Benin - Communal Forests Management Support Project (PAGEFCOM)

The Communal forests Management Support Project (PAGEFCOM) falls within the framework of the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and the decentralization process. It aims primarily at helping the Communes in the development and concerted management of the forests in their respective areas. The Project will be based on the Ecological and Forestry Information System (SIEF) conducted within the framework of the Fuelwood Project II (PBF-II). It focuses on the protection and regeneration of floristic and wildlife resources as well as urgent measures in the area of community infrastructure and control of soil degradation in the villages surrounding forests within the Project area. Hence, within the context of decentralization, the Project will provide local authorities (Divisional Offices, Communes, DAGRN and CeRPA) with the necessary information (maps, data banks, etc.) for an efficient management of the environment and effective development at grassroots level. This Project is therefore a logical follow-up to the activities of the PAMF which tested and popularized the local SIEF and to the PBF-II which adopted it for the national forest inventory. Its specificity lies in the empowerment of the Communes in their capacity as contracting authority for the plantation with a view to the sustainable management and tapping of forest resources. The two main thrusts of the Project activities will be : (i) protection and development of natural forest resources; and (ii) the creation of short-term profitable economic forest resources.