WHENWHEN AND HOW TO GO AND HOW TO GO TRANSBOUNDARYTRANSBOUNDARY

EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR TRANSBOUNDARY FOR TRANSBOUNDARY NATURAL RESOURCE NATURAL RESOURCE

MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT

Harry van der LindeSenior Program Officer

Biodiversity Support Program

Acknowledgements

The Biodiversity Support Program (BSP) is a consortium of World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and World Resources Institute, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This product was made possible through support provided to BSP by the Global Bureau of USAID, under the terms of Cooperative Agreement Number DHR-A-00-88-00044-00 (funding for the Southern Africa study came from the USAID - Regional Center for Southern Africa (RCSA)), and by the Africa Bureau of USAID, under the terms of Cooperative Agreement Number AOT-A-00-99-00228-00.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID.

Contributions from many experts and organizations in Africa and beyond.

Contents Context of TBNRM

Set-up of the BSP project

When to go transboundary?

How to go transboundary?

Future for TBNRM?

Conclusion

Interest for TBNRM

Interest by local communities

First International Peace Park in 1932

Now 169 transboundary protected area complexes worldwide

Large regional economic development initiatives

Political stability – Peace Parks Initiatives

Broad landscape approaches by international conservation organizations

International conventions and funding mechanisms

Ecoregions Ecoregions of Africaof Africa

Key

Elephant Distibution

National Boundary

N

200 0 200 KM

Distribution of Elephants in Southern

Africa

Project Approach

Initiate analysis of TBNRM as approach for natural resource management and conservation

Reviews and case studies in four regions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Pan-African analysis

A pan-African workshop

Preparation of pan-African guidance

Various Motivations for Involvement...

Diversity in interests Multiple opportunities:

- ecological- social and cultural- economic and financial- political• institutional

T r a n s b o u n d a r y N a t u r a l R e s o u r c e s M a n a g e m e n t S p e c t r u m

T r a n s b o u nd a r yP r o t e c t e dA r e a s

T r a n s b o u n d a r yC o n s e r v a t i o n A r e a s

T r a n s b o u n d a r yB r o a d - l a n d s c a p eM a n a g e m e n t

N R M I n t e g r a t e d i nR e g i o n a l E c o n o m i cD e v e l o p m e n t

P r o t e c t e dA r e a s

I n t e g r a t e dC o n s e r v a t i o nD e v e l o p m e n tP r o j e c t s

C o m m u n i t y - b a s e dN a t u r a l R e s o u r c eM a n a g e m e n tC o n s e r v a n c i e sM u l t i p l e l a n d u s e sB r o a d - l a n d s c a p em a n a g e m e n t

N a t i o n a l E c o n o m i cD e v e l o p m e n ti n c o r p o r a t i n g N R M

T R A N S B O U N D A R Y

N A T I O N A L

TBNRM Definition

‘Any process of collaboration

across boundaries that increases the effectiveness of attaining Natural Resource Management or Biodiversity Conservation goal(s).’

When to go Transboundary?

Options: to work nationally, exchange information, work transboundary

When the whole is greater than the sum of the parts

A proposed mechanism to analyze:- Place in ecological spectrum

- Threats and opportunities

Sometimes most efficient, sometimes not! To be applied to each NRM and biodiversity

objective To be applied towards new and ongoing

initiatives

Further Scoping

Analysis Stakeholder Identification and

Consultation

Yes

No

No

Yes

Initial Scoping

Transboundary Vision

Consultation

Consultation

Consultation

Consultation

Development of a Transboundary VisionDevelopment of a Transboundary Vision

Stay National

Stay National

TBNRM-InitiativeCycle

Analyze Data and

Communicate Results

Implement Management

and Monitoring

Plans

Develop a Transboundary Monitoring

Plan

Develop a Transboundary Management

Plan

Transboundary Vision

See Figure 3.1.2

IterateUse Results

to Adapt and Learn

Adapted from Margolius and Salafsky, 1998, to the context of TBNRM

Transboundary Initiative CycleTransboundary Initiative Cycle

How to go transboundary

Key elements to the process of identification, planning and implementation:

levels to be involved (stakeholder identification, consultation and involvement)

the need for and variety of agreements communication organizational and individual capacity

(roles of stakeholders in the process)• enabling conditions

Context of these key elements of the process

Some are applied on a national level, but a transboundary approach adds additional challenges and complexities

Flexibility of application – what is useful all depends on the situation

Very much scale and time dependent

It should be an adaptable, flexible process and iterative

Figure 2.3.1 - Levels of authority

Regional organizations /conventionsMultiple ministries

HQ of NR Dept/line ministry

Province

District

Local managers

Country 1 Country 2

Figure 2.3.2 - Possible ranges of levels of TBNRM intervention

1

2

3

4

5

6

Regional organizations/conventionsMultiple ministries

HQ of NR Dept/line ministry

Province

District

Local managers

Figure 2.3.3 – Some variables affected by the TBNRM range of levels

TBNRM range of levels

Local level Multiple levels1 6small large

area covered

range of possible TBNRM activities

range of land use types and forms of land tenure involved

number of stakeholders, and institutional and technical sectors involved

degree of complexity

degree of formality in arrangements

likely duration of the transboundary collaboration

transaction costs

transaction time

Levels- Some Lessons

What can be achieved at local level only is limited; more ambitious TBNRM goals require involvement of a wider range of levels

Communication is essential within and between levels in each country, and with the equivalent levels across the international border

TBRNM is more efficient if it involves the simplest scale possible to achieve the goals and it is probably more effective if it is not driven from the top.

Lessons, Con’t

Stakeholder involvement:- two levels apply: parallel in-country

and across the border- exact ‘mirror-image’ counterpart

organizations may not exist across the border

it is advantageous to build on existing relationships

Agreements For different purposes Different types and levels

Some lessons: Negotiating agreements is costly and time-consuming;

purpose should be very clear Agreements can increase the sustainability of outcomes

by making the process less dependent on the immediate action of individuals

Need for adaptive management – may develop over time from informal to formal

Communication

Obtain a common focus across sectors, within levels, within organizations, up and down levels and across countries

Share information widely Keep up the dialogue when it becomes hard

Communication - some lessons: A common focus and vision, early on in the

process Transparency• Appropriate messages to a broad target audience

– involve other sectors and disciplines

Organizational and Institutional Capacity

A critical minimum capacity on national levels

Learning by doing

Role for regional institutions?

Capacity-Some lessons: In case of insufficient national capacity

– build first, or adjust expectations An outside facilitator can support the

process in case of weak organizations on both sides of border – technical and financial

Develop existing institutions to include TBNRM or establish new ones

Constraints and Enabling Conditions

TBNRM initiatives in a broader ‘environment’ An enabling condition is a condition that

facilitates, supports or is essential for successful TBNRM

Is relevant in an ecological, social and cultural, economic-financial, political and policy, institutional context

Which are relevant varies between initiatives, scale and over time

Future of TBNRM- Gaps and Needs

Economic valuation of TBNRM TBNRM's role in economic

development Financing of TBNRM initiatives Cross-sectoral collaboration Use of regional and international

fora Mechanisms for learning, support

and networking

Conclusions TBNRM is a viable option for NRM and

biodiversity conservation But, if conditions for internal, national NRM are

absent, the situation will not be improved by going transboundary

TBNRM should be seen as a process, not a fixed approach – there is no blueprint and flexibility and adaptability is key

It is a relatively new approach - need to learn from each other