Local | PANORAMA

Governance and management practices through participatory planning and delivery

Lewa Community Development Manager, John Kinoti (middle) at the signing of a new Community Forest Association management plan, alongside the Kenya Forest Service and Meru County Government officials.

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

Governance
Over the years, Lewa has set up an elaborate and effective governance and management structure, which has greatly contributed to the organisation's effectiveness and efficiency. The Conservancy is headed by a board of directors with a well stipulated mandate, which is to drive Lewa's strategy through the management team. This has ensured that Lewa has the right strategic direction and practices accountability to stakeholders and beneficiaries. The communities working with Lewa are clustered within their geographic locations, and each one has a development committee, a platform for the communities to identify, discuss and agree on their needs, which then, together with the Lewa team, are prioritised.

Management

Lewa's management is informed by its Strategic Plan updated every 5 years. The Plan is aligned to national and local conservation and livehood goals. It is prepared consultatively with our stakeholders through participatory planning. Implementation is through various departments, supported by a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework. Additionally, we have the Lewa Standard, a set of ethos and principles that ensures the Conservancy is managed to the highest standards in the context of defined objectives.

Participation and inclusiveness of all stakeholders, mainly Lewa's neighbouring communities.

Practising financial transparency and setting up accountability processes.

Investing in establishing a highly effective, motivated and efficient team, which is then best placed to drive the strategic plan.

The importance of planning for the longterm, and establishing how to execute a strategy in phases.

Recognition and understanding of the immediate context in matters relating to conservation and development, and ensuring relevancy of our work.

Working with the government in power, and not having any political affiliation.

The value of having a robust Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework, which then helps to ensure that our work is having positive impacts.

The importance of having a strong board of directors with varied experiences and skills sets to drive the organisation's strategy.

Supporting the communities to form their own governance structures, which helps to set up platforms to articulate their needs in a formalised fashion.

The Lewa Strategic Plan: 2018 - 2022

The Lewa Standard

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy's Organisational Structure.

Preserving Craftsmanship

Kyo-machiya are unique structures, built with an unusual architectural skills and craftsmanship. For keeping the craftsmanship intact, while renovating a Kyo-machiya, various people and organizations pool in their knowledge, including citizen’s groups who take the perspective of the property owner, local financial institutions, and real estate agents.

Community Collaboration University, under the aegis of Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration organized Kyo-machiya Revival Seminars. They provide opportunities to learn more about Kyo-machiya, such as - how it constructed, where the traditionally used materials are sourced from, how to manage and maintain it, how to inherit and rent it, and how to make it a better place to live in. These seminars give opportunity to learn about Kyo-machiya as an architectural form familiar to residents and how it can be revived.

Revival seminars that provide opportunities to learn more about Kyo-machiya as an architectural form familiar to residents and how it can be revived.

While such efforts have been arduous, special training from architects and craftsmen well versed in traditional Japanese structural design and carpentry, have helped in overcoming the challenges successfully. The trainings have created a platform for the future generations to learn from the machiya architecture and apply some traditional techniques to contemporary work.

Supporting Kyo-machiya Crowdfunding

Photo from a recent proposal under Machiya Crowdfunding scheme

Securite

In 2016, Kyoto City and the Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration launched a crowdfunding program for machiya aiming to tap into a wider range of funding sources. Eligible projects are renovations and utilization proposals of machiya, and since machiya are often used as lodgings or restaurants, projects in this program are mostly interior renovations for hotels and restaurants. Initially, the program provides a maximum of 1 million JPY to cover costs for preparing a crowdfunding proposal. Once the proposal has gathered more than half of the target amount of money, the program fills in the financial gap by maximum 3 million JPY. In fiscal year 2017, Kyoto City announced that the program will accept up to four project proposals. As of March 2018, there is one ongoing project that proposes to renovate a machiya into a traditional-style hotel and to create an open factory next door where visitors can experience the making of traditional goods.

Collaboration of Kyoto City and the Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration to set up the supporting program for machiya crowdfunding.
City’s financial assistants to prepare crowdfunding proposals and fill in the financial gaps.
Utilizing an existing crowdfunding platform for renovation and utilization of machiya.

The increase in the number of funding options for renovation has increased the momentum in the restoration and use of Kyo-machiya. Innovative mechanisms involving private funds has decreased the dependence on national and municipal taxes, giving Kyo-machiya an independent identity and perhaps longer sustainability.

Kyo-machiya Development Fund

The Machiya Development Fund

Produced by author based on Kyoto Centre for Community Collaboration

Together with the Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration, Kyoto City established the Kyo-machiya Development Fund in 2005. This fund aims to promote the preservation, restoration, and utilization of machiya based on donations from residents, companies, and external supporters in addition to financing by both the national and local government. Another important aspect of this fund is that it is complementary to Kyoto City’s efforts to preserve machiya and the historic urban landscape. The number of machiya the local government can support is limited due to budget constraints. Currently, around 3,000 machiya are supported by Kyoto City. As illustrated in a gallery photo, the Machiya Development Fund provides support to machiya at the bottom of the pyramid and attempts to pull them up to a higher category, which is then considered for public support by the city. The Machiya Development Fund began with 150 million JPY in 2005. By March 2016, the Machiya Development Fund supported a total of 76 renovations and restorations of Kyo-machiya. The number of inquiries is recently increasing, and currently it is around 500 every year.

An initiative by the city and its partners to establish an innovative development fund to preserve, restore, and utilize machiya and the craftsmanship.

At the end of the day, fate of the projects is decided by the funds. This is truer for heritage conservation projects, which may not always find priority position in the list of infrastructure projects to be implemented. As governments' budget is limited, many owners of culturally important buildings and houses look for alternative funding sources to preserve their inheritance; otherwise they would demolish the structures and sell off the land. Innovation in financing has encouraged the machiya owners to retain the structures and not convert to other businesses or condominiums. This in turn has helped in keeping the heritage of Kyoto downtown intact and impacted the tourism of the city positively.

Innovating the co-management model with native communities

Co-management in a Communal Reserve implies a distribution of functions and responsibilities for participatory management in an area. In the RCA, SERNANP, the ECA-RCA and each community of the ECA-RCA have established Agreements to implement Full Life Plans (strategic planning of native communities) articulated with the Master Plan. The Agreements contemplate a conservation and development strategy that is implemented through sustainable economic activities for the benefit of the communities, while they commit to collaborate with community oversight and improve the distribution of conservation benefits. The Agreements also support five communities that have a signed agreement with the National Forest Conservation Program for Climate Change Mitigation of the Ministry of Environment, which promotes forest conservation through Conditional Direct Transfers with native communities (S/.ECA-RCA works together with the Forest Conservation Program to support the implementation of the National Strategy on Forests and Climate Change, and contribute to national commitments (NDC).

Synergy between indigenous organizations for the design and implementation of the RIA proposal, respecting their roles and functions.
Strategic allies support co-management, based on a conservation and development strategy, implemented through sustainable economic activity programs.
Native communities, based on a conservation and development strategy, receive benefits from forest conservation, which today represents an asset that must be protected from various threats (illegal mining, illegal logging, etc.).

Effective co-management between SERNANP and the ECA-RCA is essential for the implementation of Full Life Plans, since both have different but complementary roles and responsibilities on which the success of the agreements and the conservation of the RCA depends.
The articulation of efforts between the strategic allies that contribute to the co-management of the RCA, respecting the role of the Indigenous Administrator of the RCA, is key to the sustainability of the Full Life Plans.
The strengthening of ANECAP, as representative of 10 ECAs, is fundamental to promote the replication of a successful co-management model based on the Full Life Plans in other Communal Reserves in Peru.

documento_de_trabajo_-_reserva_comunal_final.pdf

REDD+ Amazon Indigenous REDD+ (RIA) under the indigenous management contract approach

RIA is the climate change strategy that contributes to forest conservation in indigenous territories. With the support of indigenous organizations, SERNANP and allied NGOs, a pilot project was proposed in 2012 in the RCA, led by ECA-RCA, SERNANP and indigenous organizations, and the basis for its implementation was built in a participatory manner. Thus, they gathered contributions from stakeholders aimed at mitigation actions, adaptation and resilience to climate change, through the implementation of full life plans (strategic planning of native communities), articulated to the Master Plan and the RIA guidelines: security and consolidation of the integral and collective territory; life plans and Master Plan with RIA approach; governance, institutional agreements and financial sustainability.RIA in the RCA is consolidated through: the agreement between SERNANP and the ECA-RCA, COHARYIMA, FENAMAD and AIDESEP; the addendum to the ECA-RCA Administration Contract to facilitate the implementation of projects for the retribution of ecosystem services; and its incorporation into the Master Plan, the National Climate Change Strategy, and the implementation of climate funds. Its replication in Communal Reserves and Native Communities (4.5M ha) gives it great importance.

Joint efforts to overcome the challenge of modifying an administration contract between the State and the Executor of the Administration Contract, representative of 10 indigenous communities, for the implementation of RIA.
Support from COICA, AIDESEP, FENAMAD and COHARYIMA in national and international forums to present the progress of RIA in the RCA.
Readjustment and approval of planning documents to implement RIA under an Indigenous Administration Contract approach: Master Plan, RIA Table, Climate Funds.

Trust and goodwill are fundamental for effective co-management between the State and the Management Contract Executors, which facilitates the adaptation (addenda) of contracts and planning documents for the implementation of RIA in the Communal Reserve.
The articulation of efforts with other climate initiatives, under an Indigenous Administration Contract approach, made it possible to incorporate joint actions with the National Forest Conservation Program, the Forestry Investment Fund and the Joint Declaration of Intent. It also facilitated the establishment of alliances between Indigenous Organizations and private organizations.
The strengthening of ANECAP, as representative of the 10 ECAs at the national level, is fundamental for implementing the RIA proposal.

Establishing broad partnerships with national and county governments, and other conservation agencies and local communities

Rhino translocation from Lewa to Sera in partnership with the KWS, NRT and Sera in 2015.

Ami Vitale/ Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

Most conservation organisations cannot flourish in isolation. For us, we recognise the importance of establishing mutually beneficial partnerships that cut across national and county governments, local and international conservation and research agencies, as well as individual and institutional philanthropic organisations. In our landscape, partnerships have enabled us to scale the impact of our work across northern Kenya and beyond. Together with our partners, we have been able to connect wildlife landscapes previously isolated by human activities, protect wildlife beyond our borders, as well as participate in the formulation and implementation of strategies for the conservation of key species. We mainly establish partnerships that wil directly feed into our strategic goals or where we find we will add the greatest value. However, for the local and national government partnships, these are a must institutions as our work feeds directli into the national goals. Among others, our partnerships are maintained through implementing joint action plans, joint planning and implementation meetings, face to face meetings, publicacations etc.

Shared values for wildlife and community development.

An existing state agency responsible for wildlife conservation in Kenya, that collaborates and works with private and community stakeholders.

Dialogue and regular communications with partners and stakeholders involved.

There is tremendous value in participatory conservation efforts, which enables the scaling of work across larger landscapes.

Every working partner has significant input in the realisation of conservation and development goals across northern Kenya.

There is a need to continuously cultivate partners who are aligned with our vision, mission and approaches to various components of our work.

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Community-focused Conservation Approach

Women in the Lewa Micro Credit Programme in their farms.

Ness Watts/Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

We work with local communities to make our conservation efforts inclusive, participatory and beneficial to their livelihoods. This is in recognition that conservation can only be successful and sustainable if there is participation from the local people, where their views and thoughts are integrated into the planning and execution process.

Each community surrounding Lewa has a development committee that is linked to the community development programme here on Lewa. Through these committees, we are able to establish what the communities' greatest needs are, how we can help to best address them, and how conservation can generally uplift their livelihoods. As a result, we continue to enjoy a close working relationship with our neighbours, in recognition that the future for both people and wildlife in this ecosystem are intertwined.

Regular and prompt communications between Lewa and the neighbouring communities, including an open door policy.

Establishment of grass root based platforms for community engagement and participation.

Planning - alignment of communities' needs to organisational goals through consultations via the development committees and other channels.

Recognition of the importance of community engagement and participation in Lewa's strategies and philosophy.

Community involvement, beyond tokenism, remains critical in conservation to ensure sustainability and longterm viability of the efforts.

Shared responsibility from project planning, implementation and operations, which creates a sense of ownership amongst the communities, which eliminates the ‘dependency syndrome.’

The importance of involving other development partners in the community development initiatives.

It is important to create good governance structures among the development committees and ensure representation from both genders, and the various age structures. This ensures that all demographics are represented.

Prioritisation of the communities' needs, and focus on what affects most members of the society.

The value of not aligning to any political party, and creating a working relationship with any government that is in power.

Entirety

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The Lewa Community Development Programme Annual Report 2017

Report shows community involvement helping reduce human-wildlife conflict

Acompañamiento y trabajo colectivo al dentro de la coalición

El trabajo colectivo desarrollado al dentro de la coalición ha impactado favorablemente en lo individual para cada una de las OSC que la conforman. El acompañamiento permanente para intercambiar experiencias, consultarse mutuamente aspectos técnicos, logísticos, y para buscar financiamiento conjuntamente, ha hecho que las organizaciones miembros ya no conciban su trabajo sin el apoyo de la coalición. Se imaginan que sin COBIJA su aportación en el manejo del territorio como organizaciones separadas, sería parcial y posiblemente no habría el intercambio enriquecedor que los ha llevado a ser reconocidos como actor clave en la región. Un aspecto clave del trabajo colectivo ha sido el aspecto humano, en el cual los miembros han encontrado camaradería, risas y cariño.

Red de actores con conocimiento del territorio que apoyan el manejo integrado y el acompñamiento constante de los productores;

Hay apertura y confianza al dentro de la coalisión; no importa cuánto sepas todos trabajan por igual porque tienen un objetivo en común

El trabajo dentro de la coalición ha fortalecido el modus operandi de cada una de las organizaciones en lo individual;

El enfoque de cuenca ha ampliado la visión de las organizaciones miembro que trabajaban principalmente sistemas productivos con un enfoque de conservación y protección de los modos de vida y los ecosistemas

Implementation

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Trabajo de la coalición con y para la gente

En el building block anterior se hizo mención de la importancia de trabajar un territorio común abordando problemas comunes. Para los miembros de COBIJA la meta en común es realizar trabajo con la gente y para la gente, promoviendo un cambio social, fortaleciendo modos de vida campesinos, y fortalecer el manejo sustentable de los recursos clave como lo es el agua y el suelo. A partir del trabajo con la gente, se detonan los cambios necesarios para mantener otros procesos de sustentabilidad de proyectos productivos, desarrollo de capacidades para la seguridad alimentaria, entre otros.

Usar los niveles existentes de organización de las comunidades y productores, y las autoridades locales sobre los cuales construir las iniciativas, p. ej. asambleas ejidales, cooperativas pesqueras, unidades rurales de producción, etc. Fortalecer un sentido compartido de identidad y pertenencia entre productores, comunidades y autoridades locales; Gracias a la red de organizaciones y a la coalición COBIJA se ha generado mayor impacto en talleres de presentación de información y resultados a productores así como traducción eficaz de diganostios.

La experiencia de trabajo con COBIJA ha sido relevante para la gente porque la región no contaba con alguna red de organizaciones que cumplieran el papel de interlocutores y acompañantes de procesos. Había un vacío de voz ciudadana el cual se ha ido cubriendo al avanzar la labor de la coalición.

Dada la novedad de la experiencia de trabajo de la coalición con las comunidades, ha sido necesario crear una estrategia de comunicación ágil con la gente.

Implementation

Monitoring

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