WHEN AND HOW TO GO TRANSBOUNDARY EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR TRANSBOUNDARY NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Harry van der Linde Senior Program Officer Biodiversity Support Program

Acknowledgements yThe Biodiversity Support Program (BSP) is a consortium of World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and World Resources Institute, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This product was made possible through support provided to BSP by the Global Bureau of USAID, under the terms of Cooperative Agreement Number DHR-A (funding for the Southern Africa study came from the USAID - Regional Center for Southern Africa (RCSA)), and by the Africa Bureau of USAID, under the terms of Cooperative Agreement Number AOT-A yThe opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID. yContributions from many experts and organizations in Africa and beyond.

Contents  Context of TBNRM  Set-up of the BSP project  When to go transboundary?  How to go transboundary?  Future for TBNRM?  Conclusion

Interest for TBNRM  Interest by local communities  First International Peace Park in 1932  Now 169 transboundary protected area complexes worldwide  Large regional economic development initiatives  Political stability – Peace Parks Initiatives  Broad landscape approaches by international conservation organizations  International conventions and funding mechanisms

Ecoregions of Africa

Distribution of Elephants in Southern Africa

Project Approach yInitiate analysis of TBNRM as approach for natural resource management and conservation yReviews and case studies in four regions in sub-Saharan Africa. yPan-African analysis yA pan-African workshop yPreparation of pan-African guidance

Various Motivations for Involvement...  Diversity in interests  Multiple opportunities: -ecological -social and cultural -economic and financial -political institutional

TBNRM Definition ‘Any process of collaboration across boundaries that increases the effectiveness of attaining Natural Resource Management or Biodiversity Conservation goal(s).’

When to go Transboundary?  Options: to work nationally, exchange information, work transboundary  When the whole is greater than the sum of the parts  A proposed mechanism to analyze: -Place in ecological spectrum -Threats and opportunities  Sometimes most efficient, sometimes not!  To be applied to each NRM and biodiversity objective  To be applied towards new and ongoing initiatives

Further Scoping Analysis Stakeholder Identification and Consultation Yes No Yes Initial Scoping Transboundary Vision Consultation Development of a Transboundary Vision Stay National

TBNRM-Initiative Cycle Analyze Data and Communicat e Results Implement Management and Monitoring Plans Develop a Transboundar y Monitoring Plan Develop a Transboundary Management Plan Transboundar y Vision See Figure Iterate Use Results to Adapt and Learn Adapted from Margolius and Salafsky, 1998, to the context of TBNRM Transboundary Initiative Cycle

How to go transboundary  Key elements to the process of identification, planning and implementation:  levels to be involved (stakeholder identification, consultation and involvement)  the need for and variety of agreements  communication  organizational and individual capacity (roles of stakeholders in the process) enabling conditions

Context of these key elements of the process  Some are applied on a national level, but a transboundary approach adds additional challenges and complexities  Flexibility of application – what is useful all depends on the situation  Very much scale and time dependent  It should be an adaptable, flexible process and iterative

Levels- Some Lessons  What can be achieved at local level only is limited; more ambitious TBNRM goals require involvement of a wider range of levels  Communication is essential within and between levels in each country, and with the equivalent levels across the international border  TBRNM is more efficient if it involves the simplest scale possible to achieve the goals and it is probably more effective if it is not driven from the top.

Lessons, Con’t  Stakeholder involvement: -two levels apply: parallel in-country and across the border -exact ‘mirror-image’ counterpart organizations may not exist across the border  it is advantageous to build on existing relationships

Agreements  For different purposes  Different types and levels  Some lessons:  Negotiating agreements is costly and time-consuming; purpose should be very clear  Agreements can increase the sustainability of outcomes by making the process less dependent on the immediate action of individuals  Need for adaptive management – may develop over time from informal to formal

Communication  Obtain a common focus across sectors, within levels, within organizations, up and down levels and across countries  Share information widely  Keep up the dialogue when it becomes hard  Communication - some lessons:  A common focus and vision, early on in the process  Transparency Appropriate messages to a broad target audience – involve other sectors and disciplines

Organizational and Institutional Capacity  A critical minimum capacity on national levels  Learning by doing  Role for regional institutions?

 Capacity-Some lessons:  In case of insufficient national capacity – build first, or adjust expectations  An outside facilitator can support the process in case of weak organizations on both sides of border – technical and financial  Develop existing institutions to include TBNRM or establish new ones

Constraints and Enabling Conditions  TBNRM initiatives in a broader ‘environment’  An enabling condition is a condition that facilitates, supports or is essential for successful TBNRM  Is relevant in an ecological, social and cultural, economic-financial, political and policy, institutional context  Which are relevant varies between initiatives, scale and over time

Future of TBNRM- Gaps and Needs  Economic valuation of TBNRM  TBNRM's role in economic development  Financing of TBNRM initiatives  Cross-sectoral collaboration  Use of regional and international fora  Mechanisms for learning, support and networking

Conclusions  TBNRM is a viable option for NRM and biodiversity conservation  But, if conditions for internal, national NRM are absent, the situation will not be improved by going transboundary  TBNRM should be seen as a process, not a fixed approach – there is no blueprint and flexibility and adaptability is key  It is a relatively new approach - need to learn from each other