School of Earth and Environment
Untitled Document

Elizabeth Harrison Elizabeth Harrison

Postgraduate Student

Telephone number: +44(0) 113 34 37966
Email address: eeeh@leeds.ac.uk
Room: 9.123k

Project details

Project title

Assessing lessons from Community-based natural resource management for the implementation of carbon sequestration schemes in Dryland Africa

Supervisors

Dr Lindsay Stringer, Professor Andy Dougill and Dr Deborah Sporton(Sheff)

Funding

ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Centre Studentship

Start date

1st October 2011

Project outline

Aim:

Provide new evidence of how opportunities for the triple win dimensions of climate change mitigation, adaptation, and development can be harnessed in southern Africa with a specific focus on Zimbabwe. 

Rationale and Background:

Payments for Ecosystem Service (PES) schemes, and wider global initiatives for example, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD/REDD+), are playing a significant key role in framing global efforts to mitigate climate change through carbon storage. They also have the potential to provide the additional benefits of adaptation and development (Jagger et al., 2010, O'Connor, 2008) which align with the requirements of the emerging climate compatible development discourse (Mitchell and Maxwell, 2010). Community-based carbon storage initiatives that can harness a synergistic relationship between the triple win dimensions of climate change mitigation, adaptation, and development require appropriate institutional, governance, and partnership structures, alongside consideration of the wider political economy and ecology. Yet, these factors are frequently neglected by policy designers and practitioners (Roe and Nelson, 2009). 

Gomera et al (2010) explain that, "on-going negotiations over REDD design include many critical elements related to broader local rights, tenure, and governance similar to those that community  based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives in southern Africa have faced over the last several decades" (p302). CBNRM as an approach was established over thirty years ago and as such these projects can provide contextual and specific lessons founded in particular cultural, political, economic, and societal contexts. This is invaluable for understanding the projects' successes and failures in terms of the way local communities are engaged with the project and the different institutional factors that affect access to resources and thus potential adaptation and livelihood options (Bond et al., 2010, Roe and Nelson, 2009). Lessons and understandings that can be gained from analysing CBNRM projects throughout Zimbabwe can be utilised to inform the development of future carbon finance initiatives, with a view to helping harness synergy and reduce trade-offs between mitigation, adaptation, and development dimensions.

Zimbabwe provides a highly suitable case study country, having implemented some of the first official CBNRM initiatives in southern Africa and REDD+ has been highlighted as a priority focus for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region over the coming years. With the stresses on the land increasing after the vast urban to rural migration catalysed by the country's economic decline, more of the population is being pushed into poverty and larger swaths of land are being degraded (Mukamuri et al., 2003, Murphree, 2005). The potential opportunities for the rural population through climate finance schemes that maximise their climate compatible development potential could provide a useful lifelife to help boost local rural development (Jindal et al., 2008; Smith and Scherr, 2003). 

Most previous work published in the literature on CBNRM in southern Africa has focussed on providing an evaluative approach to CBNRM, identifying its successes and failures. This research takes this analysis a step further by using the lessons learnt from this assessment to inform and put forward recommendations for current market-driven policies to become more aligned with the ideals of climate compatible development. In this respect, it is pushing the CBNRM debates into the wider realms of PES and carbon finance and bringing these themes together in a novel and timely way.

Publications

Contributing author to the UNDESA "Detailed Review on the Implementation of the Agenda 21" (January 2012) and "Detailed Review on the Implementation of the Rio Principles" (December 2011). Available online at: http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_sd21st/21_reports.shtml