management and protection of the fragile Kalahari sand ecosystem. Gazetted forests contribute to Zimbabwe’s Gross Domestic Product through the forestry and tourism sectors. Substantial quantities of indigenous timber products 15 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework are exported as furniture, flooring and wood carvings. In addition, the forests generate revenue from photographic safaris and sport hunting. Furthermore, gazetted indigenous forests provide employment in the areas of commercial timber harvesting, safari operations, forest management and wood carving. About four timber concessions are operational in the forests at any one time. The concessions employ some 300 people in forest management and sawmilling. Each concession is allowed to harvest a maximum of 4 800 cubic metres under bark of timber of various species per year. The average stumpage royalty for the various timber species is about $30, with chargeable fees ranging from $25 to $52. With respect to hunting, there can be as many as 160 hunts lasting 14 to 20 days each per hunting season (May to October). Sport hunting and photographic safari operations employ substantial numbers of people. Depending on the size of the safari outfit, there could be up to 25 people employed in catering, grounds maintenance, game tracking, skinning and tour guiding. The approximately 44 curio stalls operating along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road and in Victoria Falls derive their timber from gazette forests. Each stall employs on average 20 people engaged in various activities in the production and vending of the curios. The Hwange-Sanyati Biological Corridor Project area hosts five of the country’s 24 gazetted indigenous forest areas. They are; Sikumi, Ngamo, Mzola, Kavira and Sijarira. However, the project will focus on Sikumi and Ngamo forests. This is in recognition of the fact they neighbour Hwange National Park- the reservoir of wildlife in the project corridor. Consequently they provide continuity for wildlife movement within the corridor. There is also no commercial timber logging and human settlements in the two forests. Furthermore the forests interface with communities who derive their livelihoods from them by accessing grazing, thatch grass, firewood and other non-wood forest products. The management of the two gazetted forests is based on forest management plans that embrace the following activities; fire management, game water supply, wildlife management, community engagement and forest zoning. In addition to the fact that the forest management plan is outdated, the inadequacy of financial and human resources has compromised the management of the forests. The two forests measure 157 300ha and are only patrolled by a contingent of 12 guards at any given time. This translates to one guard per 13 000 ha. Furthermore, the two forests share one vehicle for guard deployment and forest monitoring. 16 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework The Forestry Commission used to support research on indigenous tree establishment, management and the effects of fire on natural regeneration but such activities have since been scaled down in the two forests. It is also facilitating the establishment and nurturing of community fire management brigades. In 2000 the Commission established a Social Fund whose objective was to support local schools and neighboring communities as part of its corporate social responsibility. However, the Fund is not operational due to financial challenges faced by the organization. The above background is important in relating the Forestry Commission and its activities with the surrounding communities. the background has some impact on the organization’s capacity to enforce the restriction of access by the community into the gazetted forests. 1.3.4 PARKS AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (PWMA) is a parastatal organization under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management. It derives its mandate from the Parks and Wildlife Act (Chapter 20:14) of 1996 and its subsequent amendments. The Act empowers the Authority to effectively and profitably manage Zimbabwe’s wildlife resources for the benefit of present & future generations especially within the Parks estate. The Authority has a staff compliment of at least 3 225 people strategically located throughout the country provincial offices and specific wildlife management areas. The organization does not receive government grants but manages its estates by commercializing its operations within the context of “natural resources paying for their own conservation�. However, the Authority is experiencing severe under capitalization and cash flow problems that continue to erode its capacity to sustainably manage the Park’s estate under the current depressed macro- economic environment. Currently, its law enforcement is weak and severely under-resourced at a time of heightened wildlife poaching activities. Funding for the protection and development of the Park estate has declined from $200 per square km in 1980 to the current (2013) $10 per square km. A comparative figure for Kruger National Park in South Africa is $2 000 per square km (Cumming, 2009). In 2011 the PWMA had a recurrent budget of $ 19.8 million of which $11.4 million went to staff salaries. A total of $0.9 million was allocated to capital expenditure. Zimbabwe has 26 wildlife areas that consist of 11 national parks, 6 safari areas, 10 recreational parks, 2 botanical gardens and 2 botanical reserves that cover 5.2 million ha. The 17 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 26 areas constitute the Parks Estate. The Hwange –Sanyati Biological Corridor Project area hosts three National Parks (Hwange, Chizarira and Matusadonha) and two safari areas (Chete and Chirisa). The Parks estate neighbors with some communal land, gazette forest areas and privately owned conservancies. The estate also hosts migration wildlife routes across the different neighbouring land use systems. However, the routes are not well understood and require further research as they impact on the sustainable management of wildlife in the corridor. The project will focus on Hwange National Park (HNP). It is important at this point to recap that the HNP is one of the two organizations that are implementing and enforcing the restriction of access to natural resources. In this case HNP enforces the restriction of the HNP area. It is also important to realize that the HNP has no direct border with the communities, but has shielded the community away from the park area by creating the buffer areas which are managed by CAMPFIRE or the Forestry Commission. In some cases the boundaries of the buffer zones are not gazetted and are enforced on mutual understanding with the traditional leadership. This however gives rise to conflicts since the boundaries are not legislated in some parts. So PWMA will not find this PF ease to implement without the direct involvement and catalysis of CAMPFIRE, Forestry Commission and the Traditional leaders. 1.3.5 WWF WWF is an International Development Agency whose vision is a safe and sustainable future for people, places and species, in an equitable low-carbon society that is resilient to climate change. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment, and build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. In order to achieve this mission, WWF focuses its efforts on two broad areas of biodiversity and footprints. The first focal area ensures that the earth's web of life - biodiversity - stays healthy and vibrant for generations to come. The organization strategically focuses on conserving critical places and critical species that are particularly important for the conservation of the earth's rich biodiversity. The second focal area aims to reduce the negative impacts of human activity (ecological footprint). The organization is working to ensure that the natural resources required for life - land, water, air are managed sustainably and equitably. WWF achieves its mission through 18 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework innovative partnerships that combine on-the-ground conservation, high-level policy and advocacy, and work to make business & industry more sustainable. Focus is on conserving critical places and critical species that are particularly important for their habitat or for people. WWF also works to reduce humanity's ecological footprint, the amount of land and natural resources needed to supply our food, water, fiber and timber, and to absorb CO2 emissions. WWF wishes to find practical solutions for a healthy planet, a planet where people and nature can thrive together, in a stable environment, now, and for generations to come. WWF will be the executing agency for the project. WWF has a country office (which also houses regional programmes) in Zimbabwe and a Regional Office for eastern and southern Africa in Kenya. The organization is well situated to provide critical specialized support in capacity improvement. The presence of WWF on the ground will provide a back-stop required in specific areas by providing technical assistance (TA) on timely basis to ensure project execution is done as planned. WWF also will play a critical role in the preparation of projects for financing by donors that support the overall environmental management effort of the government of Zimbabwe, specifically the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management, thereby ensuring harmonization and complementarity. In this PF, WWF will coordinate its overall implementation within the implementation parties namely Forestry Commission and PWMA with the involvement of all other partners and stakeholders. 19 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework CHAPTER 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION This section briefly discusses the project description and highlight the facets of the project that are likely to give rise to restriction of access to natural resources in gazetted parks and forest areas. It is important to note that there are four subproject in the HSBC project namely EMA (land degradation), CAMPFIRE (livelihoods), Forestry Commission (Climate Change) and PWMA (Biodiversity). Of the four components, two of them do not in any way generate a restriction of access to gazetted forests and park area. This project description will therefore focus on the two components that are generating or depend on an existing restriction, that is the PWMA and the Forestry Commission components. Two important facets of the project descriptions pertain to the project location and the project activities. Reference to non- implementing partners will be made where there is need for clarification or where the is complementarity with the implementing parties. 2.1PROJECT LOCATION Zimbabwe has 26 wildlife areas that consist of 11 national parks, 6 safari areas, 10 recreational parks, 2 botanical gardens and 2 botanical reserves that cover 5.2 million ha. The Hwange –Sanyati Biodiversity Corridor Project area hosts three National Parks (Hwange, Chizarira and Matusadonha) and two safari areas (Chete and Chirisa). The Parks estate neighbors with some communal land, gazetted forest areas and privately owned conservancies. The estate also hosts migration wildlife routes across the different neighbouring land use systems. . The HSBC project will focus on Hwange National Park (HNP). The HNP was preferred because of the following realities: i. It is a reservoir of most of the wildlife found in the corridor. For example, it has about 50 000 elephants; more than 5 000 buffalo; and 400 lion and is the largest national park in the country. 20 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework ii. It is part of the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Trans-frontier Conservation Area (TFCA) initiative. The KAZA is the largest TFCA in the world. iii. It is the source of animals that are sport hunted in the other land use systems e.g. Gwai Intensive Conservation Area (ICA); and Tsholotsho, Hwange and Binga communal lands. iv. Its wildlife is a major source of human wildlife conflicts with neighboring communal lands. Zimbabwe has 24 gazetted indigenous forests that cover about 800 000 ha. The HSBC Project area hosts five of the country’s 24 gazetted indigenous forest areas. They are; Sikumi, Ngamo, Mzola, Kavira and Sijarira. However, the project will focus on Sikumi and Ngamo forests. This is in recognition of the fact they neighbor Hwange National Park- the reservoir of wildlife in the project corridor. Consequently they provide continuity for wildlife movement within the corridor. There is also no commercial timber logging and human settlements in the two forests. Furthermore the forests interface with communities who derive their livelihoods from them by accessing grazing, thatch grass, firewood and other non-wood forest products. 21 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Fig 2.1 Location of Hwange National Park in the HSBC The above map shows that the HNP borders the Tsholotsho communal area to the south east, the gazetted forest area to the east, Safari area to the north and the Zimbabwe-Botswana border to the west. The Ngamo and Sikumi areas share borders with communal areas in the Hwange District. The communities in the Tsholotsho and Hwange district do experience varying forms of restriction of access to natural resources in the HNP and the two gazetted forests. There is total restriction to the HNP and access is only through designated access points after paying some entry fees. The surrounding community is not allowed to hunt or gather non timber products from the HNP. Anyone found to have gain illegal entry is considered to be committing and criminal offense. There is however some limited access to the gazetted forests which in most cases act as buffer zones. The forests are important for watershed and soil protection (catchment area protection), biodiversity conservation, wildlife habitats and as a source of commercial timber and non- 22 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework timber forest products such as honey, mushrooms, edible insects and indigenous fruits. The forests are generally critical for the management and protection of the fragile Kalahari sand ecosystem. Gazetted forests contribute to Zimbabwe’s Gross Domestic Product through the forestry and tourism sectors. Substantial quantities of indigenous timber products are exported as furniture, flooring and wood carvings. In addition, the forests generate revenue from photographic safaris and sport hunting. Furthermore, gazetted indigenous forests provide employment in the areas of commercial timber harvesting, safari operations, forest management and wood carving. About four timber concessions are operational in the forests at any one time. The concessions employ some 300 people in forest management and sawmilling. With respect to hunting, there can be as many as 160 hunts lasting 14 to 20 days each per hunting season (May to October). Sport hunting and photographic safari operations employ substantial numbers of people. Depending on the size of the safari outfit, there could be up to 25 people employed in catering, grounds maintenance, game tracking, skinning and tour guiding. The approximately 44 curio stalls operating along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road and in Victoria Falls derive their timber from gazette forests. Each stall employs on average 20 people engaged in various activities in the production and vending of the curios. 23 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 2.2 PROJECT ACTIVITIES 2.2.1 PARKS AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY i. Focal area outputs The overall objective of the focal area is to assist HNP to become a thriving and self- sustaining wildlife estate. Its specific outputs are:  The functioning of the park’s ecosystem better understood.  Game water supply improved.  Extent of wildlife poaching reduced.  Incidence of veld fires curtailed.  Pilot REDD+ project developed and piloted. ii. Specific activities by output Output 1: The functioning of the park’s ecosystem better understood The following activities will be carried out: i. Study wildlife migratory routes throughout the corridor. ii. Carryout a comprehensive groundwater assessment of the corridor. iii. Conduct wildlife aerial surveys for indicator species every three years. iv. Update the park management plan. Output 2: Game water supply improved The following activity will be undertaken:  Establish and maintain game water points as per HNP management plan. Output 3: Extent of wildlife poaching reduced The following activities will be conducted: i. Enhance anti-poaching activities in the park. ii. Mount joint/coordinated operations with relevant institutions (e.g. Forestry Commission, Painted dog project and Rural District Councils-RDCs). 24 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Output 3 activities are the ones that have enforcement of the existing restriction of access to the natural resources in the park area by the surrounding communities. Though the project has no additional restrictions to the ones that already exist, the success of the project is premised on the effective enforcement of the existing restriction to the park area. For effective implementation of the anti-poaching endeavors, community participation is very essential. The HNP will ensure it consults the local community on designing and implementation of anti-poaching activities. Output 4: Incidence of veld fires curtailed The following activities will be carried out: i. Establish and maintain fire guards. ii. Undertake firefighting operations. iii. Mount community conservation awareness campaigns. Output 4 is one of the activities under which most community sensitization activities are anchored. The community is expected to actively participate under this item in all its facets. The community participation is essential for effective fire management and general conservation awareness. Output 5: Pilot REDD+ project developed and implemented The following activities will be conducted: i. Establish the underlying causes of deforestation in HNP. ii. Assess and map out the forest cover of HNP. iii. Establish the amount of carbon sequestrated by HNP forests; Assess REDD+ readiness of the forests. iv. Design and implement a pilot REDD+ project. 25 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 2.2.2 FORESTRY COMMISSION- CLIMATE CHANGE FOCAL AREA As indicated in section 2.2.1, the achievement of the project objectives by Forestry Commission depends totally on the close participation of the local community. i. OUTPUTS OF THE FOCAL AREA The overall objective of this focal area is to promote improved land and forest management practices in Sikumi and Ngamo forests. Its outputs are:  Pilot REDD+ project developed and implemented.  Incidence of forest fires curtailed.  Extent of commercial timber and wildlife poaching reduced;  Game water supply improved. ii. ACTIVITIES TO THE OUTPUTS Output 1: Pilot REDD+ project developed and implemented. The following activities will be carried out under this output: i. Establish the underlying causes of deforestation in Sikumi and Ngamo forests. ii. Assess and map out forest cover of the forests. iii. Assess the amount of carbon sequestrated by the forests. iv. Assess REDD+ readiness of the forests. v. Design and implement a pilot REDD+ project. Output 2: Incidence of forest fires curtailed The following activities will be conducted: i. Establish and maintain fire guards. ii. Undertake firefighting operations. iii. Strengthen the work of community fire brigades. Output 3: Extent of commercial timber and wildlife poaching reduced The following activities will be done: 26 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework i. Enhance anti-poaching capacity in the forests. ii. Facilitate operations of community resource sharing committees. iii. Mount joint anti-poaching operations with relevant institutions (e.g. Parks & Wildlife Management Authority, Rural district Councils and the Painted Dog project). Output 4: Game water supply improved The following activities will be carried out: i. Carry out a comprehensive game water assessment exercise throughout the corridor. ii. Facilitate the provision of adequate water through the establishment of new and maintenance of existing water points. The above activities have both negative and positive impacts to the community. Some of the positive impacts are beneficial to the biophysical environment of the park and the forest areas. A detailed analysis of the potential impacts of the project is in chapter 6. 27 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework CHAPTER 3 LEGAL, POLICY AND ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT 3.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter reviews the various legislation that has some form of application in the PF formulation and implementation. The legislation review covers the relevant national legislation on environmental management, parks/protected areas, land tenure rights, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and other social legislation on use rights of land. 3.1 CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE Section 72 of the constitution of Zimbabwe has some reference to rights on agricultural land. Under this section the Government may acquire agricultural land for other purposes that may include environment protection. This section may be essential in the event that the Government through HNP deems it necessary to extend the boundary of the forest or park area for environmental reasons. This will however be done with the consultation of all the affected people. In section 73, the constitution protects environmental rights. Under this section the issues of conversation of the environment are highlighted and do blend well with the aspirations of the PF. As part of protecting the environmental rights, the local communities are well protected so that development does not injure the social wellbeing of the communities. This also ties in well with the issue of the protection of the IPs within the project area. The constitution of Zimbabwe recognizes the following languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa as the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe. The San People are therefore conferred with an equal status accorded any other Zimbabwean without necessarily singling out them as a special group of people. The constitution also acknowledges the Government’s responsibility to develop these languages. Though the Koisan language has equal status in the constitution, the San People are a minority group in Zimbabwe and the propagation of their language is at great risk following the drive to integrate communities under the modern development practices. In discussion with the coordinator of the San community in Tsholotsho, there were indications that the San People do not speak the Khoisan language as indicated in the constitution, but 28 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework they speak Tshwawo language and further consultation with the Government is being made with the responsible offices. 3.2 THE ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT ACT (CAP20:27) The Act is the overall legislation on the environment and if any other Act conflicts with this Act, the EMA’s position is final. The act provides some complementary position to the PWMA and the Forestry subprojects. Some of the key issues articulated by this Act include the following; Section 109-125. Conservation and improvement of the environment and control of invasive species. Under this section the President may set aside State land or acquire other land for environmental purposes or set aside areas of Communal Land for environmental purposes. The Act also calls for the protection of the wetlands. The Minister may issue an order for the protection of the environment. An inspector may also issue an order for the protection of the environment. The Act provides for conversation of and access to biological diversity and regulate biological and genetic resources. The Act also provides for the control of invasive species. The implementation of this PF therefore has to take cognisance of these provisions. The restriction of access to the park and forestry area are also consistent with the aspirations of the Environment Management Act. 3.2.1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCREENING The first schedule of the Act stipulates the projects that are prescribed for full EIA. Though the aspects HSBC is clearly stipulated, the following sections of the listed projects indirectly implicate some subprojects for EIA. Reference is made to the following sections of the First Schedule of the Environmental Management Act;  Item 2. Drainage and irrigation— (a) Drainage of wetland or wild life habitat;  Item 3. Forestry— (a) Conversion of forest land to other use; (b) Conversion of natural woodland to other use within the catchment area of reservoirs used for water supply, irrigation or hydropower generation or in areas adjacent to the Parks and Wild Life Estate. 29 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework  Item 10. Tourist, resorts and recreational developments— (a) Resort facilities and hotels; (c) Safari operations.  Item 12. Water supply— (e) Water withdrawals from rivers or reservoirs. The ESMF provides a screening procedure that will be followed by the implementing partners to comply with these legal requirements. 3.2.2 STATUTORY INSTRUMENT 7 OF 2007 The S.I puts into effect the EIA and Ecosystems protection aspirations of the Environmental Management Act (Part XI of the ACT). The regulations also protect the sensitive ecosystems which include wetlands, riverbanks and riverbeds. The compliance aspects of this legal requirement will be addressed through the ESMF that will be implemented alongside this PF. 3.3 PARKS AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT ACT (CAP 20:14) The Parks and Wildlife Act was enacted to protect wildlife. This came along with a Parks and Wildlife Board, mandated to provide for the protection, utilization and conservation of fish and wildlife, the preservation and propagation of plant life and the preservation of the natural landscape. Subject to the Act, the functions of the PWMA shall be to control, manage and maintain national parks, botanical reserves and botanical gardens, sanctuaries, safari areas and recreational parks and, so far as is reasonable, practicable and compatible with such purposes, to provide facilities for visitors thereto. The Act also makes the parks area a restricted area where no one is allowed to pick any plants or kill any animals except under a licence permit in accordance with the Act. The Act provides for the creation of safari areas, whose purposes are or may be constituted under this Act shall be to preserve and protect the natural habitat and the wild life therein in order that facilities and opportunities may be afforded to the public for camping, hunting, fishing, photography, viewing of animals, bird- watching or such other pursuits that may be permitted therein in terms of this Act. The Act states that whenever it appears to the President that any land or an interest in or right over land is required for the purpose of protecting, establishing or extending a national park, botanical reserve, botanical garden, sanctuary, safari area or recreational park, it shall be 30 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework lawful for the Minister, on the authority of the President, to acquire such land, interest or right, this will however be implemented in accordance with the Communal Lands Act. This is one of the legislation that the local communities, including the San Peoples will interact with every day since they are adjacent to protected forest areas and when there is need to expand the forest areas. This is the law that governs the park management and all its potential negative impact on the local community. 3.4 LAND TENURE COMMUNAL LAND ACT (CAP 20:04) The land ownership in Zimbabwe is divided in to the following categories; Private land, State land and Communal land. The Private land ownership is punctuated by a deed while the State land is owned by the state as its reserves for any other land use that may be determined. The communal land is owned by the state but seconded to the local rural authorities to manage communally. This is the land where rural communities are located. Anyone staying on such a piece of land has no individual title, but the land is owned communally though there is individual responsibility within the household boundaries. Depending on the development drive of the state or local authority, this land may be used and the people staying on these lands are relocated without compensation for the loss land but compensation of the structures on the land only. Usually the relocated people will be provided with alternative land and accompanying facilities where possible. The communities surrounding the park and forest areas, including the San communities are staying in such communal land and if there is need for expansion of the HNP, they will be relocated to other determined areas. Where the community expands and may need more land for farming or establishing a new family, the village head allocates land for such communal settlement. The san community are part of this land tenure through their respective village heads, they have access to land like any other rural citizen in the area. In this project, there is no relocation of people. 3.5 TRADITIONAL LEADERS’ ACT (CAP 20:17) The Act provides for the appointment of the Chief, the Headmen and the Village Heads. The Act also outlines the duties and jurisdiction of the three traditional levels of leadership. In this instance, the San Community are well covered by the Act in that they have their own villages and village heads who are part of an integrated communal system of governance. The Chief and the Headmen are appointed following the tribal, history and chieftainship of the area, 31 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework while the Heads are elected to office every two years. Though there is provision for election at Village head level, there is usually a continuation of the same leadership until death. This is believed to maintain stability and cohesion within the communities. There are three chiefs in the Tsholotsho district (Chief Siphozo in Ward 7, Chief Gampo in ward 10 and Chief Tategulu in ward 8) who are responsible for the three wards in which the San Community of Tsholotsho are. The Chiefs are however all Non San because of the integration of the ethnic groups within the community. Through this Act, the San community have a mechanism to govern themselves and participate fully in the implementation of the PF at a local level and are part of a larger governance system at community wide level though their numbers will not easily facilitate attainment of higher offices within the system. The Implementation of the PF will therefore need to ensure that the minority communities are fully participating. 3.6 WATER ACT (CAP 20:24) The Water Act provides for the development and utilisation of water resources of Zimbabwe, grants of permits for the use of water, control of use of water when water is in short supply, protection of the environment and the prevention and control of water pollution and for the matters incidental to or connected with the foregoing. Section 32 under Part IV provides for the use of water giving the right to any person who is a holder of a permit to abstract water not exceeding 5000 cubic metres unless the Catchment Council is notified. Section 42 specifies the control of use of water whereby the Catchment Manager must be notified of the existence of storage works, boreholes and wells on site. Control of use of water is also done through the installation of meters for measuring and recording the amount of water abstracted as spelt out by Section 43. In view of the Water Act requirements, the subprojects that entail drilling of water boreholes need to synchronize these activities with the groundwater registration, permitting and monitoring of the respective catchment councils. 3.7 ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL PROCEDURES Administratively, the HNP and the two applicable gazetted forests do not fall under any administrative boundary following the gazetting of these areas as a national park and forest areas respectively. So in terms of accountability and management, the HNP and the Forest areas are autonomous landscapes that are not under any administrative district, but accountable to the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate. However; due to the nature 32 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework of the business and its impact to surrounding communities, the HNP and Forestry Commission do have communities that they interact with. These surrounding communities are the ones that fall within specific district boundaries and the two implementing organizations are therefore compelled to interact with these respective district administration centres and RDCs. The internal management of the park and the forest areas are wholly under the HNP and Forestry Commission while the external affairs arising from proximity to some communities fall under their respective District Administrators and RDCs. The District Administrator (DA) addresses issues of governance within the communities through the coordination of various line ministries under the District Administrator jurisdiction. The DA is also responsible for the coordination of the traditional leaders as stipulated by the Traditional Leaders’ Act. Though the local Chief has jurisdiction to preside on cases within the community, they are subject to the DA. While the local Magistrate is resident in the district, the functions are independent from the DA to ensure transparency and non- interference in deciding cases brought to the courts. The RDCs champion rural development through various initiatives including the coordination of various development partners, NGOs and government grants. Financially the HNP through the PWMA is not funded by the central budget, but the authority raises its own resources through its operations of the national park and grants from various sources. The Forestry Commission also raises its own funds through the management of the forests. However; the government gives some special grants when it sees fit. The DA, Magistrate Court and other government departments within the district are funded through the central budget. The RDC formulates a budget and gets approval from the responsible minister before implementing. The revenue sources for the RDCs include government grants, levies paid by residents and business, royalties from various businesses within the RDC jurisdiction. In this project, the financial responsibility rests with the Finance Minister since it is a grant from the World Bank to the Government of Zimbabwe. The Finance Minister however delegates this responsibility to the respective minister who will implement the project through the various departments (PWMA and Forestry Commission), with the participation of all stakeholders (including EMA and CAMPFIRE) and as coordinated by WWF. 33 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 3.8 PARTICIPATION OF NGOS IN PF PRIVATE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS ACT (CAP 20:05) Legislation also provides for the registration of any non-governmental organizations including those that are aimed at preserving and advocating for the fair and equal opportunities for development in the San communities. At the moment, there are several NGOs working on general livelihoods in the project area though they are not specifically targeting the San Peoples, the San Peoples however benefit since they are part of the integrated community. The organizations working in Tsholotsho include the World Vision who are distributing food aid to people living on antiretral virus treatment. The Rotary Club and the Bakers Inn have programs specifically targeting the San Community. The Rotary Club makes an annual trip to Tsholotsho to donate food and other household goods like blankets. Bakers Inn distributes bread once in a while to the San peoples in Tsholotsho. Matabeleland Constitutional Reform Agenda is working with the San on leadership development. Creative Arts and Education Development Association is working with the San on cultural and language revitalization. The Minority Voice is working on amplifying the voices on minorities in Zimbabwe (including the San) at regional and international levels. There are other NGOs that are not yet officially registered though they are already working with the San community. The Tsoro-o-tso San People Development Trust is one such NGO that is not yet registered. The Tso-ro-otso San Development Trust is special in the sense that it is specifically made up of the San Peoples themselves. Administratively, all NGOs wishing to work in a local area will have to register with the local authority in addition to registration as a Public Voluntary Organization. Of all NGOs in Tsholotsho, only the World Vision is registered with the RDC and operating within the local authority provisions. It is evidently difficult for the San owned NGO to fund the required registration fees due to general financial handicap. Due to the poverty level within the San community, they may not be able to register this Trust if they do not get external assistance. In addition to the community related NGOs, there is also a research institution that is working on the preservation of the painted dogs, it’s called the Painted Dogs Association. The organization operates right in the HNP and the surrounding forest areas. This organization is also one of the key partners of the HNP in conservation areas. 34 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 3.9 WORLD BANK SAFEGUARD POLICY REQUIREMENTS The proposed HSBC project has been screened and classified as an environmental category B since all envisaged environmental impacts at the sites will be localized, minimal, short term and readily mitigated. The following World Bank environment and social safeguards policies were triggered and the full details on why they are triggered and the required actions are in chapter 3 of the ESMF;  O.P 4.01 – Environmental Assessment Policy  O.P 4.04 – Natural habitat  O.P 4.36 – Forests Protection  O.P 4.11- Physical Cultural Resource  O.P 4.12 – Involuntary Resettlement  O.P 4.10 – Indigenous Peoples An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) has been developed to comply with the OP 4.01, 4.04 and 4.36. The ESMF provides guidance on subproject screening, assessment and management, including appropriate mitigation measures of expected adverse environmental and social impacts that may be generated by the subprojects. A separate IPPF was developed to address the requirements of O.P 4.10. This Process Framework addresses the principle considerations of OP 4.12. Though there is no land acquisition in the project, the policy is triggered because of the restriction of access to gazetted forests and parks areas. While there is no new restriction that is brought about by the project, it is important to note that; i. The existing restriction is directly and significantly related to the Bank –assisted project. ii. The existing restriction is necessary to achieve the objectives of a Bank-assisted project. This process frame work will be implemented in conjunction with the ESMF, the IPPF and any other subsequent social or environment management instruments that may be developed from subproject screening. 35 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework CHAPTER 4 SOCIO ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT 4.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter provides a social assessment of the whole project area in general and in particular the San Community in Tsholotsho district since the PF should specifically address the issues of IP where they are affected by the restriction. It is important to note that to a very large extent, the project area is made up of various ethnic groups that include the Ndebele, Kalanga, Shona, Tonga, Nambia and the San People. The national drive throughout the country is to integrate communities under one development strategy. Though there is integration of ethnic groups, each group has its own distinct characteristics that are preserved and showcased by the respective ethnic group without competition that can make others extinct. The constitution of Zimbabwe upholds the diversity of the ethnicity in Zimbabwe and the Government has obligation to ensure that this diversity has been maintained harmoniously for the benefit of all the citizens of Zimbabwe. This background is very essential for the effective implementation of the PF in that the potential negative impacts should be mitigated so that the socio economic livelihood of the community is not further compromised. At the same time the potential positive impacts of the project should be enhanced such that the socio economic livelihood of the projected affected community is augmented by the project. This background is also important in the identification of potential areas of conflict since most conflicts arise where projects negatively impact on communities. 4.1 LAND USE PATTERN Reference is made to table 2.1; the land use pattern is quite diverse in that there are a number of complementary activities in some cases while there is competition in others. 42.75% of the land in the HSBC is under communal land use while 5.8 % is under resettlement areas. Over the years there has been growth in demand for resettlement land and in some cases there has been encroachment of settlements into land designated for other land use like forestry areas. National Parks, Safaris and Forestry areas account for 31.53%, 5.93% and 4.30% respectively. In most cases, the sequence of location progress from the National Park, to Forestry Area and to settlement area so that the forestry area provides a buffer zone between the human activities in settlement areas and the wildlife habitation in the National Parks. The 36 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Ngamo and Sikumi forest areas serve as a good buffer between the Hwange National Park and the communal areas in the Hwange district while there is an ungazzetted forestry area that acts as a buffer between the HNP and the settlement area in the Tsholotsho district. Quite often, the wild animals from Hwange National Park usually go past the forestry areas and interact directly with the communities, giving rise to human-wildlife conflicts like destruction of gardens, poaching, killing of cattle herds by lions just to mention a few. Fig 2.2 also shows that there is potential conflict between wild animals and human activities during migration. The proposed project seeks to enhance harmony between the competing land uses within the corridor. In particular, the San community in Tsholotsho do experience the same land use makeup with its associated conflicts with wildlife. What aggravates the land use pattern against the San community is that they have a highest propensity hunt down the animals when they protrude out of the park and the forest area into their community as compared to other communities mainly because of their inclination towards hunting and gathering as a source of livelihood. The inclination to hunt down such animals is however met with legislation that rules against such responses and this makes the San community cry even louder than the other ethnic groups affected by the same human wildlife conflict. The human wildlife conflict is also amplified by the history that the San Peoples were relocated out of the park area to pave way for the exclusive animal habitation. 4.2 ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND LOCAL NETWORKS. The proposed HSBC spans through Matabeleland North and Midlands provinces. Districts that are participating in the HSBC that fall within Matabeleland North are Tsholotsho, Hwange and Binga Districts. Gokwe North District falls within the Midland province. The provincial capital for Matabeleland north is Lupane and for Midlands it’s based in Gweru. The administrative authority within the participating districts is the District Administrator. The DA coordinates Local Government system at district level. Within his jurisdiction are all the Government departments that are represented at the local area. These Government departments are very essential for the smooth running of the HSBC. They include Ministry of Lands, Ministry of Youth, Indigenization and Empowerment, EMA, Forestry Commission and CAMPFIRE are all represented at district level. The District Administrator’s function is 37 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework to ensure that all developments within the district are consistent with the government’s policies and procedures. The DA is the ultimate authority within the district. Each district has a Rural District Council which is run by a council of elected councillors from their respective wards. CAMPFIRE offices are an arm of the RDC. The RDC focuses on service delivery at the local level and they run issues like rural road maintenance, rural council schools and rural service centres like the Chireya. The RDCs generate revenue from levies to businesses operating within their jurisdiction. The levies include mining levies, shop owners levies and hunting safaris just to mention a few. The RDC is also very important for the smooth execution of the HSBC project. The participating organizations have a network of environment committees at local level. At district level, there is a District Environment Management Committee followed by Zone Environment Management Committee. A zone is a combination of about 5 wards depending on the areas. Below the Zone Environment Management Committee is the Ward Environment Management Committee which is followed by the Village Environment Management Committee. Within the village there are volunteer environment watchpersons who work closely with the HSBC project implementing organizations at the lowest local level. The ward and the village levels committees are most represented by elected members of the local area while the district levels upwards are most government departments operating within the area and some senior community representatives like Chiefs. The traditional administrative arrangement starts at village level with the village head to the headmen and to the Chief. Through this chain, there is level of delegation of power, where village heads can attend to some disputes before forwarding them to the headmen until the matter get to the Chief for final resolution. Where the traditional route fails to resolve some matters, the matter may be channelled to the administrative court that is at the local district offices. The Chief is accountable to the District Administrator. The above structures show that there are adequate structures and networks to effectively implement the HSBC project. The above administrative structures and network also have the capacity to effectively address any environmental or social issues that may arise from the project implementation. The San community in particular are considered by the District Administration Office to be a sensitive sector that requires close monitoring in terms of governance and information 38 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework dissemination. The San Peoples live within the same community with other ethnic groups, they fall under the village head who may not necessarily be a San. In villages where they have more numbers, the village head is usually a San Person. The village has its own development committee that feed into the ward development community until we get to the district development committee. Due to literacy level, the San Peoples are only involved in village development committees. Their absence at a higher level sometimes make them feel isolated out of the development processes. This hierarchy is followed in the formulation of CAMPFIRE development committees, such that if there is no deliberate quota system to facilitate the participation of the San Peoples in the higher management of local CAMPFIRE activities, the San Peoples will continue to be left out. In the implementation of this PF, special attention should be given to the IP because if they are left out in most development issues, there is a risk that they may be left out again in the project benefits and at the same time be left out to be exposed to the negative impacts of the project (though currently there is full provision for the IP’s inclusion). 4.3 CULTURAL STANDING The project area area is mainly dominated by Ndebele speaking people with areas like Lupane and the surrounding districts like Nkayi, Tsholotsho and Umguza having eighty percent of their population as Ndebele speaking and ninety percent understanding the language. There is however a notable population of the San People in some parts of Tsholotsho bordering the Hwange National Park. Most of the rural people live in shelters made of pole and dagga with a roofing of grass. They believe in spirit mediums and still hold their cultural ceremonies. Hwange and Binga have a mixture of the Ndebele, Tonga and Nambia tribes, with a few traces of the Shona. The Tonga people were mainly found along the Zambezi River but were moved from the area during the construction of the Kariba dam and also when Victoria Falls developed into a resort town. During construction of the Kariba Dam in the 1950s the Tonga community was displaced further away from the Zambezi Rivers, cutting cultural ties with the other Tonga communities in Zambia. The Tonga people believe in their river god called the Nyaminyami. The HSBC project should thus ensure that these ethnic cultures and values of the native people are not disturbed. The cultural use of Mopane trees for fencing and home beautification contribute to deforestation in the area. The area around Gokwe is dominated by the Shangwe people, a Shona-speaking group, which lay in the northern part of the Midlands province. The area is now split into Gokwe South 39 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework District and Gokwe North District. A number of other groups live in the area, including the Tonga, and Ndebele. As a central point in Zimbabwe it has a blend of Shona, Ndebele, Tswana, Suthu, Chewa among various other languages spoken in Zimbabwe. The Gokwe North area is therefore a multicultural area. The diversity of culture within this area needs to be preserved during the implementation of the HSBC project. The San Community in Tsholotsho do have some distinct cultural heritage that they have preserved over the years. The San boast of their special dance that can only be found and traced back to the San Peoples. The San in ward 7 have a traditional dance group that has been performing the dance at various community gatherings. The dance is called the Lompanda dance. The San also pay tribute to their dead ancestors and there is currently a heated discussion with Parks to allow them to visit their ancestral burial areas that were left in the park when they were relocated. The San also believe in the traditional healer’s intervention, making it difficult to go to the clinics for medical assistance. 4.4 LIVELIHOODS Matabeleland North is semi-arid making crop husbandry very limited and only possible under irrigation. Where there is no irrigation some drought resistant crops like sorghum and millet are grown for consumption. Investigations on various industries directly linked with the communities revealed that small scale agricultural activities, manufacturing and selling of curios, flea markets, CAMPFIRE projects, general commodity broking (buying and selling), tourism and mining industries are the major industrial activities that directly contribute income generation and livelihoods to the general population. The agriculture sector mainly base on cattle and poultry production. Intensive production of guinea fowls was also noted in Binga and some parts of the province. The thriving guinea fowl production at household level is precursor to the CAMPFIRE livelihoods component to pilot commercialization of guinea fowls production in Simatelele and Manjolo wards of Binga District. Some locals especially in the Lupane and Tsholotsho areas earn a living through the sale of Mopani worms, which are a nutritious delicacy. The worms are harvested from the Mopani tree, dried and sold to areas as far as Kariba, Harare and Mutare. Apart from the fact that the region is semi-arid, vegetable gardens under irrigation from underground water also form the 40 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework local diet. The local communities also derive a great deal of livelihoods from harvesting of non-timber products from bordering forests. These products include honey. The area also boasts of its timber plantation which is a major foreign currency earner since most of the teak products are exported. These plantations are found in Mbembesi, Gwayi, Umguza, Ngamo and Sikumi to mention a few. There is also a lot of tourism activity in the area because of the Hwange National Park, Zambezi National Park and Victoria Falls National Park which hosts a wide plethora of wildlife as discussed in the ecological baseline. Hwange is home to the colliery which employs a great majority of people from the province. However, it should be noted that most of the places in the project area are remote with a few of services to offer. There is great expectation for significant economic benefits to the local community from wildlife and forests of which they are the historical custodians. The HSBC project should therefore focus at deriving greater economic benefit to communities through CAMPFIRE activities. Table 4.1 CAMPFIRE Livelihoods activities within the HSBC District No of Wards CAMPFIRE Activities CAMPFIRE Sponsored Non-Hunting Projects Binga 21 (24 824 Wildlife management (3 Mwinji Cultural Village, households) Hunting Concessions), Masumu River Lodge (private), Fisheries, Tourism, Crafts Electric Fencing (non-functional) Gokwe North 14 (13 515 Wildlife management (2 Gandavaroyi Falls Campsite, households) Hunting Concessions), Veld Fire Management Tourism Gokwe South 10 (8 705 Wildlife management Jahana Zebra Watering households) Hwange 1 7 (10 838 Wildlife management (3 Gorges River Lodge (private), households) Hunting Concessions), Cheziya Fishing Camp Tourism, Fishing, Crafts 41 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Kusile 23 (15 980 Wildlife management 7 Ward Beekeeping Projects – not active households) (migratory), Beekeeping, Timber Logging (2 concessions), Sand abstraction Nyaminyami 12 (11 078 Wildlife management (3 7 Private Sector Lodges (3 currently households) Hunting Concessions), operational) Tourism The San People in particular are still practicing the hunting and gathering way of life though they are under pressure to modernize and incorporate cultivation due to the scarcity of resources and the restriction of access to the Hwange National Park. A visit to the community revealed the San Peoples are the major source of labour for farming in the village. They do find themselves locked in this way of life because they do not have draught power that can assist them in their farming practices, in the end they lack farming skills and resources and therefore resort to working in other farmers’ fields only for a very small wage paid in the form of grain. Other farmers employ them permanently throughout the farming season such that they have no time to till their own land. After spending the whole season working under a non-San family, they are paid in the form of part of the harvest that will not last them to the next season. So the San Peoples are caught up in this cycle of poverty and it requires some real investment in the form of training and equipment to liberate them out of the poverty web they are in. With very little food to survive from, the San People wish there was no restriction into the forest area where they know is the option to their survival. However, some San People have some fields that are cultivated and have some thriving crop of sorghum, maize and millet. Very few San People own cattle, though they have some small animals at their homesteads. In most cases, the San People cultivate their fields using bear hands, resulting in smaller fields being cultivated than the other ethnic groups like Kalanga and Ndebele. When these small fields are then destroyed by wild animals, the impact is more severe for small farms, such as San farms, than that of other groups who have capacity to cultivate bigger pieces of land and the damage is spread over a larger portion leaving some form of remnants to survive from. 42 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 4.5 DEMOGRAPHICS According to the 2012 census an estimated 12.974,000 million people live in the country, with an annual population growth rate of 0.11 percent [World Bank 2010]. Approximately two thirds of the population resides in rural areas, though urbanization is projected to rise [UNPD 2008]. The country’s population is largely young: the median is 18.8 years [UNPD 2008] and about 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15 [World Bank 2010]. Population growth rate is estimated to have stalled [World Bank 2010], likely because of an adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rate estimated at 15.3 percent [World Bank 2010] and High levels of outmigration [UNICEF 2008]. The HSBC spans through Matabeleland North and Part of Midlands with a population of 704 948 and 809 675 respectively. The proportion of male and female population is an average 48 and 52 percent respectively in the two provinces. Average rate of natural population increase stands at 1.26 percent, crude birth rate was at 31.29 births per 1000 while crude death rate stands at 18.64 deaths per 1000 in 2002. The average family size in the project area is 6 people per household. Analysis of the household mix shows that there are mostly women and the elderly who are staying with children while the middle aged and most males are seeking jobs in the provincial headquarters and commercial centres within the provinces. Where there are youths at the home, they are mostly unemployed and help with the household livelihoods activities like herding cattle and crop farming where applicable. There is great potential for employment uptake in all job creating aspects of the HSBC project. Though the national statistics do not currently show the ethnicity, consultations with the san Peoples representative said that a total of 3000 San Peoples in the country. The general statistical analysis is also applicable to the San Community. Visits to the San households show that the average family size is 6 and all ages are represented at home due to the fact that their children do not live away from their parents in order to maintain family cohesion. This continued staying together is also brought about by the fact that the children cannot go away to look for work since they are not educated, in the end they stay together, work in the non san fields together and when they go hunting they hunt together. 43 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 4.6 EDUCATION The HSBC project area coincides with two provincial territories that has two institutions of highest learning. Matabeleland North hosts the Lupane University while the Midlands province hosts the Midlands State University based in Gweru. While there are those two universities, the direct contribution from the remote parts of the project area is still very negligible. Secondary schools are at an average of eight kilometres apart, making it very difficult for pupils to successfully attend and complete their secondary education. Children can be seen riding bicycles donated by a donor to schools in Hwange and Dete. In Binga and parts of Hwange, the Tonga community has scored a first for minority languages in Zimbabwe following the formalization of the Tonga language in schools in the Zambezi Valley basin that borders Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Tonga language was in October 2011 officially tested at Grade 7 level for the first time in the history of Zimbabwe. In an effort to assess the schooling levels of the San Peoples in Tsholotsho, a visit to Mpilo Primary School in ward 7 was made. Discussions with the School Head (Mr Sighadula Sithembinkosi) confirmed the presence of the San Pupils at the school. Out of the total enrolment of 180 pupils, 48 are San Pupils. Of the 48 pupils, 22 are girls. The School Head chronicled the challenges that the San Pupils have. These include the following;  Inability to pay fees by the parents.  No uniforms.  No books and other required school equipment.  Absenteeism in winter when the families move out of the homesteads to look for food in the forest. The School Head however emphasised that the San Pupils are quite bright and capable. He indicated that the positions 1 to 3 are usually from the San Pupils. The school attendance has been cited as one of the indicators for community integration. A visit to one of the San homesteads (Damsethe Sibanda) in ward 7 confirmed that their children are attending school at the local school. At this homestead of 9, there are two boys and one girl, all attending school. The children are being sponsored under a Government free education for the under privileged called the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). The Children confirmed that they do not have any problem learning with the Non San Pupils. One of the boys was number 8 in a class of 40 pupils. 44 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 4.7 VULNERABLE GROUPS A discussion with the RDC Social Services Officer (Mr Ncube) showed that there are quite some vulnerable groups within the Tsholotsho project area. The vulnerability mainly arises from the fact that the area is a low rainfall area and also some general low uptake of public health advises. The first vulnerable group is the HIV and AIDS victims. World Vision is working with this vulnerable group in ensuring that the victims take their medication on time and have adequate food to go with the medical status. World Vision is distribution food to the HIV and AIDS victims on anti retral viral medication. It has not been possible to confirm if there is any participation from the San Peoples. The general position is that the San Peoples are not open on such issues and do not participate on the programs. While the prevalence of HIV and AIDS among the San People is not known, it is believed to be quite low due to their closed network even when it comes to sexual activity. It is not known to what extent the San People fall on this vulnerable group. The second vulnerable group is that on food insecurity. Discussion with the San Coordinator (Mr Christopher Dube) indicated that nearly all San People are under threat of hunger. This has been attributed to their incapacity to undertake meaningful farming activity and aggravated by the restriction on access to the park and forest area for hunting and gathering which they were used to. The other common vulnerable group is the aged. In Tsholotsho and like any other rural setting in Zimbabwe, the population at a household is composed of the elderly and the children while the middle aged are out to look for employment. The San community has a notable number that fall on this category. When a visit was made to a San homestead, the elderly woman that was there had not attended the meeting that had been held due to distance and her age. So such aged community members need special consideration if the project benefits are to fully reach them. Generally there is a residual victimization of the girl child in most communities. Discussion with a grandmother at a San homestead indicated that the boys and girls are given equal opportunity. At this homestead we arrived when the two boys were cleaning dishes, an activity that is believed to be for the girl child. Whilst the boys were cleaning dishes, the girl just arrived from school. So in this community we cannot really say the girl child is a victim 45 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework within the household set up. There could be other parameters for the girl child vulnerability that were not interrogated at this level that could be worth assessing in where required. 46 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework CHAPTER 5 COMMUNITY CONSULTATION AND ENGAGEMENT 5.1 INTRODUCTION One of the ways in which the implementing entities will ensure that the project affected communities participate in the design of the project components, determination of measures necessary to achieve the objectives of the PF is through wide consultation amongst stakeholders. This chapter highlights the stakeholder profile and the available methods of consultation. The Chapter also outlines the input of stakeholders in the preliminary consultation that was done a part of formulating this PF. The consultation that was done at PF formulation was meant to understand the local networks that are available within the project impact area and put in place how these networks can be pursued for the effective implementation of this PF. 5.1 COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS’ PROFILE The stakeholder mix for the project area consists of both corporate and households. The corporate stakeholders are mostly private safari operators within and outside the park estate and the forest areas. It also includes NGOs, research institutions, regulatory authorities and government departments. Districts that are directly impacted by the restrictions arising from the Hwange National Park and the Forestry Commission operations in Ngamo and Sikumi Forests are Tsholotsho and Hwange. The administrative authority within the participating districts is the District Administrator who coordinates local government system as represented by resident government departments. Each district has a Rural District Council which is run by a council of elected councilors from their respective wards. At district level, there is a District Environment Management Committee followed by Zone Environment Management Committee. A zone is a combination of about 5 wards depending on the areas. Below the Zone Environment Management Committee is the Ward Environment Management 47 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Committee which is followed by the Village Environment Management Committee. Within the village there are volunteer environment watchpersons who work closely with the HSBC project implementing organizations at the lowest local level. The traditional administrative arrangement starts at village level with the village head, to the headmen and to the Chief. Through this chain, there is level of delegation of power, where village heads can attend to some disputes before forwarding them to the headmen until the matter get to the Chief for final resolution. Where the traditional route fails to resolve some matters, the matter may be channeled to the administrative court that is at the local district offices. The Chief is accountable to the District Administrator. All wards in the project area are covered with at least one Non-Governmental Organization offering various livelihood interventions. In Tsholotsho, there are NGOs that are working for the wellbeing of the remnant San peoples in Zimbabwe. These organizations include Christian Care, Tsoro-o-tso San Development Trust, and the Habakkuk Trust. Other organizations working within the project area include World Vision, Barkers Inn and the Rotary Club. Tsholotsho is home to three ethnic groups, these being the Ndebele, Kalanga and San. The principal language is Ndebele which is spoken by over 80% of the population and understood by over 90% of the population. The Khoisan language is the least used language within the district because even the San, also use other languages like Ndebele. Considering the literacy level of the local community, the stakeholder consultations process always has to be done in local language. The most used language is the Ndebele language and all stakeholders within the project area are able to speak and understand the language. Project implementers therefore need to arrange for interpretation if they cannot speak the local language. It is important to also work closely with a local contact person who understands all the language in use. The stakeholders in the implementation of this PF include the following parties;  The Office of the President of Zimbabwe.  The Minister of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate.  Member of Parliament.  District Administrator.  Local RDC. 48 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework  Local Ward councilors.  Local traditional leaders  Local community members.  Local NGOs within with community.  Private safari Operators.  Government departments within the districts.  Research Institutions within the parks estate.  CAMPFIRE.  EMA.  Director General of PWMA.  Director General of Forestry Commission.  HNP Management.  Forest areas Management. 49 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 5.2 ENGAGEMENT OF PARTNERS AND INTERVENTION FOR COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION The implementation of community participation in the HNP and the gazetted forest areas is an intricate balance of a number of partners who play specific roles in community engagement. The key partners include EMA, Forestry Commission, PWMA, RDCs through CAMPFIRE, traditional leaders and the local NGOs. The implementing agencies will meet the local communities quarterly to discuss the project implementation and any important views that community may have on the project. Through these meetings, the community will review the project impacts and give feedback to the implementing agencies for any remedial work required. At central government level, the implementing agencies are part of the District development committee where all projects within the district are discussed and reviewed. i. EMA has a network of environment management committees from the national level to the village level. The local environment management committee will be actively involved in the implementation of this process framework. The same environment communication channels in the local community will be used to communicate the objectives of this PF and obtain feedback to the HNP. The integrated approach will ensure that the community mobilization is time efficient. The District Environment Management Committee, Ward Environment Management Committee, Village Environment Management Committee and the village based volunteers will be part of the network to effectively implement this PC. ii. Forestry Commission has a local office for both Ngamo and Sikumi forests that will be liaising with the community to advance the objectives of this PF. Within each forest there are patrol gangs that enforce the requirements of the restricted access to the forest. The Local office will be meeting with the local leadership quarterly to furnish them with the project progress and also get feedback from the community on the project impacts and mitigation. iii. PWMA has a fully supported interpretation unit based at the HNP that ensures close collaboration with the surrounding community of park estate management. This unit ensures that the relevant park management information is transmitted effectively to the neighbouring communities and the feedback from such communities is well documented and utilized in park management. The interpretation unit will be part of the team that will be meeting communities and will ensure that during the meetings 50 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework there is adequate understanding of all the languages that will be in use through interpretation services. The unit will also ensure that all documents that should be used in community engagement are in the local language. The unit also ensures that minutes of community meetings are interpreted into the local languages. iv. CAMPFIRE is the RDCs implementation vehicle for all CBNRM processes. The benefits that can be accrued to the community from the project are channelled through CAMPFIRE Association. The association will also be responsible for ensuring close participation of the community in the designing, implementation and monitoring of the various facets of the HSBC especially as it relates to the community. v. The Local leadership consists of the Chief at the top and the village head at the local level. The traditional leadership will ensure community mobilization for any form of community engagement. Local NGOs (as listed at end of this paragraph) will also be instrumental in the mobilization and perception creation within the local community. They will also be closely involved in the review of the design, implementation and monitoring of the subprojects and the implementation of the PF. Some of the community based organizations/NGOs that operate within the HNP impact zone, e.g. Painted Dogs, San People Trust in Zimbabwe, the Habakkuk Trust and Lupane Women Arts centre. In the process of producing this PF, some stakeholders were consulted just to establish a platform for cooperation and also get their input in the project design and implementation. A platform for cooperation was created and the stakeholders will be continually consulted for the sustainable implementation of this PF. The list of consulted stakeholders is in appendix A. The government departments were consulted using a question while the San community was consulted through a community meeting that was held within the San community. This meeting was attended by the local San People NGO, community leaders and the community members in general. 5.3.1 MEETING WITH THE SAN COMMUNITY Community meetings in the context of the Process Framework were held only with the San community as they are firstly, one of the communities neighbouring HNP that is impacted by 51 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework the park’s existence and secondly, they are the only group considered as indigenous peoples (IPs) under the World Bank policy. Other communities in the HSBC were consulted by the implementing agencies when the project was being scoped. The following issues were raised, discussed and agreements were reached. Most of the submissions of the stakeholders were seeking clarification on the project implementation and how the community will benefit. It was observed that the San community in Tsholotsho has immense trust in the Coordinator because the Village Head explained that he will be their spokesperson since they had earlier discussed amongst themselves and everyone will add after he has raised the fore discussed issues. When the coordinator exhausted the list, some members emphasized the points. While the Coordinator is the one who raised the listed issues, the Consultant posed questions to the community as a way to verify the level of ownership by other San Peoples. The attendants affirmed the issues vehemently. i. Involuntary Resettlement Policy. Following the presentation of the World Bank Environment and Social Safeguards Policies, the Coordinator of the Tso-ro-otso San Development Trust wanted clarification on whether the HSBC project will result in any form of physical relocation of people. It was clearly stated that the project does not involve any physical relocation of people. The restriction of access to the park and forest areas was further elaborated as the basis for triggering the Involuntary Resettlement policy. ii. Cultural Heritage The Coordinator chronicled how the San were driven out of the HNP to create room for the park around 1923 by Mr. Dawson. He however indicated that an agreement for the San community to access the park for the purpose of visiting their ancestral shrines was made. Currently the community is not allowed to make such visits to the park and said this has been a bone of contention with the park authorities. A suggestion and request for such visits under guard was made. The matter was left for joint consideration between the park management and the San community through future cooperation. 52 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework iii. Supply of game meat from the park. It was chronicled that the San community was promised an elephant once in a while from the park as a means to appease the San Peoples for the lost livelihood when the park was established, but the current park management is reneging form the agreement. This agreement is said to have been oral and now cannot be traced to the old park management. This was also given for the current park authority to consider. iv. Employment creation The San community acknowledged that they are not educated, but do believe that they are capable of being productively employed in some of the general park management activities. They believe they have value adding contribution if they are employed for example in the park boundaries guarding and fireguards creation. In order to avoid interfering with recruitment processes of the park employees, the matter was recorded for onward transmission to parks. It is believed that these are some of the issues that PF aims to address. v. Adequate water supply for the park. The need for adequate water supply within the park area is believed to be a major milestone in the addressing of water challenges with the community since the competition for water with wild animals will be reduced. The initiative is also believed to ease human wildlife conflict since the animals will have a higher residence time in the park. The potential negative effect of reduced wild life within the buffer zone thereby affecting potential returns from the safaris was also raised. However, the community feels that that benefit of reduced water conflicts and human wildlife conflicts are more that the potential loss of business on CAMPFIRE hunting activities. vi. Direct CAMPFIRE benefits to the San Peoples. The Coordinator indicated that the San community do not see any benefits from the CAMPFIRE activities and is the reason why there is low San participation. The CAMPFIRE officer explained that the model of CAMPFIRE is such that there will be no benefits to individuals or a special group of people because the benefits are communal targeting schools, clinics, water supplies and other community infrastructure. It was agreed that due to high level of poverty amongst the San People, their participation at points of benefiting is very low, for example; 53 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework school fees, charges at the clinics were raised as inhibitors that make the San community not benefit. It was agreed that there is need for interventions that make the San People access the points of benefiting. vii. Channels of communication. The Village Head underscored the need to liaise with the District Administrator’s office and the local Chief since they are subjects to those offices and all engagements should ensure that there is permission from the two offices. The Village Head was happy that we had come with the permission of the District Administrator and the Ward Councilor. viii. Alternative to hunting Through the Village Head, the San community expressed willingness to adapt to farming as a new source of livelihood, but sited a number of challenges that include;  Destruction of crops by wild animals.  Lack of draught power.  Lack of technical knowhow. There is an expectation among the San Peoples that the Parks community engagement activities should target empowering the San community to be able to sustainably survive from farming. On this point there was an outburst from one attendant vowed to continue poaching for survival, otherwise his family would starve to death. The anti-poaching activities would do best to consider direct livelihoods intervention for the IP. ix. Visit by the late Vice President The community expressed great appreciation to the visit that used to get from the late Vice President. Indications are that the San Peoples would have some game on such occasions. x. Areas of great need. The Village head expressed the following areas as requiring consideration if the San People are benefit out of the HSBC in general and CAMPFIRE IN particular;  Access to education will be enhance by paying San Pupils fees and providing the school related requirements. 54 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework  Provision of farming inputs, techniques and draught power to enhance the anti- poaching benefits.  Quarter system in selecting CAMPFIRE committees so that the San Peoples are represented.  Affirmative action in employment to ensure that at least one San Person gets a position with the Tsholotsho RDC or the HNP.  Assistance in the registration of the San People specific NGO to propagate the interests of the San Peoples in Tsholotso. 55 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 5.3.2 CONSULTATION WITH THE OTHER STAKEHOLDERS As indicated, the Forestry Commission component is being implemented within the Hwange District so this consultation focussed on the Hwange District stakeholders. The table below summarize the stakeholder inputs. Table 5.1 Summary of stakeholder concerns in the Hwange District Stakeholder Stakeholder Concerns Stakeholder suggestion Consultant’s analysis Hwange  Veldt fire  Community involvement The suggestions are District management issues. at all levels of planning, quite valid and should Administrator monitoring and be considered in the  Forest management evaluation. project design issue. finalization,  Inclusion of indigenous implementation, knowledge systems in the monitoring and management and evaluation. Through utilization practices of the further consultation natural resources. with the local community, value adding indigenous knowledge on fire control and PA control can be explored. Department of  Control of wildlife  Deterrent sentence to be This is quite consistent Social Welfare poaching. made against the with the spirit and intent offenders. of the project. The  Need for community involvement of participation in  Need for regular and community and its decision making on meaningful involvement traditional leadership is the Parks’ ecosystem of communities in quite valid and will be and wildlife wildlife management. integrated. management.  Involving traditional 56 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework leadership and community structures in wildlife management. Ministry of  Improve land and  Offer permits to locals The selling of fire wood Women forest management who engage in wood to communities is quite Affairs, Gender in Sikumi and curving. interesting, this may in and Ngamo forest. the long run encourage  Sell wood directly to the Community conservation at  Game water supply locals at a reasonable development household level. There is to be improved. price. indication of local being  Extent of  Protecting the locals from victims of wildlife here, commercial timber wild animals. it should be considered and wildlife under human wildlife poaching reduced. conflict management and adaptation. Hwange ,  Community benefits.  Community can reclaim The payment of District gullies under payment. community members is  Fire management. Councilor also applicable to the  Timber harvesting quotas  Timber management. EMA component, extent under supervision from of implementation in FC  Seedlings. Forestry commission. component needs further  Forestry commission examination by the should provide seedlings implementing entity. where possible. Chief Dingani  Forest fires from  The community should The emphasized need for main road. be given land from community to derive forestry for grazing. benefits from the forests  Poachers cause fires. eg grazing land. This has  Fire guards-funding  Lack of knowledge. to be clearly articulated needed. in the forest management  Community benefits  Capacity building. plan. 57 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework from benefits. Parks and  Veld fire prevention.  Environmental awareness The mentioned Wildlife campaigns. interventions will be  Reduction of Authority considered in the project deforestation and  Sponsoring the design. The income wood poaching. community to start generating projects may income generating  Wildlife poaching. actually create some projects. relief for the natural  Human resources that are under encroachment into siege from the local forestry land. communities. RDC  Direct benefits to  Timber should be This is quite revealing accrue to available to communities and value adding, the communities living so that all schools are implementing entity adjacent to forests. properly furnished so as needs to consider this to improve the quality of seriously.  Community benefits learning at schools. and involvement  Off-cuts should be sold to wood carvers to improve livelihoods.  Communities to be given first preference in employment of veldt fire management so that people can identify themselves with the community, currently there is a big question that remains unanswered, what is the forest to us? 58 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework  Training the community. Ministry of  Forestry commission  Conducting workshops Very important point to Youth should consult aimed at providing consider especially for Development, widely. information to project implementation. Indigenization community relating to and environmental Empowerment management matters.  Youths should be actively engaged to participate in matters of preservation and conservation of the environment which is a national heritage. Painted Dogs  Deliberate Policy on  Policy foundation should  This is quite in Conservation fires and wood begin from the adjacent line with the collection need communities and reach project and effort consideration. agreements before to link this with implementation. indigenous  Community knowledge involvement has  Research should be systems must be been highly undertaken to establish made. undermined. the extent of negative fire and wood collection by the local people. Hwange Safari  Veld fires are a  Fire fighting team should  Fire management Lodge cause of concern to be in place and properly is a major issue the ecosystem. trained on the use of fire- since it threatens fighting equipment. all natural resources  Fire drills should be carried out once per 59 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework week.  Fire fighting competition to be introduced to motivate the teams. Dete ZRP  Wood harvesting for  Community involvement  Very important domestic use. and participation. aspects that have been incorporated  Harvesting wood for  Provision of alternative in the project commercial use. sources of energy. already.  Veld fire  Control timber management. harvesting.  Deforestation due to  Creating awareness of the increasing elephant veld fires and population. biodiversity. National  Provide adequate  Sink boreholes in the  Fencing will not Railway of drinking place. Game reserve. be applicable Zimbabwe since it would  Fence the game  Fence the Game Park to (NRZ) restrict the parks. prevent animals from anticipated free being hit by trains.  Provide good roads. movement of  Proper roads should be wildlife.  Fire guards. constructed.  Fire guard should be well maintained. A. Ncube-  Destruction of crops   Allowance to Ward by animals from harvest dry wood 17 Sikumi. in the Sikumi Residen Forests.  Access to forests for t fire wood. 60 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework B. SUMMARY OF KEY ISSUES THAT CAME OUT OF CONSULTATIONS The following are the issues that stakeholders anticipate in the project design, implementation and monitoring:  Community participation in wildlife management.  Use of indigenous knowledge systems in wildlife management.  Implementation of deterrent offenses for poachers.  Traditional of traditional leaders throughout the project.  Payment of local labor in reclamation work.  Arrangement for grazing land in protected areas.  Joint fire management with community.  Funding of community income generating projects as way to curb poaching.  Youth involvement in conservation. It is recommended that the following issues be considered in the project design finalization and implementation. 61 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 5.3.3.2 HWANGE- PARKS AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY COMPONENT A. TSHOLOTSHO- HNP AND CAMPFIRE COMPONENTS The Parks component has more direct impact in the Tsholotsho community where the community borders with the park directly. The buffer forest that is in between is not gazetted and therefore has great potential for conflict with the local community. The buffer area is under the management of CAMPFIRE. Table 5.2 Summary of stakeholder concerns in the Tsholotsho District Stakeholder Stakeholder Concerns Stakeholder suggestion Consultant’s analysis Tsholotsho  Human-wildlife  Sensitization of CAMPFIRE This is quite District conflicts. program to communities. important so that the Administrator community feels the  Resource wildlife  Revamping the CAMPFIRE compensatory effect proceeds utilization concept and make it adapt to of CAMPFIRE by communities. emerging issues and trends. programs to local communities’ loss to wildlife rampages. Department of  Control of wildlife  Deterrent sentence to be Noted and quite Social Welfare poaching. made against the offenders. important in the project design  Need for community  Need for regular and finalization. participation in meaningful involvement of decision making on communities in wildlife the Parks’s ecosystem management. and wildlife  Involving traditional management. leadership and community structures in wildlife management. 62 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Ministry of  Improve game water  Increase water supply to An important Women supply for Hwange reduce wild animals preying awareness approach Affairs, Gender National Park. on livestock and destroying in schools program and farm lands and livestock. since anything that  Raise awareness Community transpires at school campaigns on the  Educate local leaders, visit development will almost always ecosystems to reduce schools and wildlife get home vividly. destruction of water workshops. supply. Hwange ,  Wild beast such as  Parks and Wildlife Authority There are District lions and herbivores should have immediate indications of Councillor such as elephants responses to attacks by wild serious personal destruct livestock and beast. losses to wildlife. crops but Parks Proposed project  CAMPFIRE should be Authorities do not needs to attend to allowed to cover state land. respond quickly. personal loses and  Employment creation for how they relate to  Compensation of locals. CAMPFIRE loses operations and  Stock check and benefits. compensation on the number of beast lost. Chief Dingani  Predators such as  Communal land should be This indication of lions and elephants fenced by funds from this serious human destroy livestock and project. wildlife conflicts crops respectively. and worthy noting  Compensation. for project design  Community benefits finalization. from wildlife. Parks and  Human–wildlife  HSBC should channel more Quite important for Wildlife conflicts resources to fight poaching. project design finalization and 63 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Authority  Poaching  Channelling resources to the budgeting. community to keep them busy there- by avoiding poaching. RDC  Direct benefits to  Harvesting of meat at Important accrue to subsidized prices. considerations communities living noted.  Community should be given adjacent to Hwange. first preference in  Funding of human- employment for wildlife wildlife conflicts management e.g Parks programme and rangers. employment  Funding of community based opportunities for scouts who will react to locals. community distress calls.  Abattoirs should be established.  Assistance in case of those whose crops or livestock is destroyed. Ministry of  Community  Involvement of communities  Community Youth awareness on particularly youths in terms involvement and Development, conservation issues of planning, management and education is a Indigenisation e.g rampant poaching, control of the environment. major milestone and veld fires and data on for this project. Empowerment ecosystem to avoid danger of wildlife becoming extinct. ZRP-Dete  Human-wildlife  Creation of game reserves  This is quite 64 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework conflict. adjacent to communities. consistent with the objectives of  Water provision for  Establishment of more the project. animals. sources of water.  Veld fire  Improved fire fighting skills management. and resources.  Poaching in all its  Community ownership of various forms. wildlife projects.  Awareness on the importance of wildlife in the ecosystem. Painted Dog  Human footprint in  Wide consultation and  This is important Conservation the HSBC needs extensive research on land and will be attention as society use management by local covered under and its needs continue communities. human-wildlife to compete for the conflict.  A coordinated approach same resource as including all stakeholders. Parks and Wildlife Authority. CAMPFIRE  Consideration of  Capacitation of CAMPFIRE  CAMPFIRE Kamativi, Kamalala, at local level, for example component Gwayi and places provision of cars per ward to project design where wildlife is. support it. will address this contribution.  Movement of animals in the rainy season.  Destruction of crops by wild animals. C. Chapan  Elephants pass  Quick response by Parks and  This will be da- through our area on Wildlife Authority. addressed through Tshabas their way to Gwayi the human- 65 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework itsha river. wildlife conflict village. management.  Destruction of crops and animals by wildlife.  Kabwita dam under pressure from wild animals. National  Provide adequate  Sink boreholes in the game  Fencing will not Railways of drinking places for reserves. be practical Zimbabwe. animals. intervention as  Fence the Game Park to this will distract  Fence the Game prevent animals from being free animal parks. hit by trains. movement.  Provide good roads.  Proper roads should be constructed.  Fire guard.  Fire guard should be well maintained. Hwange Safari  Game water.  Use of submersible pumps  Solar powered Lodge powered by solar energy. submersible  Electricity challenges. pumps would be  Capital injection. are areal  Involve qualified personnel. innovation to incorporate. B. SUMMARY OF ISSUES THAT CAME OUT OF STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS  CAMPFIRE activities should be enhanced as mitigation for human- wildlife conflicts.  Involve traditional leaders in the HSBC project. 66 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework  Provision of adequate water supply to wildlife as means to avoid their movement out of protected areas.  CAMPFIRE should cover state land.  Direct compensation from PWMA for losses incurred by community from wildlife movements.  Equip local reaction teams to attend to preying wildlife in communities.  Network with community in anti-poaching strategies. The above stakeholder submissions have also been taken into consideration in the formulation of the ESMF and the IPPF making the implementation of the PF very much complemented by these other two environment and social safeguards tools. 5.4 PF DISCLOSURE As part of disclosing this PF, the following actions will be done; a) The Ministry will issue a disclosure letter to inform the World Bank of; (i) The Government's approval of the PF. (ii) The Government's authorization to the Bank to disclose the PF in its Info shop in Washington D.C. b) The Government will disclose the project locally as follows; i. As part of the continuous consultation when the PF is finalized. ii. The summary of the PF will be published in the local daily indicating that the copy of the PF is accessible at the following Offices;  The Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate.  WWF. 10 Lanark Road, Belgravia, Harare.  Head Offices of the implementing partners (Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and CAMPFIRE).  Matabeleland North Provincial offices.  Thsolotsho District offices.  Local Chief Office  Waterkings Environment Consultancy 67 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework The chapter presents some of the typical negative and positive impacts that the project may present to the local communities as a result of the restriction to the park and the gazetted forest areas. The chapter also discusses the positive impact of the subprojects and how the community stands to benefit out of the positive impacts. This chapter also outlines the criteria for the identification of the project affected persons. As a general guideline, PAP include all families and their dependants living in or near the HNP/Forest/Buffer zones and are dependent on it on a continual or seasonal basis. This may include hunters, fishermen, agriculturists, and pastoralists, women collecting firewood, loggers, and others. PAP also include people who practice a seasonal occupation or second profession activities; they may depend on this second activity as alternative sources of livelihood income when necessary. While there is no one allowed to live within the HNP and the gazetted forest areas, the community is allowed to access the buffer zones for general supplies like firewood and non-timber products like vegetables, honey and worms. The following wards are understood to be within the impact zone of the HNP and the gazetted forest area;  Tsholotsho wards 1, 2,3,4,5 and 7.  Hwange wards 13,14,15,16 and 17. It is important to note that amongst the PAP are the San People. A separate IPPF has been developed alongside this PF and the ESMF. The PF, ESM and the IPPF will be implemented with a lot of integration so that there is a value adding effect from the other. The impacts associated with the project were discussed and highlighted in chapter 5. This chapter looks further into this issues and present the discussed impacts in a more analytical manner. 68 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 6.2 IMPACT ANALYSIS Following the identification of the various potential social and environmental impacts (see the Environmental and Social Management Framework), the PF implementation will provide a platform to analyse any applicable impacts under the following categories; 1. Nature of the impact: This dimension reveals if the impact is direct or indirect, cumulative or instantaneous and whether the impact is positive or negative. 2. Magnitude: This parameter discusses the intensity of the impact, whether it is low, moderate or high. 3. Extent: The extent gives the quantitative aspects of the impact and the spatial distribution of the impact. 4. Timing: This shows when the impact would occur in terms of the project life cycle. 5. Duration: The parameter reveals whether the impact is short term or long term, intermittent or continuous. 6. Permanence: This shows whether the impact is reversible of it is irreversible. 7. Likelihood: This tells us the probability of the impact occurring. 8. Significance: This tells the value that the affected stakeholders put on the aspect affected. The analysis of the impacts is focusing on the planning, construction, operation and decommissioning phases of the project. The above impact analysis parameters have also been employed in the ESMF and IPPF. The table below shows the potential negative and positive impacts from the proposed project. The analysis focuses on the potential impacts from the HNP and Forestry subprojects since they are the ones that are generating a restriction of access to the natural resources in the HNP and the two gazetted forests of Ngamo and Sikumi. It is important to note that most of the mitigation measures revolve around the implementation of the CAMPFIRE component. So there is need to implement this PF with full participation of the CAMPFIRE. It has been noted that some potential impacts would score a higher significance if they are considered from a general environment perspective but would score lowly due to low direct connection with the community. Such impact remain highly significant in the ESMF and appropriate mitigation measures have been provided for in the ESMF. Such impacts will not be overemphasized in this PF. 69 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Table 6.2 Analysis of Impacts Impact Nature Magnitude and Timing and Permanence Likelihood extent duration and significance 1. Adequate game Positive. High intensity. Occurs in the Permanent. Definite. water supply. Directly benefits the Operation Highly source and indirectly phase. significant benefits the sinks. Immediate and considering long-term that this is impact. directly related to HWC reduction. 2. Reduced Positive. High intensity. Occurs Permanent Definite and poaching Localized within continuously in and highly activities HNP and the all phases. reversible if significant increasing surrounding sinks. Immediate and slackened. considering permeability. long-term the need for impact. permeability in the buffer zones. 3. Reduced veldt Positive. High intensity. Occurs Permanent Definite. fires results in Localized within continuously in and Highly good pastures HNP impact and all phases. reversible if significant. for wildlife buffer zones. Futurist. slackened. within the source areas. 4. Improved Park Positive. High magnitude. Implementation Permanent. Definite. management. Localized to HNP. phase. Futurist. Highly. Significant. 5. Institutional Positive. High intensity. Occurs in the Permanent. Definite and capacity Directly benefits operation stage. highly 70 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework strengthening. PWMA and significant. surrounding communities. 6. Rejuvenation of Positive. High intensity. Occurs in the Semi Definite and natural habitats Directly benefits in implementation permanent. highly from sustainable local ecosystem. stage. significant. forest management. Negative Environmental Impacts 7. Restriction of Negative. Directly affects Occurs Permanent Definite. access to the surrounding continuously in and Highly park and forest communities. all project irreversible. significant areas. phases. considering the livelihoods. 8. Increase in Negative Directly affects Occurs Permanent Definite. human-wildlife neighbouring occasionally in and High conflict due to communities. all project irreversible. significance straying wild Continuous effects. phases. considering animals. livelihoods and poaching. 9. Depletion of Negative Directly affects the Gradually Permanent Moderate groundwater catchment and occurs in the and probability resources. aquifers. operation reversible in considering phase. the long run. the recharge and low rainfall pattern. High significance considering 71 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework that water availability is critical in the project. 10. Overstocking of Negative Directly affects the Occurs Temporal Highly wildlife within natural habitat. gradually in all and probable the park and project phases. reversible. considering forest areas. effect of adequate water. Highly significant considering importance of carrying capacity. 11. Noise to animals Negative Directly affects Occurs Temporal Low during borehole sensitive wildlife. intermittently in and probability drilling. the irreversible. and low implementation significance phase. to community. 12. Vegetation Negative Directly affects the Occurs once off Temporary Remote destruction to natural habitat. during project and probability open roads for implementation. reversible. and low borehole drilling significance machines within to the park and community. forest area. 13. Soil erosion Negative Directly affects Occurs in the Permanent Low potential during surface water sources. rain season and probability water holes after irreversible. and low 72 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework construction. construction. significance to community. 6.3 IMPACT ASSESSMENT Following the identification and analysis of potential impacts in each subproject, both environmental and social, this section focuses on the evaluation of the significance of the identified impacts and the impact of the potential remedial action or enhancement measures. Following impact prediction and identification, impact evaluation is the formal stage at which a ‘test of significance’ is made. This approach will be applied in the implementation of this PF. 6.2.1 METHODOLOGY A systematic process was followed in evaluating significance, distinguishing between ‘as predicted’ and ‘residual’ impacts. Step one involved evaluating the significance of ‘as predicted’ impacts to define the requirements for mitigation and other remedial actions. Step two involves evaluating the significance of the ‘residual’ impacts, i.e. after mitigation measures are taken into account. This test is the critical measure of whether or not a proposal is likely to cause significant impacts. It is determined by the joint consideration of its characteristics (magnitude, extent, duration etc.), that is intensity and the importance (or value) that is attached to the resource losses, environmental deterioration or alternative uses which are foregone. First, a technical judgment was made of the extent to which mitigation will reduce ‘as predicted’ impacts. Second, a subjective value was placed on the significance of residual impacts, using criteria and tests described below. Assessed significance was found as a product of intensity and importance as given below; Intensity x importance = significance 73 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework In the above equation, intensity refers to the quantitative characteristics (magnitude, frequency of occurrence, duration, etc.) of the impact while the importance is based on value that the affected stakeholders place on the impact. Intensity is based on facts on the impact while the attached importance is quite subjective and is so much influenced by the perceived value. The following key will be used in the allocation of significance and importance. Table 6.3 Key areas for evaluation of impact intensity, importance and significance. Range Intensity Importance Significance Significance range 1 Extremely Extremely low 1 - <5 Extremely low importance low intensity significance 2 Low Low 5 - <10 Low intensity importance significance 3 Moderate Moderate 10 - Moderate intensity importance <15 significance 4 High High 15 - High intensity importance <20 significance 5 Extremely Extremely 20 - 25 Extremely high high high intensity importance significance The conventional classification was applied for both the positive and negative impacts with the only difference being that when considering positive impacts, enhancement measures will be applicable while mitigation was applied to negative impacts. The “as predicted significance� pertains to unmitigated negative impacts and also level of positive benefit had before any enhancement measures. The residual significance refers to the magnitude of negative impacts that remain even after mitigation and also refers to the level of positive benefit after the enhancement measures are implemented. Table 6.4 Impact Evaluation 74 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Positive Impacts Impact 1 Adequate game water supply improving the source capacity. Predicted Intensity Importance Significance significance 3 5 15 Enhancement Conduct detailed groundwater assessment. Install flow regulation required system to avoid water wasting. Conduct capacity testing regularly. Register boreholes with ZINWA for legal compliance. Ensure water quality through water quality surveillance. Guard against poacher related water poisoning. Resultant 5 5 25 significance Impact 2 Reduced poaching activities increasing permeability within the buffer areas. Predicted 3 5 15 significance Enhancement Network anti-poaching activities with local communities and all key required stakeholders. Enhance CAMPFIRE activities in local communities to increase the sense of ownership amongst community members. Liaise with law enforcement to ensure more punitive punishment for poaching. Residual 5 5 25 significance Impact 3 Reduced veldt fires. Predicted 2 5 10 significance Enhancement Conduct veldt fire management awareness in local communities. required Equip fire fighters with training and equipment. Install adequate and standard fireguards networks with the community. Residual 5 5 25 significance Impact 4 Improved Park management 75 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Predicted 4 5 20 significance Enhancement Effective fire management. Minimize tree cutting for firewood. required Establish an official firewood sale through CAMPFIRE activities. Control timber harvesting. Maintain sustainable game population. Resultant 5 5 25 significance Impact 5 Institutional capacity strengthened. Predicted 4 5 20 significance Enhancement Include indigenous knowledge systems in park management. Provide additional training to the park management. Establish a mechanism to required hold consultations with indigenous communities when designing park management systems. Residual 5 5 25 significance Impact 6 Rejuvenation of natural habitats from sustainable park management practices. Predicted 4 5 20 significance Enhancement Fire management. Minimize tree cutting for firewood. Establish and required official firewood sales through CAMPFIRE activities. Control timber harvesting. Maintain sustainable game population. Residual 5 5 25 significance Negative Impacts Impact 7 Human-wildlife conflict due to straying wild animals. Predicted 5 5 25 significance 76 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Mitigation Increase residence time of wildlife within the forest area through required improved permeability within the source area. Enhance CAMPFIRE activities as tradeoff with communities. Where possible compensate individual losses. Make conflict management organic by engaging the affected communities continuously. Implement indigenous knowledge in reducing permeability in local communities. Residual 3 4 12 significance Impact 8 Depletion of groundwater resources. Predicted 3 5 15 significance Mitigation Implement water conservation. Monitor water consumption at the required game water pumping point. Institute regular capacity test to detect water shortage early and understand recharge rates for the aquifers. Register boreholes with ZINWA. Install flow regulation to avoid water wasting. Residual 2 5 10 significance Impact 9 Overstocking of wildlife within the park area. Predicted 4 4 16 significance Mitigation Conduct carrying capacity assessments. Maintain sustainable wildlife required carrying capacity. Regulate hunting quotas. Residual 1 4 4 significance Impact 10 Noise pollution to animals during borehole drilling may force wildlife out to the communities. Predicted 2 4 8 significance Mitigation Avoid drilling in sensitive ecosystems like estuaries. Avoid drilling required during high presence of wildlife in the area. Residual 1 4 4 significance 77 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Impact 11 Vegetation destruction to open roads for borehole drilling machines. Predicted 2 3 6 significance Mitigation Use existing tracks where possible. Cut trees in a way that allows re- required growth. Avoid trees strategically. Residual 1 3 3 significance Impact 12 Soil erosion potential during water holes construction. Predicted 2 3 6 significance Mitigation Avoid loosening the soil during the rainy season. required Residual 1 3 3 significance Impact 13 Mosquito breeding at water points. Predicted 2 3 6 significance Mitigation Institute environment friendly malaria control program eg deliberate required disturbing water stagnation through pressurized sprays. Residual 2 3 6 significance Impact 14 Interference with physical cultural resources Predicted 2 5 10 significance Mitigation Liaise with the local community on how to address the restriction that required make the San People fail to access their traditional burial places in the HNP. Residual 0-1 5 0-5 significance 78 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework The positive impact of adequate game water supply has to be viewed in relation to the potential negative impact of aquifer deletion. If the water abstraction is not monitored there may be over-abstraction. While there are positive impacts associated with veldt fires, they could not be included in this impact frame work because this framework is referring to uncontrolled veldt fire. The positive impacts of controlled fires include and not limited to;  Better grazing for wildlife.  Poaching control.  Pest control.  Better visibility for tourists. The above positive impacts of veldt fire need to be considered in relation to the park or forest management plan and need to be distinguished from the uncontrolled veldt fires caused outside the management plan. While the adverse impacts are expected to be upon every other member of the host communities, the San community needs specific focus since their hunter gatherer life is the most affected by the existing restriction to gazetted HNP. The following measures have been put in place to ensure minimum negative environmental and social impacts to the local community;  ESMF  Environmental Screening Planned Activities Environmental Impacts Social Impacts  ESMP to be prepared and approved before works begin.  Process framework  IPPF 79 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 6.4.1 IMPACT MITIGATION MEASURES INBUILT WITHIN THE HSBC PROJECT The proposed project has some activities specifically designed to alleviate negative impacts arising from the proximity effect to the HNP. The following project activities has a direct impact of reducing the extent of negative impacts on the HNP and forests operations; i. Game water supply activity is anticipated to reduce the residence time of wild animals in the surrounding communities since the animals will be having access to adequate water from within the park area. ii. The promotion of the chilli cultivation is also expected to mitigate against the human wildlife conflicts that are rampant within the impact zone. iii. Community conservation awareness will reduce potential project misunderstanding, thereby minimizing potential conflicts and grievances from the local community. iv. The whole CAMPFIRE component is premised on cushioning the local community from the direct negative impacts of being in close proximity with the HNP and the forest areas. Some of the specific CAMPFIRE activities that are meant to assist the affected communities in Hwange and Tsholotsho include;  Establish and nurture beneficial community and private sector partnerships that enhance safari hunting revenue streams.  Strengthen Environment Sub-Committees.  Enhance the capacity of communities to monitor wildlife and to effectively participate in the safari hunting operations in their area.  Assess the current magnitude and impact of and response to human and wildlife conflict in selected wards.  Design and implement a HWC surveillance mechanism that ensures timely communication to and response by communities and other key stakeholders.  Facilitate the identification and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures (e.g. chilli fence, chilli bomb and livestock biomass).  Raise awareness and build community level capacity in the HWC mitigation.  Promote chilli cultivation (as a HWC mitigation ingredient and source of income).  Monitor changes in HWC and wildlife damage. 80 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework It is therefore important to observe that the real interventions against any potential negative social within the community arising from project implementation are quenched through the integration of CAMPFIRE component in the HSBC project. The implementation of the PF will therefore best be made with the total and consistent participation of the CAMPFIRE. In an effort to ensure effective adoption of CBNRM and project awareness, CBNRM was introduced in Thsolotsho and Hwange in 1990 and 1992 respectively. This community approach was enhanced by the formation of the environment management committees in the respective wards and villages. The same committees will be used to enhance project awareness amongst the local community. The local community is confronted with the control of problem animals. These include Elephants, lions, hyenas and baboons. The common problems include the killing of domestic animals by predators and the destruction of farm produce by elephants and baboons. In an attempt to control these animals, the local community has gangs that were trained to respond to the attack by such animals. The HNP also has a ready response team to backstops the community based reaction teams. HNP staff were also trained in a human wildlife conflict toolkit. The proposed project has some activities that are aimed at combatting the human wildlife conflict. These include;  Chilli fences, chilli briquettes.  Bee hive fences. Due to strict park estate access conditions, there is minimal interaction between the park estate and the surrounding communities, however; there is a livelihood support window opened through limited access to buffer zones. Within the buffer zones, the community is allowed to collect firewood, herd cattle and collect non-timber products, such as mopani worms, honey and wild fruits The proposed project has scope for livelihoods support through the CAMPFIRE component. 81 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework Non-technical staff is recruited right at the HNP and preference is given to the locals. Though there are no San People employed within the park operations at the moment, the San People are given equal employment opportunity with the other locals. Technical staff is recruited through the head office that is based in Harare through an open competitive approaches. The local community is represented by the Traditional leaders who have a direct access to the HNP and the Forestry area management system to lodge any complaints from the local community. The local community has no direct access to the revenue derived from the proceeds of the park operation. The community indirectly benefits through the community projects that are sponsored by the HNP. Such community projects may include borehole drilling, sponsorship to communal dip tanks and school building where resources allow. 82 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework CHAPTER 7 GRIEVANCES AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION 7.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter details the potential conflict that may arise within the community as a result form the restriction to access to the natural resources. Conflict may also arise from the community’s discontent with the eligibility criteria or community’s involvement in the planning process or implementation of the project. 7.1 As enshrined in the Parks and Wildlife Management Act (CAP 20:14), the boundaries of the park area, forest area and buffer zones are established through the government gazette, after consultation with all stakeholders. The Minister requests authority from the President to set the boundaries. As it stands now, the gazetted forest areas and park estate fall under state land and is given to the respective authorities (PWMA and Forest Commission) for management, conservation purposes and exploitation for the benefit of the nation in general and the local community in particular. Conflicts or grievances may arise from the implementation of project activities or may already be in existence (e.g. conflicts between people and wildlife). Conflicts generally arise from poor communication, inadequate or lack of consultation, inadequate flow of relevant upto-date information, or restrictions that may be imposed on PAP. Currently the HNP impact zone is inundated with human wildlife conflict arising from the problem animals like elephants that destroy the community’s fields and lions that kill the community herd. Though there are all these challenges, there is a mechanism to effectively mitigate against impacts and also resolve potential conflicts. As preventive measure, the implementation of a good communication strategy is an absolute requirement to reduce misunderstanding and grievances. Project awareness raising activities will be conducted throughout the life of the project. Consultations and negotiations will be 83 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework carried out with PAP where there are indications of potential conflicts. Monetary issues are often a source of grievance. Another important preventive measure is to provide clear information on the project’s budget for community related expenditure. Any community related expenditure will clearly target benefiting the community and not individual members of the community; however, where individuals are involved in project activities they will adequately resourced to avoid negative externalities on the individuals’ part (this may include travel expenditure for community representative who may be required to attend meetings offsite). In order to ensure effective communication with the PAPs, PWMA will closely use the existing communication networks of the communities, using intra-community mechanisms such as community meetings and dissemination of information by village heads or by central government representatives and also ensure all such communication is done in the local language to avoid misunderstanding. Conflict and grievances that may arise will be multifaceted and directed to different respondents. Some conflict may be amongst community members as they will be relating to the project activities in different ways, other conflict may be between the community against the PWMA who will be implementing project activities and enforcing the existing restrictions. Conflicts and grievances to do with park boundaries are in the jurisdiction of the Minister it is the Minister who gazettes the park and forest boundaries. In time of any of such conflict, the level of interventions depends on the gravity of the matters. The resolution will also involves a multifaceted approach so that all stakeholders will be involved. In times of conflict, usually the following stakeholders are involved to some applicable extends;  The Office of the President of Zimbabwe.  The Minister of Environment, Water and Climate.  The Director General of the PWMA.  The District Administrator.  The Magistrate Court.  The RDC.  HNP management.  Member of Parliament.  Local Ward Councillor. 84 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework  Local Chief.  Local Headman.  Households. Grievance mechanisms would involve the local community leaders in providing a first level of listening and giving informal resolution to community level conflicts. These leaders will be involved in project consultation and awareness raising. Community leaders can also take grievance to the HNP management for discussion and resolution. If there is no agreement with the management, an appeal can be made to the Director General. Appeal can also be made to the Minister if the Director General of PWMA has not managed to resolve the dispute. The President will be the last level of informal appeal. As the matter is escalating from the local from to the President Office, there are other community representatives that will start to be involved. These will include the District Administrator, the Member of Parliament and other high profile interested parties. The HNP will continually raise awareness on how to resolve conflicts without going to courts unless there is real need to. An appeal mechanism against the PWMA is enshrined in the Parks and Wildlife Management Act (CAP 20:24), section 124. In the event that the out of court resolution is not achieved, the final route is to use the formal courts available at the local level. If the local Magistrate Court fail to resolve the issue, the matter can be escalated to the High Court and the Supreme Court. Usually the community is encouraged to resolve their matters at the community level or organizational level as the courts are expensive and inconvenient especially to the community members who have to leave their work and attend court sessions. 85 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 7.5 ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL PROCEDURES Administratively, the HNP and the two applicable gazetted forests do not fall under any administrative boundary following the gazetting of these areas as a national park and forest areas respectively. So in terms of accountability and management, the HNP and the Forest areas are autonomous landscapes that are not under any administrative district, but accountable to the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate. However; due to the nature of the business operation and its impact to surrounding communities, the HNP and Forestry Commission do have communities that they interact with. These surrounding communities are the ones that fall within specific district boundaries and the implementing two organizations are therefore compelled to interact with these respective district administration centres and RDCs. The internal management of the park and the forest areas are wholly under the HNP and Forestry Commission while the external affairs arising from proximity to some communities fall under their respective District Administrators and RDCs. The District Administrator addresses issues of governance within the communities through the coordination of various line ministries under the District Administrator jurisdiction. The DA is also responsible for the coordination of the traditional leaders as stipulated by the Traditional Leaders’ Act. Though the local Chief has jurisdiction to preside on cases within the community, they are subject to the DA. While the local Magistrate is resident in the district, the functions are independent from the DA to ensure transparency and non- interference in deciding cases brought to the courts. The RDCs champion rural development through various initiatives including the coordination of various development partners and government grants. Financially the HNP through the PWMA is not funded by the central budget, but the authority raises its own resources through its operations of the national park and grants from various sources. The Forestry Commission also raises its own funds through the management of the forests. However; the government gives some special grants when it sees fit. The DA, Magistrate Court and other government departments within the district are funded through the central budget. The RDC formulates a budget and get approval from the responsible minister before implementing. The revenue sources for the RDCs include government grants, levies paid by residents and business, royalties from various businesses within the RDC jurisdiction. In this project, the financial responsibility rests with the Finance Minister since it is a grant from the World Bank to the Government of Zimbabwe. The Finance Minister however delegates this responsibility to the respective minister who will implement the project through 86 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework the various departments (PWMA and Forestry Commission), with the participation of all stakeholders (including EMA and CAMPFIRE) and as coordinated by WWF. 87 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework CHAPTER 8 MONITORING ARRANGEMENTS 8.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter discusses and presents the monitoring arrangements on the ground to ensure participatory monitoring of project activities as they relate to impacts on persons within the project impacts area. The monitoring mechanism will also target how the effectiveness of measure to reduce taken to enhance the incomes and living standards. 8.1 COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN MONITORING It is important for the community to understand all facets of the project and all the environment and social management instruments developed. With this understanding the community will be able to understand its role in the project design, implementation and monitoring. The HNP and Forestry Commission will take time to explain the intended project impacts and how the community can be involved in the impact management and monitoring. The project will utilise a participatory monitoring and evaluation process which will monitor the effectiveness of mitigation measures to improve (or maintain) PAP’s standards of living. The local communication network will be employed to ensure that the community clearly understands and is involved in the project implementation. The following documents will be decoded and communicated to the community;  ESMP  IPPF  PF  Any other environment and social management instrument that will be developed. The community leadership will be involved in the review of the project progress and feedback to the general community will be made through the local channels and in the local language. Some of the indicators that will be used to monitor project impact on the community include;  Level of participation at project meetings. 88 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework  Effectiveness of project interventions like game water supply, chilli fencing and community anti-poaching initiatives.  Human wildlife conflict.  Effectiveness of the grievance settlement mechanism Table 8.1 Summary of responsibilities in the implementation of the PF Organisation Responsibility Office of the The office of the president reviews the request from the minister on President any change in landuse that may require gazetting new park or forestry boundaries. The office of the president get monitors through the ministerial briefs and progress reports to cabinet on key issues pertaining to the PF like gazetting new boundaries. Minister of The Minister monitors the implementation of the ministry’s delegated Environment, responsibility to PWMA and Forestry Commission especially Water and Climate enforcement of the gazetted park and forestry boundaries and agreed community engagement activities. Member of The Member of Parliament from the project area has constant Parliament communication with the constituency structures within the community and get feedback on the project impact on the ground and makes follow up with the Minister directly. HNP HNP will be responsible for implementing this PF and will directly Forestry monitor itself through the management system in place. HNP Commission management is autonomous but is accountable to the Minister CAMPFIRE through the PWMA, so PWMA will get regular feedback on the EMA implementation of the PF from the HNP. HNP will convene regular community meetings so as to get direct feedback on the effectiveness of this PF. Meetings will target both the community leadership and the general community members. Forestry Commission also has a direct responsibility for self-monitoring and reporting to the Minister. CAMPFIRE is one of the organizations that have a direct interface with the community through its livelihoods component. Through CAMPFIRE, the local community has a chance to interrogate the project impacts and given feedback to HNP. 89 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework EMA also has local structures within the community and through this network, EMA will have a chance to get feedback on the effectiveness of impact management on the ground. Through these ground structures, EMA is able to review the effectiveness of fire- fighting endeavours of the project. District The District Administrator is the presiding officer of the local area. Administrator The DA meets the traditional leaders monthly to review progress on the traditional leaders’ progress in implementing development projects. Through this platform the DA is able to get feedback on the project by leaders of the PAPs. Traditional leaders The Chief is the highest traditional leader within the local community. The Chiefs have a network of Headmen who are above the village heads. The Village Heads have direct contact with the project since they are on the ground. The Village head receive project impacts from the community members and channel the feedback to the Chief who in turn forward them to the DA’s Office. The DA has powers to summon any implementing entities to discuss any such impacts and the required mitigation measures. Community Community members participate in the participatory monitoring members directly through active involvement in the project design and implementation. Through active participation, the community members also monitor project impacts and feedback to the implementing entity, the local leadership or the District Administrator. NGO eg Tsoro-o- Local NGOs participate in the monitoring process through the review tso San People of the PF and attending to stakeholder consultation meetings. The Development NGOs also have direct contact with the community and any negative Trust impact can be communicated by the community to the NGOs who will advocate for the desired impact of the project. The implementing entities will also keep the NGOs informed about the project progress through stakeholder meetings. 90 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 9.0 INTRODUCTION In this chapter, conclusions on the key issues on the PF are given and some recommendation are also presented where necessary. 9.1 POTENTIAL CONFLICT SITUATIONS The potential conflict situations may arise from the fact that the buffer zone bordering the HNP and the Tsholotsho community is not yet gazetted though it is under the management of CAMPFIRE. This situation will give rise to potential encroachment by the community as the demand for land to cultivate rise. However, the HNP, CAMPFIRE through RDC and the Traditional leaders are in constant liaison such that the boundaries will not be shifted or encroached easily since all the community members are aware of the boundaries. The San community in Tsholotsho expressed concern over the fact that they were driven out of the park area and the concessions that were made on the HNP side were no longer being met. The San Community claim that they were promised some meat occasionally but this has not taken place. They were also told that they will be allowed into the park for rituals and visiting the graves of their fathers that remained enclosed in the park. Such claims may give rise to some conflict if the San Peoples are not closely consulted. The San People’s livelihoods are still based on hunting and gathering, so the restriction of access into the park has not allowed the continuation of traditional survival practices. In the meeting with the San community, some still feel very strongly against the restriction and vowed to continue gathering and hunting in the buffer zones though others are prepared for a more progressive approach that is coordinated by CAMPFIRE. Though there are these chances of conflict with the community, the community is well organized and governed through the traditional leaders, ward councillors and the District Administrator such that the potential conflicts can be identified early and resolutions are possible. 91 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 9.2 ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS OPTIONS As indicated in the social assessment, the community is made up of diverse ethnic groups that includes the Ndebele, Kalanga and the San People. This wide mix has created a wide range of livelihoods. Generally the community survives from farming drought resistant crops and animal rearing, but the San People livelihoods are largely based on hunting and gathering. For the San Community, it is important to encourage them to shift their livelihoods from the natural resources to farming. The challenge with the farming option is that the San Community is currently very poor and would need some form of investment to take them out of the poverty cycle that was discussed in chapter 4. The alternative farming livelihoods would need the following support to the community;  Training in agricultural production.  Supply of simple farming implements.  Provision of draught power in the form of cattle or communal mechanized equipment like tractors.  Propagation of small livestock like chicken, goats and guinea fowls. With such support the community will be able to shift their livelihoods from the natural resources to sustainable agriculture. 9.3 CONSTRAINTS/ THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROJECT ACTIVITIES The constraint for the project may be on the available resources to fully incorporate some exhaustive community livelihoods interventions. The project success is largely based on the community cooperation to the effect that the community appreciates the need to abstain from such practices like poaching. This cooperation is usually ignited through visible trade-offs from the HNP in terms of livelihoods options. The project activities for the HNP are largely based within the park without a similar investment in the community like the drilling of a few boreholes in the community. The possible disengagement of the San Peoples is a real threat to the project because if the San People are not on board, the aspirations to reduce poaching will be thwarted. There is potential that the San community may intensify poaching if 92 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework their livelihoods continue to be based on the natural resources. There is also a barrier in that the local community is not very literate and therefore the need to translate most of the project material into the local language. The opportunity for the project rest in the increasing awareness of the need to conserve the environment and the natural resources within the community. The San community has experienced a decrease in their livelihoods as a result of the resource scarcity that is increasing within the buffer zones and this experience makes them receptive to other sustainable options for survival. There is also an increasing awareness on the need to protect the environment from veldt fire and the level of cooperation on such project activities is likely to be quite high among community members. 9.4 RESTRICTIONS OF ACCESS TO NATURAL RESOURCES As discussed in chapter 2, there is real restriction to natural resources in the HNP and to some extend in the buffer zones. There is total restriction in the HNP such that even the passage is not allowed. Entrance is through payment of fees and this also financially exclude the local community who cannot afford the entrance fees. There is limited access by the community in the buffer zones and the gazetted forest. the community is allowed to herd cattle, fetch grass and get non timber products like honey, mushroom and worms. The community is however not allowed to hunt or cut trees for fire wood. These restrictions naturally generate some significant negative impact on the community livelihoods. 9.5 COMMUNITY BENEFITS Chapter 6 discusses the potential benefits of the project to the community. While there are some negative impacts arising from the restriction of access to natural resources, the project has some positive benefits to the community. The benefits can be summarized as follows;  The provision of adequate water in the park will ensure that the residence time of the wild animals in the park and the buffer zones is increased thereby reducing the chance of Human wildlife conflict that may arise from competition for water in the community by wild animals. The reduced presence of wild animals in the community will directly reduce 93 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework the chances of crop destruction by the animals as they move in and out of the park and buffer zones.  The project has activities that are aimed at controlling problem animals and this experience will be shared throughout the affected community and the community ability to deal with problem animals will increase.  The project also has activities for prevention of veld fires. This will enhance the carrying capacity of the park and the buffer zones such that if these areas maintain their capacity to harbour the wild animals the chances that the wild animals will traverse the community areas in search for food will be reduced, thereby reducing the chance of human wildlife conflict. 9.5 RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PF This PF identified the various parties that has direct responsibility in the implementation of this PF. The responsible implementing entities are PWMA, Forestry Commission and CAMPFIRE. EMA has an indirect role that arises from its environment committees on the ground, on-which the implementation may base. The other implementing partners especially in the monitoring process are discussed in chapter 8. The community also has a role to play in the monitoring process since all of the negative impacts are directly felt by the local community. However the community will also assist in assessing the impacts of the positive benefits of the project. 94 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework REFERENCES 1. Census Report 2012, Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency 2. Environmental Management Act (CAP 20; 27), 2002, Government of Zimbabwe. 3. Parks and wildlife Management Act(CAP 20:14), Government of Zimbabwe 4. Forestry Act (CAP 19:05), Government of Zimbabwe. 5. Traditional Leaders Act (CAP 20:17), Government of Zimbabwe 6. Communal Lands Act (CAP 20:04), Government of Zimbabwe 7. World Bank, Operational Manual, December 2001, O.P 4.12 - Involuntary Resettlement, Annex A. 8. World Bank, Operational Manual, July 2005, O.P 4.10 – Indigenous Peoples Planning Framework, Annex C. 95 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework APPENDIX A ATTENDANCE LIST FOR STAKEHOLDER MEETING 96 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 97 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 98 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw HSBC Project: Process Framework 99 Waterkings Environment Consultancy: wmuti@mweb.co.zw