Monitoring | PANORAMA

The transhumant conference

The transhumant conference is a consultation platform that brings together local and foreign transhumant pastoralists in order to discuss the resolution of conflicts between breeders - farmers, breeders - gamekeepers and wild animal breeders.

The strengthening of collaboration between institutions has made it possible to build a solid basis for dialogue and to put in place lasting resolutions.

The participation of Nigerian transhumant herders also made it possible to establish frank collaboration between the countries in terms of transhumance management.

The possibility of implementing concrete actions to resolve the problem of overgrazing, the creation of grazing areas, water points, and the facilitation of the sedentarization of foreign breeders.

Huawei Cloud AI and Tools

Huawei Cloud Infrastructure

Huawei, RFCx

Our AI model for chainsaw detections are modified and strengthened with support through our partnership with Huawei, and all data collected in our Huawei-sponsored projects is stored on the Huawei Cloud. Huawei has cooperated with RFCx to develop more accurate intelligent algorithm models based on Huawei's advanced artificial intelligence service (Huawei Cloud AI) and tools (ModelArts) to achieve more accurate identification of illegal forest activity (the sounds of chainsaws, vehicles etc.). In addition, Huawei is helping RFCx build intelligent models that detect and analyze the sounds of fauna, providing information about their habitat, threats, and even life habits, helping local partners protect endangered species.

RFCx's partnership with Huawei, including being granted usage of the Huawei Cloud for data storage and analysis, has enabled us to expand and refine our offerings like never before. Huawei and RFCx have worked together to develop innovative platforms that include equipment collection, storage services, and intelligent analytics.

Pursuing strong corporate partnerships, like Huawei, allows us to more efficiently tackle challenges through their support and tools. Huawei has enabled high precision models,which will significantly reduces the rate of alert false positives.

Huawei and RFCx: Protecting the rainforest through monitoring

Mangrove reforestation by communities

Reforestation of mangroves in previously deforested or degraded areas helps to improve the health of mangroves and increases the services provided by mangrove ecosystems.
The area for reforestation is identified by the local community during the participatory mangrove zoning.
For the viviparous (producing seeds that germinate on the plant) mangrove species (e.g. Rhizophora spp), replanting is undertaken through propagules and for non-viviparous (e.g. Avicennia marina, Sonneratia alba) mangrove species through nursery establishment. The density should be one propagule/plant per square meter to ensure that they have enough space to grow properly.
The monitoring of the replanting takes place within three to four months after the replanting. The number of plants alive/dead within the sample plot is assessed. The number of sample plots (5mx5m) depends on the size of the area replanted but at least three replicas should be done. Community members are involved in the monitoring activities.

The reforestation area is identified by the community during the participatory zoning process and the plantation takes place when mangrove seeds/plants are available(depending on the fructification season).
The technical staff provides support to local community on mangrove reforestation (familiar with mangrove ecology and adaptation);
Propagules are harvested and selected a day before the replanting as sometimes they are not available nearby the site where the replanting takes place.

The best time for the mangrove replanting should be checked /decided with community members in advance and this must take place at the low tide during the spring tide.
Promoting voluntary mangrove reforestation is critical to ensure that it can be continued without external financial support. Motivation in kind (refreshment and biscuits) could be given to the participants when activities are completed to avoid them requesting money. The revenue from carbon payment can be a source of finance for long term reforestation.
If the propagules are not available near the place where replanting takes place, they can be collected elsewhere.
The monitoring of the reforestation is allowing evaluating the survival rate of the mangrove replanting. Community members are involved in the monitoring activities to allow them realize the impact they are having and thus keep their enthusiasm for replanting going.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Women take control in the fight against climate change

Oceanium's reforestation comic book

Participatory monitoring

The participatory monitoring aims to develop a greater understanding of natural resource health and the impacts of anthropogenic activities within local communities through a socially integrated resource assessment.
The participatory ecological monitoring process begins with an initial village meeting to inform the purpose of the activities, select indicator species, monitoring sites and a local monitor team.
The local monitoring teams are either designated or elected by community members at the village level or can be volunteers. However, they should at least be able to read/write and count. A local monitoring team consists of five people per village and contains male and female.
The monitoring method is developed by the support organization and the monitoring has a simple design and method to be accessible to anyone, irrespective of educational level (using simple count of cut stump to assess the amount of carbon loss; measuring the tree height with graduated pole wood to measure tree biomass and carbon).
Local monitors were trained by the technical staff from the support organization on the method before conducting the fieldwork.

The support organization assists the community to identify the relevant indicators, these should be the key natural resources or target species providing useful information to allow local community to perceive the effectiveness of the management in place;
The support organization provides technical assistance in the long term monitoring and builds the capacity of the local monitors.

The monitoring method developed must be an effective means of illustrating to coastal communities the benefits of natural resource management. The number of cut stumps or number of mangrove mud crab holes could be a good indicator to demonstrate clearly to the community the effectiveness of the mangrove management.
The dissemination of the results of the monitoring helps the community to understand the state of their resources and the amount of carbon stocks in their mangrove forest. The support organization must define the key messages from the monitoring results (the carbon stocks at the mangrove reserve are much higher compared to the unmanaged mangrove forest).
Local monitor team is not paid but they are given a daily food allowance when they are conducting the forest inventory and carbon monitoring. The income from the sale of the carbon credits is planned to secure the long term monitoring activities.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Participatory Forest Management plan

A participatory management plan aims to support the local community to sustainably manage mangrove forest within the LMMA.
Using a printed high resolution Google Earth map, a first draft management plan is created by each concerned (proposed project area for the mangrove carbon project) village with the boundary of the mangrove zoning (core zone, reforestation area and sustainable logging area).
When all the relevant villages within the LMMA have completed the zoning, the data from the Google Earth map are digitized and projected on a big screen for validation. Delegates from each village are invited to attend a workshop for the validation of the mangrove zoning. For the validation, at least four people from each village must attend. Ideally both men and women are elected by villagers who they feel may best reflect their opinions (elders, chef Village).
Each community determines, agrees and implements the rules and regulations governing each mangrove zone.
This is conducted through a large village meeting. The support organization facilitates the process until the local law is ratified at the court.

A local convention or law enables communities to govern the natural resource management;
Aptitude of the support organization to incorporate the mangrove management plan into the existing LMMA management plan;
Ability of the law enforcement committee to enforce the Dina and deal with the fine payment in their respective zone without support/inputs from the government;
Demarcation of the management zone enables the community to observe on the ground the boundary of the mangrove zoning.

The support organization must be familiar with the government law, as the local laws/conventions (such as Dina) should not conflict with the national law. It has proven effective to involve appropriate government actors in processing the Dina (local law) at the village level to make the ratification easy.
Make sure villages sharing mangrove forest are consulted together through village meetings/workshops for a compromise on the mangrove zoning. For the demarcation at the forest, delegates from villages at the AOI must assist the technician staff from the support organization to make sure that the marks/signs are in the right place.
Colour of the marks/signs used for the demarcation should consistently be within the LMMA (e.g colour red for the core zone boundary for both marine area and mangrove forest).

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Participatory theory of change

Example of how a Theory of Change model developed by communities might look like

Blue Ventures

The participatory concept model and strategy development exercise aims to identify the drivers and underlying causes of mangrove loss; and to identify potential strategies/solutions that could be implemented to reduce threats to mangrove and promote sustainable mangrove use.
At the end of the exercise the community has developed a concept model. This model depicts the drivers of mangrove loss in their community and the additional factors which contribute to this loss.
They identify solutions and work through the activities they need to implement to reach their desired results through a theory of change (ToC).
The exercise is carried out with community members in a focus group format development of the concept model and ToC is completed using different coloured paper and chalk.
Following the participatory meetings the final concept model with threat ratings, and ToC models are digitized using MiradiTM (2013) software.

Announcement of the planning is sent to village leader prior to the exercise;
High participation and presence of all stakeholders during the exercise and participants should be fully aware of the purpose of the exercise;
The facilitator from the support organization has enough skills and is familiar with the concept model exercise and able to motivate people to express their idea;
The support organization is able to adapt to the local context (using the available materials).

To address community reticence and for stronger dialogue within the community, employing two community-based facilitators from the village to assist the Theory of change exercise is recommended. Good practice includes hiring people already engaged in the LMMA management (dina enforcement committee, mangrove commission, women’s group) activities. The community-based facilitators are trained by the technical staff from the support organization in advance of the participatory theory of change exercise. Volunteers from the community should be invited to present the outcome from their group work, aiming to assess the level of consensus on the concept model they developed. It is vital to ensure representation from key stakeholder groups, particularly women and young people who may otherwise be marginalised. If needed, separate women and men in different groups to facilitate open discussion.

Planning phase

Monitoring

Local

Participatory mapping for management

Participatory mapping

Sylvia P., Blue Ventures

Participatory mapping is undertaken with communities to understand spatial patterns (land use, land tenure, land cover type and historical change and trend) and the state and use of mangrove resources in the project area.The participatory mapping creates maps which will later support the management planning and zoning. Google Earth imagery covering the whole area of interest (AOI) combined with questionnaires is used to assess community perceptions of resource use. All stakeholders (farmers, loggers, fuel wood collectors, charcoal producers, lime makers, elders and fishers), identified through interviews with key informants, are involved in this exercise and create a resource use map of the AOI. They are divided according to activity groups of 5 or more. Only one person is designated to the group to draw the boundary of each land use type on the map. Ideally each group should be assisted by one staff member from the support organization. Each group comprises a range of sex and age (male and female/young and old) that are already active in the respective activities (usually over 15 years old).

High resolution Google Earth map of the area is available and contains familiar landmarks (e.g school building, church) to facilitate community reading.
The questionnaires for the stakeholders aiming to gather additional information about the resources used are available and translated into local dialect to avoid confusion.

Good engagement with the community in advance of the mapping to ensure convenient timing and optimal participation.
The mapping exercise should last 2-3 hours to enable community members to balance participation with other commitments.
The staff from the support organization should be familiar with the local dialect and avoid using scientific/very technical words.
Consensus between groups must be respected before drawing/delineating the boundary on the map.
The facilitator must be able to make a quick analysis of information given by the community during the exercise.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Conservation Gains Will Only Come through Partnerships

Meeting of the Community Based Organization that runs the Kibale Mobile Health Clinic

Colin Chapman

Conserving nature requires the involvement of many players, each having different goals, thus advances can only be made through partnerships. Here we have formed a very successful partnership between the provision of health care and conservation. This involves partnerships between the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Ministry of Health, local government, Makerere University, Wilson Center, George Washington University, McGill University, Wildlife Conservation Society, and international donors.

Colin Chapman has worked in Uganda for 32+ years, trained 58 advanced degree students (many are now in position of authority in Uganda), worked with the Uganda Wildlife Authority since its inception, and is well respected by the local community.

Forming meaningful partnerships, where the goals of all partners can be met, is the only way to produce meaningful conservation advances.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

Entirety

Subnational

Bushmeat Hunting and Resource Extraction are a Constant Threat to Biodiversity

Rangers arresting a poacher

Colin Chapman

The bushmeat trade is a large industry that is decimating many wildlife populations, even those in protected areas. It is estimated that up to 4 million tonnes of bushmeat are extracted each year from Central Africa alone ( the weight of ~5.7 million cattle). For the people’s perspective the resources from parks allow them to feed their families and raise money to send children to school.

We have been greatly aided by the Uganda Wildlife Authority that protects the part, monitors illegal encroachment and engages in revenue sharing and outreach to help local people. The mission statement of the Uganda Wildlife Authority is to “To conserve, economically develop and sustainably manage the wildlife and protected areas of Uganda in partnership with neighboring communities and other stakeholders for the benefit of the people of Uganda and the global community.”

Through the hard work of a Ugandan Wildlife Authority, we have been able to analyze data on the poaching level and understand the economic pressures causing increased activities and which conservation actions are effective at decreasing these activities. We have learned that our joint efforts have led to forest recovery the growth of wildlife populations in the park

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

Entirety

Subnational

Working with the people and for the people

trabajando con la gente

Coalición Cobija

In the previous building block, the importance of working on and for a common land and taking on common problems was mentioned. For COBIJA members, the common goal is furthermore to do a job with people and for people, promoting social change, strengthening the ways of life of the peasants, and strengthening the sustainable management of key resources such as water and soil. The approach is to generate change by working with the people, for instance to maintain processes for the sustainability of productive projects, or to develop capacities for food security, among others.

Using existing levels of organization within communities, producers, and local authorities in order to build initiatives, e.g. Ejido assemblies, fishing cooperatives, rural production units, etc.
A strong shared sense of identity and belonging among producers, communities and local authorities;
Thanks to the organization's network and the COBIJA Coalition, there has been a greater impact in the workshops in terms of presenting information and results to the producers and making an effective translation of the diagnoses to reality in the field.

The work experience with COBIJA has been relevant for people who do not have a network of organizations that fulfill the role of interlocutors and process accompaniers. There was a void of citizen voice which is being covered as the work of the Coalition progresses.

Given the novelty of the Coalition's work experience with the communities, it has been necessary to create an agile communication strategy with the people.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local