Current vulnerability in the Monte Alén–Monts de Cristal landscape, Equatorial Guinea

Abstract

Between 2011 and 2012, a regional baseline assessment to analyse vulnerability was conducted in five landscapes of the Congo Basin as part of the ‘Climate Change and Forests in the Congo Basin: Synergies between Adaptation and Mitigation (COBAM)’ project. This briefing note summarises the results for the Monte Alen–Monts de Cristal landscape. Study site in the Monte Alen–Monts de Cristal landscape The Monte Alen–Monts de Cristal landscape covers a total of 26 747 km 2 across Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The landscape comprises national parks, such as Monte Alen National Park and Al-tos de Nsork National Park, forest management units, national forests and traditional community land and villages. Despite the presence of three national parks and one national reserve, the economy and land use are dominated by industrial logging concessions, which account for 65% of the available land. However, since the discovery of large oil reserves in 1996, the income from oil has greatly exceeded that from timber and has shifted investor interest away from timber exploitation. Laws in Equatorial Guinea have evolved towards a partial devolution of forest management to local communities. At present, traditional communities can claim rights on community forests through the title of bosques comunales, which replaces the title of reserva de poblados. Nevertheless, very few officially recognised bosques comunales are operational for forest exploitation in the area. This study focused on one village in the landscape, Atom, which is located outside the protected areas, in the national forest domain in Centro Sur Province in the district of Evinayong. Participatory methodology The vulnerability assessment focused on current vulnerability, which includes an analysis of both past trends and present conditions. In particular, the analysis considers the social aspects of vulnerability,