Forestry of the Commonwealth of Dominica - Policy and Capacity

(Excerpt from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and FAO National Forest Programe Facility - Participatory Forest Management Project: Improving Policy and Institutional Capacity for Development)

Of Dominica's approximately 300 square miles, 65% (195 square miles) are considered to be forested. Since 20% (60 square miles) of Dominica's forested land is protected by law,this means that 135 square miles of forest are in private hands.

Dominica's forested areas fall into five different categories: Forest Reserves, National Parks, State Lands, the Carib Territory and Privately Owned Land. The first three categories, Forest Reserves, National Parks, and State Lands are protected and managed by personnel of the Division of Forestry, Wildlife and National Parks. The Forestry Division (Forestry), entrusted with protecting and managing key forest resources, has a relatively small but highly experienced staff whose responsibilities include protection, management and utilisation of forest resources; research and education; and management of National Parks. Forestry works with the Division of Lands and Surveys to monitor the State Lands.

Forestry is in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment and works in collaboration with the Division of Agriculture, the Fisheries Division and the Environmental Coordinating Unit on matters of mutual concern. Forestry also works in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism because some authority for managing the World Heritage Site, Morne Trois Pitons National Park, and various eco-sites is shared between Forestry and the Ministry of Tourism. In addition, the Director of Forestry serves on the Steering Committee of the Global Environment Fund (GEF) Community Management of Protected Areas for Conservation (COMPACT) Small Grants Programme, a programme designed to encourage community participation in sustainable forest management.

The Carib Territory is owned in common by the Carib, or Kalinago, people. The Territory has little remaining forest, the land having been used heavily for agriculture. Forestry does not have authority to protect or manage these lands.

There is no national land use policy or plan, which means that the use of private land is largely unregulated. Approval from the Division of Physical Planning is required for building. While the recently enacted Physical Planning Act also stipulates that planning approval is required for all development, the law has not yet been fully implemented.

No entity is responsible in general for management of watershed areas as many of these are located outside of the protected areas managed by Forestry. Water in Dominica is distributed to the public by the Dominica Water and Sewage Company (DOWASCO), a state-owned corporation that is overseen by the Ministry of Public Utilities and Public Works. DOWASCO has a licence to extract water. Dominica Electricity Services Ltd. is a privately-owned, formerly state-run company, that also uses substantial amounts of water to operate its hydroelectricity plant.

Dominica has a well-developed system for local government with forty-one local councils and several village improvement committees. The councils are overseen by the Local Government Commission within the Ministry of Information, Culture, Community Development and Gender Affairs. There has long been an appreciation for the need to reform the Local Government Act and to provide the councils with more autonomy. The Ministry expects to have draft legislation to do this by year-end. While there is no mandate established by law or policy for the Forestry to involve communities in its work, the Director of Forestry and the Forest Officers have good working relationships with the communities around the country.

There are several civil society organisations, at both the national and local level, with the potential to become partners in developing a more participatory approach to forest management. However, even those that have been in existence for some time have experienced fluctuations in their capacity to act as partners in participatory efforts. Both the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association and the Society for Historic Architectural Preservation and Enhancement are currently undergoing institutional strengthening programmes while the Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce has only recently re-established itself as a voice for the private sector.

One encouraging development that has occurred recently is the partnership between major tour operators and some of the small but promising eco-tourism projects in rural communities. Whitchurch Tours is working with the Wammae Letang Group, a GEF-funded project based in Laudat that offers boating on the Freshwater Lake. Whitchurch is providing some critical marketing services to the group. Whitchurch is also working with another GEF-funded group, the Giraudel Flower Growers, to offer tours of the gardens in that area.

Policy

The key pieces of legislation governing Forestry and the National Parks are outdated and are in the process of being amended. The Forest Act became law in 1958, the National Parks and Protected Areas Act in 1975, and the Forestry & Wildlife Act in 1976. A Forest Management Plan was last developed in 1975 but was never formally adopted. A Management Plan for the Morne Trois Pitons National Park was developed several years ago but has yet to be put into effect. There is a consensus among stakeholders that the laws and policies need to be brought up-to-date.

Dominica has no national water policy and no national land use policy or plan. A water policy has been drafted, and funds have been obtained to employ a consultant to assist in development of a land use plan. The Physical Planning Act contains fairly comprehensive authority for managing land development, including the authority to designate areas as "environmentally sensitive", but the Act has not yet been fully implemented.

The Growth and Social Protection Strategy expected to be adopted to address poverty reduction relies primarily on natural resources, including tourism, agriculture, fisheries, water and agro-processing to support economic growth. The Tourism 2010 Policy contains a vision that focuses heavily on natural resources and community involvement. The vision states: "Dominica will pursue sustainable tourism that enriches the lives of all citizens by creating economic, social and cultural opportunities, protecting the natural resources and scenic, heritage and cultural features of the country, nurturing community involvement in tourism at sustainable levels, and by creating career paths for the young people of Dominica."

Some capacity-building in communities is being carried out by a project headed by the Ministry of Health's Health Promotion Unit in conjunction with the Local Government Commission. The initiative, "Healthy Communities" is expected to be revised to "Healthy People, Beautiful Communities" in order to incorporate the Prime Minister's recent efforts to encourage communities to address beautifying their areas with clean-ups and planting of flowers. The initiative requires the communities to assess various aspects of health and develop a plan to correct deficiencies. It is being managed as an inter- Ministerial Programme and attempting to take an integrated approach to health promotion, including the environmental issues.

Capacity

World View/Culture

At the stakeholder consultation, participants from all sectors were forthright in clearly labelling the world view/culture among resource managers, resource users and all resource management partners as very low in participation. They indicated that there is no culture of participation and, as a result perhaps of the public sector's top-down approach, the public is apathetic about participating. Participants mentioned the lack of political will to change, feeling that governments tend to act on the basis of short-term political objectives and donor-driven agendas. They also indicated that sometimes the lack of public comment on issues was the result of a fear of reprisal. The groups felt that sustained education at all levels on environmental issues was needed in order to foster more participation.

With respect to non-state partners and resource users, there is some recognition that inadequate attention has been given to sustainability of livelihoods. A good example of this is the larouma reed used to make the Carib baskets, a key part of the Carib craft businesses. The reed has been completely exploited within the Territory, and the basket-makers are now having to go elsewhere to find the reeds.

Organisational Structures

In Dominica there are forty-one local government councils. While these councils could form the basis of community action, they often do not because they see their role as limited to road maintenance and garbage collection. The councils have extremely limited financial resources and limited autonomy. As noted above also, the Healthy Communities Project is attempting to encourage the councils to take a broader role.

There are other power bases in the communities, including the churches. At one time, Dominica also had a strong network of women's groups under the umbrella of the Social League. This network was related to the Catholic Church and has lost its vibrancy in recent years.

Through the GEF Small Grants Project six communities have been developing groups to work on livelihood projects. GEF is working with at least three other communities on possible projects. In addition, the OPAAL Project is working with groups in the Portsmouth area to develop sustainable livelihood activities.

Adaptive Strategies

Most of the non-governmental and community-based organisations have struggled to maintain themselves. The organisations have done well when there was funding for a project but have had difficulty retaining members when the project finishes and there are no readily available funds to meet administrative costs or keep the work going. A second major problem for these organisations is surviving the loss of key leaders. Most groups do not have the depth of human resources to be able to readily replace someone who has moved on, and often the group goes into a dormant stage until someone or something comes along to reactivate them.

With regard to the public sector, it can generally be said that most of the agencies continue to perform as they have in the past and focus on achieving quantifiable outputs. An exception to that general outlook is the Healthy Communities Project of the Health Promotion Unit that is more process-oriented and is encouraging an integrated approach at the Ministerial level and engaging in capacity building at the community level.

Skills

While the level of technical knowledge about resources varies considerably from one community to another, in general, most communities would benefit from having access to more technical knowledge about local resources. In some cases, they have the basic skills, such as basket-making by the Carib people, but they lack the marketing techniques and access to markets that would allow them to maximise the income from their work. In some cases, technical assistance and training will be key, as with the village of Bellevue Chopin, which is working with the Division of Agriculture to become a model organic village.

Members of the public sector generally do not have the kinds of organisational and facilitation skills that would be needed in order to achieve effective participatory management.

While the Forestry Division has many of the requisite skills for forest management, it is constrained in terms of further capacity building by the inadequacy of the resources available to it (see below)

Material Resources

With regard to much of the land in Dominica, the communities do have influence over decisions related to resources. In the case of the Carib Territory, the people have full control over the resources but the community continues to suffer from widespread poverty. Financing for income-generating projects is unavailable because the land is owned in common and cannot be used as security. Communities do not have influence over resource use with respect to the Forest Reserves and the National Parks. The COMPACT/GEF Small Grants Project is attempting to address that issue. An example of some access to the National Park is the Warmmae Letang's authorised use of the Freshwater Lake.

Both human and material resources within the Division of Forestry are extremely limited and the following were specifically identified as needs: vehicles, travel allowances, outstations and office space.. Fees collected ostensibly for forest management, such as the environmental levy and eco-tourist site fees, go into the Consolidated Fund. The Division has in the past been forced to rely on donations and volunteers from overseas to supplement its small budget and limited staff.

Linkages

Communities have several means of linking outside the immediate area. The Local Government Commission offers one mechanism. There is also a non-governmental organisation for the councils, the Dominica Association of Local Authorities. In areas such as the Southeast, there is a regional tourism development committee that brings communities in the area together.

There are a few mechanisms for inter-Ministerial cooperation. One is the Committee of Permanent Secretaries. Another mechanism is the one set up for the Healthy Communities Project. There is scope for much more and more effective working across departments and disciplines. Forestry has informal linkages with the Ministry of Tourism and the National Development Corporation in connection with management of the World Heritage Site and the eco-tourism sites. It also links informally with the Division of Agriculture, the Environmental Coordinating Unit, the Physical Planning Division and the Public Works Division.

The level of technical knowledge varies by community and by the kinds of activities they are trying to develop. In some cases, they have the basic skills, such as basket-making by the Carib people, but they lack the marketing techniques and access to markets that would allow them to maximise the income from their work. In some cases, technical assistance and training will be key, as with the village of Bellevue Chopin, which is working with the Division of Agriculture to become a model organic village.