Paiement pour services environnementaux comme moyen de gestion durable des forêts communautaires du massif forestier de Ngoyla : Etat des lieux et perspectives.

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to contribute to the sustainable management of Ngoyla forest community's community forests through an evaluation of the payments for environmental services initiative. The study took place in the Ngoyla district, specifically in the five villages whose forests benefited from the initiative. More specifically it has been a question of assessing the perception of the stakeholders vis-à-vis the initiative, to evaluate the revenues from community forests via environmental services payments, to examine the progress of the initiative in the locality, to present the prospects for payments for environmental services in the Ngoyla forest. The methodology consisted of field trips and semi-structured surveys were conducted among four target groups : beneficiary populations, heads of legal entities in each community forest, officials of the World Wildlife Fund, the manager of the Agro-Forestry Cooperative of the Tri-national and that of the Baka and Bantou Cultures Observatory. This study shows that the populations benefiting from the SEP initiative have a good perception of the payments for environmental services initiative because not only are they aware of the commitments made (82% of respondents attest to this), but also this initiative Contributes to the sustainable management of their community forests (100%). These populations are 100% satisfied with the payments for environmental services initiative. With regard to income, an envelope of 38,500,000 FCFA has been set aside for the payment of environmental services and the latter is spread over a period of 2 years; a first payment allowed the populations to carry out civic projects for a total cost of 19 564 000 FCFA and also to realize community works. The management of these revenues generated no conflict, says 90% of those surveyed. However, achievement rates fell in the third year (21.66%) compared to the first year (79.99%). The descriptive analysis test yielded an annual average of 66.66% for achievement rates. It is recommended that the payments for environmental services initiative be more successful, build the organizational capacity of local communities and build trust with local people.