Department of Parks and Wildlife Management
GOVERNMENT OF THE GAMBIA
Integrated Coastal and Marine
Biodiversity Management Project
(ICAM)
PROCESS FRAMEWORK
FOR THE RESTRICTION OF ACCESS
TO NATURAL RESOURCES
BANJUL, THE GAMBIA
MARCH 2007
Table of Contents
INTEGRATED COASTAL AND MARINE BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PROJECT
THE GAMBIA
PROCESS FRAMEWORK
Acronyms ...... iv
I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1
II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ...... 2
A. Project Components ...... 2
1. Tanbi Wetlands Complex ...... 2
2. The Bolong Fenyo Community Reserve at Gunjur ...... 3
B. Project Impacts ...... 4
1. Tanbi Wetlands Complex ...... 4
a. Minimizing Impacts ...... 4
b. Expected Impacts ...... 5
2. The Gunjur Community Reserve ...... 9
III. LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK ...... 10
A. International Conventions ...... 10
B. National Legislation ...... 10
IV. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS ...... 12
A. Department of Parks and Wildlife Management ...... 12
B. Other Ministries ...... 12
C. Community Participatory Structures and their Functions ...... 12
1. Village Management Committee(s) ...... 13
2. Site Management Committee ...... 13
V. ELEGIBILITY CRITERIA ...... 15
A. Definition of Eligible Resident Populations ...... 15
B. Participation of Eligible Resident Populations ...... 15
VI. REMEDIAL MEASURES ...... 17
A. Potential Mitigative Measures ...... 17
B. Procedures for Sub-grant Funding ...... 20
VII. GRIEVANCE RESOLUTION PROCEDURES ...... 21
A. Grievance Prevention ...... 21
B. Grievance Resolution ...... 22
VIII. MONITORING ARRANGEMENTS ...... 22
A. Monitoring Income Restoration Micro-projects ...... 23
B. Monitoring Ecological Impact of
Natural Resource Measures ...... 24
IX. DISCLOSURE ...... 24
Tables
Table 1: Population Centers Abutting TWC,
Distance to TWC and Population ...... 7
Table 2: Project Impacts, by Type of Activity and Village, TWC ...... 8
Table 3: Illustrative List of Restrictions and Possible Remedial Measures ...... 19
FIGURES
1. Organizational Structures of Community Participation ...... 14
ANNEXES
A. Map of the TWC ...... 25
B. Map of the Gunjur Community Reserve ...... 27
ACRONYMS
CAP Community Action Plan (or CCAP: Community Conservation Action Plan)
CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
DPWM Department of Parks and Wildlife Management
GOTG Government of The Gambia
ICAM Integrated Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Management project
IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature
LB WC Local Biodiversity and Wildlife Committee
MDFT Multi-Disciplinary Facilitation Team
M & E Monitoring and Evaluation
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
PA Protected Area
PAP Project Affected Person
PASC Protected Area Steering Committee
PF Process Framework (policy guidelines for the restriction of access to natural resources in protected areas)
PMU Project Management Committee (ICAM)
PRA Participatory Rapid Appraisal
SMC Site Management Committee
TWC Tanbi Wetlands Complex
VMC Village Management Committee
I. INTRODUCTION
The Integrated Coastal and Marine Biodiversity (ICAM) project aims to protect critical ecological areas for the short- and long-term benefit of surrounding populations. More specifically, ICAM will facilitate the establishment of two protected areas in The Gambia, develop two endangered species management plans, and to introduce community resource utilization programs to conserve the protected areas.
The responsibility to develop, manage and conserve Gambia’s biological resources in wildlife protected areas is vested in the hands of the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management (DPWM). Created in 1981, the DPWM currently manages seven wildlife protected areas. These protected areas cover almost five percent (5%) of the total land area of the Gambia, and include a range of designations (e.g., national parks, nature reserves, wetland reserves).
ICAM focuses on two potential protected areas -- the Tanbi Wetland Complex (TWC), now a Ramsar site, and Bolong Fenyo in Gunjur as a community reserve. The process of designating TWC and Bolong Fenyo as protected areas must engage stakeholders in the definition and assessment of impacts on the livelihood of communities in the adjoining areas, particularly on resource users and decision makers. Indeed, consultation and participation are key requirements under the Biodiversity/Wildlife Act 0f 2003, as a means of identifying/clarifying issues and resolving them early when designating a protected area. Communities and stakeholders must participate in consultations to designate the reserve areas (including the delimitation of park boundaries), in the assessment of impacts on the local communities and of the opportunities available, in the definition and implementation of options for livelihood restoration, in the resolution of grievances, and in monitoring the management of the reserve area, as well as the restoration of people’s incomes due to restrictions on access to natural resources in the park area.
This Process Framework (PF) lays out that consultative process. The PF describes the project and its component activities in order to determine the probable impact of restrictions on the neighboring communities (Section II). It also describes the legal framework of the project (Section III) and the administrative arrangements to implement the program (Section IV). It then defines the eligibility criteria for affected persons (Section V), the mitigative measures to be put in place (Section VI), the grievance resolution mechanisms available to affected people (Section VII), and the monitoring system to track program success (Section VIII).
II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
A. Project Components
The overall objective of ICAM is to conserve and sustainably manage globally significant biodiversity in coastal, marine and wetland ecosystems in The Gambia. More specifically, the objectives of ICAM are: (1) to strengthen the coastal and marine protected areas system and (2) in situ conservation of globally significant species and habitats in the Gambia. To this latter end, the project aims to increase by almost 25 percent the total coastal and marine area under legal protection through the addition of two protected areas, the Tanbi Wetland Complex (TWC), at the mouth of the River Gambia, which was recently (February 2007) declared a Ramsar site, and the Bolong Fenyo area of Gunjur village, some 30 km south of Banjul, which will be The Gambia’s first community reserve. As part of this work, ICAM will develop endangered species management plans and community development programs for income restoration.
1. Tanbi Wetlands Complex
The 6,304 hectare TWC (Annex A) is an estuarine and intertidal forested wetland primarily of low mangrove forest, with a complex of vegetation types on its northern boundary and along the mangrove fringing the mainland. The TWC functions include coastal stabilisation, fish breeding and recreation.
The hydrology of the TWC is important both ecologically and for the city of Banjul. More than 80 percent of the TWC is a mangrove swamp which is under daily tidal scheme. The mangrove mud is not only rich in organic matter, but it also has the capacity to retain as much as 100 times its weight in water. Thus TWC plays a key hydrological role for the greater Banjul area: TWC catches most of the water coming from higher land, and thus mitigates flooding in Banjul, for the Island of Banjul is only one meter above sea level, and the greater Banjul area receives around 850 mm of rain.
Ecologically, the TWC has other important functions:
Ø The Tanbi Wetland Complex is home to several vulnerable species such as African manatees (Trichechus senegalensis) and African Clawless otter (Aonyx capensis).[1] Bell’s hinged Tortoise Kinixys belliana (CITES App. II) has been recorded on the coastal strip, as well as the Nile crocodile Crocodylus niloticus (CITES App. II). African Rock Python Python sebae and Royal Python P. regius (both on CITES App. II), as well as the Western Red Colobus Piliocolobus badius temminckii (EN according to IUCN Red List) occur at the site too.
Ø The TWC is an important feeding ground for birds. An ecological survey in 1997 counted 362 species from 66 families of birds. A perimeter survey of TWC in December 2006 tabulated 85 species of birds and more than 7800 individual birds in the TWC.
o Eurasian species winter in the area, and the mudflat is crucial for their feeding before returning home to reproduce.[2]
o The site harbors a mixture of Ethiopian birdlife, and during the rains a considerable movement of Africa species occurs with many species utilizing the wetland areas for feeding and breeding. In the early autumn the Palearctic migration gets underway and large numbers of a range of species descend on the Tanbi wetlands. Many of these birds stop off to build up fat reserves after their migration, before dispersing further into the continent. Being located as it is at the mouth of the River Gambia, the Tanbi Wetland Complex thus acts as one of the main staging posts on the Palearctic migration, and the river is apparently used as a corridor to the inland areas of the continent. It is also an extensive wintering grounds for many species. By the time the spring migration north commences, much of the TWC has dried and its feeding value for waders and waterfowl is reduced. Nonetheless, it still holds valuable feeding and roosting conditions for gulls, terns and certain other species.
Ø The shadow of the mangrove trees is a resting ground for many marine and coastal species. Juvenile species nurse at the edge of mangrove shaded waters.
o Research in the neighbouring Saloum Delta site has found that more than 80 marine and deltaic fish species spawn or nurse in the mangrove swamps. It is believed that TWC plays a similar role.
o In particular, critical stages of the shrimp species Panaeus notialis development occur in the area (eggs coming with tidal waves from the ocean are kept in the mud to become larvae, and these stay in the swamps during their juvenile stage.). The Gambia River delta is among key recruitment site of this shrimp species in the Western Africa marine ecoregion.
o One of the two important food chains in the eco-region starts with mangrove ecosystems. Mangrove leaves are cut by crabs and mixed with mud to produce rich organic matter, which is then used by herbivores such as Tilapia (Tilapia spp.) and mullet (Mugil spp.), shrimps and zooplanktons. Primary carnivores and up to the top of the food chain rely heavily or partly on it.
Ø Because the TWC is a feeding ground and nesting area, it is important to various other fish. Atlantic Hump-backed Dolphins Sousa teuszii, and Bottle-nosed Dolphins Tursiops truncates rely to some degree upon the fish that have their nurseries amongst the mangroves of Tanbi.
Ø TWC also has marine functions. Because the Gambia River has its source 1200 km upstream, in an area of high rainfall, the water coming to the delta deposits organic matter that provides basic nutrients of the ecosystem food chain in the ocean. TWC thus plays a role in receiving upland input and releasing it in a regular manner into the sea.
2. The Bolong Fenyo Community Reserve at Gunjur
The proposed Gunjur reserve (Annex B) is a 320 ha area being put aside as a reserve by the community, and would be the first community reserve in The Gambia. The reserve centers on the Bolong Fenyo, and includes the mangroves along the lower half of the bolong (inland waterway), as well as some grasslands and palm stands on higher ground. The reserve is home to at least 70 species of birds that winter in the area, and holds great touristic promise, as it is only 30 km south of Banjul and already has two small hotels (six and ten rooms) that cater to the adventuresome, especially birders.
Since the outlet of the bolong to the ocean was reportedly filled by a sand dune during a storm in the 1970s, the bolong depends on fresh water run-off for its existence. Encroachment of the town of Gunjur, a major fish processing center, onto the upper reach of the bolong appears to be cutting off part of its watershed, with the result that the bolong now dries up before the onset of the rains. This change in the hydrological regime is not only a threat to the integrity of the bolong (and hence the birdlife and potential tourism), it is also affecting women’s vegetable gardens outside the prospective protected area as the water table falls and becomes more saline. Preservation of the Bolong Fenyo is, therefore, important not only for conservation and potential tourism but also for Gunjur’s water supply and agriculture.
B. Project Impacts
The ICAM project will have different socio-economic impacts in each of the two areas in which it is working.
1. Tanbi Wetlands Complex
Fifteen communities in Western Division and Kanifing Municipal Council, as well as Banjul City, depend on the TWC for fishing, oyster harvesting, wood supplies, ecotourism, and other activities. All of these communities are relatively close to the TWC: Kerewan, the farthest away, is only two kilometers from the Lamin Bolong. Conservation of this area therefore directly affects the livelihood of these communities.
a. Minimizing Impacts.
While important, the impacts on local use of resources in the TWC reserve have been limited by a series of management decisions. First, when the TWC was demarcated as a Ramsar site, the outer boundary of the reserve was established in consultation with local communities in order to avoid all houses and other structures. Thus, there is no involuntary resettlement involved in the delimitation of this protected area as a national park.
Second, an internal boundary within the reserve was established in principle between the core zone and the its surrounding buffer zone within the limits of the Ramsar site. Although this internal boundary has yet to be marked out (the outer boundary markers are in place along all but the southernmost bit of the reserve area), the internal boundary is effectively the normal high-water mark. This natural delimitation is important because the water in the TWC bolongs is saline, so the high water mark constitutes the effective limits of agriculture. (Farming below the high water mark creates acid sulphate soils once the land dries out, and this formation renders the area useless to agriculture without costly flushing of the area.) Throughout much of the reserve area, this internal boundary is already marked out by low dikes that the women farmers have built to keep out the saline intrusion. Taking these dikes as the internal boundary between the core and buffer zones recognizes the integrity of the TWC while maintaining local agricultural production.