Forest Status, Legislative Matters and Management Objectives. FPs are state forests that have been gazetted with the objective to secure permanent forest cover. They are to be solely managed by the FD with the purpose of forest production, demonstration of forest management techniques, training of forestry staff and other persons involved in forestry activities, for applied research and for conservation (Forest Act Section 9 (2)). The management of forest parks must be based on forest inventories and management plans conducted and developed by the FD (Forest Act Section 93 and 96) in 10 years intervals. The FD as the manager of the FP can permit the exploitation of any type of forest products: • For the local use of forest products a written permission is required from the DFO or a forest officer mandated by the DFO (Forest Act Section 109). • For the purpose of commercial exploitation a valid license or permit must be issued (Forest. Regulations Section 27 and 34). • The director can regulate the payment of fees for the issue of licenses from time to time according to circumstances of each case (Forest Regulations Section 27 (3)). As such, there are no legal restrictions for the FD in the implementation of joint forest park management activities19 and it is up to the FD to involve local people in park management up to the degree desired. However, it is proposed to amend the Forestry Act and Regulations in such a way, that the terms and conditions of joint forest park management are clearly specified.
Forest Status, Legislative Matters and Management Objectives. Community forests are gazetted permanent forests. They are forests that are managed by a designated community based on a Community Forest Management Agreement (CFMA) for the purpose of timber, firewood and non-wood produce production, forest grazing, protection and conservation (Forest Act Section 9 (3)). Based on a Community Forest Management Agreement (CFMA) the concerned community gains ownership rights of the designated community forests for an indefinite period of time under the condition that it is not deleted or endangered or not sustainably used (Forest Act Section 67 (5) and 72). It was the objective of introducing CF that through it, local communities recognize the value of trees and forests and gain a vested interest in their protection as permanent sources of income and/or livelihood. The purpose of CF is thus to contribute to the protection and maintenance of an adequate national forest cover and to slow down and eventually stop environment degradation. Based on the experiences of CF-extension it seems, however, not to be possible to achieve the anticipated target of designating 200.000 ha of forestland as community forests. Local communities consider most of the forests on their customary land as land reserve for future development and are only willing to set aside a small portion as permanent forest. This made it necessary to develop a new concept (i.e. CCSF, see chapter 3.5) for how to conserve and manage the remaining forest reserves together with the communities, where the regulation on land conversion is not as strict as in CF.
Forest Status, Legislative Matters and Management Objectives. The main objective of introducing the CCSF concept was to bring the remaining forest areas situated on customary village land under controlled management in order to conserve and protect them24 as long as they are not converted to other land uses. A community controlled state forest is a forest reserve (i.e. state forest) that shall be jointly managed by the FD and a forest committee (Forest Act Section 2). It has the legal status of a forest reserve (see chapter 3.6) and as such it can still be converted to other land uses. In CCSF no ownership rights on trees or land are transferred (as this is the case with CF), both remain with the state. However, the government grants forest utilization privileges to local communities based on a joint forest park management agreement. The forest committee is responsible, among others, for the protection from forest fire and illegal activities (Forest Act Section 85). 24 It is the objective that 30% of the countries land cover shall remain forest land. So far, only a small portion has been identified as permanent forest areas (i.e. FP or CF). The Director may at any time revoke the responsibilities and the rights of any forest committee over a state forest where the committee fails to protect the state forest from fire and illegal activities (Forest Act Section 117). According to Forest Act Section 73 the designation of a state forest as a CCSF is up to the DFO on behalf of the Director but is restricted to a community or a group of communities, which are managing a CF under a CFMA. This restriction was required to ensure the managerial capacity and the willingness of the community to protect and conserve the forest concerned. Now, with the introduction of JFPM, the CCSF concept should be expanded to communities actively participating in JFPM based on a joint forest park management agreement. However, a probation period of 3 years shall be introduced, where the managerial capacity of the community is being tested. By extending CCSF to communities participating in JFPM more state forest can be brought under management. However, this requires adjusting the Forest Act and Regulations accordingly.
Forest Status, Legislative Matters and Management Objectives. Forest reserves are state forests. They include all other forests neither classified as forest parks, nor as community forests or private forests. They are managed by the FD except where they exist in national parks or in nature reserves (protected areas), which are managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife Conservation (Forest Act Section 9 (5)). The management of forest reserves and CCSF (see above) shall be in accordance with a plan of operations annually prepared by each forest division for all forest reserves under its jurisdiction (Forest Act Section 98). Forest reserves can be transformed into other land-uses as regulated by Forest Act Section 81 as long as the forest cover does not fall below the minimum percentage of 30%. As the word “reserve” already expresses, they are considered as a land reserve for future development for all different type of land uses and as such are not considered as permanent forests. However, as long as they are not converted to another land-use, law protects them. The provisions regulating forest product use and exploitation in FRs are similar to those established for FPs (see Forest Act Section 116).
Forest Status, Legislative Matters and Management Objectives. Private forests are forests growing or planted on lands privately owned and/or leased in accordance with the relevant land legislation and subject to conditions specified in the Forest Act Section 74 and 76. Private natural forests are gazetted permanent forests and as such cannot be converted to non- forest land without the approval of the Secretary of State (Forest Act Section76 (6)). Management objectives and management decisions are up to the owner. While for exploitation of plantation forest only a valid removal permit is required (Forest Act Section74 (2)), the management of private natural forests has to be based on a management plan which needs to be approved by the Director (Forest Act Section 76 (3), (4)). Owners of private natural forests shall be responsible for the protection of their natural forest, and where they have been found guilty of any neglect of duty with such fires, they may be held liable to a penalty prescribed for contravention (Forest Regulations Section 18).
