Tag Archive for: participation

Training facilitators for participatory land-use planning

The EU REDD Facility recently completed a training on our Land-use Planner, a free, interactive tool designed to support participatory land-use planning processes. The Land-use Planner is practical, easy-to-use, and can be applied to a range of context and planning processes. Over four weeks, we trained 26 participants from seven organisations. Throughout the training, we demonstrated the European Forest Institute’s inclusive approach to land-use planning and provided step-by-step guidance on how to use the Land-use Planner with real planning cases provided by participants.

During the training, each team compiled data on key land uses, developed future land-use scenarios for their case studies, and explored the economic, environmental and social impacts of their various planning options. Here are the highlights of three projects from this training, which illustrate how the tool can be applied in diverse planning contexts.

Laos: Identifying alternatives to shifting agriculture through land-use planning

Shifting agricultural cultivation presents a significant challenge for efforts to promote sustainable land management in northern Laos. This region faces challenges related to illegal logging. In addition, the opening of paths and roads permit access to the forest, leading to degradation, fragmentation and ultimately forest loss. In the Thamla Cluster, GIZ and RECOFTC are working to support village forest management and conservation, with the goal of reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.

During the land-use planning training, a team from GIZ and RECOFTC explored alternatives to shifting agriculture to improve land management over the next five years. Their project focused on the Thamla Cluster, which comprises three villages across 17 000 ha. Several land uses are present, including rice cultivation, tea plantations, forests and pasture for grazing.

Figure 1: Map of the Houaphan Province in Laos.
Figure 1: Map of the Houaphan Province in Laos.

Using the Land-use Planner and their knowledge of local planning issues, GIZ and RECOFTC designed two initial future scenarios to uncover the potential impacts of land-use planning decisions.

• A business-as-usual scenario, with no changes to land-use activities during the 2022 to 2026 planning period

• An expansion scenario where tea plantations and tung oil tree areas are expanded into areas previously used for rice cultivation

Figure 2: Step 3 (scenarios) of the Land-use Planner. The scenarios allow GIZ and RECOFTC to project the potential effects of land-use planning decisions across the five-year planning period. Source: GIZ and RECOFTC, Land-use Planner project
Figure 2: Step 3 (scenarios) of the Land-use Planner. The scenarios allow GIZ and RECOFTC to project the potential effects of land-use planning decisions across the five-year planning period. Source: GIZ and RECOFTC, Land-use Planner project

Future land-use scenarios to engage stakeholders in sustainable planning

The scenario building exercise allowed the team to identity the key land-use issues in the area and the decisions likely to be at stake in future land-use planning processes. The simulation shows it would be possible to increase agricultural areas without encroaching significantly on protected and conservation forests. GIZ and RECOFTC can now use the scenarios and the results of the simulation to facilitate dialogue among farmers, government officials and other stakeholders engaging in land-use planning. These scenarios can be refined through this participatory process. In that way, the Land-use Planner can be used as part of an inclusive planning process that brings all key stakeholders to the table to discuss a shared vision for the future of the landscape. It supports understanding of the environmental, economic and social impacts of different land-use decisions.

Indonesia: Balancing lowland development and mangrove forest conservation in South Sumatra

In 2021, the Indonesian Government selected the Banyuasin District to pilot approaches for improving peatland and mangrove management in the country. The district is dominated by carbon-rich peatland and mangrove. It is also home to the Sembilang National Park and the largest mangrove forest in western Indonesia. The coastal area is also deemed strategic, as it holds several gateway ports for the Provincial coast and is a key area for water transportation. The district contains 21 sub-districts and 305 villages across 1.2 million ha, and smallholders are engaged in coconut and palm oil cultivation, including in the designated Forest Area where peatlands and mangroves are located. The various economic activities and important landscapes in Banyuasin raise various challenges for improving land management. Land-use planning is much needed to balance lowland development with mangrove forest conservation and maintaining smallholder livelihoods.

Mangrove areas being converted into other land uses, potentially oil palm plantations. Source: Satrio Wicaksono, European Forest Institute

Integrated landscape management in Banyuasin II

Figure 3: Map of the Banyuasin Regency, Indonesia. Source: WRI Indonesia

The World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia has an office in South Sumatra and has engaged with the Banyuasin district government regarding potential collaboration on sustainable palm oil production. To that end, WRI used the Land-use Planner to assess how expansion of agricultural areas for palm oil and rubber, as well as infrastructure development could develop without encroaching on protected and conservation forests in Banyuasin II sub-district in the Banuyasin District of South Sumatra Province.

Banyuasin II sub-district is a 350 000 ha coastal area dominated by peatland and mangrove, consisting of

  • Mangrove forest (the largest in western Indonesia)
  • Coconut, oil palm and rubber plantations
  • Special economic zone designated for future port development
Mangrove trees near the coast. Source: Satrio Wicaksono, European Forest Institute
Oil palm plantations. Source: Satrio Wicaksono, European Forest Institute

WRI developed two future scenarios to uncover the potential impacts of land-use planning decisions within the sub-district.

  • A business-as-usual scenario in which interventions to change land uses were not initiated during the 2022 to 2026 planning period
  • A palm oil expansion scenario where oil palm plantation areas are expanded over the next five years
Figure 4: Step 3 (scenarios) of the Land-use Planner. The scenarios allow WRI to project the potential effects of land-use planning decisions across the 2022–2026 planning period. Source: WRI Indonesia, Land-use Planner project

Building future scenarios to inform strategic development

Scenario building is a first step to facilitate dialogue among key stakeholders in the region. It can be used to determine a shared vision for the future development of the Banyuasin Regency. In collaboration with the Banyuasin district government, WRI plans to engage with stakeholders to further refine the scenarios and explore the economic, environmental and social effects of each scenario. This may, in turn, be used to help the Banyuasin district government to improve lowland management in a way that balances the needs of the local communities with forest conservation and infrastructure development. Specifically, the scenarios can help inform the development of the district action plan on sustainable palm oil and development of alternative livelihoods for local communities as part of the government’s programme to reduce conflict and improve tenure security.

Vietnam: Planning for sustainable agriculture in Central Highlands

With the adoption of the Doi Moi Policy reform (1986), Vietnam’s economy shifted from being based predominantly on subsistence farming to one driven by commercial agriculture. In the 2000s, Vietnam’s agricultural exports increased exponentially from USD 4.7 billion in 2005 to USD 17.4 billion in 2016. The main agricultural commodities produced in Vietnam are paddy rice, coffee, rubber, tea, pepper, cashew nuts, fruits, vegetables and timber.

To develop sustainable agricultural commodity production that supports climate change mitigation and adaptation, the Government of Vietnam has several national, provincial and district policies, aimed at increasing value added in the agricultural sector through land-use planning. The Law on crop production (2018) calls for sustainable use of natural resources and infrastructure facilities. It also requires compliance with water quality standards, connects productivity with conservation, and integrates local communities for rural development. It further calls for developing agricultural uses according to land-use planning. Similarly, the Planning Law(2018) calls for the development of national, regional and district plans for urban and rural systems every 10 years. These plans must include economic, social, environmental and climate change components. Also, the Forest Law (2017) calls for the development of a national forest plan, ensuring conservation and protection of natural forest, and forest management plans for sustainable timber extraction in production areas.

Sustainable Coffee Production

Location of Di Linh district, Lam Dong Province. Source: EFI.

The Central Highlands is the main coffee production area of Vietnam, responsible for 80% of the Robusta coffee production. The expansion of this commodity led to economic success. However, the use of fertilisers, pesticides and inefficient irrigation systems has negatively impacted the environment. The region also faces a high deforestation rate (8% between 2000 and 2010), soil degradation, loss of biodiversity and water pollution.

The Mekong Development Research Institute (MDRI) and IDH worked together during the training and used the Land-use Planner in Di Linh District, Lam Dong Province, as part of their efforts to support stakeholders and facilitators engaged in land-use planning. Stakeholders are concerned about unsustainable land use and poor smallholder conditions over the 160 000 ha mountainous area, where forests and coffee agricultural systems are the dominant land uses. With the Land-use Planner, MDRI and IDH were able to better understand the potential impacts of different land-use planning decisions, such as improving coffee production or prioritising reductions in deforestation, over a 30-year planning horizon (2022–2051).

Three scenarios were developed:

  • A business-as-usual scenario, where the coffee monoculture is the main land use
  • Scenario 2, where 1 000 ha of coffee culture is expanded into natural forests and 4 000 ha of natural forests are converted into planted forests
  • Scenario 3, where coffee monoculture is changed to intercropping with macadamia

Developing future scenarios to support the development of district and provincial land-use plans

Developing future land-use scenarios and analysing the potential costs and benefits of various planning decisions can inform the participatory planning processes to formulate sustainable land-use plans in Di Linh. Stakeholders can use the Land-use Planner and generate different scenarios to come together on a clear vision for integrating the production of deforestation-free coffee and other commodities in the future land-use trajectory of the district. A refinement of the scenarios with data from economic, social and environmental aspects can provide an opportunity to elaborate a multistakeholder district plan that can be integrated in the provincial planning process.

Figure 6: Scenarios from the Land-use Planner simulation. Source: MDRI and IDH, Land-use Planner project

Supporting participatory land-use planning with the Land-use Planner

During the training, participants learnt how to use the Land-use Planner to support inclusive, data-informed land-use planning processes in a multitude of contexts where various land-use issues are at stake. With the tool, they were able to calculate the costs and benefits of different land uses and simulate the effects of land-use planning decisions into the future. They compared alternative scenarios and identified key trade-offs, both elements that may serve as a basis for continued engagement with stakeholders to support sustainable land management.

Strengthening participation in agricultural conversion and stabilisation of the agricultural frontier

The new delimitation of the agricultural frontier

In June 2018, the Government of Colombia, through collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), the Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA) and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS), formalised the establishment of the National Agricultural Frontier. The Frontier aims to reduce deforestation caused by the expansion of agricultural activities in the country. With this measure, the Government allocates 35% of Colombia’s land (approximately 40 million hectares) to economic activities linked to various productive sectors. The remaining percentage, located outside the agricultural frontier, is mostly intended for the conservation of natural forests and other strategic ecosystems, such as wetlands and moorland.

The new delimitation of the agricultural frontier, which is part of the Comprehensive Strategy for Deforestation Control and Forest Management, raises various challenges for the agricultural sector. For instance, farmers located outside the agricultural frontier must convert their activities. Those within the frontier face the challenge of increasing their productivity per hectare as they are unable to expand their farm. To identify the best production opportunities and guide land-use planning, UPRA, in collaboration with the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), carried out an extensive study to identify the areas of the country that are best suited for agricultural activities within the agricultural frontier.

To keep existing agricultural activities within the agricultural frontier while accelerating the transition to more suitable production systems, UPRA is developing a series of agricultural conversion master plans for different sectors. These plans will then be linked to other sectoral and territorial instruments, such as the departmental production planning strategies.

2021: a key year for agricultural conversion

One of UPRA’s main objectives for the 2020–2021 period is to produce five conversion plans for the rice sector (corresponding to five producing areas: Bajo Cauca, Llanos, Centro, Costa Norte and Santanderes). In this context, experts from UPRA’s production conversion team, in collaboration with the European Forest Institute (EFI), used the Land-use Planner to generate prospective agricultural conversion scenarios, in a collaborative process involving different actors in the rice sector.

This collaboration between UPRA and EFI resulted in a pilot project covering two administrative areas known as departments: Tolima and Sucre (in the Bajo Cauca and Costa Norte regions, respectively).

Location of Tolima department and the agricultural frontier
Source: UPRA, SIPRA
Location of Sucre department and the agricultural frontier
Source: UPRA, SIPRA

The project aimed to provide a comprehensive picture of the potential impacts of land-use changes over time. It also sought to facilitate dialogue between producers and industrialists in the sector, with a view to consensus regarding the future of the rice supply chain in both departments. The analysis included environmental and social criteria not generally taken into account by producers and entrepreneurs, such as greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, forest cover, job creation and food security. These considerations contributed to the development of a roadmap for rice production in the two departments, as well as technical guidelines for land management. The pilot project also allowed for evaluating the possibility of using the LUP for other conversion master plans and extending the use of the tool to UPRA’s land-use planning team.

Rice production in Tolima and Sucre

In recent years, there has been limited expansion of rice production areas in Tolima and Sucre, although with significant differences in yields between areas in both departments. The producers and entrepreneurs consulted validated the following prospective scenarios:

  • Expansion of rice cultivation in areas with few land-use conflicts, while reducing and replacing rice production in areas with increasing land-use conflicts.
  • Yield improvements in areas where manual or poorly mechanised practices currently persist, but which would benefit from public, private and mixed investment.
  • As alternatives to rice production, soya bean and maize were mainly identified in Tolima, while dual-purpose livestock was identified in Sucre.
  • In the scenario describing current land uses in both departments, the expansion of livestock farming drives deforestation, but strategies to reduce deforestation and protect wetlands (Sucre) and moorland (Tolima) are implemented later.

As the dialogues took place among actors of the same sector, their visions were sufficiently aligned not to require major concessions within the different scenarios. However, three factors generated discussion and reflections that led the group to propose alternatives or reach compromises:

  1. Climate and seasonal changes and the need to adapt to maintain (or increase) yields (investment in mechanisation, irrigation systems improvement, etc.).
  2. In Sucre, the possibility of alternating between rice production and livestock farming every five years to increase producers’ incomes, improve soil productivity and limit the expansion of both uses into wetlands. However, this model has only been implemented in other countries, not in Colombia, and more information is needed to better assess its impacts through the Land-use Planner.
  3. The need to move towards sustainable production systems in both departments, to limit the loss of key ecosystems such as wetlands and moorland.

Future perspectives

Throughout 2021, UPRA will work on formulating conversion master plans for the milk and meat sectors, which both drive deforestation and generate significant land-use conflicts. In this context, the application of the Land-use Planner would demonstrate its full potential as a participatory tool that fosters dialogue. Full adoption and use of the Land-use Planner by UPRA experts will facilitate analyses of different territories and departments, as well as results sharing and dissemination.

Grey-shanked Doucs. Credits: Ryan Deboodt

When biodiversity conservation needs inclusive land-use planning

Hiếu Commune, Kon Plong district, Vietnam

The Central Highlands of Vietnam still hold many surprises. Biodiversity surveys in this region revealed new populations of rare and endangered wildlife, including two critically endangered primates: the grey-shanked douc and the yellow-cheeked gibbon.

Grey-shanked Doucs. Credit: Ryan Deboodt

Despite the rising awareness of the uniqueness of this area, the local wildlife remains critically endangered and threatened by deforestation and habitat fragmentation, due to infrastructure development and agricultural expansion.

“With its high biodiversity level, Kon Plong deserves to be considered as one of Vietnam’s most valuable conservation forests.”

Nhân Dân news

This area is also one of the poorest regions in the country. Finding economic development opportunities consistent with the maintenance of ecosystem services is becoming a pressing issue in parts of the district. In recent years, Fauna and Flora International (FFI) Vietnam, a conservation organisation, brought attention to the threatened primates. FFI promotes an inclusive land-use planning approach to address the dual challenge of improving local income and conserving the natural habitat that sustains the unique biodiversity.

Decisive land-use choices in Hiếu Commune

Hiêu Commune in Kon Plong District is where FFI has been engaging in local discussions on future land use and investments. It is also where the Land-use Planner tool was piloted for that purpose.

In this commune of 2 984 inhabitants, 13.6% of the population lives at or below the poverty line. Their livelihood includes cropping systems based on cassava, rice, vegetables, maize, tree fruit, coffee, and medicinal plants (cultivated, not wild harvested). Stated economic development goals for Kon Plong District focus on agriculture and tourism, with a greater emphasis on agriculture for Hiếu Commune.

Map 1. Current land use in Hiếu Commune

Map 1. Current land use in Hiếu Commune

Map 2. Conservation and land ownership in Hiếu Commune

Map 2. Conservation and land ownership in Hiếu Commune

At the northern end of the Commune, some 1 742 hectares (8.5% of the total land area in Hiếu Commune) are designated as watershed protection forests. At the southern end, preliminary analysis by FFI identified an area of approximately 4 800 hectares as having particularly high value for biodiversity conservation. The Kon Plong Forest Company owns that area, together with another 10 172 hectares.

Participatory planning for Hiếu Commune

Vietnam’s new planning law and its implementing decree require provincial land-use and socioeconomic development plans to be inclusive, and science and fact-based. Commune and village-level feedback is an important part of the process.

Land-use planning is both a top-down and bottom-up process. While strategy and direction comes in the form of 10-year national strategies and provincial plans that are transcribed into district-level master plans, details are to be developed from all the villages’ data and opinions. The process includes the following steps:

  • The Commune People’s Committee begins by hosting a meeting to orient residents to the land-use planning process.
  • Villages then hold meetings to outline and discuss land use and related needs, based on district-level master plan.
  • Representatives from the villages then report back to the Commune People’s Committee.
  • Data and opinions gathered from all villages are then synthesised at the commune level and submitted to the District People’s Committee.
The FFI Team meets with Commune Leaderships as part of a field visit, October 2020. Credits: Nguyen Ngoc Lan
The FFI Team meets with Commune Leaderships as part of a field visit, October 2020. Credits: Nguyen Ngoc Lan

It is in the context of this dialogue between villages, the commune, and the district, that FFI facilitated a series of initial conversations to explore how various land-use and land management choices could affect future development potential.

Assessing alternative land-use options

In the weeks leading up to the October 2020 field visit and workshop, the FFI team used the Land-use Planner tool to model various possible land-use changes. The models result in different socioeconomic outcomes in terms of food security, employment and income, and environmental protection. First, the team developed a baseline or business-as-usual scenario, in which change is driven by the continuation of recent trends in population growth. Then, it developed alternative scenarios dubbed ‘Livelihood Support’ and ‘Conservation,’ based on initial conversations with local stakeholders.

Under the Livelihood Support scenario, Hiếu Commune would see increases in cassava cultivation, the establishment and some repurposing of greenhouses to grow fruits, vegetables, and possibly medicinal plants. In this scenario, fruit orchards and processing and sale of such products as mango, longan and avocado would begin or increase.

The Conservation scenario included the establishment of new protected areas designed to enhance biodiversity conservation. These would add to the existing watershed protection forest area already managed for water quality and other ecosystem services. The additional land protection would mean less agricultural production in specific areas. The high conservation value areas occur in the southern portion of the Commune, and the reduction in farm activity would happen there as well.

Focus group and workshop discussions in Hiếu Commune revealed a clear interest from participants to be better informed about the causal relationships between land-use decisions and economic development. Representatives from the District People’s Committee expressed an interest in using this kind of resource in their planning process.

From its last trip, the FFI team reported: ‘Our experience with the Hiếu Commune process shows that the Land-use Planner has the potential to be a very engaging means of helping local citizens and decision makers think more creatively and expansively about future economic development and environmental quality enhancing scenarios. This, ultimately, can lead to functional land-use plans against which development proposals, land reallocation, and public and private investment decisions can be compared and, depending on the comparison, either encouraged or discouraged.’

For more information

Josh Kempinski

FFI Country Director, Vietnam Programme

josh.kempinski@fauna-flora.org