HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FOREST PUBLIC SUMMARY SOEKHOE EN ZONEN Version 1.1 September 2014 The contents of this report are CONFIDENTIAL and all material and information are the property of The generic procedures, knowledge and images remain the intellectual property of Caribbean Forestry Services and must not be reproduced or o Caribbean Forestry Services N.V. Zonen. otherwise used without its written permission Soekhoe en permission. Contents Contents 2 1 Introduction 3 2 Methodology 3 3 Thecompany 3 4 HCVs 3 4.1 Globally, regionally or nationallysignificant concentrationsofbiodiversity values 3 4.2 Critically threatened and endangered species 4 4.3 Endemic species 4 4.4 Forest areas containingglobally, regionally or nationally significant large landscape levelforests 4 4.5 Forest areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems 4 4.6 Forest areas that provide basic services of nature in critical situations 4 4.7 Forest areas fundamental to meetingbasic needs oflocal communities 5 4.8 Forest areas critical to local communities’ traditional culturalidentity 6 4.9 Summary ofHCVsin the concession 6 5 Managingandmonitoringprogram 6 6 Mapofgeographically-specificHCVFin424a 8 HCVFPublic Summary –Soekhoe en Zonen Page 2of8 Introduction This report is the result of a High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) Assessment conducted on behalf of the Forest Management Enterprise (FME) Houtexploitatie en –Verwerkingsonderneming Soekhoe en Zonen N. V. (“Soekhoe”) as part of its preparations for FSC® forest management assessment. The report is designed to meet the requirement of Principle 9 of the FSC Interim Standard for Suriname (Rainforest Alliance) and has been produced accordingto the HCVFNationalGuidelines for Suriname (2011). The values a forest contains includes rare species, recreational sites or resources harvested by local residents. Where these values are considered to be of outstanding significance or critical importance, the forest can be defined as aHCVF. The key to the concept ofHCVFs is the identification ofHigh Conservation Values (HCVs): 2 Methodology The methodology adopted in this assessment follows closely the guidance provided by Proforest in its suite of publications on identifying and managing HCVF. More recently, WWF-Guianas led a project to develop national guidelines for HCVF which resulted in a draft report completed in 2011. The report was developed with inputs from awide range of stakeholders and provides very usefulgeneral and country-specific guidance to the HCVFprocess. 3 Thecompany The Forest Management Enterprise (FME) is Houtexploitatie en –Verwerkingsonderneming Soekhoe en Zonen N. V. which has logging rights in concession number 424a. The concession is located along the Apura Road to the north of the Tibiti River in District Para and has a gross area of 21,720 ha. The project is a sustainable forest management project that involves typical forestry operations including: inventory and mapping; forest management planning; training; road and bridge construction; reduced impact logging; log extraction and transportation; and sawmill processing. It is estimated 10,000 m3 of logs will be cut/year over a cutting cycle of 25 years. The net average cutting intensity willbe around 12 m3/ha on an annual cutting area of800ha. 4 HCVs 4.1 Globally, regionally or nationally significant concentrations ofbiodiversity values The nearest Protected Area to the FME concession is the Boven-Coesewijne Nature Reserve, some 10 km distance at the nearest points. The Boven Coesewijne Nature Reserve with a size of 270 km², is well known for its brown sand-savanna of the Coesewijne type, Savannas of the Zanderij type and dry White sand savannas of the Casipora type. The occurrence of these savannas was a direct motive for establishing the Boven Coesewijne nature reserve in 1986. The Coesewijne river is a good source of fish which attracts Caymans and swamp otters and even West- Indian Manatees (Trichechus manatus) are sometimes be seen. To the south of the concession along part of a shared border is the un-gazetted forest reserve and recreation site of Tibiti Soela; in addition, a buffer along the Tibiti River which forms part of the southern concession border is identified as “special protected forest”. Within the concession, the FME has identified an area of savanna-type forest as a voluntary bio-diversity reserve where logging will not take place (refer to the FME’s ESIA for exact location). Following the National Guidelines HCVF is HCVFPublic Summary –Soekhoe en Zonen Page 3of8 identified in the concession in the 250 m buffer along the Tibiti River and within the FME’s own biodiversity reserve. In addition, though Tibiti Soela is not a gazetted reserve following the precautionary principle a 1 km buffer within the concession alongthe mutualborder with the reserve is also identified as HCVF. 4.2 Critically threatened and endangered species An assessment using the Class I and Class II rare, threatened and endangered (RTE) species ranges identified in the National Guidelines indicates the likely presence of focal species occurring in the concession. In addition, the list developed for the company ESIA of IUCN-listed (CR, EN, VU and NT) and CITES-listed (Appendix I and II) species likely in the concession is also considered. 4.3 Endemic species None of the true Suriname endemics (Class I) identified in the National Guidelines are likely to be found in the concession according to range maps. However, there are several species of Class II endemics likely present. Currently, there is reliable field data based on observations (sightings, tracks, nests, scats etc) for many of the identified Class I RTE species though the FME concession is not thought to contain any unusual geological or special habitats (see below) and though the area is largely intact it is not pristine having been logged in the past and regularly traversed humans. The terrestrial RTE species that may be found there are wide-range (and therefore less vulnerable to extinction) and do not include any of extreme global conservation concern. The status ofthe fish endemics is less wellknown, however, and itis possible that there are narrow-range endemics occurring only locally and are therefore as a species most vulnerable to any change in habitat that may be caused by Soekhoe operations. Therefore, on balance and following the precautionary principle, based on the number of Class I and Class II species found and the possible narrow-range of adjacent fish species the HCV element “threatened and endemic species” can be considered presentin the whole concession. 4.4 Forest areas containingglobally, regionally or nationally significantlarge landscape levelforests The FME concession forms part of a largely intact forest landscape that covers more than 80% of Suriname’s land area; in addition, the concession falls within the Guianan Moist Forest Ecoregion, one of the WWF’s Global 200. However, given the relatively small scale of the operations (the total area of the concessions is less than 0.2% of the total forest area in Suriname) coupled with the area’s lack of noted regional or national significance, the fact that it does not directly connect or have influence on protected areas, and has historically been affected by human influence, “globally, regionally or nationally significant large landscape level forests” is probably not an HCV presentin the Soekhoe concession. 4.5 Forest areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems This value is designed to ensure that threatened or endangered forest ecosystems, communities or types are maintained. According to the national vegetation classification, the Soekhoe concession consists mainly of mesophytic high dryland forest with areas of creekforest, mixed marshforest and savanna forest . Though some of these forest types are known to support particular species assemblages (such as savanna forests), none of them is considered rare or threatened in Suriname and biodiversity indicators (Both Fisher’s α and Shannon H) have been found to be within normal ranges for the forest type. The HCVF Guidelines recognise other potentially important ecosystems as sub-montane, bleached or unbleached (white or brown) sand, inselberg formations or rare or unique characteristics. According to nationally available data none of these ecosystems are present in the Soekhoe concession with the exception of small areas of white and brown sand in the far north of the concession. Therefore, the HCV “rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems” is not likely to be present in the Soekhoe concession though special attention should be paid on occurrences of savanna forest and areas of white and brown sand apparently occurringin the north ofthe concession investigated as and when operations approach. 4.6 Forest areas thatprovide basic services of nature in critical situations The FME concession lies within the largest watershed in Suriname: that of the Coppename River and covers less than 0.1% of it by area. The local catchment over the concession drains into the Tibiti River mostly in a NW HCVFPublic Summary –Soekhoe en Zonen Page 4of8 direction; the catchment is largely forested and not considered critical for collection of potable water and/or regulating water flow to an urban area or a RAMSAR site though maintenance of water quality egressing the concession willbe important for the downstream community and fish fauna ofthe TibitiRiver and as such drainage in the concession can be considered an HCV. The concession does not occur within 2km of an artificiallake used for hydro-electric generation or a RAMSAR site and is not thought to play a direct role in maintenance of fishing areas. Therefore, the HCV “basic services of nature in critical situations” is unlikely per se to be present, though the importance of water quality and flow is recognised for maintaining endemic fish stocks and for providing essential services to local communities. An analysis of topography derived from Landsat elevation models indicates that at the macro scale there are no areas of slope greater than 30% in the concessions. Localized areas that may be susceptible to erosion along water courses will be protected with the required buffer zones identified in active harvest areas. 4.7 Forest areas fundamentalto meetingbasic needs oflocal communities The criteria of geographical closeness to the concessions, downstream linkage and/or possible traditional use of the concession forest lands were used to identify communities as being “local stakeholders” to the Soekhoe operation. Using the 10 km buffer around communities described in the National Guidelines and talking with local forest managers and workers an initial screen indicated one official community (Josefdorp) as a potential critical stakeholder community. A meeting was planned and held with the Captain (chief) of Josefdorp accompanied by three of his Basjas (sub chiefs). An open dialogue took place guided by the stakeholder interview template developed by Soekhoe for use in stakeholder engagement to cover all aspects of forest management including impacts, benefits and high conservation value forest. Josefdorp is an extended community established for more than 45 years in the region but only settled in the current location for around 15 years. Many members of the community resettled from the community of Tibiti Sabana further upstream on the Tibiti River. This latter settlementis now reportedly abandoned and members ofthe community relocated close to the road bridge across the river (Tibiti Brug). From this community an extended family relocated a few kilometres east along the road to a place locally known as Alfonsdorp though this family settlement is still administratively part of the Josefdorp community. The community currently consists of about 80 residents with a mostly older demographic though in the last years younger persons have come to the village and now around 12 children of school age live in the village (attending the school at Witagron to the west). The ethnicity of the village is mainly Amerindian and mixed. The village is partly a subsistence economy with residents hunting, fishing and collecting fruits and other materials from surrounding forests as well as practising small-scale agriculture growing mainly cassava but also corrella, ochro and peppers, for example. Villagers also have some commercial gain from the forest and their agricultural products by transporting to Paramaribo on the weekly bus and selling at a specialized market in the city. The community uses widely the resources of the surrounding forests for both subsistence and commerce. Villages hunt or trap a wide range of fauna including pakira, pingo, parrots, monkeys, snakes and songbirds. In addition, they collect many fruits and other plant parts (from species such as crabwood, podosiri, ride locus, hopelhout, kwepi, kwasibitter, tasi) to make drinks for refreshment or medicinal reasons as well and other uses. Many palm tree species are also utilized in construction and roofing the traditional buildings in the community. Though the community does have its own community forest (HKV) of 14,000 ha it does not now engage in logging as the resource in that area has been commercially deleted though they have made a request for a further 8000 ha or commercial forest to the west of the community. The community does not recognise artificial concession boundaries in the forest for the purposes of its own resource use and they were not able to say for certain whether they regularly traverse the Soekhoe concession, though it seems likely as they reportedly travel up to 15 km or so from the village. There was no claim made on the lands covered by the Soekhoe concession and no complaint that they have been restricted or prevented in carrying out their traditional activities. The community made it clear that there was no actual or perceived negative impact on them or their activities by the Soekhoe operation. There was no negative impact on their environment nor on their use of the non-timber resource of the forest in the Soekhoe concession. One indirect impact with negative consequences was the increased access to the forest presented by Soekhoe’s forest infrastructure, namely their extraction roads. The community felt that this facilitated hunters coming in from the outside – especially Paramaribo – and depleting the resource which the community relies on. Some further discussion took place on the economic benefit of the surrounding forest to the community to provide data to address the socio-economic parameters of High Conservation Value Forest. The HCVFPublic Summary –Soekhoe en Zonen Page 5of8 community quantified the contribution ofthe surroundingforest as providing approximately 50% of its basic needs for water, food, medicines and building material (though it was not possible to specify a particular geographic area for the reasons mentioned above). However, the community indicated that there were no special cultural or religious sites located in the general forest area of the Soekhoe concession and no trees or animals with any significant religious or cultural importance (though they did not hunt the bus aca for reasons which appeared related to preventing bad luck). In terms of measures to preserve HCVs the community did not feel any special actions were necessary at this time as the company does not prevent them for using the resource neither does the forest operation as practised (e.g. reduced impact logging) damage or diminish the traditional resources valuable to them. From the analysis it is clear that the general forest area around and possibly within the Soekhoe concession (the community was not able to be geographically specific) does play an “important” role in providing basic needs to the communities. In addition, reliable flow of clean water is also essential to the community for its fishing grounds (the governmentprovides potable water to the community). Ittherefore seems thatthere is acase for the recognition of “fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities” as an HCV in the Soekhoe forest concession. 4.8 Forest areas criticalto local communities’ traditional culturalidentity The community indicated that it did not have any special cultural attachment to the Soekhoe concession area and there were no burial sites or special areas within it. Therefore the HCV “forest areas critical to local communities’ traditional cultural identity” is not considered an HCV in the Soekhoe concession. Nevertheless, continued engagement with the communities will be pursued as part of the Soekhoe monitoring program and any changes to the current circumstances as regards community use of the Soekhoe concessions will be integrated into forest management via Appendices to this HCVF report. 4.9 Summary ofHCVsin the concession GenericHCV Description/Location Location 250 m buffer in special protected forest Along the Tibiti River 1.1 -Protected Areas 1 km buffer along the forest reserve Along the border of Tibiti Soela Biodiversity reserve See map 1.2 -Critically Threatened/Endangered Species Presence of Class I RTE species Presumed all over Presence of Class II RTE Presumed all over 1.3 -Endemic Species Presence of Class II endemic Presumed all over 4.1 -Forests critical to water catchments Catchment drainage Main creeks draining into Tibiti R 5.0 -Forests fundamental to meeting basic needs Range of NTFP plants and animals Presumed all over 5 Managingandmonitoringprogram Special protected areas are spatially defined and can be mapped and marked on the ground as appropriate. The location of the HCV “rare, threatened and endemic species” is considered, with present knowledge, to be universal across the concessions.1 As part of normal monitoring, and special monitoring of the HCV, it may be possible in the future based on recorded occurrence of species to refine the distribution ofthe HCV. 1 The three tree species identified as Class I or Class II occurring in the concession that are listed as threatened on the IUCN Redlist are Vouacapoua americana (bruinhart) is a commercial species used locally in Suriname for lantern posts and exported for veneer. It is listed as “critically endangered” by IUCN across its range (Brazil, Peru and the Guianas) though it is noted that it is still “relatively common” in Suriname. It does not occur in the FME in commercial quantities and is not cut by the FME. Virola surinamensis (baboonwood) is “endangered” across its range, but it is not currently a commercial species and is neither inventoried nor cut by the FME. Aniba roseaodora (rozenhout) is IUCN “endangered” across its range; it is prohibited by national regulations. Bertholletia excelsa (Ingi noto) has not been encountered during inventory in the FME concessions and anywayis nationally prohibited. HCVFPublic Summary –Soekhoe en Zonen Page 6of8 GenericHCV Description Managementmeasures 1.1 -Protected areas Buffers and biodiversity zones Mapping of protected area boundary Incremental marking of boundaries Prohibition of logging activities in protected areas 1.2 – RTE and endemic species Presence of Class I/II species Record signs of Class I and II species in inventory Enforcement of hunting policy Liaison with research institutes 4.1 -Forests critical to water catchments Catchment drainage RIL No logging in creek buffers Water quality assessment Consultation with local communities 5.0 -Fundamental to meeting basic needs NTFPs – plants and animals Access for collection/hunting by communities Resource areas mapped/NTFPs recorded NTFPs not collected by Soekhoe Reduced Impact Logging The monitoring of HCVs will be integrated into a wider programme of Adaptive Management. Specifically, the maintenance and enhancement of the HCVs present will become part of normal management and targeted monitoring will fall under the aegis ofthe wider management and monitoringprogrammes developed by Soekhoe. GenericHCV Description Monitoringmeasures 1.1 -Protected areas Buffers and biodiversity zones Boundary marking Encroachment Permanent Sample Plots 1.2/1.3 – RTE and endemic species Presence of Class I/II species Wildlife monitoring Report on signs of Class I and II species in inventory Enforcement of hunting policy Logging register 4.1 -Forests critical to water catchments Catchment drainage RIL Maintenance of creek buffers Water quality assessment Consultation with local communities 5.0 -Fundamental to meeting basic needs NTFPs – plants and animals NTFPs recorded Post-harvest checks Community engagement HCVFPublic Summary –Soekhoe en Zonen Page 7of8 Mapofgeographically-specificHCVFin424a HCVFPublic Summary –Soekhoe en Zonen Page 8of8