Forest plan takes community management a step further

TWENTY-NINE potential community forests have been identified by the Ministry of Environment, a senior official in the Ministry told a meeting on community-based natural resource management in Windhoek yesterday.

The Ministry’s Community Forester, Magadaleni ya Kasita, said nine are in the Kavango and Caprivi regions. She said the process of identifying potential community forests started in 1998, guided by the Forestry Sector Policy.Ya Kasita said the Forest Act of 2001 provides for communities to identify areas that they feel need to be proclaimed as community forests.Once their application is approved, they have the power to manage and benefit from the forest in a sustainable way.The idea is to help rural communities to manage and benefit from their natural resources, just like from rural conservancies.The Ministry of Environment requires these communities to establish management bodies to run their forests.The management body should formulate by-laws to direct them in the running of the forest and every member of that community should benefit from the revenue.Ya Kasita said 15 communities had submitted applications for community forests to the Minister’s office.On Monday evening, Environment Minister Philemon Malima said in Windhoek that his Ministry was in the final stages of proclaiming the first 10 community forests.”Community forests have gone one step further than conservancies, in that the relevant communities will gain legal rights and responsibilities – not only over wildlife and tourism, but also over other natural resources such as forests, woodlands and grazing,” said Malima.The meeting reviewed the achievements and impact of Namibia’s community-based natural resource management programme over the past 10 years.She said the process of identifying potential community forests started in 1998, guided by the Forestry Sector Policy.Ya Kasita said the Forest Act of 2001 provides for communities to identify areas that they feel need to be proclaimed as community forests.Once their application is approved, they have the power to manage and benefit from the forest in a sustainable way.The idea is to help rural communities to manage and benefit from their natural resources, just like from rural conservancies.The Ministry of Environment requires these communities to establish management bodies to run their forests.The management body should formulate by-laws to direct them in the running of the forest and every member of that community should benefit from the revenue.Ya Kasita said 15 communities had submitted applications for community forests to the Minister’s office.On Monday evening, Environment Minister Philemon Malima said in Windhoek that his Ministry was in the final stages of proclaiming the first 10 community forests.”Community forests have gone one step further than conservancies, in that the relevant communities will gain legal rights and responsibilities – not only over wildlife and tourism, but also over other natural resources such as forests, woodlands and grazing,” said Malima.The meeting reviewed the achievements and impact of Namibia’s community-based natural resource management programme over the past 10 years.