Monitoring forest resources in Malawi

People who use forest resources can play a vital role in managing and monitoring these resources. Despite this, they have been consistently ignored by government forestry departments in many countries.

Research by a Centerfor International Forestry Research collaborator from BundaCollege of Agriculture, in Malawi,examines a co-management scheme in the ChimaliroForest Reserve, a protected area in north Malawi. Under this scheme,villagers monitored the natural resources in the reserve in return for theright to use non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and hang beehives for honey.

The co-management schemeexperienced several problems. The initial plans were made without theinvolvement of local villagers, so enthusiasm was limited. Three managementcommittees were established, each responsible for an area of the reserve. Theseareas were covered by a forest management plan developed by researchers from theForestry Department. However, it soon became clear that committee members werebenefiting more than the villagers they were representing.

In response, villagers began anAdaptive Collaborative Management process to change the pattern of forestmanagement and monitor what was actually happening in the reserve. However, eachcommittee worked individually on its own area of forest. As a result, thecollaborative monitoring process continued to have problems, including honeytheft, illegal tree felling and mistrust between groups.

After a period of further monitoringand feedback, a coordinating committee was established that included members fromall three management committees. This proved to be the solution with resourcemanagement becoming more participatory. The coordinating committee had theauthority to stop people stealing resources. It also formed the basis for a ParticipatoryForestry Resource Assessment, which produced information and knowledge forbetter forest management in the reserve.

The research shows:

• Theearliest management plans did not work well because they did not involve localpeople.
• Thesubsequent participatory assessment was an improvement, because people couldshare their knowledge; for example, beehives were moved to better locations toincrease honey production.
• Withthe involvement of local villagers, a clear understanding emerged of whichresources needed monitoring, and in which places. Different management andmonitoring techniques were used for resources in different ecological areas ofthe reserve, such as mountain slopes and pastures.
• Forest patrols andmanagement institutions both improved significantly through the participatory approach.For example, they have used information about theeffects of different management techniques to set targets for sustainablebeekeeping and honey production.

This case study showsthat involving local people in monitoring forest resources improves resourcemanagement. This approach increases understanding about how resources arechanging, why the changes are happening and the possible impacts of this. Theresearcher concludes:

• Localpeople must have some control of resource monitoring processes. Collaborativemonitoring can shift the emphasis of development and conservation programmesand make them more relevant to local needs and situations.
• Itis important to be clear about the overall purpose and final use of informationcollected through monitoring. Without this, people become confused about theaims of monitoring resources.