Guinea-Bissau forestry project for zone I

A contractor will implement the project, which is being co-funded by A.I.D., the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Canadian University Service Overseas (SUCO), and the Government of Guinea Bissau (GOGB). A small Forestry Development Center (FDC) will be built to serve as the base of project operations and will contain a small forestry documentation center. To generate the primary data needed to develop technically and socially acceptable forestry packages, daily studies of the three major farming systems of Zone 1 - Manjak, Balanta, and Mandinka - will be undertaken in pilot villages. Activities include making a careful inventory of the bio-physical and socioeconomic characteristics of Zone 1 and testing and extending pilot interventions such as woodlots, agro-silvo-pastoral schemes, fruit trees, fire control, and improved charcoal production. A Field Handbook for Forestry Extension will be developed. To promote village participation in CF, 250 primary schools comprising 25,000 students will be used as the focal point for village nurseries, the presentation of CF materials, and documentation for local trials. Four types of forestry personnel will be trained. Two professionals from the Forestry Service will receive U.S., B.S.-level training and will eventually replace expatriate foresters. Fifteen candidates will be given 3 years of overseas training as forestry technicians; they will return to work as CF coordinators and at FDC. Forty-eight persons will be trained at the FDC, 35 as community foresters engaged in Forestry Service field activities and 13 as forest guards having police responsibilities; 25-80 other individuals will receive 2-4 week forestry courses at the FDC. An Indicative Forest Management Plan for Zone 1, based on knowledge gained of Zone 1 during the project and on data from a comprehensive national forest inventory to be funded by the European Economic Community, will be completed and made available to GOGB planners. To complement the project"s inventory and pilot activities in improving GB"s forest knowledge base, short-term research and development and select special studies will be undertaken. Primary beneficiaries will be in 150 Zone 1 villages comprising 30,000 people, mostly subsistence farm families. A.I.D. will contribute $500,000 to the project to construct a renewable energy plant for the FDC and to finance two 4-year scholarships.