workshop report burkina faso - iucn

Workshop report

Identification of Management Options and Development of Action Plans

to enhance Ecosystem Services in Thiou, Yatenga Province, Burkina Faso

Ouahigouya Centre Louis Durieux 29th February to 1st March 2016

Introduction The productivity of African landscapes is very low (one tenth or less of their potential). Water, land and

ecosystem quality is degrading over substantial areas. Yet many areas face serious pressures from

increasing rural and urban populations, compounded by the threat of global climate change. Rangeland

resources are numerous but the ecosystems are fragile requiring appropriate management strategies to

ensure sustainable productivity. Changes in these landscapes will be brought about through individual

decisions. But for change to be sustainable it must be systemic, facilitated and directed by institutions

that support communities of women and men.

The project “Enhancing the Value of Ecosystem Services in Pastoral Systems” aims to addresses these

challenges by assisting policymakers, planners and pastoralists use insights on the role of ecosystem

services to support the livelihoods of pastoralists and to identify grazing and rangeland management

options that will strengthen livelihood support over the long‐term. An analysis of available practices, of

their potential impacts on water, biodiversity and forage, and of the potential tradeoffs among them

could help to identify best bet practices. Furthermore, this screening will contribute substantially to the

knowledge of pastoral livelihoods and ecosystems in Africa, and the diverse interactions between

human uses and the natural environment.

After a field visit in Yatenga province and discussions with government leader at provincial level and

with various actors in the field, Thiou commune was identified to host the project with APESS as

institution to work with at local level to achieve the project goals.

This workshop was the second step of the project activities that aimed at identifying: (i) rangelands

management options in Thiou that can contribute to enhancing Ecosystem Services; (ii) community

action plans that can effectively and efficiently implemented to enhance ecosystem service in the

communal rangelands.

The workshop was organized by IUCN in collaboration with ILRI and it brought together key stakeholders from Thiou and from surrounding communes, in particular Koumbri and Barga. Representatives from government ministries at the provincial level, especially ministry of animal resources, ministry of environment and ministry of agriculture were also present at the workshop.

Day 1 activities

Opening session The opening session consisted of registration and introduction of participants and an opening speech by

the president of APESS. The APESS president welcomed participants and thanked ILRI and IUCN for

organizing this workshop which, according to him, was essential in raising awareness and the

importance of efficiently managing the communal rangelands.

Project overview presentation A presentation of the project was done and the topics covered include:

The overall goal of the project: assist policymakers, planners and pastoralists use insights on the

role of ecosystem services to support the livelihoods of pastoralists and to identify grazing and

rangeland management options that will strengthen livelihood support over the long‐term;

The methodology ‐ a participatory approach – to bringing all stakeholders in the process;

The modeling goals and examples. Some examples were given to illustrate the link between

water and forage production.

Presentation on ecosystem services An introduction on ecosystem services was done to enable participants understand the main topic under discussion. The different benefits of ecosystem services were also discussed including the categories of ecosystem services. (Refer to presentation on annex 1). A discussion was also done among participants to identify ecosystem services. This exercise was to enable the participants to have a good understanding of ecosystem services concepts and for them to be able to identify them in their environment.

Management options identification The identification of management options started with two exercises:

1‐ The resource mapping exercise that helps to determine the current situation; 2‐ The future visioning where, from the current situation, participant are able to determine their

desired future. 3‐ After exercise 1 and 2, the participants identified which management options would be required

to achieve the desired future.

Resources mapping exercise – current situation mapping This session began with a short presentation to enable participants understand the exercise. The

participants were grouped into three groups of around 8 to 10 participants. The different groups were

required to identify the different resources within the commune, where they are located and what

ecosystem services these resources provided. The participants marked the location of the different

resources on the maps (see Annex 1). The results of this exercise are attached as annex 2 of this report.

Identified ecosystems and services are summarised in table below:

Table summarizing identified ecosystem and ecosystem services

Ecosystems Ecosystem services

Forests

Game (small game as rabbits, hares, wild pigeons, doves and big game as deer, antelopes

Medicine

Wood for construction

Fruits (Shea, mangos, raisin grapes etc.)

Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)

Habitat for wildlife

Species regeneration (animal and vegetal)

Conservation of species

Fodder for livestock

Tourism

Culture services (some forests used as sacred area, trees are used for masks making)

Wetlands along rivers

Water provision

Fish provision

Aquatic species conservation

Provision of important vegetation along rivers and pasture for livestock

Birds protection

Irrigation and food production

Agro‐pastoral

Food production (mainly Maize, millet, sorghum, beans, groundnuts etc.)

Pasture and crop residues for livestock. Crop residues are mainly from sorghum, groundnuts and beans are

Products sold from livestock (meat, milk, leather) that provide revenue for people

Fuel

Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)

Natural medicine

Soil formation

Strengthening of social relations between people

Habitat for wildlife

Future vision – the desired future After finalising the resource mapping exercise, the same groups were asked to determine what their

future expectation of the identified resources would be. Participants carried out a mapping exercise

showing a desired future map of their resources. The different maps highlight what people want to see

changes (see annex 2).

From this exercise, the participants would to have the following in the future: more water for human

and animal use (dams); more forest for wood and wildlife; more grassland for livestock production

(other pastoral zones being created).

The success of the future vision depends on action to be taken to overcome current and future challenges and constraints in rangelands development. While developing the current and future maps, the participants were also asked to identify the challenges they would encounter in achieving the desired future and the management options they would require to achieve the desired future.

Challenges/constraints

Thiou commune faces a number of challenges that reduce the ability of the rangeland to continue

providing important services that it has been providing over the years. Some of these include:

1‐ Encroachment into forests and grasslands

Forest and grassland cover in the commune has been reducing over the years and this was mainly

associated with expansion of cropping land and establishing settlements due to population increase.

Deforestation due to the logging for fuelwood, construction materials and charcoal burning is also a

main reason of forest reduction in the region. Not only conversion of rangeland to crop land explains

reduction of pasture for livestock grazing in the area, but also access to crop residues is limited as

famers stock these residues and pastoralist cannot beneficiate from them during the “vaine pâture1”

period.

2‐ Human livestock competition for water resource

Participants highlighted the competition in the utilization of water between livestock and households.

This is due to the population increase – both animal and human – and the increased demand for water.

In addition to this consumption, there are vegetable production/irrigation activities that demand a lot of

water.

3‐ Silting of dams an expansion of irrigation activities

Silting of dams constitutes a handicap for water availability in the region throughout the year. This

causes problems for fishing as there is less water where to fish; it causes also problems for watering

herds. Even irrigation constitutes a source of livelihood for communities in the commune, it is seen also

as a threat to water availability throughout the year. Combined with the silting, dam water finishes

quickly some months after the rainy season.

4‐ Mining

Gold mining takes place in the commune area and has been mentioned as threat to the provision of

ecosystem services. Mining activities are source of reduction of the superficies of grasslands. They cause land

degradation. The use of chemical products causes pollution of water that affects both human and animal

health. In addition to the mining pollution, participants highlighted also the environmental pollution by

plastic bags and the fact that those plastic bags are causing animals’ death when they consume them.

5‐ Climate change

Soil fertility reduction and drought are associated to climate change and participants highlighted them

as threats to the provision of ecosystem services in the area. Degraded land is a challenge as it reduces both

agriculture and livestock yield, it also prevents trees to grow and the lack of trees implies a reduction in the

availability of game to hunt, etc.

1 The “vaine pâture” period is that period pastoralists have right to graze herds in fields after crops harvesting. This period is declared each year by local communities.

Management options identified

Participants through the groups identified management options for achieving the desired future. The

identified management options were further grouped according to environmental objectives following

the expressed future vision: better water provision for human and animal use; more grassland and

forest for livestock production.

Environmental objective Management options

Improving forage production for livestock

Implement Zaï technique in degraded lands

Implement stone cordons technique in degraded lands

Implement “Demi‐lune” technique in degraded lands

Reforestation

Woodlands zones protection

Implement natural regeneration of vegetation systems

Forage crop farming

Silage – forage conservation

Avail forage seeds

Enforcement local conventions on natural resource use

Improving water management, provision and conservation

Watershed protection

Improve irrigation perimeter management

Take actions against dams silting

Construction of new dams

Construction of “bouli”

New postural wells and drilling

Strengthen Water Local Committee (CLE) capacities for better management of water points

Improving rangelands heath and management through livestock mobility

Rehabilitation of existing livestock corridors

Creation of new livestock routes for access to resources point.

Reach the maximum production potential of Thiou pastoral zone

Implementation stones cordon techniques and scarification

Reforestation

Construction of “bouli”

Construction of vaccination parks

Construction forage

New pastoral wells and drilling

Delimitation of mining zones to avoid encroachment of the pastoral zone

Restoration of degraded lands in the pastoral zone

New pastoral zones creation in Thiou commune and surrounding communes

Reduce environmental pollution Fight against plastic bags

Promotion of usage of biodegradable plastic bags by population

Day 2 activities

A recap of day one activities and outcomes was done. This was followed by setting of day two objectives. The main activities for the second day

were prioritization of the management option and development of the community action plans.

Prioritization of management options Before undertaking the prioritization exercise, a criterion of prioritization was presented to the participants and an explanation of the process

done. Values of scale from 1 to 3 were given to the criteria.

1= Not easy for realization

2= medium

3= easy for realization

Low costs

Technical ease

Likelihood of failure (reliability)Positively affect multiple ecosystem services

Likelihood of government support

Ease of securing community support

Strength of impact

Deliver benefits quickly

Benefits wide range of people

Likelihood of failure (reliability)

Score total

Implement Zaï technique in

degraded lands 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 25

Implement stone cordons

technique in degraded lands 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 25

2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 26

Silage – forage conservation 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 26

Pastoral wells and drilling 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 25

Criteria

Management

Options

Forage crop framing 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 25

Watershed protection 1 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 23

Implementation of Natural

regeneration systems 1 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 23

Irrigation perimeter

management 1 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 23

Construction of new dams 1 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 23

Restoration of degraded lands 1 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 23

Fight against use of toxic

products used in mining 1 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 23

Construction of new bouli, 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 24

Reforestation 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 24

Enforcement of local

conventions on natural resource

management and use 2 2 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 23

Promotion of biodegradable

plactic bags 2 3 2 3 3 3 1 3 3 23

Avail forage seeds 1 2 3 3 3 2 1 3 3 21

Vaccination parks construction 1 3 1 2 3 3 2 3 3 21

Silting of dams 1 3 3 1 3 3 1 2 3 20

Rehabilitation of livestock

corridors 1 3 2 1 3 3 1 3 3 20

Creation of new livestock routes 1 3 2 1 3 3 1 3 3 20

Delimitation of mining zone to

avoid encroachment with

pastoral zone 1 3 2 1 3 3 1 3 3 20

Creation of new pastoral zone 1 3 2 1 3 3 1 3 3 20

Strengthen Water Local

committee (CLE) capacities 2 3 1 2 3 3 1 3 3 21

According to the results of the ranking I was quite difficult to segregate management options since from each option to another the differences

were not high. Other options were therefore explored during the workshop: in each group, participants were to discuss and according to their

knowledge and the communal context determine what is viable to achieve the desired future vision. They were then to identify three

management options and develop an action plan for each of the options. The results of this group session is as below:

Action plan development Group 1 of men

According to group discussions and to be able to realize the desired future, there is need to rehabilitate the existing livestock corridors, create

new pastoral zones, develop infrastructure in the pastoral zones especially building of “bouli” and vaccination parks. The table below show the

action plan developed by the group members.

Options Specific activities Challenges /constraints

Roles/who will do?

Resources (Technical, financial...)

Ecosystem service Beneficiaries Timing

Existing Livestock corridors rehabilitation (access routes, commercial routes)

Undertake population awareness activities

Population increase

Population, Local authorities and the State

Technical services of from the government, financial support form donors, local collectivity engagement

Better pastures, water provision

Pastoralists agro‐pastoralists

1 year

Topographic activities

100000 frs/km

Delimitation (markup)

15000 frs/balise

Building of « bouli » in the pastoral zone

Feasibility study Inadequate rainfall

population, Local authorities and the State

500,000 frs/boulli

Water provision, increase in livestock productivity

All the local population

6 months

Bouli realization 5,000,000 frs/boulli

6 months

Vaccination parks

Location identification and delimitation

Diseases population, Local authorities and the State

1 months

Realization 7,000,000 frs/parc

Animal health improving

population 6 months

New pastoral zones

Lack of pastures and grazing areas

population, Local authorities and the State

PTF Better pastures, water provision

population 2 to 3 years

Local population awareness

1000000 frs / PZ 6 months

Delimitation 500000 frs / PZ 6 months

Putting of marks 15,000 frs/mark 6 months

redaction du cahier de charge

5,000,000 frs / PZ

1 year

mise en place et formation des comites de gestion et de surveillance

5,000,000 frs / PZ

1 months

Group 2 of men

Actions Challenges /constraints Roles/who will do?



Realization of iabiliser le forage de Nende( commune de Thiou)

An important water resource in Thiou commune but not used

Financial support from local authority of the commune

Human resources (to technically realize the drilling)

Increasing of forage production

Thiou commune population

5 years

High cost exploitation

Technical support of the government, Communities

Financial resources (10 billion)

Local population to accept giving their land to realize the drilling

restoration vegetal cover

NGOs to support technically and Donors financially

Water provision for animal and human beings

Watershed protection

Rules related to watershed protection are not respected by population

The local authority to organize communities

Technical resouce

Water provision, forage production, vegetal cover restoration,

Thiou commune population and also for the other communes

5 years

Users to accept rules and norms

Financial (100 millions)

Involve landlords in the awareness

ressources materiel (motopompes)

NGOs to support technically and and donors financially

Capacity building and awareness of actors

Good practices are not always used

Government to support and advise

Human resources (Technicians )

Thiou communes population

3 years of various awareness activities

Government services are not engaged in the awareness activities by NGOs

Local authorities to make strong decisions to enforces laws and to guide population to using good practices

Financial resources

Populations are not feeling themselves obliged to follow rules, bylaws and to using good practices

Local population to get themselves organized in committees to defend and protect watershed and water points

Beneficiaries engagement in the process

Financial support from donors

Monitoring and evaluation by donors

Group of women

Actions Challenges /constraints Roles/who will do?



Stones cordons

Stones availability, transportation challenges, human resource challenges

Government to build people capacities and technical training; communities to implement the activities and NGOs to support technically and Donors financially

Technical resources; financial resources and human resources

Water infiltration in the soil, increasing of vegetal production, reduction of erosion, nutrient recycling

Pastoralists and agro‐pastoralists

1 to 2 years

Zai

Tools for zai realization, manure availability, enough physical effort is demanded

Government to build people capacities and technical training; communities to implement the activities and NGOs to support technically and Donors financially


Water infiltration in the soil, increasing of vegetal production, reduction of erosion, nutrient recycling

Pastoralists and agro‐pastoralists

1 to 2 years

Reforestation Availability of plants and to taking care of those already planted

Communities to provide human resources, Government to build capacities, NGOs to support technically and donors financially


Combatting against land degradation; Water infiltration in the soil; increasing of vegetal production, reduction of erosion, nutrient recycling

Pastoralists, agro‐pastoralists, but also all the population

5 to 7 years

Enforce the local charts

Information challenges, and sometimes the lack of will for population to respect the rules

The State to build capacities of communities with awareness and training; NGOs to support by providing qualified personnel in field work; communities must accept changing behavior and adopting good practices

Financial resources and human resources

Respect of rules will reduce the cutting of trees for firewood, increase wildlife, protect land for degradation

All the population of Thiou

Continual process

Conclusion Good practice in sustainable rangeland management revolves around engaging communities themselves to identifying management options in order to enhance ecosystem services that rangelands provide for their livelihood. In Thiou commune, the workshop has helped pastoralists, agro‐pastoralists, government technical services and all actors supporting for sustainable rangelands management in the commune to identify their communal rangelands resources, the ecosystem services which include mainly provision of food and pasture, wildlife, forests, drought control and cultural services. Food, pasture and water are the main services that provide the communal rangelands. The main challenges in managing rangelands in Thiou are: (i) Encroachment into forests and grasslands; (ii) Human livestock competition for water resource; (iii) Silting of dams an expansion of irrigation activities; (iv) Mining; (v) Climate change. The future vision of Thiou communal rangelands proposed some options of management to enhancing the commune rangelands ecosystem services. Among those options: (i) the rehabilitation of existing livestock corridors; (ii) creation of new pastoral zones in addition to the one already existing; (iii) development of infrastructures in the pastoral zones such as “bouli” building and vaccination parks; (iv) watershed protection; (v) reforestation, (vi) usage of technics as “Zai” and stones cordons. For those options to effectively contribute to strengthening rangelands potential in the commune it is imperative to increase awareness and capacity building of actors especially pastoralists and agro‐pastoralists, but also to enforce the local conventions that set guidelines for resources management, access and use. Collective effort is required from Thiou commune. The action plans developed for the main options identified constitute the first step to the collective engagement for better future in Thiou communal rangelands. The next step, according to the participants, will be the implementation of those action plans with support from central government, the local government, NGOs and International organizations.

Annex 1

Group 1 of men

Group 2 of men

Group of women

Annex 2

Group 1 of men

Group 2 of men

Group of Women

Annex 3: Evaluation of the workshop by participants

workshop report burkina faso - iucn

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