Integrated Land Use Assessment - Phase I

The Integrated Land-Use Assessment (ILUA) 2005-2008, which compiled a wide array of statistical and spatial data on the land-use situation in Zambia, was the first of its kind in the country. The statistical data, acquired through field surveys at 221 sample plots (see ILUA I spatial layer) spread across the country consisted of field measurements, observations and local interviews which captured data related to forestry, livestock and agriculture in an effort to assess conditions on the ground and to investigate links between the three sectors.

The Zambia Forestry Department (ZFD), lead institution responsible for implementing the ILUA, carried out the field data collection during 2005 and 2007, while the Ministry of Lands, Survey Department was responsible for the remote sensing survey, employing Landsat TM data from 2005 for mapping land cover and forests. The overall technical support of the ILUA implementation has been provided by the FAO Forestry Department. Capacity building was targeted to methodology development, sampling design, harmonization of land use classifications, mapping, field survey, data management and reporting and included consultations with other government line ministries and departments.

The ILUA field manual contains definitions and procedures used to plan and perform an Integrated Land Use Assessment in Zambia following the definitions, criteria and indicators developed by the Forest Resources Assessment programme (FRA) of the FAO. The methodology is based on a systematic, nation-wide field sampling system. This methodology has also been tested and implemented in several other countries since 2000 (i.e. Costa Rica, Guatemala, Philippines, Cameroon and Lebanon) primarily to assess forestry resources. In Zambia, the assessment has been extended to other sectors, such as agriculture and livestock.

The purpose of the ILUA is to assess forestry and other related resources and land use practices, to provide up-to-date qualitative and quantitative information on the state, use, management and trends of these resources. The assessment covers a large range of biophysical and socio-economic variables, and thus provides a broad view of forest resources and related land uses for the country as a whole. In particular, the information serves the planning, design and implementation of national and international policies and strategies for sustainable use and conservation of forest resources, and to understand the relationship between forests and their users. Aside from serving national data needs, the information produced from ILUA can also enable Zambia to provide accurate information to a variety of international reporting agreements such as CBD, CCD UNFF, FRA and UNFCCC. By integrating the assessment and monitoring across forest and agriculture sectors, possibilities are also created for analyzing land management as a whole.

A final report highlighted results from both the field inventory and the land use/land cover mapping components of ILUA.

Some major key findings from ILUA I were:

1. Forest cover, according to the ILUA field inventories, is estimated at approximately 49.9 million ha or 66% of the total land cover of Zambia.
2. The total growing stock (volume) across all land uses for Zambia is estimated at 2.9 billion m3, with the majority of this volume, 2.1 billion m3, held in semi-evergreen miombo-dominated forests.
3. The total national biomass (i.e. above and below ground) is estimated at 5.6 billion tonnes, with an additional 434 million tonnes of dead wood biomass, for a total biomass estimate of 6 billion tonnes. Of this biomass, there are approximately 2.8 billion tonnes of carbon stored in the forests. The potential for increased carbon sequestration from the terrestrial forests in Zambia is generally high due to high total growing stock of the forests and potential for reducing emission from forests, as approximately 32% of the forest is considered either moderately or heavily disturbed. Over 65% of the forests are secondary regeneration with active growth potential.
4. The mean volume of the forests is relatively low, ranging from 40m3/ha in deciduous Baikiea forests and Mopane woodland to 67m3/ha in evergreen mavunda forests. Natural forests with tree cover greater than 70% can be regarded as rather intact forestland, where some selective harvesting of valuable species may have occurred. In these forests, the total volume is about 80 m3/ha, whereas in degraded forests with tree cover between 10 and 40%, the volume is reduced to around 40 m3/ha.
5. Degradation of the forests can be analyzed from the recorded disturbance levels in the forests. Some 61% of the forest and OWL area are disturbed in one way or another by human activities in Zambia. However, only some 5% is considered to be heavily disturbed and the rest, 56%, are only slightly or moderately. Areas without disturbances accounted for 33% of the forests. According to the ILUA, the Zambian forests have good potential for regeneration.
6. Most of the land in Zambia (61%) is practically owned and managed by customary authorities. Of the total forestland, about 31 million hectares (63%) are located on customary land and only 12 million hectares are located on State land (24%). Privately owned forests with legal land titles account for 5 million hectares.
7. Forests provide an important source of livelihood for rural communities. Based on the household survey, use of NWFPs is less common than the use of major wood products, however, some households indicated that they use a variety of products from forests, which highlights the importance of the multiple uses of forests and the numerous products that can benefit local communities. Different income levels determine which forest products are utilized. In particular, poorer households with incomes of less than 100,000ZKW/year ($18/year) show a higher dependence (44%) on fuelwood than those who earn more than 5,000,000ZKW/year (35%). Poorer households also indicated greater dependence on medicinal plants and plant food.

Major statistical results from ILUA I are also represented on this NFMS portal at the provincial level in the following layer (Link to layer of ILUA I results)

A policy review analysis for forestry and agriculture was also completed based on ILUA I results. Based on the analysis of ILUA I data which was carried out in order to identify key information needs for relevant national policies and action plans related to agriculture and forestry, the study offered the following policy implications and recommendations (amongst others):

1. Zambia has a large population under extreme poverty. Even though poverty is widespread, the majority of people in Zambia who are affected by high poverty levels are predominantly found in rural areas. The country’s poor and non‐poor are closely associated with agriculture and the greatest gains on poverty reduction can be achieved through stimulating an efficient agricultural sector. This observation in itself implies that for anti‐poverty programmes to achieve the intended, they have to be designed and implemented in a manner that takes into account the large presence of the chronic poor in rural areas.
2. Sustainable management of natural forests depends, to a large extent, on the land tenure system. It is important to note that although the Land Act vests power over land of the President, most of the land in Zambia (62%) is practically owned and managed by customary authorities. Of the total forestland, about 30,751,000 hectares are located on customary land and only 11,824,000 hectares are located on State land. Privately owned forests with legal land titles, accounting for 5,283,000 hectares, fall under State land because no legal title is issued on customary land. Therefore all pieces of customary land that are demarcated and allocated with title deeds automatically cease to be administered as customary land and become State land. This has unfortunately caused 2 fragmentation of customary land, as conversion of customary to leasehold tenure continues to increase as State land available for allocation diminishes. In the area of land policy and in order to achieve sustainable development, the government needs to address the following priority areas: formulation and implementation of land tenure policies to improve access and legal title to land by disadvantaged groups; modifications of land tenure systems to promote rural development under indigenous and common property resource management; institutional support for land registration and titling; and land administration services.
3. Zambia’s forests are not only important for their specialized high timber species and fuelwood, they are also important repositories of biodiversity and provide a wide range of environmental services to wildlife and the booming wildlife‐based tourism, agriculture, energy, hydro‐electricity generation and municipal water supply by regulating watercourses and flood regimes. Forests and woodland resources also provide pastures and forbs for livestock and enhance the productivity of soil, thereby contributing to higher crop yields. Clearly, forest management contributes to growth and income generation in downstream sectors through these linkages. In addition, forests provide numerous environmental services, including carbon sinks, habitat, flood control and watershed management. Most of these forest services play a significant role as a public good, but because of indirect linkages to downstream sectors cannot easily attract optimal private investment in long‐term forest management.
4. The ILUA data demonstrates the great potential that exists in the forest sector, all that is needed to improve incentives for sustainable forest resource management and reduced degradation of the forest resource base. Government cannot sustainably and effectively manage public forests all by itself; it needs to expedite devolution of user rights and responsibilities to local communities, user groups and the private sector. In order to further limit deforestation and degradation of forests, there is a need to harmonize policies and strengthen linkages between the forest sector, agriculture, wildlife and tourism, and other natural resource sectors. And, optimal management of forests will also require instituting payment mechanisms or benefit sharing that will ensure that forest benefits utilized in downstream sectors are appropriately shared with the forest sector. At present, these benefits are not shared with the forest sector to help defray the cost of forestry management. This tends to suppress forest values thereby leading to sub‐optimal provision of forest conservation. Forest carbon payments for sustainably managed forests through such mechanisms as REDD could provide an optimal opportunity for capturing these benefits and rewarding adjacent communities who are able to maintain and manage high forest cover.
5. The government needs to increase investments in forest sector both by increasing budgetary allocation to the forestry agency towards sustainable forest management and through effective public‐private sector partnerships. In addition, government needs to further strengthen and streamline the role of the forest sector in poverty reduction beyond what is currently reflected in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Fifth National Development Plan.

While ILUA I generated baseline data, the continuation of ILUA II for four subsequent years from 2010 to 2014 aims to enhance the use and development of data and information towards Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and REDD+, and generate information and statistics applicable to more detailed provincial level reporting. The following note describes the relationship between ILUA I, ILUA II, and REDD+.