| Release date | 23/03/2006 |
|---|---|
| Contributor | hdekoeijer |
Country Setting
Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The country covers an area of 752,614 Km 2 and is surrounded by Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
The whole country lies on the Central African Plateau with altitude between 1000 and 1600 metres above sea level, giving it a moderately cool sub-tropical climate with three seasons; the cool dry (April-August), hot dry (August-November) and hot wet (November-April). Rainfall varies from 700mm in the south to 1500mm in the north and most of it is concentrated over the period November-March.
Zambia's population has doubled in size over the past decades, from 3.41 million in 1963 to about 7.99 million in 1993, and is expected to double again by the year 2010. Attributes of the country's population contributing to its dynamism include; (i) youthfulness, with 51 percent of the population under the age of 16; (ii) high fertility of an average 6.7 children per women; and, (iii) decline in mortality rate prior to the advent of Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic in the late 1980s. The rapid population growth has led to greatly increased pressure on the country's natural resource base including its biodiversity.
In order to try and arrest the poverty among its population that has seen a tremendous rise since the early 1980s, the Zambian Government has been implementing an Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The poor socio-economic situation prevailing in the country has largely contributed to the failure to effectively plan and manage its natural resources, and to ensure the equitable sharing of benefits accruing from biological resources among its people.
Biological Diversity in Zambia
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines biological diversity as the variability among living organisms. Variability occurs at the species, ecosystems and gene levels. Although this definition was adopted in the formulation of Zambia's Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP), much of the work in the Country is at species level and to a limited extent on ecosystem.
Floristically, Zambia lies within the Zambezian regional center of endemism. Savanna is the major terrestrial biome and lies between the rain forest conditions in the northwest and semi-desert conditions in the southwest. Therefore, in this context, Savanna consists of wooaland and grassland type of vegetation.
The two, together with the forest and thicket, constitute the four main vegetation life forms upon which the country's fourteen terrestrial ecosystems are classified. Zambia also has fresh water aquatic ecosystems and anthropic land cover types, of which agricultural land is the most important in terms ofbiodiversity. For agricultural purposes, Zambia has been divided into three agro-ecological zones corresponding to agro-climatic zones.
The country study showed that Zambia has a total of 8017 species of organisms of which
microorganisms, plants and fauna constitute 8,47 and 45 percents, respectively. A total of 316 species of plants and animals are endemic, 174 are rare and 31 are endangered/vulnerable. The munga and miombo woodlands and grasslands are the ecosystems with the highest biodiversity while the montane forest, though limited ill extent, has the highest number of endemic woody plants. The diversity of ferns and orchids is correlated to ecosystem diversity. Agricultural biodiversity contributes about 100 cultivated plant species of which 15 percent are classified as indigenous and 7 percent naturalized. There are also about 16 species of domesticated animals of which the majority are cattle and chickens
Biodiversity and Development
Conservation of biodiversity in Zambia is derived from the need to support the economic and livelihood activities of the country's population who depend on natural resource utilization. The agriculture, fisheries, forestry, wildlife and tourism sectors directly depend on biodiversity. Other sectors including mining, manufacturing, transport, trading and financial services, whilst indirectly dependent on biodiversity can impact negatively on it. Farming supports more than one third of the total population while a lot more depend on the formal and informal sector activities in the forestry, tourism and fisheries sectors. Conservative estimates show that agriculture, fisheries and forestry contribute about 18 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), manufacturing from food, beverage and tobacco another 9 percent. The livelihood of the rural populace in Zambia is directly dependent on forests to provide ash fertilizer for shifting cultivation, timber, energy, household tools and construction materials. Wild plants and animals are important sources of food, medicine and valuable chemical products.
Apart from the direct economic benefits, biodiversity plays a critical role in the healthy functioning of ecosystems. These roles include nutrient and water recycling, land protection from erosion, climate stabilization through carbon in its forests/woodlands although annual forest loss is poorly known.
Threats to Biodiversity
The major treats to biodiversity conservation in Zambia are mainly caused by human activities. These include deforestation, wildlife, population growth and pollution. Deforestation is a result of excessive cutting in illegal coupes, commercial harvesting and conversion of forestland to agriculture. These, in turn are driven by population growth and basic needs of people. With regard to wildfires the most destructive ones are those caused by late burning. Fire intensity is influenced by the over-exploitation of forests that changes the light conditions and accelerates grass growth, which in turn provides fuel destruction is land use conflict between wildlife in National Parks and GMAs and human activities such as cultivations, livestock grazing and settlements. Tsetse-fly eradication programmes have also contributed in human encroachment of wildlife estate.
Some introduced species of plants have tended to be very invasive and also paused a threat to ecosystems and indigenous species. Among such weeds are lantana (Lantana camara), kariha weed (Salvinia molesta) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). The introduction of improved varieties of crops such as maize has almost completely replaced local varieties and landraces.
Pollution of water system has reduced invertebrate diversity while that caused by wide scale application of pesticides and herbicides to protect crops and control pests have alien aquatic weeds is also linked to eutrophication of water bodies by industrial, domestic and agricultural pollution.
The poor state of museums, herbaria and gene banks, as repositories of biodiversity resources poses as a threat to the maintenance of plants and animal collections. Limited access to biodiversity literature, some of which is maintained at institutions abroad, and lack of proper training hamper the advancement of biodiversity knowledge. Further, some of the cultural and social values attached to resources today are a threat to the conservation of these natural resources. For instance, the demand for game meat in urban areas despite livestock being readily available has a cultural connotation and is responsible for most of the illegal harvesting of the wildlife going on.
Sharing Benefits from Biodlversity Use
The property rights regime determine the way in which benefits accruing from biodiversity use are distributed. Historically, communal ownership of biological and other resources has to a large extent been replaced by state and private ownership. Most of the existing protected wildlife and forest reserves were established during the colonial era upon what used to be customary land. The premise was that the Government could share the benefits more appropriately. However, over the years it is the communities who live adjacent to protected areas who suffer the negative consequences of environmental degradation and erosion of biodiversity without any compensation. The marginalisation of local communities has tended to promote opportunity over-exploitation of resources by these communities. The basis of Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) programmes being implemented in various parts of the country is the need to reverse the margiualisatinn of local communities.
Biological Management in Zambia
The protected area system in Zambia serves the purpose of in-situ conservation and consists of national parks, bird sanctuaries, Game Management Areas (GMAs), game ranches, forest and botanical reserves and natio!lal heritage sites. National Parks established primarily for conservation of biodiversity are nineteen in number and cover a total area of 6.358 million ha. There are two bird sanctuaries, 34 GMAs (total area 16.57 million ha) 28 game ranches, 432 forest reserves (total area of 7.4 million ha), and 59 botanical reserves (total area 148,000 ha)
Ex-situ conservation involves the establishment of botanical gardens, herbaria and gene banks. However, these are inadequate and most of them are not well managed and are in a state of disrepair.
Indigenous conservation practices play a critical role in biodiversity conservation especially outside protected areas. These are embedded in customary law and have been practiced since the pre-colonial era. Though over the years these practices have been extensively modified by extemal influence such as colonialism, they still exist in many parts of the country where they are enforced side by side with modern statutory law. CBNRM programmes have tried to resuscitate some of the positive aspects of these traditional practices so that they are incorporated in modern approaches of biodiversity management.
There are more than thirty legislative instruments that address the conservation of biodiversity and protection of the environment. Most of these instruments were enacted more than thirty years ago and some of them have been reviewed several times since then. There are also corresponding policies and institutions. The most important legislation, policies and institutions in the conservation of components of biodiversity are in forestry, wildlife, agriculture, and fisheries. An overall environmental and natural resources management framework also exists through the National Conservation Strategy of 1985 and the National Environmental Action Plan of 1994. In terms of legislation the Environmental Protection and Pollution Control (EPPC) Act of 1990 is considered a principal legislation covering a number of sectors. At international level, Zambia is a party to the CBD since 28 May 1993 and also to a number of other biodiversity related international conventions. These Conventions are being implemented through the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
Institutional and Legal Framework
The state in Zambia plays a major role in biodiversity conservation given that the majority of forests, wildlife reserves, wetlands, botanical and geological gardens and gene collection are under state control. However, the private sector, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs), and groups of individual have a strong effect on biodiversity. Most of the laws in Zambia follow a sectoral approach and deal specifically with forests, wildlife, land, water fisheries, and many other components of biodiversity. Due to poor coordination, the promulgation of these laws brought about duplication and gaps.
Further, biodiversity management requires that a holistic approach to the conservation of organisms, plants and animals be taken. Attempts have been made to harmonize these pieces of legislation, however, most of them still remain outdated. The EPPC Act and its Environmental.Impact Assessment Regulations, the Zambia Wildlife Act of 1998 and the recently (1999) enacted Forestry Act, provide good examples of meeting the requirements of biodiversity conservation.
The BSAP Process
The Zambian BSAP process is derived from the commitment to fulfill the objectives of the CBD. The process consisted of three cyclical steps, the Country Study, the National Strategy and the Action Plan. The Country Study was primarily a desktop activity to prepare inventories and assessment of the values and threats to biodiversity. The result of this exercise was an overview of the status of and trend in biodiversity in the country. This activity was undertaken from April to September 1998 and mainly followed the ecosystem approach. Fish diversity was assessed on the basis of the major fisheries and river basins while agro-biodiversity was based on agro-ecological zones. The countrystudy, however, did not include biotechnology assessment, which was undertaken through another process with the aim of putting in place a national biosafety framework.
Strategy formulation was aimed at defining immediate management objectives within the goal of conserving Zambia's biodiversity. Strategies were derived the objectives followed by analysis of advantages and disadvantages of each option and finally choosing the best option for incorporation into the national strategy.
Action Plan development followed after formulation of strategies and objective and entailed the translation of these into a set of specific actions to be carried out by specific institutions over a given period. The planning period was set as five years given a poor database on which it was based.
The BSAP process applied the approach of stakeholder consultations and consensus building through national and provincial workshops based on multisectoral and participatory involvement methods. The basis for this approach was to create awareness and involve a range of groups of people and individuals to identifying issues, problems and opportunities for the conservation of biological diversity.
Key stakeholders who participated included Traditional Leaders representing local communities, NGOs, private sector and Government officials representing relevant sectors. A National level steering committee under the leadership of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR) with membership from key Government and Non-Govemmeut institutions including the academia and research institutions drove the process. IUCN Zambia Country Office was contracted by MENR to provide technical backstopping through a Planning Team of national consultants. IUCN Regional Office for Southern Africa based in Harare, Zimbabwe and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) also provided technical backstopping. The
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administered the disbursement of funds on behalf of GEF and provided documentation. The main outputs of Zambia's BSAP process included the training of the core Planning Team, the National Steering Committee and some MENR staff in strategy and Action Planning; the raising of awareness of environmental issues through the Steering Committee; and, the generation of tremendous amount of information on biodiversity through the stocktaking and assessment phase of the Country Study.
Assumptions and Constraints
The process encountered a number of constraints: Firstly, the requirement to complete the process in one year was difficult to meet given inadequate information and the need for a participatory and transparency process. Consequently, the funds allocated for the process were not adequate for a comprehensive inventory and assessment. Secondly, the ecosystem approach by the process had its own limitations given that most of the available distributional data on biodiversity was given in sectoral form and in accordance with administrative boundaries. Thirdly, most of the information was outdated. Lastly, the exclusion of the assessment of biotechnology and risk management of biosafety from the process left a gap.
Despite these constraints, the Zambian BSAP process represents the first national attempt to respond to the requirements of the CBD and the shortcomings were taken into account in the Action Plan.
Unmet Needs for Biodiversity Conservation in Zambia
After analyzing the issues arising from the needs for biodiversity conservation in Zambia, the following six priorities unmet needs were agreed upon:
(i) conserve ecosystems and protected areas;
(ii) sustainably use and manage biological resources;
(iii) equitably share benefits arising from utilisation of biodiversity;
(iv) conserve crop and livestock genetic diversity;
(v) provide an appropriate legal and institutional framework and the needed human resources to deal with biosafety; and,
(vi) provide an appropriate legal and institutional framework and human resources to implement biodiversity programmes.
Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Actions
Through the stakeholder participation and consensus building approach undertaken by the BSAP process, Zambia set for itself the vision 'to have a progressive and enlightened nation, whose people value and equitably derive sustenance and prosperity fi.om the sustainable management and use of its biological resources' The mission of the
Government of the Republic of Zambia is, therefore, 'to establish legal, policy and institutional Jgameworks and mechanisms that promote the conservation, management and sustainable use of Zambia's biological resources by all sectors of the population '. To do this, Zambia is guided by a set of 12 principles discussed in chapter 12 of this document.
Six strategic goals agreed upon during the process are:
(i) ensure the conservation of a full range of Zambia natural ecosystems through a network of protected areas of viable livestock;
(ii) conservation of the genetic diversity of Zambia crops and livestock;
(iii) improve the legal and institutional framework and human resources to implement the strategies for conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits from biodiversity;
(iv) sustainable use and management of biological resources;
(v) develop an appropriate legal and institutional framework and the needed human resources to minimize the risks of the use of GMOs; and, (vi) ensure the equitable sharing of benefits from the use of Zambia's biological resources.
Each of these goals is accompanied by objectives, strategies and action that have been arrived at based on the synthesis and analysis of the information generated by the process.
Project Implementation Arrangements
The coordination of environmental issues in Zambia is the main responsibility of MENR however, the sectoral Ministries and other organisation with comparative advantages and specific mandates and specializations will specifically undertake the implementation of activities arising from the BSAP. The multi-disciplinary nature of the BSAP programme would, however, still call for a coordinated approach guided by the BSAP Steering Committee. The MENR role will remain that of overall coordination and ensuring that the sector ministries integrate biodiversity conservation in their policies, plans and programme. The MENR will also ensure that the local communities, NGOs, and private sector organisations are empowered to play their rightful roles in biodiversity management in line with their demonstrated capacities and comparative advantages. Monitoring and evaluation of BSAP implementation would be carried out regularly by a multidisciplinary team led by the MENR for progress on specific activities, strategies, objectives and sub-goals.