Upcoming publication on a literature review about policy options for conserving Intact Forest Landscapes in the Congo Basin.  By Fon. Gordian Fanso. 

Forests are habitats to over 70% of the earth’s biodiversity yet, they are being depleted rapidly in order to satisfy the needs of the fast growing human population (Megevand, et al., 2013). Intact forests, devoid of noticeable human disturbance, house greater biodiversity than disturbed or fragmented forests but these are however, difficult to maintain (FAO, 2005). Policies aimed at conserving these forests are developed with little or no engagement of knowledge on the ground thus conflicting in certain respects, resulting in gaps that makes effective implementation a failure. This is evident in the alarming rates of deforestation despite a plethora of policies to address the issue. Almost three billion hectares of the earth’s forest have been lost and the yearly loss rate at present is sixteen million hectares (WRI, 2014).  The majority of the remnant forests are either small or highly disturbed and no longer fully functioning ecosystems, thus reducing the number of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs). IFLs are defined as an unbroken expanse of natural ecosystems within the zone of current forest extent, showing no signs of significant human activity, and large enough that all native biodiversity, including viable populations of wide-ranging species, are found (Bryant, Nielsen, & Tangley, 1997; Potapov, et al., 2008). This is similar to the category of High Conservation Value (HCV) Forests earlier defined by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a global leader in forest certification, as “large landscape level forests, contained within, or containing the management unit, where viable populations of most if not all naturally occurring species exist in natural patterns of distribution and abundance” (FSC, 2004; FSC, 2015).   

The reduction in the number of IFLs threatens the existence of biodiversity and the livelihoods of the local human populations  (WRI, 2014). Moreover, IFLs are one of the most precious landscapes on earth serving as the last refuge for some of the world’s most endangered species, maintaining ecological processes and services like water and air purification, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, erosion and flood control, climate and water cycles regulation (WRI, 2014).  

Globally, deforestation has negatively impacted our ecosystems, disrupting ecosystem services and affecting sources of livelihoods especially in forest dependent communities (IFL, 2015). This is however, more intense in the tropics where trees are seen more as commodities and obstacles to economic development. Forests are seen as limitless providers of wealth in form of land, timber, gold, wildlife etc. (WRI, 2014). From 2000 to 2013, more than one hundred and four (104) million hectares representing 8.1% of the world’s IFLs were degraded (WRI, 2014). Thus, the global emphasis on arresting degradation of IFLs especially in the Congo Basin, which constitutes over 92m of the loss and also the second world’s largest rainforest known to have  a large expanse IFLs.

In the Congo Basin, disturbance of IFLs like the clearing of forests for agricultural expansion, urban development, mining operations etc. shortens their resistance and resilience, hence increasing biodiversity loss and intensifying climate change through greenhouse gas emissions and loss of valuable forest carbon stores and sinks (Matthews, Payne, Rohweder, & Murray, 2000; Hansen, et al., 2008; WRI, 2014). The protection of IFLs is a robust and cost-effective way to protect biodiversity and maintain ecological integrity since the remoteness and large size of these areas provide the best guarantee for their continued intactness (IFL, 2015). It contributes to protecting forest biodiversity, to reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and to stimulating Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) practices (FSC, 2004; Mollicone, et al., 2007).

In the presence of population growth and increasing human needs, preventing loss of IFLs will require a stewardship approach to forest management that will protects forests' biodiversity and other assets while simultaneously providing for peoples’ basic needs through ecosystem services. One of the first efforts to emphasize the importance of IFLs was made by FSC by an inclusion of the category of HCV Forests in its “Principles and Criteria for Forest Stewardship” with its Principle 9 requiring management activities in  HCV Forests to identify, maintain and/or enhance and monitor overtime the intactness values of the forest to be certified. Also, IFLs are directly mentioned among other categories of HCV Forests (FSC, 2015) and most recently in the FSC policy motion number 65 that explicitly called for protection of IFL, proposed by Greenpeace one of the important members of the organization. 

IFLs ecosystems store tremendous amounts of carbon, and information about IFLs reveal how deforestation affects local climate thus helping land managers lighten the human footprint in heavily used landscapes (Bryant, Nielsen, & Tangley, 1997; IFL, 2015). This research will demonstrate how mapping changes in IFLs for policy review and better management options will help countries avoid paying the high costs associated with massive forest loss and degradation (WDPA, 2007). It starts first by defining the aim and objectives of the study.

Aim and Objectives of Study

The research aims at mapping and analyzing the changes in IFLs so as to suggest conservation strategies and policy options for more effective management of these IFLs. The study plans to achieve this goal with the following objectives:

1. Mapping changes in IFLs in four Congo Basin countries over a 30-year study period (1985-2015). These countries are; Republic of Cameroon, Republic of Gabon, Republic of Congo and The Democratic Republic of Congo.
2. Mapping FSC certified areas and overlaying with IFL data for the identified Congo Basin countries.
3. Estimation of ghg emissions and sequestration by the different LULC types in the sub region.
4. A gap analysis of existing conservation strategies and legal structures as they impact IFL
5. Assessing the impact of loss in IFL on local population, biodiversity and wildlife and the challenges faced in addressing this loss in the sub region.
6. Developing integrated policy options for IFL management based on FSC principles and criteria for forest stewardship.