Project oversight plays an important role in implementing lessons learned, and there is a constant flow of information between our team in Congo and the UK office. Beyond the core team access to other key professionals is also continuously available, such as our UK veterinary team, should their advice be needed. Setting effective baselines at the start of the project is an effective tool when evaluating progress. The project has no defined end date, and future planning is always under review. Information and data gained through oversight and evaluation are key elements of future planning.
Good attention to detail and disciplined approach to record keeping. Good communication. The ability to be innovative and adapt to new, or changing, situations.
Well trained and motivated staff ensure accurate data collection. Knowledge of local people is a valuable resource. It is important to build on successful elements of the project and equally important to analyse and adjust for the less successful so that future planning can benefit from both.
Camera traps are an important tool for monitoring and gathering information, and have been used by the team for a number of years. More recently we have been able to train, and equip patrol teams in using the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART).
Patrol team members that are willing to learn and want to advance their skills, combined with an effective training programme for the use of different types of technology.
Having access to the right technological tools increases efficiency of data collection and allows for more time efficient analysis. To take full advantage of the more advanced technology, such as SMART patrols which require a learning curve, effective training is required to ensure each patrol has a minimum of one fully-trained team member.
Involving local communities was a key element of our work in Congo from the beginning and, in 2010, The Aspinall Foundation was able to create a more formal structure with the establishment of PROFADELLL (The Project, in Favour of Local Development in Periphery of the Natural Reserve of Gorillas Lésio-Louna). Its aim to support communities on the outskirts of the enlarged Lésio-Louna Reserve with a comprehensive community programme to enable local people to benefit from, and become custodians of, their environment. The programme was in place for a period of ten years with positive results and elements such as the eco-tourism product are ongoing.
Local rural communities depend on the natural resources around them and have a vested interest in making a transition to more sustainable lifestyles. Support of local and national authorities. A commitment from the team to build the trust necessary to gain support for the community programme.
More successful results across the project are achieved if strong relationships with local communities are maintained. This requires a commitment to continually discuss and listen to points raised in regular meetings. Local community engagement is also crucial for positive conservation outcomes to be sustained.
Project Manager Berthin Mbangui in Lésio-Louna Reserve
The Aspinall Foundation
The original aim of the project was the reintroduction of Critically Endangered western lowland gorillas back to a protected area in the wild. Initially the project would enable the release of rehabilitated wild-born orphans, with captive-bred animals repatriated from the UK as the project progressed. Having a clear aim enabled the plan to be developed and that included, but was not limited to:
Location and establishment of the protected area
Legal requirements, including licences and permissions
Staffing requirements, including training
Animal care, including veterinary support
Identification of threats & pressures and mitigation measures required
Infrastructure required
Local community impact and engagement
Local community support through capacity building and alternative income streams
Funding requirements, including capital expenditure and operating costs
Reporting Structure
Sustainability
Projects are not static, they evolve and bring about change. In addition they can be affected by outside factors. Once the project commenced it has been subject to regular assessment. As the project developed it has broadened in scope and adaptations have been made through continuous oversight of the activities in progress.
Highly motivated and skilled team members with access to training when required. Good communication, both in country and with team members in the UK head office. Clarity in the roles of the team and the decision-making process.
Whilst the initial plan must be well-researched and well-constructed it must also be open to adaptation as necessary. There may be occasions when outside forces may impact on a project, for example during a period of civil unrest, where decisive prompt action will be required.
Collaboration of appropriate authorities and creating a team
Visit of Officials to Lésio-Louna Reserve
The Aspinall Foundation
Effective collaboration with the relevant authorities in the Republic of Congo is a key element to the project. This is not limited to permission to carry out conservation work in country, but is also important for the long-term relationships required, including the joint patrols of the reserve and enforcement of laws and regulations that are essential for long-term management of a protected or conservation area. Team composition is also extremely important and the Aspinall Congo team are almost entirely Congolese.
A strong team formed of Congolese nationals who understand the systems and processes in country.
Good communication, and development of mutual trust and respect are important to successful relationships.
After the system obtains fire event information from satellites, UAVs, ground cameras and forest rangers, it will immediately transmit the video image of the fire scene to the fire department, which will deploy firefighters to extinguish the fire according to the fire situation. Because the system can detect the fire event in time and report to the fire department, many fire events were extinguished when the fire was very small and did not develop into very large fire event.
The fire event information can be submitted to the fire department in time to prevent the fire from getting bigger and buy time for fire fighting.
Satellite, UAV, ground camera and forest ranger shall record video during work; With the video, after the hot spot is checked as a fire event, FIRE SUBMISSION MODULE will submit the fire event and fire video to the fire department.
Implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation interventions
River at Bishnupur in 2019, with bamboo planted on the embankment
RECOFTC
Ranjana Sapkota, left, then-treasurer of the Bishnupur community forest user group, hands over beehives to Bishnupur resident Mausami Uprety in 2017.
RECOFTC
Mausami Uprety’s husband Wakil Mainali prepares to harvest honey from beehives.
RECOFTC
The aim is to use nature-based interventions identified by the feasibility assessment to address sources of climate vulnerabilities. To do this, the community forest user group leadership mobilizes resources and people, and works with partner organizations identified in the feasibility assessment to access resources and technology.
In Bishnupur, the women leaders of the community forest user group worked with RECOFTC to buy around 300 mango and lychee tree seedlings at subsidized rates from the regional horticulture development centre. RECOFTC provided beehives and training on beekeeping.
To address water shortages and protect existing water sources, the community forest user group accessed technical and financial support from the government’s Bagmati Irrigation Project to install a deep well. RECOFTC and the community forest user group covered the shortfall in finance.
To stabilize the riverbank, the user group members built a retaining wall of stones and sandbags topped with live bamboo and other plants along a kilometre stretch of the river. They planted 200 bamboo rhizomes and 4,000 fodder-crop seedlings from the District Forest Office and the District Soil Conservation Office, together with locally available fast-growing and multipurpose grass.
The process was locally led. Local ownership contributed to Bishnupur community forest leaders exploring potential support on their own. Third-party facilitation is important, as a community’s proposals may not be the most climate sensitive, or optimal for nearby communities and their own climate resilience. Policy support is crucial. For example, Nepal’s National Adaptation Programme of Action states that 80 percent of resources for climate adaptation should go to local level, which made it easier to access finance.
A community forest user group provides a robust, self-governing institution with, to some extent, resources required to implement interventions. Such groups have strong networks, which can help them to access further resources and technical support as necessary.
Climate adaptation led by women helps to address both gender inequality and climate vulnerability, particularly that of women and the poorest members of a community.
Co-production of adaptation intervention feasibility assessment
Mina Mahat showcases her beehives. She has now established herself as a small-scale beekeeper in her locality.
RECOFTC
Users of Bishnupur community forest and members of other nearby communities manage this nursery. They grow camphor trees and Indian bay trees for planting with technical assistance from RECOFTC and funding from Harrison Municipality.
RECOFTC
Chairperson of the Bishnupur community forest user group Ganga Mainali, right, hands over a beehive to group member Mina Mahat.
RECOFTC
A feasibility assessment uses input from community forest user group members and other stakeholders to identify adaptation interventions.
First, community forest user group members and facilitators review the climate vulnerability assessment and the identified intervention topics. The assessment identifies at least three topics based on detected climate threats, vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities. Each topic is a broad adaptation strategy with actions.
Then, facilitators use a template for evaluating topics to assist community forest user group members in seeking technical expertise, and collate information into a single ‘snapshot’ document to enable selection of a more detailed action. Facilitators can use the climate vulnerability assessment to draft information on existing livelihood assets in advance.
As a final step, facilitators work with community forest user group members to list expertise and experts for the intervention topics. Facilitators update the list, as needed, considering a broad range of stakeholders and service providers. Final matrices list response options under each topic, and are completed based on information target participants provide. This section may require gathering information from technical consultants and/or service providers.
While vulnerability assessments should be participatory, feasibility assessments require technical expertise to ascertain which options are practical and effective. This likely involves drawing upon engineering, hydrological, agricultural and other line agencies or consultants. Involving governmental and non-governmental organizations in a vulnerability assessment will reduce efforts needed for the feasibility assessment, by providing insights into potential measures already available or implemented, required technologies, costs and possible sources of support.
Community forest user groups can conduct feasibility assessments, with technical support provided by supporting agencies. Leadership by women ensures that the interventions sufficiently consider the impacts and benefits to them and other marginalized groups such as poor households and ethnic minorities.
Climate adaptation support is mandated to many local-level line agencies in Nepal. For this reason, identifying and engaging technical agencies is a valuable opportunity to develop plans for co-financing. Requests for technical inputs strengthen the case for financial support for interventions.
Field worker Rama Paudel from HIMAWANTI, holding a pen, facilitates talk with women in Bishnupur during the climate vulnerability assessment.
RECOFTC
The objective is to understand the vulnerabilities to climate change impacts. Following a free, prior and informed consent process with stakeholders, the community level vulnerability assessment identifies climate threats and impacts, assesses threats and impacts to community livelihood assets and identifies vulnerabilities and vulnerability response topics.
In Bishnupur, a locally based coordinator supported the assessment for six months. A female field worker from the Himalayan Grassroots Women's Natural Resource Management Association consulted women stakeholders. It was perceived as inappropriate for male workers to engage with women.
A series of matrices allow for clear collection, organization and evaluation of climate change and socioeconomic information to assess vulnerabilities. Each matrix builds on information captured in the previous one. The climatic variables and exposed sectors analysed in the matrices depend on site specific factors.
The matrices are completed using primary and secondary data. Primary data comes from participatory rural appraisal and participatory action research. Community forest user group’s guidelines and operational plans, district-level government offices, and forest and land use research institutes provide secondary data.
Community forest user groups in Nepal use participatory processes and hold socio-economic and biophysical information needed for vulnerability assessments. Stakeholders must be willing to work together—local government and sectoral agencies such as the District Forest Office supported the process in Bishnupur. Having an experienced facilitator who is sensitive to the local context is key. They must be familiar with complex aspects of climate vulnerability under assessment and able to create space and opportunities to recognize the relevance of community voices.
A lack of empirical data is a challenge for implementing vulnerability assessments at community and local levels. Participatory tools to map climatic trends can help overcome the challenge to an extent. Empirical evidence remains important to analyze and validate information community members share.
For example, the Bishnupur community interpreted climate trends as leading to drought. The days of rainfall had decreased but the meteorological data showed that overall rainfall had increased. After informing the community about the finding, the proiect prioritized water management and capture as a key intervention area.
Climate vulnerability assessment processes can be an opportunity to raise awareness about climate change among community members and other stakeholders. Representatives from local government and sectoral agencies were invited in the vulnerability assessment process in Bishnupur. They contributed to the analysis and benefited from a nuanced understanding of how climate change is affecting communities and what actions to take. This helped to secure their support to implement adaptation interventions.
