National Land Use Planning and Forest Monitoring - Gabon

Objectives

1. Develop a National Land Use Plan (in French, PNAT, Plan National d’Affectation des Terres) to limit future emissions and enable economic development.

• The PNAT will plan and guide the expansion of land use-based economic activities, for example, through agriculture.
• The plan will enable the optimal allocation of forest areas to different uses, excluding, to the extent possible, primary forests and High Conservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) areas.
• The PNAT will update and provide access to a robust database, integrating a LULUCF sector climate change vulnerability map and a map of the development potential of the agricultural, forestry, mining and petroleum sectors developed by the programme.
• A law proposed to Parliament will ensure that the PNAT continues to be implemented after the programme ends.

2. Finalise a National Natural Resources and Forestry Observation System (SNORNF) in order to locate and specify which forest areas can be used for which purposes and to effectively monitor PNAT implementation.

• Development and implementation of the SNORNF will make it possible to monitor changes in national forest cover and to detect deforestation events, including an alert system, to understand which sectoral activities have an impact on forest conversion.
• The SNORNF will also improve the accuracy of data on carbon stocks and flows in the LULUCF sector that are reported under the Climate Convention.
• A mapping of village land will clarify land rights across the country. Participatory, geo-referenced and accessible village maps will be developed to define land use areas and improve knowledge of rural land tenure.
• In the field, a Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) will collect data on forest biomass, carbon and biodiversity. The NRI will include 500 permanent plots and 200 to 300 biodiversity transects. The data will help to refine the national map of HCV and HCS areas in Gabon.

Results (as of 31 December 2022)

Main results include:

• As part of the mapping and data management unit within the Gabonese Agency for Spatial Studies and Observations (AGEOS), a platform for visualising GIS (Geographic Information System) data of the Commission Nationale d’Affectation des Terres (CNAT) has been put in place. This platform is available online here. https://www.cnat-gabon.com/. This contributes to the compliance of land use data in the agriculture, fisheries, mining, water and energy sectors, forestry, conservation, and infrastructure sectors. A complaints management application will be implemented in 2023.

• For the establishment of a national inventory of natural resources, 72 permanent plots have been installed or remesured.

• A Land Allocation Bill has been drafted. The bill will enable partners to improve forest governance and strengthen tenure rights of local communities.

• 117 villages in the Ogooué-Lolo province were mapped thanks to the provision of VHR satellite images provided as part of the program. This means four thousand four hundred hectares (4,400) hectares of disaggregated surfaces have been mapped.  

• An assessment of this data highlighted forest losses linked to logging estimated at 1,695.87 ha for the second quarter and 2,734.88 ha for the third quarter of 2022. Maps highlighting this trend have been produced. 

• The National Parks Agency of Gabon (ANPN) launched a participatory mapping exercise in the province of Ogooué-Lolo. A total of 446 villages were visited and participatory village maps are being finalised. Such mapping helps clarify land rights across the country, help define land use areas and improve knowledge of rural land tenure.

• 4 botanical survey missions were carried out by the Herbier National du Gabon (HNG) in the provinces. A total of 254 collections of fertile plants were carried out during the general collection of the undergrowth and 20 transects of forest vegetation (200 m long by 5 m wide) were carried out, accompanied by the collection of 400 tree specimens.  These are needed to collect data on forest biomass, carbon and biodiversity and help refine the national map of HCV and HCS areas in Gabon.

See more in the project factsheet here.

Contribution to the milestones of the Letter of Intent 

This programme contributes to the milestones of the Letter of Intent between Gabon and CAFI in June 2017 as follows:

• 1C: Develop and adopt national guidelines seeking to avoid the conversion of HSC and HCV forests.
• 1D: Implement a policy on the carbon-neutral conversion of non-HCS/HCV forests to other uses.
• 1E: Ensure the participation of traditional populations in land-use decisions.
• 1F: Establish a cap on the carbon- neutral conversion of non-HCS/HCV forests to other uses.
• 1H: Ensure participatory and inclusive land-use planning.
• 1I: Map the adaptability of land for agricultural use, mining, conservation, and its climate vulnerability.
• 2B: Monitor the carbon neutrality of non-HCS/HCV forest conversion.
• 2E: Strengthen law enforcement in response to alerts from the SNORNF. 
• 2G: Map 750 villages (equivalent to 29 percent of all villages) in Gabon. 

As of December 31, 2022, 3 additional milestones of the Letter of Intent can be considered as met, giving a total of 11 milestones met since the start of the project, 12 partially met and 1 not met out of the 24 to be met. In total, of the 11 milestones globally met, 5 were met in 2020, 3 in 2021 and 3 in 2022. 

The overall achievement rate of the milestones was 45.8%.