The Satoyama Initiative is the main international organization working and making significant efforts for the use of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) that maintain and conserve biodiversity. The current project aligns with strategic objectives 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the table on page 1 of the 2023-2030 Strategy and Action Plan of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI).

In fact:

• Increase knowledge and understanding of SEPLS :

The current project follows participatory studies conducted with the local populations, leading to the development of four study reports: (i) the inventory of biodiversity in the sacred forests (SF) of Ramsar sites 1017 and 1018, (ii) a cartographic study of SF in the sites, (iii) the environmental and social impact study of the project, and (iv) the socio-economic study on the FS of the sites. All these studies took into account the neighboring lands of SF and provided knowledge of the landscapes by various stakeholders. These studies assessed the current state of SF in the area and provided basic data to develop an adapted sustainable management program. They also facilitated discussions with all stakeholders, established a common vision, and collaboratively designed a project. During these exchanges, municipal authorities, dignitaries, technical experts, and local populations expressed their willingness to actively participate in implementing a project to enhance sustainable management and restore these forests.

As sacred forests are the property of local communities, their restoration and sustainable management necessarily involve an inclusive approach. The project will collaborate with all stakeholders involved in FS management and already organized into local and municipal committees for FS management. All steps will be executed following this approach to ensure that all stakeholders share the same vision and work in synergy to achieve the desired results. This is why Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) will be emphasized to enhance continuous knowledge about landscapes and their sustainable uses.

Finally, the Simple Management Plans, developed based on a better understanding of forest resources, neighboring lands, and various possibilities for their valorization, have prescribed a set of activities. The implementation of these activities will enable the current project to break the cycle of poverty and improve the living conditions of the populations.

• Address direct and underlying causes responsible for the decline or loss of SEPLS

The main direct and indirect phenomena contributing to the degradation of sacred forests are (i) outdated agricultural techniques leading to high demands for agricultural land, (ii) increasing impoverishment of rural populations, and (iii) the coexistence of different land tenure systems. The present project aims to address all these phenomena.

(i) Outdated agricultural techniques: The agricultural sector is dominated by small farmers with an average farm size of 1 to 2 hectares. Most of them use few modern technologies or improved inputs, resulting in low productivity. To remedy this, farmers resort to forests, perceived as vacant, naturally fertile lands exploitable to increase cultivation. This perception leads to conflicts between them and the dignitaries of the sacred forests. However, it is possible to limit or even eliminate these land conflicts. Studies conducted during the previous project reveal that constraints need to be addressed, including: i) low productivity due to soil degradation and limited use of Improved Production Systems (IPS); ii) strong dependence on rainfall conditions heavily influenced by climate change; iii) insufficient agricultural advisory services; iv) lack of appropriate credit. Various activities are planned in the present project to address and resolve all these issues.

(ii) Increasing impoverishment of rural populations: Poverty remains widespread in Benin. According to a 2018 study by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), it increased from 35% in 2009 to 40% in 2015. In 2015, poverty incidence was higher in rural areas than in urban areas, at 43% and 36%, respectively. Populations living near sacred forests derive their main income from agriculture and forest resources. However, there are other possibilities to improve their income from sacred forests that they are unaware of. Limited knowledge of the potential valorization of sacred forest resources and the absence of means to exploit these potentialities keep local populations in a vicious circle of poverty, resulting in increased degradation and deforestation of sacred forests.

This project will break this vicious circle by enhancing awareness of different valorization possibilities through the development of income-generating activities. Consequently, the project will diversify sources of income and improve the livelihoods of populations while conserving forest resources. Planned activities aim to increase the yields of the main crop (maize) of the neighboring farmers by 40% through the application of Improved Production Systems (IPS) for the benefit of neighboring farmers.

(iii) Coexistence of different land tenure systems: The land tenure of sacred forests is undergoing a significant transformation marked by the coexistence of two different land tenure concepts: the “customary” and the “modern” concepts. The customary concept considers sacred forest land as a collective, sacred, indivisible, and inalienable asset. The modern concept favors private, individual, and marketable land ownership. This situation is also the cause of land conflicts around sacred forests. The present project plans to provide sacred forests with land titles in the name of the Local Forest Committees (CLFS) to confirm their inalienable right in perpetuity over the said sacred forests in accordance with the Land and Domain Code in the Republic of Benin.

• Enhance benefits from SEPLS

In order to ensure sustainable management of Sacred Forests and maintain their environmental values, it was necessary to provide them with a Simple Management Plan. These development plans have planned specific actions with the ultimate goal of conserving these SF. These actions include improving biodiversity and essential functions of the forest ecosystems of sacred forests. The project will restore multiple functions to obtain multiple benefits. Indeed, in the PSG developed by the previous project, a multitude of activities are planned to restore the economic, social, and environmental functions of the SF in order to produce a wide variety of ecosystem goods and services that stakeholders will benefit from. Thus, in addition to maintaining cultural and ritual functions, continuing FS restoration activities, coupled with hunting control and protection of FS against wildfires, will improve habitat quality for fauna and promote the return of certain animal and plant species, increase carbon storage, and reduce erosion. The following are planned:

• The continuation of reforestation in the localities to increase not only wood production, FS enrichment, and recolonization of their degraded buffer zones using valuable indigenous plant species – some of which are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species – such as African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis); iroko (Milicia excelsa); limba (Terminalia superba); ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon); and baobab (Adansonia digitata). In addition, these trees will eventually provide habitat for many rare animal species, some of which are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

• The reintroduction/release of specimens of fauna species into FS that meet the conditions, including the royal python (Python regius), considered to be a deity; savannah monitor lizard and Nile monitor lizard (Varanus exanthematicus and Varanus niloticus); chameleons (Chamaeleo gracilis and Chamaeleo senegalensis); and galagos (Galago spp.).

• The planting of multipurpose plant species in the neighboring localities to reduce the degradation of natural forests will be carried out by considering traditional and modern methods, including the taungya method, which combines agriculture and forestry on agricultural land.

• Hunting and wildfire control that create favorable conditions (calmness in the FS) for the gradual return of other animal species, such as the red-bellied monkey (Cercopithecus erythrogaster), to restored FS, an observation that the populations have already begun during the implementation of the previous project.

In the medium and long term, an increase in the forest cover of RAMSAR sites 1017 and 1018 in Benin is expected, an increase in the production of timber and firewood that will increase carbon sequestration, reduce soil erosion, etc. This not only provides energy and service benefits but also represents an opportunity for job creation and income generation.

Similarly, strengthening Income-Generating Activities and the development of beekeeping will intensify the diversification of livelihoods for the populations.

• Enhance human, institutional and sustainable financial capacities

The project provides an opportunity to create and establish CLFS and CCSI, which effectively ensure the participatory implementation of activities at all stages of the project and oversee their sustainability. The present project will rely on these structures and enhance their capacities to ensure the efficient implementation of all activities. The operating mode and periodic meetings specified in the decrees of their creation, as well as the mid-term review of PSG, among others, provide opportunities for accountability and inclusivity in the decision-making process.

Additionally, the project will strengthen the capacities of local communities by implementing essential socio-community infrastructure for reforestation activities (wells, basic road improvements, etc.). It will also facilitate the training and capacity building of stakeholders directly involved in the sustainable management of these forests.

The institutional and political sustainability of this project lies in the participation of the Directorate General of Water, Forests, and Wildlife, the Beninese Agency for the Environment, and the Directorate of Agriculture and Municipalities at all stages of development and implementation. The decentralized management of communal forest resources established by national forest policy remains relevant. Moreover, the various commitments made by municipalities through the attached endorsement letters in the annex demonstrate the project’s appropriation by municipal authorities and constitute clear indicators of institutional sustainability.

On the political front, the preservation, restoration, and sustainable exploitation of ecosystems, the promotion of sustainable management of all types of forests, and climate change are taken very seriously.

The financial sustainability of achievements beyond the project duration is ensured by the renewed commitment of municipalities to fund the project, notably through advocacy with the state for the establishment of Green Support Funds for Commune Development (FADEC), and the strengthening of the operational sustainable financing mechanism already in place at the level of decentralized financial systems.

On the technical side, the sustainability of achievements is ensured by (i) the continuation of traditional and modern forest management methods, including the practice of taungya (associating plantations with agricultural cultivation in the early years, ensuring the maintenance and protection of woodlands), engaging in economically valuable ecological activities such as beekeeping in SF, etc. (ii) the elimination of land conflicts between farmers and FS through technical monitoring provided by the Territorial Agricultural Development Agency present in all municipalities or even districts for agricultural sedentarization, (iii) technical monitoring by forestry agents also present in districts for the appropriate implementation of PSG, and (iv) the monitoring of the support system established by partner decentralized financial institutions.