| THE BEST PRACTICE
RISK ASSESSMENT TRIAL IN UGANDA
One of the suggestions
to come out of the Biodiversity Workshop, Lombok, held last year
was that the experiences and lessons learned from companies undertaking
Best Practice Risk Assessments should be shared across the group.
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Members of the BATBP and colleagues at
BAT Uganda inspect seedlings of native species for biodiversity
enrichment planting at BAT’s tree nurseries in West Nile
District during the March 2007 visit |
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During 2006/7 two risk assessments
were trialled in Indonesia and Uganda. This article summarises
the main experiences that came out of the latter.
Note: The trial took place prior to, and contributed
to the most recent revision of the BP document so some of the references
below may differ slightly from the latest version of the BP document.
The purpose of the tool is “to provide
a simple method for assessing the threats of our business activities
to biodiversity and ecosystems”. It should involve managers,
employees and other stakeholders such as NGOs (non-governmental
organisations, local universities or local communities). The trial
in Uganda comprised 4 main stages:-
Identifying main threats and opportunities
to biodiversity– this initial desk-based
research involved a preliminary review of the operating environment
in consultation with local stakeholders in Uganda and biodiversity
experts from the BATBP. It identified and evaluated the potential
threats to biodiversity in the main growing areas and identified
ideas for future mitigation projects. It also documented the
area of the land under the influence of BAT U and areas of
biodiversity importance.
Consultation and priority setting
meeting with local stakeholders- using the information
collected from the desk-based research and earlier site visits,
a meeting was convened in Kampala to bring together BAT U and
key local stakeholders. This meeting provided a forum for BAT
to engage with a number of local conservation NGOs and discuss
possible collaboration on future mitigation projects. It also
assisted BAT U in setting biodiversity priorities in their
growing operations, and improved relations between the company
and the non-governmental sector.
Survey and consultation - this
comprised a series of site visits and discussions with BAT staff,
local communities and farmers within the leaf growing areas of
BAT in West Nile, Bunyoro and North Kigezi. These visits helped
to refine understanding of the main biodiversity impacts, issues
and opportunities. The surveys looked specifically at where operations
affected important natural habitats, such as riverine vegetation
(vegetation growing along river banks), protected areas (e.g. national
parks or areas of biodiversity importance) and forest reserves. It
also looked at the impact of BAT’s growing operations on
ecosystem services, such as soil protection and water catchments. Finally,
it also reviewed the existing management practices.
Corrective action plan – A
plan has been drawn up and 2 mitigation projects have been approved
by the BATBP and are now well underway. These include:
- Forest restoration project and assessment
of land use in tobacco growing and surrounding areas – this
project will identify of forest boundaries and sites of biodiversity
importance which could be at risk. This will help BATU with its
current and future planning of growing areas in order to minimise
risk and define afforestation needs. Expedient use of fast growing
plantations, such as Eucalypts, will supply farmers with wood
in order to mitigate pressures on natural woodlands and forests
for fuel wood. It will set aside natural forest as a biodiversity
offset and natural forests and related ecosystem services will
be protected as a result of this project.
- Monitoring ecosystem
health: freshwater systems and woodlands - this project will aim to
identify and adopt a set of basic indicators for ecosystem
health; monitor health at local level and undertake capacity
building and awareness raising in local communities and local
authorities
These projects have been set up in conjunction
with a local Ugandan NGO, together with the Tropical Biology Association.
Lessons learned
- The tool raises awareness of the risks and
provides a framework which enables prioritisation of actions.
- It enables future planning for expansion and planning of resources
(e.g. wood lots) for future requirements.
- It opens a window to involve key stakeholders
and leverage on BATBP expertise and advice.
- The Risk Assessment Matrix may
be open to different interpretations in different countries.
It is important that more companies trial the tool so that
issues such as this can be refined. To date only 2 companies
have completed the process.
- Some drivers of ecosystem change are
outside BAT’s control
(e.g. demography, impacts of other agricultural and farming practices).
- The involvement of stakeholders is important and can build
links for future activities.
- It is important to realise the relevance
of local/field staff and involve them in the whole process. Often
they have a great deal of expertise and knowledge of the local
environment and biodiversity issues, and can also play a role
as agents of change.
- It is important that the tool does not
focus solely on the potential impacts on protected areas. The
majority of biodiversity in most developing countries is found
outside these areas, for example, in remaining woodland and
forest patches and river corridors. The BP document has now
been revised to take account of this.
Conclusions
In the case of Uganda, there was very good support
and enthusiasm from BAT staff throughout the entire process. The
leaf managers and field staff clearly have a very good understanding
of the biodiversity risks and opportunities in their operating
areas. They have shown a strong commitment to preserving biodiversity
and are working hard to ensure that fuelwood plantations, and the
biodiversity set-aside and enrichment areas are well maintained
and protected. With much good groundwork already having been achieved
through BAT Uganda’s biodiversity programme, the next challenge
is for the Partnership and BAT staff to engage more effectively
with local communities in promoting the benefits of biodiversity
protection.
To this end, the outcome of the stakeholder priority
setting meeting was very positive. The NGOs who were selected by
TBA were all well disposed towards BAT’s work in Uganda.
BAT U was encouraged by the level of interest by the NGOs. It also
highlighted the need for this kind of collaboration in the future
and elsewhere.
Two mitigation projects have now been approved
and are now underway in Uganda. These are being supported by the
BATBP and are in conjunction with a local NGO.
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