| 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 |
