Case Studies UNDP: AFRICAN CENTRE FOR THE INTEGRATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (PACINDHA), Mali

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: AFRICAN CENTRE FOR THE INTEGRATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (PACINDHA), Mali

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Mali

AFRICAN CENTRE FOR THEINTEGRATION OF HUMANRIGHTS (PACINDHA)

Empowered live

Resilient nation

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Yearsthe Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chief: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude PACINDHA, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Amadou Konate (Preside

and Siaka Diarra. All photo credits courtesy o PACINDHA. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. African Centre for the Integration of Human Rights (PACINDHA), Mali. Equator InitiatCase Study Series. New York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdf


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PROJECT SUMMARYThis NGO mobilizes local communities in western andsouthwestern Mali to sustainably manage natural resourcesand protect biodiversity. Since 2003, the initiative hasimplemented a wide range o activities, including theprotection o wildlie and auna species, combating the useo polluting substances, and improving land managementand access to water or local communities.

One key intervention has been to restore the DetariumMicrocarpum plant population, a species which hadbecome endangered because o overuse and bush res.

The promotion and commercialization o products suchas jewelry made rom the plant, the popularization o itsmedicinal properties, and wider activities to support thesustainable harvest o the species have created income orthe community: the group has successully rejuvenated200 ha oDetarium Microcarpum in ten villages throughoutOuelessebougou.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2006

FOUNDED: 2003

LOCATION: Western and south-western Mali

BENEFICIARIES: 75 villages

BIODIVERSITY: Detarium microcarpum tree

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AFRICAN CENTRE FOR THE INTEGRATIONOF HUMAN RIGHTS (PACINDHA)Mali

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 8

Socioeconomic Impacts 8

Policy Impacts 8

Sustainability 9

Replication 9

Partners 9


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he Arican Centre or the Integration o Human Rights (Ple desctions dIntegration des Droits Humains en Afrique - PACINDHA) is aon-governmental organization that mobilizes local communities

n western and south-western Mali to sustainably manage natural

esources and protect biodiversity. The organization operates in a

egion where human activities such as logging, bush res, overuse

chemical ertilizers, industrial development and poaching pose

erious risks to threatened plant and animal species and contribute

o degradation o the ragile savanna ecosystem.

Malis rapid urbanization has led to a boom in logging in sub-districts

ituated along the main roads to Bamako. Between 1960 and 2009,

he capitals population grew rom 100,000 to 1,800,000 people,ccording to the 2009 census. Ninety per cent o households in the

ity rely on rewood or charcoal or cooking and boiling water. Given

his demand, as well as the growing need or building materials,

eorestation is a growing problem in areas surrounding Bamako.

n Malis Ouelessebougou municipality, the Detarium microcarpumree is particularly threatened by the expansion o logging as it

makes or good rewood, being quick and easy to light even when

amp. Its dark brown, regular grain wood also makes it a good

andidate or medium-heavy lumber used in carpentry, joinery,

arving and construction. Unregulated logging o this tree poses a

hreat to the livelihoods o rural women who depend on the tree or

ts many marketable uses.

A valuable local resource

he trees sweet ruit is an important ood source or rural populations

n the Sahel. People generally consume it resh, although its pulp

an be used as a sugar substitute in certain dishes and it is a key

ngredient in the manuacture o nutritionally-enriched porridge or

hildren. Furthermore, the trees seeds can yield oil or create a our to

se as a avoring, emulsiying or thickening agent. In Mali, a healthy

ree can produce an average o 675 ruits (about seven kilograms),

which keep or up to three years i stored in jute bags. This make

ruit highly portable and a prime candidate or export. Accordin

the Malian Railways Bureau o Customs, Mali exports thousan

tons o the ruit each year to countries throughout the region.

The bark, leaves, seeds, ruit, and roots o Detarium microcahave medicinal uses due to their diuretic and astringent prope

In Mali specically, various parts o the tree are used either alon

in combination with other plants to treat a large number o me

complaints, including malaria, measles, epilepsy, paralysis and o

spinal problems, nocturia, yellow ever, hypertension, snake b

hemorrhoids, leprosy and impotence. When applied to wou

resh bark and leaves can prevent and cure inection, and powdbark is a common pain reliever. In southern Mali, the leaves

roots are even used to treat diarrhea in cattle. Traditionally, Ko

students in Mali use writing slates and prayer beads made rom

wood o Detarium microcarpum, and the trees seeds are usemake jewelry.

Besides logging, Detariummicrocarpum and other species o pand animals are threatened by bush res, which both herders

sedentary armers intentionally set in order to clear elds

search or honey. This trend causes soil compaction, reducing

permeability and making land vulnerable to erosion. Expan

o cotton-growing has also accelerated the rate o deoresta

decreased the use o allow periods, and contributed to soil erchallenges. Near Malis borders with Cote dIvoire and Guinea, 3

cent o arable land is aected by some orm o land degrada

As a result, armers have experienced reduced crop yields and

increasingly dependent on expensive chemical ertilizers. In

last ve years, nitrogen-based chemical ertilizer has more

doubled in price, becoming too expensive to produce any econ

benet or the vast majority o subsistence armers. Excess use

improper management o such ertilizer can lead to eutrophica

o surace water, acidication o soil, and human exposure thro

contamination o air, ood and drinking water. Industry, speci

Background and Context


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he opening o a cotton ginning actory in Ouelessebougou in 2005,

as increased concerns about the eects o pollutants on humans,

vestock, and wildlie populations.

Wildlie reserves in western Mali used to be home to considerable

opulations o large mammals that have been devastated by

oaching and competition rom livestock. The Boucle de Baoul

iosphere Reserve contains several smaller wildlie species and orest

eserves that covering a total area o 918,000 hectares. The reserves

atural resources are subject to pressure rom indigenous peoples,

mobile pastoralist groups and their livestock (mainly sheep, goats

nd zebu cattle), and the clearing o vegetation or agricultural use.

opulation pressures have intensied with the tarring o the Kita-

amako Kenieba road. The Bang Reserve is home to 260 animal

pecies, including Derby Eland (Taurotragus derbianus), leopards

(Pantherapardus), Arican wild dogs (Lycaonpictus) and sevendangered chimpanzees. The capture and killing o chimpan

is lucrative business or networks o poachers throughout

Gambia, Senegal and Guinea. Small chimpanzees are sold as or XOF (West Arican CFA rancs) 50,000-200,000, and chimpa

meat and organs are used in occult practices.

PACINDHA works with communities, government authorities, m

and development partners in the region to address the a

challenges. The organization has been most active in develo

and training local committees to coordinate management

protection o natural resources while advocating or a suppo

legislative and judicial ramework.

PACINDHA is always looking to find a link between forest resources and improving the livin

conditions of populations, because the destruction of natural resources is always linked to gre

impoverishment. Environmental protection can only happen when the populations are really

involved with all their energy.

Amadou Konate, President, PACINDHA


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Key Activities and Innovations

ACINDHA has been most widely recognized or its initiative to

protect and restore the Detariummicrocarpium in order to improvehe living conditions o rural people around Ouelessebougou. The

organization launched the project in 2004 ater a village survey,

onducted in 2003, indicated a lack o organized conservation or

municipal regulatory eorts. PACINDHA carried out an awareness

ampaign about the excessive pressure on Detariummicrocarpium,which reached 90 per cent o the local population and municipal

uthorities in 43 villages. As a result, there has been a strengthening

o the legal and regulatory ramework, outlawing cutting o

Detariummicrocarpum in the municipality. Ten village environmentalprotection committees, trained by PACINDHA, continue to inorm

heir communities about these restrictions and other environmentalmanagement regulations in Mali. The committee members also

erve as relay agents o water and orestry in the villages, calling in

igher ofcials when inractions occur.

Supporting womens livelihoods

ACINDHA has provided organizational support and training to

en womens cooperatives on the sustainable harvest, marketing

nd commercialization o Detarium microcarpum products.Women benet rom the trees without logging by making jewelry,

xtracting medicinally valuable products and selling the trees ruit.

ach cooperative is comprised o about 500 members led by a

president. PACINDHA trained women in new techniques or makingbeaded jewelry with Detarium microcarpum seeds and marketinghe nished products. Groups have participated in study tours to

amako, where women contacted merchants and traders, eventually

nding markets or their products in Mali and beyond in Senegal,

urkina Faso, Guinea, Niger, Europe, Asia and America.

rotection oDetariummicrocarpum has improved ruit harvestingnd storage practices and encouraged local consumption. Village

tocks o the ruit tend to last eight months o the year now and

provide a signicant source o nutrition when prepared with

couscous during the months rom June to September when g

stores tend to run low. Local interest in biodiversity and reso

protection has risen, particularly among women, as protec

eorts have led to signicant increases in income, especially

selling ruit. Concern about the eects o degradation, particu

on the livelihoods and lives o rural women depending on the

led to an organizational eort to adopt a convention giving

tree protected status, restoring its population and allowing o

sustainable management and use.

Following the success o this natural resource management initia

PACINDHA has undertaken a number o other biodiversity and

livelihood projects around Ouelessebougou and the wider regi

Tacklingpoaching

In the Bang Wildlie Reserve and its peripheral zone, PACIN

carried out a two-year initiative to reduce poaching o chimpan

and destruction o wildlie habitat. Thirteen national telev

broadcasts and over 50 radio programs tackled the subje

chimpanzee protection, raising national awareness o poac

The campaign gained support rom local political leaders and

successul in involving hunters. PACINDHA coordinated the tra

o village monitoring committees to cut down on poaching

destruction o chimpanzee habitat within the reserve and alon

border areas. A orce o over 200 local guards now share responsior securing the area.

Building local capacity through conservation

PACINDHA has also built local capacity o communities surroun

the Bang Reserve by training civil society groups in sustain

livelihoods activities and promoting ecotourism. The organiz

has especially encouraged the sustainable production o hoDetarium microcarpum ruit, palm wine rom the Raphia sudatree, and products made rom the ruit, ber and wood o the Bora


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ethiopum palm tree. In the riverine communities surroundinghe reserve, PACINDHA has installed solar water pump systems to

mprove community access to water as well.

n Koussan, near Malis borders with Cote dIvoire and Guinea,

ACINDHA has worked with the local committees to stop those

who set bush res and have plantedAndropogongayanus to restorend replenish degraded soil. Sixteen village-level environmental

rotection committees have been trained in the application o

nvironmental protection regulations, and an environmental

ducation program has reached 2,000 students. The organization

as also promoted the growth o a beekeeping industry in the area

o avoid the need to light bush res or the purpose o nding honey.

ACINDHA also worked with local people to decrease the health risks

poor water access in Koussan. In the past, animals and 90 per cent

people there have relied on poor quality, stagnant surace water

rom creeks and rivers between February and May. Consuming dirty

water led to diarrhea and abdominal pain in about 45 per cent o

hildren and 36 per cent o women, according to local health centre

eports. To address this challenge, PACINDHA trained a hygiene

nd sanitation committee, established a borehole and trained local

women to carry out market gardening around the new water point.

o reduce water and habitat stress on animals, the organization also

established 20 salt licks in order to maintain the population o l

mammals, including bushbuck, hartebeest and waterbuck as we

herders cattle and goats by providing them with sources o min

nutrients.

Back in Ouelessebougou, PACINDHA has led a campaign to elim

the use o leaded petrol through regional and national networ

in the media, communities and distribution chains. The organiza

has also worked to limit the negative impacts o pollutants rom

newly-developed cotton ginning industry on nearby wildlie

livestock.

PACINDHA approaches community resource management

educating the municipal leaders and populations about own economic relationship with the depletion and degrada

o natural resources. The organization has been innovativ

its use o radio and other media to spread messages about

symbiotic relationship between biodiversity conservation and

livelihoods. The initiative is also active in advocating or village-

involvement in policy change and enorcement. The organiza

relies largely on training local management committees to in

communities o environmental regulations, carry out surveilla

and enorce environmental protection rules.

The success of the Detarium protection project profoundly changed our conception of the role

population in protecting the environment. It showed us that poverty is a threat to the environmen

because when communities have no reliable source of income, they turn against nature to surviv

It is essential that these people are included, not only to increase their income but to increase th

value and appreciation of biodiversity products.

Amadou Konate, President, PACINDHA


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Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTSPACINDHAs eorts have led to the rejuvenation o 200 hectares o

Detariummicrocarpum in ten villages throughout Ouelessebougoumunicipality. Throughout Mali, PACINDHA has been active in the

reation o 20 local agreements or natural resource management

nd has worked with 200 community groups to sustainably manage

over 5,000 hectares o orest.

The PACINDHA initiative in the Boucle de Baoul Biosphere Reserve

n western Mali has led to the protection o 918,000 hectares o land.

n this area, PACINDHA has trained community groups to intervene

n the illegal export o wildlie. The Bang Wildlie Reserve project

has created 28 committees to protect chimpanzees, which has led toewer cases o poaching, particularly in the border areas surrounding

he reserve.

n Koussan, PACINDHA has led 80 armers in the restoration o 320

hectares o degraded land through the seeding o Andropogongayanus and the production o organic ertilizer, which hasprotected ground water by reducing the need or polluting chemical

ertilizers. Four hundred armers rom ten villages have mastered the

echnique o seasonal penning o animals and, o these, 100 armers

have added a total o 200 acres o crop elds.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTSMany villages have ound that PACINDHAs inormation and

organizing around environmental protection has enabled them

o market sustainable products that ultimately improved income.

n 2010 alone, PACINDHA created more than 500 temporary jobs.

n Ouelessebougoue, sales o the detarium ruit, which may havebrought an average woman in a rural area XOF 5,000 per month

prior to community eorts, have risen ve- or six-old in some

reas, providing some woman with more than XOF 30,000 each

month. Typically, amilies invest the money they make rom these

ypes o income generating activities in childrens school ees,

agricultural tools and livestock. Some amilies use this incompursue beekeeping, market gardening or small poultry-ra

and PACINDHA has provided training to improve the product

sustainability and market reach o these practices. Gr

availability oDetariummicrocarpum or medicinal purposes asome amilies to save money on more expensive health treatm

allowing or investment in other priorities.

Similar economic benets have been elt in connection

PACINDHAs capacity building eorts in other aspects o livelih

In Koussan, agricultural training has led to increased soil e

and agricultural production and a decreased reliance on chem

ertilizers. PACINDHA has assisted communities in accessing c

water, reducing conict over limited water sources, and reducinincidence o diseases related to the consumption o unsae drin

water. The new water point has also given women more tim

engage in income-generating activities like market gardenin

they spend less time traveling and queuing to collect water. I

Bang Reserve area, the beginnings o ecotourism initiatives

given hope or new sources o income to many local entrepren

with the establishment o a small tourist camp in the area.

POLICY IMPACTS

Village-level environmental protection committees have allo

local people to nd a voice and coordinate with governm

technical services. Along with awareness campaigns, this shi

decreased the requency o disputes between communities

technical service providers. PACINDHA reports that many

people have shited in avor o national environmental protec

policies, whereas beore, most believed such policies to be restri

and even repressive. The development o local convention

environmental protection has allowed or local involvem

in decision-making, leading to a eeling o empowerment

responsibility or the management o local resources. As a r

compliance with regulations has increased as people eel a gr

sense o involvement in their design.


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Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITY

nvironmental protection committees and their working

elationships with state services and organizations will structurally

uarantee the sustainability o PACINDHAs work. By ocusing on

raining and raising awareness about the intertwined ates o local

nvironment and local livelihoods, the communities working with

ACINDHA have internalized a commitment to natural resource

rotection. The committees remain actively engaged in carrying

ut their various duties beyond the initial period o training, as

ACINDHA provides only limited nancial support.

As or organizational sustainability, PACINDHA is largely reliant on

rants and donations. The organization collects membership dues,

ut these usually result in a trivial amount o money that does not

und the implementation o all o PACINDHAs activities.

REPLICATION

oday, PACINDHA has a wide reach, largely due to the success o

he organizations detarium microcarpum initiative rom 2004 to006. PACINDHA currently operates in over twelve municipalities

n 75 villages, with a working population o approximately 47,500

eople. The organization estimates that more than 200 villages haveeneted rom replicating the promotion o sustainable biodiversity

roducts.

ACINDHA is a member o two civil society coalitions that are

working or the ongoing protection o Malis biosphere reserves.

hese arrangements provide ample opportunity or networking and

or the exchange o ideas and experiences.

PARTNERS

The UNDP-implemented GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP

been an essential partner in many o PACINDHAs activities, inclu

its successul Detarium microcarpum protection initiative. Thebreakdown o GEF-SGP grants received by PACHINDA since 200

a range o dierent projects is listed in Table 1.

The Canada Fund or Local Initiatives (CFLI) has also provided na

support, notably unding the training o womens cooperativ

turning detariummicrocarpum seeds into beads and necklaces

the study tour linking cooperatives with marketing outlets.Global Environment Facility and the World Bank have also b

important sources o support.

Within the government, Malis Ministry o the Environment

been supportive by providing its agents to conduct outreach

training concerning environmental protections and law. The or

service and Ministry o Environment and Sanitation have also

actively supportive o PACINDHAs eorts. The government has

particularly supportive in establishing the reserve and buer zo

the Boucle de Baoul Biosphere Reserve.

PACINDHA has worked in partnership on several environm

projects with two local NGOs, The Malian Association orConservation o Fauna and the Environment (lAssociation Malipour la Conservation de la Faune et de lEnvironnement- AMCFEThe Malian Association or the Study, Protection and Plannin

Nature and the Environment (lAssociation Malienne pour lla Protection, et lAmnagement de la Nature et de lEnvironnemAMEPANE).


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Table 1: Small Grants Programme grants since 2003

Project title Period Amount granted (US

Bang Wildlie Reserve Chimpanzee Protection (pilot study) 2003-4 1,000

Bang Wildlie Reserve Chimpanzee Protection 2004-6 31,229.80

Management and restoration oDetariumMicrocarpum population in Ouelessebougoumunicipality

2004-6 31,164.80

Protection oProsopisAfricana and Pterocarpuserinaceus and prevention o coal miningon hillsides

2005-6 16,229.57

Elimination o leaded petrol in Arica or improving air quality 2005-7 25,340.58

Development o a legal and institutional ramework or the protection o chimpanzees inthe Bang Wildlie Reserve

2006-8 33,876.63

Supporting communities in combating the illegal wildlie trade and reducing PersistentOrganic Pollutants (POPs)

2006-8 27,808.71

Improving access to clean drinking water in Koussan 2008-9 19,394.00

Land rehabilitation through planting of Andropogon Gayanus and capacity building ofCBOs in Koussan

2008-10 37,197.16

Total: 223,241.25

ource: UNDP-implemented GEF Small Grants Programme


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FURTHER REFERENCE

Broekhuis, A., de Bruijn, M., and de Jong, A. 2004. Urban-Rural Linkages and Climatic Variability. Environment & Policy, 39 (Part B),

321. actuar-acd.org/uploads/5/6/8/7/5687387/urban_rural_linkages_and_climatic_variability.pd

Simonsson, L. 2005. Vulnerability Prole o Mali. Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Poverty and Vulnerability Programme. liu.

portal.org/smash/get/diva2:225235/FULLTEXT01

Groundswell International website: groundswellinternational.org/where-we-work/mali/

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necting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

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Case Studies UNDP: AFRICAN CENTRE FOR THE INTEGRATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (PACINDHA), Mali