News from MRI’s Regional Networks
AfroMont
Global Change Research Network of African Mountains: Legacy, Role and Visions Saliou Niassy and Willem Ferguson Mountain and highland initiatives: AfroMont’s heritage and lessons To build a research network on African mountains, it is essential to capitalize on the legacy that has been left by previous mountain initiatives, learning both from their strengths and failures. Among the circumstances that motivat-
Editorial “These regional networks are where “real people do real research.” We will persist in our attempt to keep these networks functioning, to make manifest those potential communities of researchers” Greg Greenwood the Executive Director of MRI. Mountain research has received very little attention and publicity in African countries. African mountains and highlands are however the most important assets of the continent contributing significantly to the socioeconomic development in terms of water, land and other essential resources. Unfortunately, there has been no significant impact of research outputs on governance and policy making over the last decades. The rapid utilisation of natural resources and the lack of relevant policies of conservation for sustainability will certainly lead to frequent disasters such as drought, famine and starvation, which in many situations have been wrongly attributed to the “never-ending saga” of global change. The degradation of ecosystems and the exploitation of natural resources will decimate the unique biodiversity of this continent if decisions to reverse this trend are not taken. Networking and coordination are promising initiatives that consolidate mountain research all over the world. How-
ever, in Africa such initiatives should be backed by a strong enthusiasm from African governments. As far as mountains are concerned, supporting policies are necessary to overcome these prophesied calamities often credited to global change. It is within this framework that MRI through the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) initiated an African global change research network for mountains - AfroMont - to promote and facilitate communication among mountain researchers and stakeholders, and to inform policy. During the last year, this initiative has mobilized significant support for the generation of new knowledge on long term sustainability in African mountains.
Saliou Niassy Network Coordinator MRI Coordinator for AfroMont Centre for Environmental Studies University of Pretoria niassy@zoology.up.ac.za Skype: saliou.niassy Landline +27124204527 Fax +27124203210 http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-africa
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
„To build a research network on African mountains it is essential to capitalize the legacy that has been left by previous mountain initiatives.“ ed mountain initiatives in Africa, one could cite the rapid population growth, fragile ecosystems, economic pressures, and transboundary conflicts. The consequences of such issues have compromised population livelihood in terms of water shortages, land degradation, change in rainfall seasons, invasive pests and diseases and increased poverty in many African countries.
The African Mountains Association (AMA) This ambitious initiative was created by African researchers with a non-governmental Pan-African status. Formed in Ambo, Ethiopia, in 1986, its objectives were to create a venue for interaction between African researchers and to influence policy. The Association contributed to the discussions on the Mountain Agenda which led to the inclusion of a chapter on sustainable mountain development (Chapter 13) in Agenda 21. Despite the enthusiasm and determination by organizing meetings across the continent (Morocco, Kenya, and Lesotho) and publishing news33
News from AfroMont
Lebialem Waterfall Forest Area, Cameroon © Saliou Niassy
letters and proceedings, AMA went through a period of silence due to financial and logistical difficulties. The decline of AMA could be attributed lack of commitment of members. African Highlands Initiative (AHI) The African Highlands Initiative, launched in 1995, was a conglomerate of Eastern African and international research organizations that worked with local communities, governments and others NGOs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. This regional program hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Nairobi was an initiative of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and a network of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA). Its objectives were to improve livelihoods of highlands of eastern and central Africa, which were shown to be highly vulnerable to climate change and population growth. AHI’s objectives were to de34
velop an “integrated natural resource management” (INRM) program in collaboration with beneficiaries (highland communities) and partners such as national and international research organizations and networks, organizations, local government, policy makers, community-based organizations, and male and female farmers. The African Highland Initiative no longer appears very active: its website has not been updated since 2006. Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Programme (MDTP) The Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa signed a memorandum in 2001 to establish the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and Development Area. The area is known to be an important centre of endemism and is currently considered as a World Heritage Site. The project was funded by World Bank to ensure the conservation of the biodiversity and the cultural heritage left by the Khoi-San. Today the programme is still running with bilateral commitment
to maintain in a sustainable manner to benefit generations in future. However there is little emphasis which consists in put on research programmes. Cameroon Highland Initiative This mountain initiative in Cameroon is unknown to many mountain researchers in Africa. Mountain areas in Cameroon are rich in diversity of flora and fauna. There is high resultant ecological diversity combined with high species richness, high endemism, “l’Afrique en miniature”, a well-known expression referring to this richness. Due to non-sustainable utilization of resources, mountains in Cameroon are subjected to threats that endanger many plant and animal species. There are reports of extinction, habitat fragmentation and this has been aggravated by the conversion of large forest areas into agricultural lands using very non sustainable approaches (slash, burns etc...). Due to mounting population pressure and livelihood challenges, universities and NGOs took the lead to
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investigate mountain issues. Several non-governmental attempts such as the Cameroon Mountains Conservation Foundation (CAMCOF) and the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF) have also been initiated to promote the conservation and sustainable development of those precious areas. In its Mountain initiative, EruDeF focussed on the Lebialem division in the South West Province of Cameroon and the Mont Bamboutos in the North East, characterized by the highest number of landslides and destruction of arable and productive landscapes and property lost. Mt. Bamboutos is a source for water to many major rivers in Cameroon. The Mount Cameroon initiative, though not well supported by the Cameroonian government, aims at continuing the policies of conservation of mountain resources initiated by Germans and French during the colonial era through education, sensitizing and sustainable development projects.
Fouta Djallon Initiative A number of countries in West Africa, including Senegal, Mali, Niger and the Gambia, are largely depend on water resources from the Fouta Djallon. Due to the economic situation in those countries the Guinea Mountain initiative over the last three decades relied
exclusively on international intervention aiming at the conservation and development of natural resources in the Fouta Djallon Mountains, and the promotion of sustainable community development. Regional efforts such as « l’Observatoire Régional des Ressources Naturelles et de l’Environnement du Massif du Fouta Djallon (ORMFD) » have been created for the management of natural resources. The FAO-funded regional programme for integrated development of Fouta Djallon was also launched in 2008. All these initiative focus on promoting conservation activities in the management and protection of water resources, and national parks respectively between Senegal, Mali, Mauritania and Guinea and between Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea.
Current situation of Mountain research in Africa The common situation in Africa is a neglect of mountains by African governments, resulting in non-sustainable practices in these fragile environments. Research programmes are being conducted in Africa mostly by academics though international collaborations and non-governmental organizations with often little connection one another. With the global awareness of climate
change, there is significant input from external funding aimed at promoting adaptation and sustainable development in mountain areas. But mountain research is still neglected. Apart from the AHI, which focussed essential on community livelihoods, little is known about the governments’ measures on mountain areas. However, AHI focused exclusively on communi-
„The common situation in Africa is a neglect of African mountains by African governments, resulting in non-sustainable practices in these fragile environments.“ ties in East Africa. There has been little contribution from African governments for the conservation of mountains elsewhere. In central and west Africa, little is known about mountain research initiatives and the governance of sustainable development in mountain areas. There are reports of external funding but there is no visibility in term of scientific outputs and their conversion into policy or practice.
Preparatory meeting for the Mountain Conference in Buea-Dschang, Cameroon, 21-25 January 2013 © Saliou Niassy.
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News from AfroMont
Lesotho © Willem Ferguson
The role of AfroMont Since the creation of the Global Change Research Network in African Mountains in Kampala in 2007 and the implementation of the FAO-funded coordination in Africa in August 2011,
„AfroMont has garnered a large amount of continentwide awareness and support through a series of visits in all sub-Saharan mountain regions.“ AfroMont has garnered a large amount of continent-wide awareness and support through a series of visits in all subSaharan mountain regions. AfroMont aims at promoting an African network of mountain research based on previous experiences of African initiatives. The previous lack of coordination has been the major issue in African mountain research. Irregularities of mountain forum and meetings, situations where no news, abstracts or proceedings are produced, have significantly hampered mountain research in Africa. AfroMont’s aim is also to facilitate regional and continental branches throughout the montane parts of Africa. In November 2011, there was a fruitful contribution of AfroMont in the International Conference in East African Mountains (ICEAM). In August 2012, in collaboration with the MDTP, AfroMont organized for a regional mountain Workshop in Lesotho involving 36
South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Malawi, and which provided a platform for both researchers to perform regional research prioritization and for politicians to make contact with scientists involved in research that may enlighten sustainable resources in mountain areas within the context of global change. A database of researchers is currently under reconstruction. AfroMont provides regular communications to the MRI newsletter and close contact with scientists through telephone, email and Skype. A website was created to promote interaction and knowledge sharing among African researchers. AfroMont’s vision and road map AfroMont has two main areas of focus: 1. Collaborative continental and regional research programmes. In an evaluation of the effect of global change on mountain ecosystems, the most important inhibiting factor is a lack of long term regional and continent-wide data collected in a comparable way. AfroMont attempts to encourage regional and continent-wide research collaboration by the initiation of research that addresses this lack of information. The Lesotho meeting formulated a southern African research agenda that needs to be integrated with a continent-wide set of research priorities. A continent wide database for long-term monitoring of global change is a key programme and a monitoring network comprising an African environmental observatory should be
established to assess the degradation of natural resources in respect to climate change and population growth in mountain regions. Based on previous contacts with Cameroonians mountain researchers, AfroMont is looking forward to organize a Mountain Conference in Cameroon to mobilize all subSaharan researchers. 2. Science-policy interaction. AfroMont informs and brings awareness on mountain issues with respect to global change in Africa, especially since both mountain landscapes and downstream non-mountain landscapes benefit from mountain resources. Mountain re-
„The Lesotho meeting formulated a southern African research agenda that needs to be integrated with a continent-wide set of research priorities. “ searchers and policy makers, two groups of people who have historically tended to avoid each other, must work together with least disturbance to the ecosystem for the benefit of communities living in mountains. This situation has been exacerbated by the lack of funding support from local governments. African researchers always need to outsource funding from overseas to run their projects. A lot of funding has been dedicated to achieve mountain sound initiatives such as African Highland Initiative, the Cameroon initiative and FAO initiative
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in Fouta Djallon. The consequences of such practices explain the fact that research outputs are published abroad and are therefore not seen by local policy makers to influence local policies. AfroMont will certainly be a key actor on the implementation of the Future Earth programme in Africa by using its connections with African scientists and researchers currently focussing of Global Change in African mountains.
Scope of AfroMont as of November 2013
AfroMont up to date News: subscribe to the AfroMont RSS feed or the Newsflash at http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-africa 2011-12 Report: http://mri.scnatweb.ch/background-documents/view-category Mountain Conference in Buea-Chang, 21-25 January 2013: http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-africa/mountain-conference-in-buea-dschang-cameroon-21-25-january-2013 References African Highlands Initiative (AHI) 2008 External review and impact assessment, Program Evaluation Report African Highlands Initiative 2005 Report for the AHI Priority Setting Exercise AHI Strategy for ASARECA 2005– 2010, Compiled by Ann Stroud and Derek Peden Bruno Messerli, Hans Hurni, Bekure Wolde-Semayat, Shibru Tedla, Jack D. Ives and Mesfin Wolde-Mariam 1988 African Mountains and Highlands: Introduction and Resolutions. Mountain Research and Development, African Mountains and Highlands, Vol. 8, No. 2/3, pp. 93-100 ERuDeF Project document, Community-based Management and Conservation of Cross River gorilla at the Lebialem -Mone Forest Landscape, Western Cameroon Greg Greenwood, 2011. Real Projects in Real Places. Newsletter of the Mountain Research Initiative MRI NEWS. No. 6, October Ojany F. F. 1992. Introduction African Mountains and Highlands: Crisis in Africa-Needed Research and Action, with Special Reference to Kenya, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 12, No. 4 pp. 309-314 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
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