Assisted natural regeneration with fencing central and northern zones of Burkina Faso

Belem, B., et al., 2017. Tropicultura

Original research (primary data)
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Abstract

Despite their socio-economic importance, forests and other woodland vegetation are declining rapidly in Africa. In the Sahel, climate change and desertification intensify this problem and the local population is lacking woodland resources for daily life. Therefore, there is a need for improved and long-term restoration of degraded ecosystems. The present article investigates an approach of sustainable forest restoration by Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) with fencing, a technique adopted by newTree, a Swiss NGO, since 2003 in the Central and Northern zones of Burkina Faso. The present article investigates the effects of ANR on vegetation restoration and on population’s livelihood. Methods include vegetation inventories, literature review, analysis of newTree technical reports from 2003 to 2012, stakeholders’ interviews and cost-benefit examination. Results show a striking development of vegetation within only nine years of protection. Inventories of trees inside and outside fences show that variety of tree species and number of trees is much higher inside the protected areas than outside fencing. Moreover the approach of newTree contributes to farmers’ livelihood improvement by the valorization of non-wood forest products (NWFP) and sustainable agriculture. Costs for fencing are relatively high but on the other hand the approach is very effective by involving the population in a participatory way. The double objective – biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction – can be effectively achieved by the whole approach of newTree using ANR technique. ANR could be applied in areas where tree planting is made difficult by the poverty and the lack of water for the creation of nurseries.

Case studies

Basic information

  • Case ID: INT-041-1
  • Intervention type: Combination
  • Intervention description:

    assisted natural regeneration by NGO newtree in burkina faso process by which plants recolonize land where the vegetation has been partly or totally destroyed tree regeneration, participatory approach (training awareness building capacity enhancement empowerment of farmers and women) assisted with fencing of degraded areas protection of degraded land by wire fence to prevent animal browsing; manual labor for construction of fence provided by farmers bound under contract approach accompanied by alternative livelihood interventions (bee-keeping, harvesting of fodder, transformation of seeds to oil). They also provide improved cooking stoves to reduce fuel wood consumption

  • Landscape/sea scape ecosystem management: No
  • Climate change impacts Effect of Nbs on CCI Effect measures
    Loss of other ecosystem goods  Positive Income benefits from ANR / natural resources provided by ANR (honey, construction wood, straw, root, and bark, fruits, leaves, hay, fire, wood, charcoal) mostly subsistence SWOT analysis – farmer satisfaction of intervention in addressing land degradation ANR contributes to capacity building/adaptive capacity
  • Approach implemented in the field: Yes
  • Specific location:

    burkina faso, sudano-sahelian central region and its 5 provinces an the Sahelian northern region with two provinces

  • Country: Burkina Faso
  • Habitat/Biome type: Tropical and subtropical forests |
  • Issue specific term: Not applicable

Evidence

  • Notes on intervention effectivness: This study is more or less framed around how alternative livelihood interventions reduce sensitivity to climatic impacts and contribute to adaptive capacity.
  • Is the assessment original?: Yes
  • Broadtype of intervention considered: Another NbS
  • Compare effectivness?: No
  • Compared to the non-NBS approach: Not applicable
  • Report greenhouse gas mitigation?: No
  • Impacts on GHG: Not applicable
  • Assess outcomes of the intervention on natural ecosystems: Yes
  • Impacts for the ecosystem: Positive
  • Ecosystem measures: 
Species diversity (number of species)
  • Assess outcomes of the intervention on people: Yes
  • Impacts for people: Positive
  • People measures: Stakeholder interviews, participatory monitoring were conducted Income benefits from ANR / natural resources provided by ANR (honey, construction wood, straw, root, and bark, fruits, leaves, hay, fire, wood, charcoal) mostly subsistence SWOT analysis – farmer satisfaction of intervention in addressing land degradation ANR’s contribution to capacity building/adaptive capacity
  • Considers economic costs: Yes
  • Economic appraisal conducted: Yes
  • Economic appraisal described:
  • Economic costs of alternative considered: No
  • Compared to an alternative: Not reported

Evaluation methodology

  • Type of data: Mixed qualitative/quantitative
  • Is it experimental: No
  • Experimental evalution done: Not applicable
  • Non-experimental evalution done: Empirical case study
  • Study is systematic: