Ongoing Projects

1. Management of Indigenous Forests Project

   The Community-Based Management of Indigenous Forests (CBMIF) Project is the main SADC forestry project funded by the German Government through GTZ. It is being implemented in 4 countries namely Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and Namibia.



Source: Fedlmeier (2003)

The project is aimed at sustainable management of indigenous forests through promotion of innovative forest resource utilization technologies, establishment of local level institutions to control forest resource use and development of farmer based land-use and forest management plans. The project is established on the premise that awareness creation and income generation activities for farmers can reduce forest destruction. Among the income generation activities successfully adopted are fruit juice production from baobab (Adansonia digitata) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica), guinea fowl rearing, beekeeping and honey production.

This project is expected to develop and test policies and strategies on sustainable forest management for application at regional level. A database on the project has already been developed and is available through the Project Management Unit (PMU) based in Maputo, Mozambique.

2. Improvement of Forestry Colleges in SADC

   Funded by the Government of Finland, the project ran for 10 years covering all countries in the region before narrowing down to only 3 countries (Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia) through a 2 years phasing out period, which commenced in 2003. The main objective of this project is to strengthen technical forestry education and training as a way of fostering manpower development in the region. The PMU is based in Malawi at Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife.

3. SECOSUD Project

   Funded by the Government of Italy and implemented by the University of Trieste, the project covers all SADC countries and contributes to the Rio Convention through conservation of plant biodiversity in the region. Phase 1 of the project ended in December 2003. A project proposal for SECOSUD 2 has been drafted based on the country terminal reports and on the need to consolidate the gains from SECOSUD 1. A total budget of US$1.9 million has been proposed for SECOSUD 2.

4. SADC Forestry Databank

   The former Forestry Sector Technical Coordination Unit (FSTCU) collected a huge amount of forestry data and developed a database to facilitate the development of forestry in the region. This database has recently been transferred to the Secretariat where it is being updated for incorporation onto the SADC website. An up-to-date forestry data bank is critical for decision-making and policy formulation and it will enhance the Secretariat’s capability to provide useful information to Member States and any interested agencies.