| Title | Baka People: Facing changes in African forests |
| Director(s) | Participatory production |
| Date released (year) | 2009 |
| Production company | UNDP |
| Length | 12.7 mins |
| Location | Cameroon |
| Keywords/tags | Climate change, deforestation, poverty, adaptation |
| Link to film | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgerTDO4r6M |
| Synopsis | Living in the Central African forests, the Baka hunter gatherers formed an organization called Okani (meaning “rise up” in Baka) to help train other communities in filming and story-telling techniques. This first film from the Baka People in Eastern Cameroon shows how they are coping with the impacts of climate change and the swift transformations of their habitat. This film is an Okani-Insight http://www.insightshare.org production, part of Conversations with Earth Initiative http://www.conversationsearth.org . It is one of several experiences around the world in which indigenous communities are using videos to voice their concerns. These projects were funded by UNDP’s human rights programmes through the Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme http://sgp.undp.org/ |
| Reviews/discussion | From WWF:
Climate change impacts in Cameroon – what the IPCC 4th Assessment Report has found:
Possible direct impacts of sea-level rise in Cameroon, indicate that a 15 % increase in rainfall by the year 2100 would likely decrease the penetration of salt water in the Wouri estuary. Alternatively, with an 11% decrease in rainfall, the salt water could extend up to about 70 km upstream. In the Gulf of Guinea, sea-level rise could induce overtopping and even destruction of the low barrier beaches that limit the coastal lagoons, while changes in precipitation could affect the discharges of rivers feeding them. These changes could also affect lagoonal fisheries and aquaculture [9.4.6]
Source: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/rising_temperatures/hotspot_map/cameroon.cfm Climate change impacts in Cameroon
From Babatope Akinwande:
Climate Conversations – Forest communities in Cameroon cannot adapt to climate change alone | Thu., November 22
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (14 November, 2012)_Rural communities in Cameroon rely heavily on forests for everything from their nutritional and medicinal needs to fuel for cooking and will be unable to adapt to climate change without significant outside help, a new study has found.
That could include anything from setting up a meteorological observatory to help farmers during planting season, to the establishment of research and action programmes by governments to support communities in increasing the effectiveness of their adaptation strategies.
The Center for International Forestry Research’s (CIFOR’s) Congo Basin and Climate Change Adaptation (CoFCCA) project was developed in 2008 to increase public and policy awareness about the heavy reliance both rural and urban areas have on animal and plant products coming from the second largest continuous tropical rainforest in the world. It also looked at ways in which to protect communities – as well as the natural resources – as the world experiences dramatic shifts in precipitation and temperature.
A key lesson was that, no matter how pertinent, local knowledge was not enough, said Denis Sonwa, one of the authors of a paper resulting from the study, focusing specifically on Cameroon. Sonwa’s team looked at the most vulnerable sectors in Cameroon, including energy derived from fuel wood. They focused on charcoal production and consumption, interviewing everyone from the producers and transporters to sellers and consumers to find out how each stakeholder perceived climate change and how it affected their activities.
“They were all concerned about the unpredictable rainy and dry seasons which affect levels of production, consumption, and earnings,” said Patrice Metenou, a post-graduate researcher involved in the project, adding that all were vulnerable to climate change but at very different levels.
While producers, transporters and sellers of fuel wood could revert to other means of income or hike up the prices of their products and services during the rainy season, when things slowed down, for instance, consumers were all-but stuck.
Dependent on charcoal for cooking, they had no choice but to cope with shortages or inflated prices. Metenou noted, too, that each stakeholder often had to devise several different ways to adapt to the changes. “During the prolonged dry season, when charcoal makers need large quantities of water to produce a better quality of charcoal, they move closer to sources of water,” he said, pointing to one example. “During the rainy season, they buy large tarpaulins to cover their products while waiting for buyers.”
The Congo Basin is the second largest and most intact tropical forest region of the world after the Amazonian forests. Covering some 228 million hectares, it represents approximately 20 percent of the world’s remaining tropical forest. These forests cover about 60 percent of the total land area of six countries of the central African countries of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Forests are important to the indigenous people in the Congo Basin where more than 80% of people live exclusively on agriculture, fisheries, and livestock. Harvesting activities are highly dependent on climate in the region. According to Sonwa, “Planning climate adaptation strategies with the forest communities in the Congo Basin is absolutely fundamental and urgent in order to cope with the projected inevitable climate impacts”.
This research was conducted under the CIFOR’s CoFCCA (Congo Basin Forest Climate Change Adaptation) project which is part of the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) Program supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)and the Department for International Development (DFID).
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| Links to other resources | Also see: https://ejoltdocumentaries.wordpress.com/tag/climate-change-2/
Ernest L Molua & Cornelius M Lambi (2007) The Economic Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture in Cameroon. The World Bank Development Research Group, Sustainable Rural and Urban Development Team, Policy Research Working Paper 4364. |
Category Archives: Deforestation
Wangari Maathai & The Green Belt Movement
| Title | Wangari Maathai & The Green Belt Movement |
| Director(s) | Landon Van soest |
| Date released (year) | 2010 |
| Production company | StridesinDevelopment |
| Length | 8.52mins |
| Location | Kenya |
| Keywords/tags | Environmentalism, deforestation, sustainability, empowerment |
| Link to film | http://youtu.be/BQU7JOxkGvo |
| Synopsis | Wangari Maathai is a Kenyan environmentalist and political activist. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental NGO focused on environmental conservation and women’s rights. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions to sustainable development, democracy, and peace.
Source: http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/wangari-maathai-the-green-belt-movement/ |
| Reviews/discussion | The Green Belt Movement (http://greenbeltmovement.org) organizes rural women in Kenya to plant trees, an effort that combats deforestation while generating income for the community and promoting empowerment for women. Since Maathai founded the Movement, over 40 million trees have been planted and over 30,000 women have been trained in forestry, food processing, beekeeping, and other sustainable, income-generating activities.
Source: http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/wangari-maathai-the-green-belt-movement/ |
| Links to other resources | http://greenbeltmovement.org |
REDD Alert
| Title | REDD Alert |
| Director(s) | |
| Date released (year) | 2009 |
| Production company | TV/e Inspiring Change |
| Length | 22 mins |
| Location | Congo |
| Keywords/tags | Climate change, neoliberalism, deforestation |
| Link to film | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6_k0CXcHwQ |
| Synopsis | Could carbon become the developing world’s new cash crop? Tropical forests store a quarter of the earth’s carbon and suck in 15 percent of all the CO2 we emit each year. A new international concept called REDD aims to make tropical forests more valuable as living, breathing ecosystems than if they are cleared for farmland. Prototype REDD projects are now getting underway, to test out how best to make this complex scheme work. Earth Report travels to the vast rainforests of Africas Congo Basin, to find out if forests can realistically pay their way as global carbon stores and who exactly will benefit.
Source: http://tve.org/films/earth-report-redd-alert/index.html |
| Reviews/discussion | What is REDD?
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)[1] is a set of steps designed to use market and financial incentives in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation. Its objective is to reduce greenhouse gases. “Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation” implies a distinction between the two activities. The process of identifying the two is what raises questions about how to measure each within the REDD mechanism, therefore their distinction is vital. Deforestation is the permanent removal of forests and withdrawal of land from forest use. Forest degradation refers to negative changes in the forest area that limit its production capacity. Development of a REDD mechanism has progressed significantly since 1995 with the set up of a UN programme and various capacity building and research activities. Projects are also being trialled through national government programmes and the private sector. REDD+ is increasingly likely to be included in a post-2012 international climate agreement, yet many challenges are still to be solved. How will the REDD+ mechanism link to existing national development strategies? How can forest communities and indigenous peoples participate in the design, monitoring and evaluation of national REDD+ programmes? How will REDD+ be funded, and how will countries ensure that benefits are distributed equitably among all those who manage the forests? Finally, how will the amount of carbon stored and sequestrated as a result of REDD+ be monitored? REDD is sometimes presented as an “offset” scheme of the carbon markets and thus, would produce carbon credits. Carbon offsets are “emissions-saving projects or programmes” that in theory would “compensate” for the polluters’ emissions. The “carbon credits” generated by these projects could then be used by industrialised governments and corporations to meet their targets and/or to be traded within the carbon markets. [1] However this perspective on REDD+ is contested and hotly debated among economists, scientists and negotiators.[2] Recent studies indicate such an offset approach based on projects would significantly increase the transaction costs associated to REDD+ [3] and would actually be the weakest alternative for a national REDD+ architecture as regards effectiveness, efficiency, its capacity to deliver co benefits (like development, biodiversity or human rights) and its overal political legitimacy.[4] In recent years, estimates for deforestation and forest degradation were shown to account for 20-25% of greenhouse gas emissions, higher than the transportation sector.[5] Recent work shows that the combined contribution of deforestation, forest degradation and peatland emissions accounts for about 15% of greenhouse gas emissions, about the same as the transportation sector.[6] Even with these new numbers it is increasingly accepted that mitigation of global warming will not be achieved without the inclusion of forests in an international regime. As a result, it is expected to play a crucial role in a future successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol.[7] Source: wikipedia |
| Links to other resources | See UN REDD site: http://www.un-redd.org/
Espinoza Llanos, Roberto and Feather, Conrad (Nov, 2011). “The reality of REDD+ in Peru: Between theory and practice – Indigenous Amazonian Peoples’ analyses and alternatives”. AIDESEP and Forest Peoples Programme. http://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2011/11/reality-redd-peru-between-theory-and-practice-website-english-low-res.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-23. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/01/3054102.htm?section=justin Carbon offsetting scheme open to corruption, report warns CDM Carbon Sink Tree Plantations: Insights into Sustainability Issues Vickers, Ben (Apr 2008). “REDD: a Steep learning Curve”. Asia-Pacific Forestry Week. http://www.recoftc.org/site/fileadmin/docs/Events/Features/article_on_APFW_REDD_short__3_.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-23. Forest Dialogue (2009). “Investing in REDD-Plus”. http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/investing_in_redd_plus_en_executive_summary.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-20. “Copenhagen Accord of 18 December 2009”. UNFCC. 2009. http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-28. “REDD: Agriculture and deforestation: What role should REDD+ and public support policies play?”. Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. december 2010. http://www.iddri.org/Publications/Collections/Idees-pour-le-debat/Agriculture-and-deforestation-What-role-should-REDD+-and-public-support-policies-play.
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African Rainforest Conservancy
| Title | African Rainforest Conservancy |
| Director(s) | aidforafrica |
| Date released (year) | 2011 |
| Production company | aidforafrica |
| Length | 3.23mins |
| Location | Tanzania |
| Keywords/tags | Deforestation, environmentalism, |
| Link to film | http://youtu.be/CP-o_h-tzUM |
| Synopsis | The African Rainforest Conservancy conserves and restores African rainforests by empowering local men, women, and children through training, community development, research and education to preserve their natural heritage.
Source: http://youtu.be/CP-o_h-tzUM |
| Reviews/discussion | This is an advocacy and fund raising video for Aid for Africa.
From the Institute for Development Studies, an excellent background reading: Source: http://www.helsinki.fi/kehitysmaatutkimus/tutkimus/Vihemakiwp.pdf ABSTRACT This paper explores the social and political dynamics and outcomes of so-called participatory forest conservation by focusing on the interactions between various actors involved in forest use and control in the East Usambaras, Tanzania. The shift in dominant development and conservation discourses towards a participatory approach has had effects on forest conservation in the case study area, as it is reflected in the State policies, management strategies and actual practices also in areas with high conservation status. Despite this, there are shortcomings in the implementation of participatory strategies, and the shifts of “paradigms” are not total. Earlier approaches, and the problems related to them, do not disappear although the rhetoric of participatory forestry and the bottom-up approach spread. Power and other social relations within and between the state agencies, community groups and other actors involved in the conservation and use of natural resources intervene in the implementation of participatory conservation projects greatly, and can lead to unintended outcomes and possibly even to conflicts. Involving “local people” in forest conservation by promoting development activities and/or sharing the responsibility over forest control does not make forest conservation a smooth and apolitical process. To be better adjusted to local contexts, and thus more viable in the longer term, conservation efforts need to better recognise and address economic and other power relations between the concerned “interest groups” as well as institutional constraints at different levels and in various organisations involved in the control of protected areas. Source: http://www.helsinki.fi/kehitysmaatutkimus/tutkimus/Vihemakiwp.pdf |
| Links to other resources | Tanzania Forest Conservation Group: http://www.tfcg.org/
South African policy on community forestry: http://www2.dwaf.gov.za/dwaf/cmsdocs/Tom/SUMMIT%20PAMPHLET%206a%20-%20PFM.pdf Liz Alden Wily (2003?) Participatory forest management in Africa: 31 an overview of progress and issues. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/006/y4807b/Y4807B03.pdf The Food and Agriculture Organisation has some useful information on community forestry: www.fao.org |
The Changing Climate in Gamo Highlands
| Title |
The Changing Climate in Gamo Highlands |
| Director(s) | Community |
| Date released (year) | 2011? |
| Production company | INSIGHTSHARE |
| Length | 12mins |
| Location | Ethiopia |
| Keywords/tags | Climate change |
| Link to film | http://insightshare.org/watch/video/changing-climate-gamo-highlands |
| Synopsis | This video is a compilation of three videos made by community members from Doko, Ezo, Zozo and Daro Malo in the Gamo Highlands. |
| Reviews/discussion |
Climate change increasing poverty and vulnerability in EthiopiaOxfam Press Release, Published: 22 April 2010 Small-scale farmers and pastoralists in Ethiopia are likely to bear the brunt of the negative impacts of climate change in the region, which will include increased poverty, water scarcity, and food insecurity, according to a new Oxfam International report released today. The international development agency’s report, “The Rain Doesn’t Come on Time Anymore: Poverty, Vulnerability, and Climate Variability in Ethiopia,” was launched at a special Earth Day celebration organized by the Climate Change Forum-Ethiopia in collaboration with other environmental organizations. While Ethiopia has always suffered from great climatic variability, including droughts that have contributed to hunger and even famine in the past, the report details how climate change is set to make the lives of the poorest even harder. A country of farmers“People who are already poor and marginalized are struggling to cope with the added burden of increasingly unpredictable weather,” said Abera Tola, Oxfam’s Horn of Africa regional director. “It is getting harder and harder for families and communities to bounce back from ever-changing, inconsistent weather affecting their livelihoods, and many have been forced to sell livestock or remove children from school – coping mechanisms that only increase the cycle of vulnerability.” Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world and 85 percent of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. The agricultural sector is especially vulnerable to the adversities of weather and climate since it is rain fed, done using relatively basic technologies, and on tiny plots of land. Women are hardest hit“From the Rift Valley to Tigray, farmers and pastoralists around the country have shared with us the toll that the changing weather is having on their communities, from ruined crops to dying cattle,” said Tola. “Even relatively small shifts in the growing season, can spell disaster for the poorest farmers and pastoralists who are already struggling in poverty.” Women and girls in particular are disproportionately affected by climate variability. In times of crisis, women tend to stay home with their children, while men move away to look for alternative means of survival. Women also have fewer options to find other ways of making a living, especially since women’s literacy rate is not even half of that of men. Women are also not given a say in household decisions and are frequently without cash savings or assets to sell to buy food and other basic items. “The rain doesn’t come on time anymore. After we plant, the rain stops just as our crops start to grow. And it begins to rain after the crops have already been ruined,” Sefya Funge, a farmer in Adamitullu Jiddo Kombolcha district in Ethiopia told Oxfam. “Because of a lack of feed and water, most of my cattle have died. The few that survived had to be sold so that we could buy food to live on. As I no longer have the means to support my family, only three of my eight kids are still with me. Losing our assets was bad, but the fact that our family is separated is devastating.” Coping with climate changeWith some assistance from non-governmental organizations and the government, small-scale farmers and pastoralists are adopting a variety of coping mechanisms, according to the report. In the farming areas, many are shifting to more drought tolerant crops and varieties, improved forest management practices, diversified energy sources, and alternative means of income from off-farm activities. Pastoralists have also divided pasture into wet and dry season grazing areas to better manage risk, while others have changed the composition of their heard from cattle to camels and goats, which can better tolerate dry, hot weather. Poverty, limited resources, little alternative sources of income and livelihoods, lack of knowledge and expertise, and the absence of appropriate public policies and financing, increase vulnerability and decrease people’s capacity to cope. |
| Links to other resources |
Marius Keller, Climate Risks and Development Projects: Assessment Report for a Community-Level Project in Guduru, Oromiya, Ethiopia. Source: http://www.iisd.org/cristaltool/documents/BFA-Ethiopia-Assessment-Report-Eng.pdf Many academic reports available via Google |
