USAID / Guinea - Success Stories

Through community-based forest management, villagers are managing-and protecting-their own forest resources.

"It is in the interest of all women to manage our forest well," says Sia Millimouno, from the village of Koumassan, in the Forest Region of Guinea. "Water is our life. There's water only where there is forest. Where there's forest, there's rain, and the rain makes our crops grow strong and healthy. We rely on the forest for our medicinal plants, fruits and plant parts and leaves for our sauces. The forest provides us with everything we need. That's why we want to manage it well."

With the help of a local NGO, APARFE, local communities have regained control over their communal forest through an effective community-based natural resource management approach. During the past two years APARFE has created community forestry groups in ten villages in the Prefecture of Kissidougou. APARFE's field-based agents assisted the villagers from these communities to form forest management committees. Through democratic elections, communities elected representatives to a committee, and each committee then developed its own statutes and by-laws in which roles and responsibilities for each member are described.

Each of the ten community forestry groups has selected a communal forest located near their village, totaling about 640 hectares, for which they formulated their own forest management plans. These plans lay out the activities to be implemented such as reforestation, protection of water sources, rehabilitation of degraded areas, implementation of agro-forestry practices, and fire prevention techniques. In collaboration with the NGO agents and local authorities, the community forestry groups were able to negotiate land use agreements for their forests to obtain contracts for a minimum period of 99 years-a period that accounts for three generations of villagers.

"We've seen that our forest has been degraded, but for the years to come we have made a management plan for our forest," says Yomba Millimouno. "We didn't understand the value of the resources that were taken from the forest, but now we know. We became interested in the project when we saw that other people in a nearby village were able to do-they don't have any more fires! We now also know the laws that pertain to Guinean forests, and we are going to respect and apply those laws. Our priority is to plan ahead in our own lives and to think about our children's future."

The National Directorate of Water and Forests (DNEF) has officially recognized the community forestry groups and their management plans. This means that the Guinean National Forest Code has been applied, which allows for local populations to manage their community forests. The official recognition has given the communities the power to take on management responsibilities of their forest, and through this they are now able to protect their forest against illicit resource exploitation.

"There were many, many trees here, before we couldn't even see the sun. We have seen the destruction of our forests. But now that we have been made aware of our problems, we're glad to have the opportunity to better manage our own forests," says Aly Millimouno, a village elder from Koumassan. Community forestry groups created and trained during previous years have shown their ability to continue sustainable forest management practices independently. Their actions not only protect the community forests, but also enrich local forest resources, increasing biodiversity.

USAID/ Guinea- Success Stories