Resilient livelihoods, flood & drought protection through sustainable use of natural resources
Full Solution
Mares d'Afito
GIZ Maïthé Rosier
The project "Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (TBR) in the Mono Delta" aims at the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Mono Delta while at the same time contributing to the sustainable development of the local communities. The introduction of measures for the sustainable management of forest and fisheries resources contributes to increasing the resilience of local populations in the face of existing climate challenges such as floods and drought.
Photo and video gallery
Context
Challenges addressed
The climate of the area is characterized by a high variability of precipitation, leading more and more to negative effects such as floods, erosion, and resulting siltation of streams. Floods, alternating with periods of drought, cause damage to the local population and their property and increase the risk of crop failure in the area (e.g. the flooding in 2010). The majority of the local population lives below the poverty line and depends heavily on natural resources. Nevertheless, the availability of ecosystem services has been affected by the unsustainable use of land. The importance of ecosystem services for water regulation, flood protection and the livelihoods of the population is scarcely recognized by the administrative authorities. The area is located downstream of the Nangbeto dam, whose management has a major impact on the flow of the river. A second dam (Adjarala), also upstream of the region, is currently built.
Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries include the two states, the territorial authorities (communes and prefectures) and the local populations as well as their traditional and religious authorities.
Location
Athieme, Mono, Benin
West and Central Africa
Process
Summary of the process
To ensure ownership by the beneficiaries and the sustainability of the approach, the protected areas and their management rules have been established in a participatory manner. The core and buffer zones of these protected areas will be managed by local management associations (Building Block I). In order to integrate individual areas into broader spatial planning, territorial authorities have been trained on the integration of ecosystem services into development planning (Building Block II). This approach allows for better management of the transition zone which will also have a positive impact on the core and buffer zones of the reserve.
Building Blocks
Participatory natural resources management by local actors
Key elements for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services for sustainable development are the equitable participation of stakeholders and the organizational development of local management associations.
The project has built on existing local initiatives to identify areas of ecological, economic and social interest for which there is a willingness of the population to protect and manage them. Based on these initiatives, the project supported the creation of local management associations, which then received the territorial authorities' mandate to manage the central areas and buffer zones in their region. They will have the technical support of the project for their organizational development as well as for the technical and financial management of these areas, including the monitoring of management and harvesting rules for natural resources.
These rules of use were developed in a participatory manner for each core area and buffer zone. To this end, a series of consultation sessions was organized for each region by local NGOs involved in the project. The rules devised by the population have been drafted by a lawyer to ensure their compliance with the laws in force.
Enabling factors
• Creation of ownership by the beneficiaries: participatory process of creation of the reserve and development of management rules; participatory surveillance and ecological monitoring.
• Land tenure: community and traditional protected areas (e.g. sacred forests) have been assigned legal status.
• Management association with clear statutes and mandate: recognition of their status and functions by legal acts.
Lesson learned
In a context where there is no clear and reliable land tenure, various actors (customary land owners, de facto users, territorial authorities) must be involved in the discussion of the future use of land in order to reach a legally recognized agreement that will be accepted and respected in the long term.
Concerning the rules for sustainable management in buffer zones, the challenge was to develop rules and sanctions in conformity with national legislation and applicable at local level. In order to do so, a series of consultation sessions has been held to allow the population to set itself rules for cases that are not yet regulated by existing laws.
Users often perceived a degradation of their natural resources and a reduction in ecosystem services. But they rather attributed it to external forces (sorcery, God's will, etc.) than to their own overexploitation and unsustainable use of the resource.
Integrating ecosystem services into development planning
Despite the strong dependence of the local and national economy on natural resources, the concept of ecosystem services is new for most decision-makers in Benin and Togo. Furthermore, due to a lack of knowledge about natural processes, the degradation and loss of natural resources was acknowledged, but their decline was often not attributed to current practices. Existing communal development plans focus on sectors such as water, agriculture and infrastructure, while not taking into account the importance of ecosystem services for these sectors.
Training sessions on "Integration of ecosystem services into development planning" enabled stakeholder groups from different sectors to discuss issues of conservation of ecosystem services in the Mono Delta and to understand the link between conservation of these services and the sustainable development of the region.
In order to improve the process of drafting development plans and strengthen the capacity of decision-makers at the local and regional levels, several workshops were organized to familiarize stakeholders with the ecosystem services approach and its application to the planning process.
Enabling factors
• Participatory approach involving stakeholders and decision-makers from multiple levels and sectors.
• Focus on the utility of ecosystem services for the economic development of the region.
• Existence / creation of a good knowledge of natural processes in the region (water cycle, soil fertility, pollination, etc.)
• Existence of training materials on the approach of integration of ecosystem services into development planning in the national language.
Lesson learned
A major challenge in raising awareness among and training of stakeholders / decision-makers is the fact that there are large gaps in basic knowledge about natural processes (e.g., water cycle, improvement of soil fertility, pollination) and climate projections. It was therefore necessary to train decision-makers not only on the steps of integration of ecosystem services into the planning documents, but also on the links between these services and the sectors of interest as well as concrete measures to ensure the availability of ecosystem services in the long term in an uncertain climate scenario corridor. As a result, the technical assistance process takes a long time.
In addition, little educational material (textbooks, films, etc.) on ecosystem services is available in French, and the didactic materials in English are not easily understood by many Beninese and Togolese decision-makers. It is therefore crucial to translate and/or develop adequate material.
Resources
Impacts
The Mono Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, created in 2016 with support of the GIZ project, covers 3499 km2 along the border of Benin and Togo which is formed by the river Mono. 434 km2 of the reserve are designated as buffer zones, where the focus is on sustainable use of natural resources. Implementation of sustainable resource management activities is still in its infancy. The expected impacts in terms of risk reduction for local populations include: • Securing livelihoods and income-generating activities, which are based on ecosystem services, including fisheries and forest products (game, NTFP, wood energy ...); • Diversification of income generating activities: in the face of a potential decline in agricultural production, caused by extreme weather conditions, alternative activities based on sustainable utilization of forest and fisheries resources could become more important; • Water regulation and improved water availability through sustainable management of forests, mainly riparian / mangrove forests, which improves water retention capacity in the area; • Prevention of river bank erosion: rehabilitation / reforestation of mangroves along the banks will have a stabilizing effect and will reduce erosion and sediment load of the river.
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 1 – No poverty
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
SDG 7 – Affordable and clean energy
SDG 13 – Climate action
SDG 15 – Life on land
Story
Planting of mangroves
COSOL PG 2016
The area of the Mono Delta is regularly subject to flooding. This situation is aggravated by the siltation of watercourses due to the erosion of their banks. However, mangrove planting in the biosphere reserve mitigates the negative impacts of floods on local populations. According to Assion Anani, the president of one of the local management associations in Togo, before, water invaded practically every village on an annual basis. The mangroves planted on the banks of the watercourses stabilize them and prevent their erosion as well as the siltation of the river. Thus, the magnitude of floods and resulting damage to the villages can be diminished. The territorial authorities also benefit from the regulatory function of forests for the protection of infrastructures. Mr. Amavi Joseph Anani, the Mayor of the Commune of Athiémé in Benin, explains that the flooding of the Mono river has already had very destructive impacts on the infrastructure, especially roads. Instead of awaiting heavy investments from the central state, the municipal council undertook to launch the planting of mangroves along the river in order to reduce the impacts of floods. This ecosystem-based measure has proved to be a low-cost solution and is therefore very relevant for a political context where financial resources are rather limited.
Connect with contributors
Other contributors
Dr. Stefanie E. Preuss
Projet "Réserve de biosphère transfrontalière du Delta du Mono”, GIZ
Aristide Tehou
CENAGREF (Benin)
Hervé Npo
DRF (Togo)
