THE SOCIAL CONTEXT
The development of Coutada 5 will take heed of the needs
and aspirations of the people living in the Coutada.
Most of the estimated 50 000 plus people living in the
Coutada reside in the major coastal towns or settlements
of Machanga and Divinhe, and the settlement at Jofane
about 100 km upstream next to the Rio Save. The more
remote regions, constituting some 85% of the Coutada,
are only sparsely settled.
Whilst almost all of these people will directly or
indirectly benefit from the current re-establishment
process of Coutada 5, for obvious reasons the
development company will need to concentrate on the
rural communities inhabiting the more isolated regions.
These people will gain most by the development of the
Coutada (employment opportunities being their main
advantage), but unfortunately those currently living in
what will soon become the core wildlife-wilderness zone,
will have to be resettled.
Any involuntary resettlement program is fraught with
dangers; therefore AFWR will deal with the matter in a
sensitive, transparent and universally acceptable
manner. International norms and prescriptions,
especially those of the IFC/World Bank, will be applied
throughout the process. In order to ascertain the exact
social situation on the ground in the core
wildlife-wilderness block, a full Social Impact
Assessment is currently underway. This survey is based
on in-house experience available to AFWR, as well as
numerous published data.
In the meantime, social indicators, social obligations,
the effects of the fencing and game re-introduction
schedule, and some key social strategies were evaluated.
An analysis of the socio-economic impacts of the project
indicated that of the two possible scenarios, namely a
‘no project’ or an ‘as is’, the ‘as is’ venture will not
only be beneficial in the biodiversity context, but
perhaps even more so when viewed from a social
perspective. The project will generate a large number of
employment opportunities in a very poor and undeveloped
region where such opportunities were virtually absent,
and the planned tourism ventures (including hunting and
non-consumptive ecotourism) will be beneficial to the
whole region.
The comprehensive Resettlement Action Plan (a 21-page
section) is directly compatible with international
requirements, involves a 14-point procedure, and is
built on the evaluation and/or inclusion of the
following aspects: resettlement principles; ceded land;
compensation; preferential employment;
resettlement-related impacts (such as policies,
establishing the scale of the resettlement; location of
the resettlement sites; public consultation
requirements; and compensation issues); impacts on
livelihoods; impacts on customary resource use; impacts
on agricultural practices; and impacts on trade and the
local economy.
Following on the RAP, an equally comprehensive Community
Development Plan (CDP) involving eight implementation
steps, has been prepared. The CDP is built on the
prioritising of target groups, and on identifying the
roles of the company and the local people in the
process. A major constituent of the CDP is the creation
of a Community Development Fund, to be administered by
the to-be-established Coutada Community Trust.
In order to give effect to the various sub-plans
contained in the Biodiversity and Business Plan, a
full-blown Public Consultation and Disclosure Plan
(PCDP) will be implemented. The seven steps of the PCDP
include the establishment of an organisational
framework, identification of all the stakeholders in the
process, identifying the contents of the PCDP, embarking
on an effective consultation and information campaign
and drawing up an implementation schedule.
 |
