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Transcript of ITTO Project PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I) TIMBERS OF TROPICAL ... · format in Annex D of the ITTO Manual...
ITTO Project PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I)
TIMBERS OF TROPICAL AFRICA Part 1 Group 7(1) within PROTA programme
Completion Report
1 January 2006 - 31 December 2008
i
ACROYNMS
CABI - Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International
CENAREST - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique
CNSF - Centre National de Semences Forestières
CTA - Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
FORIG - Forestry Research Institute of Ghana
GDP - Gross Domestic Product
GFIS - Global Forest Information Service
ICRAF - World Agroforestry Centre
ITTA - International Tropical Timber Agreement
ITTC - International Tropical Timber Council
ITTO - International Tropical Timber Organisation
IUFRO - International Union of Forest Research Organisations
PROSEA - Plant Resources of South-East Asia
PROTA - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa
PSC - Project Steering Committee
UK - United Kingdom
UNCED - United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
WU - Wageningen University
ii
Preface The completion report of ITTO project PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I) Timbers of Tropical Africa Part 1
(Group 7(1)) within the PROTA programme has been prepared in accordance with the ITTO
format in Annex D of the ITTO Manual for Project Monitoring, Review and Evaluation of May
1999.
The PROTA Foundation, in particular the project’s lead executing institutions (Forestry Research
Institute of Ghana (FORIG), Wageningen University (WU) and Agropolis International (France)),
wish to express their gratitude to ITTO, the Netherlands Directorate-General for International
Cooperation (DGIS), the Government of Ghana, as well as data collectors, authors and editors for
their support in the implementation of the project.
Colleagues in the PROTA Network Office Europe are gratefully acknowledged for their comments
and inputs in the preparation of the report. Special thanks to Mrs. Stella B. Acquah of PROTA
Anglophone West Africa Regional Office for her help and support during the preparation of the
report.
iii
PROJECT IDENTIFICATION
TITLE:
TIMBERS OF TROPICAL AFRICA PART 1: GROUP 7(1) WITHIN THE PROTA PROGRAMME
SERIAL NUMBER: PD 264/04 Rev.3 (M,I)
COMMITTEE: ECONOMIC INFORMATION AND MARKET INTELLIGENCE
SUBMITTED BY: GOVERNMENT OF GHANA
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
EXECUTING AGENCY: PROTA FOUNDATION, IN COOPERATION WITH THE FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF GHANA (FORIG), WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY (WU, NETHERLANDS) AND AGROPOLIS INTERNATIONAL (FRANCE))
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acronyms .................................................................................................................................... i
Preface ........................................................................................................................................ ii
Project Identification ................................................................................................................. iii
PART 1: - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background information about project .................................................................... 1
1.1.1 Problem Identification .................................................................................... 1
1.1.2 Objectives and Outputs ................................................................................... 2
1.1.3 Implementation Strategy ................................................................................. 4
1.1.4 Project duration and overall cost ..................................................................... 4
1.2 Project Achievements .............................................................................................. 5
1.2.1 Outputs Achieved............................................................................................ 5
1.2.2 Specific objectives achieved ........................................................................... 6
1.3 Lessons Learned ....................................................................................................... 7
1.3.1 Developmental Lessons .................................................................................. 7
1.3.2 Operational Lessons ........................................................................................ 7
1.4 Recommendations .................................................................................................... 8
PART 2: - MAIN TEXT ............................................................................................................ 9
2.1 Project Content ......................................................................................................... 9
2.1.1 Development Objective ................................................................................ 13
2.1.2 Specific Objectives ....................................................................................... 13
2.1.3 Outputs .......................................................................................................... 13
2.1.4 The strategy adopted in carrying out the project .......................................... 16
2.1.5 Workplan ....................................................................................................... 17
2.1.6 Required Inputs ............................................................................................. 17
2.1.7 Project Adjustments ...................................................................................... 19
2.1.8 ITTO Context of the Project ......................................................................... 19
viii
2.1.8.1 Compliance with ITTA 1994 objectives ............................................. 19
2.1.8.2 Compliance with ITTO Action Plan ................................................... 20
2.2 Project Context ...................................................................................................... 21
2.3 Project Design and organisation ............................................................................ 23
2.3.1 Project Beneficiaries ..................................................................................... 23
2.3.2 Project Coordination ..................................................................................... 23
2.4 Project Implementation .......................................................................................... 24
2.4.1 The most critical differences between planned and actual project implementation……………………………………………………………..26
2.4.2 Measures and actions that could have avoided the variations ...................... 26
2.4.3 Project Sustainability .................................................................................... 26
2.4.4 Appropriateness of project’s inputs .............................................................. 27
2.5 Project Results ....................................................................................................... 27
2.5.1 The situation existing at project completion compared to pre project
phase……………………………………………………………………….27
2.5.1.1 Capacity building in wood anatomy .................................................... 28
2.5.1.2 Capacity building in editing ................................................................. 28
2.5.2 Extent to which the projects specific objectives were achieved ................... 28
2.5.3 Impact of project’s results ............................................................................. 29
2.6 Synthesis of results ................................................................................................ 30
PART 3: - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................. 31
3.1 Development Lessons ........................................................................................... 31
3.2 Operational Lessons ............................................................................................... 31
3.3 Recommendations related to future projects ......................................................... 34
Responsible for the Report....................................................................................................... 36
1
PART 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT PROJECT 1.1.1 Problem Identification PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) is a similar initiative for Tropical Africa as PROSEA
(Plant Resources of South-East Asia) was for South-East Asia in the 1990s. Both PROSEA and
PROTA are ‘information brokerage’ programmes.
Relevant up-to-date information is essential for informed decision making on forests and their
relevant values. The UNCED-Forest Principles acknowledged information as priority for the
implementation of agenda 21. Although enormous amounts of information on plants, forests and
natural resources are generated, substantial parts remain inaccessible to users. The major problem
facing information seekers is the location of information sources corresponding to their needs.
With the rapidly growing number of websites containing information on plant resources and
related information, it is a huge task to search for relevant information. Even the best search
engines are incapable of locating all pertinent sites.
PROTA aims to collect, collate and synthesize the existing wealth of dispersed information on
7,000 useful plants of Tropical Africa, and to make it available for education, extension work,
research and industry in the form of a web database, an illustrated multivolume handbook, CD-
ROMs and derived products in two languages- English and French. The 7,000 useful plant species
are subdivided into 16 commodity groups as listed and categorized in the PROTA ‘Basic list’. The
Timbers is one of the most important commodity groups and over 1,000 species will be described
in two volumes.
In Tropical Africa timber trees constitute a major element of the natural vegetation, and in a large
number of economies, exploitation of timber plays an important role. In Ghana for instance timber
accounts for 6-7 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The present exploitation of natural
forest for timber, shifting cultivation and other human activities, may lead to the total destruction
of tropical forests if not properly complemented by programmes ensuring sustainable exploitation.
2
Fortunately, efforts to protect and conserve tropical forests have worldwide support. Not only are
alternatives for the use of forest resources (e.g. fuel-wood farming) considered and developed, but
also generation of alternative sources of income for the local population is being promoted. Beside
improved silvicultural management of natural forests, cultivation of valuable timbers is being
encouraged. Commercialization of other products produced by timber trees (e.g. edible fruits and
nuts, resin and other exudates, medicines, fibres, essential oils, dyes and tannins) may give
additional income to forest village communities and may protect forests from destruction.
For trials on species cultivation, knowledge concerning ecological requirements, seed production
and longevity, methods of propagation, growth and development, productivity and diseases and
pests is a necessity. To promote the conservation of tropical forests or to decide on export and
exploitation restrictions of timber species, knowledge on the characteristics of the tree species
growth, natural regeneration and natural enemies is necessary.
All these efforts should start from the same sound base: up-to-date knowledge of the tree and its
habitat.
The development objective of PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I) was to improve access to interdisciplinary
data on the timbers of Tropical Africa as a basis for sustainable tropical forest management, and to
improve networking leading to better cooperation and information exchange between forestry
actors.
1.1.2 Objectives and Outputs
The two specific objectives as described in the project document were:
To gather, evaluate and synthesize the dispersed information on the ‘Timbers of Tropical
Africa’ through improved networking.
To facilitate wide access of target beneficiaries to the information on the ‘Timbers of
Tropical Africa’ in electronic and printed forms.
3
The overall project outputs were achieved, although there were some variations to the initial
targets set. In most cases the targets were exceeded.
Specific objective 1: Information gathering, evaluation and synthesis through networking
- Output 1.1: WORLDREFS–TIMBERS: Supporting database of international literature on the
‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’ (Target – 25,000 records)
- Output 1.2: AFRIREFS–TIMBERS: Supporting database of ‘grey’ local literature on the
‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’ (Target – 1,500 records)
- Output 1.3: EXPERTISE–TIMBERS: Supporting database serving as Directory of Experts
on the ‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’ (Target – 100 records)
- Output 1.4: IMAGEFILE–TIMBERS: Supporting database with illustration material
(drawings, maps, photographs) on the ‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’ (Target – 1,200 records)
- Output 1.5: TEXTFILE–TIMBERS: About 350 state-of-the-art review articles (English
version) on the ‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’ (species in the more important timber-producing
taxonomic families)
- Output 1.6 TRANSLATION–TIMBERS: French version of Textfile
Specific Objective 2: Facilitating access to the information in electronic and printed forms
- Output 2.1: WEBDATABASE–TIMBERS (English & French): Webdatabase ‘Timbers of
Tropical Africa’: 350 Textfile, 1,200 Imagefile records (150 drawings, 150 geographic
distribution maps, 150 x 3 microphotographs, 150 x 3 habit photographs)
4
- Output 2.2: HANDBOOK–TIMBERS (English & French editions): Volume PROTA 7(1) on
the ‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’: 600 pages, 350 Textfile, 750 Imagefile records (150
drawings, 150 geographic distribution maps, 150 x 3 microphotographs)
- Output 2.3: CD–TIMBERS (English & French): CD-ROM on the ‘Timbers of Tropical
Africa’: 350 Textfile, 1,200 Imagefile records (150 drawings, 150 geographic distribution
maps, 150 x 3 microphotographs, 150 x 3 habit photographs)
- Output 2.4: DERIVED PRODUCTS–TIMBERS: derived products in consultation with
‘grassroots’ organizations
1.1.3 Implementation Strategy
The commodity group approach used by the PROTA programme was employed in this project.
The approach allows for focusing both human and material resources available to the PROTA
programme on few commodities at any point in time. As a result considerable progress was made
and the number of species covered during the project exceeded the planned target. The project
also adopted a strategy of strict adherence to the project design and all proposed activities were
carried out during the project term.
1.1.4 Project duration and overall cost
The project was implemented over a three-year period as originally planned from January 2006
to December 2008. This is one of very few ITTO funded projects that have been completed as
scheduled. The total project budget was US$ 1,608,299. The ITTO contribution of US$ 577,886
(including US$ 66,806 ITTO monitoring and support costs) has been efficiently spent and yearly
audited financial statements have been submitted to ITTO headquarters in Yokohama. The funds
provided by ITTO and other donors as described in the project document are as follows:
5
SOURCE CONTRIBUTION IN US$
ITTO 577,886
(511,080 nett)
PROTA 626,703
DUTCH GOVERNMENT (DGIS) 403,710
TOTAL 1,608,299
1.2 PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS
The project’s output achievements were strongly linked to the specific objectives as detailed in the
project document and presented as outputs 1.1-1.6 and 2.1-2.4.
The writing, editing and illustration process took off earlier than indicated in the workplan.
Project PD 264/04 Rev.3 (M,I) had a flying start. This was mainly due to the fact that the project
was part of the much larger PROTA programme on 7,000 useful plants of Tropical Africa.
Timbers of Tropical Africa Part 1 had its formal and informal structures firmly in place, prior to
the project start-up. Furthermore, the approval of the first Editors meeting by ITTO prior to the
official starting date greatly expedited the implementation of the project.
1.2.1 Outputs Achieved
Specific objective 1: Networking, information gathering, exchange and synthesis
The actual achievements compared to planned targets are presented below.
Output Target Actual
1.1 Worldrefs 25,000 34,000
1.2 Afrirefs 1,500 1,310
1.3 Expertise 100 178
1.4 Imagefile 1,200 1,638
1.5 Textfile (species) 450 511
1.6 Translation process 450 511
6
Specific Objective 2: Wide access to the information in electronic and printed forms
280 Validated textfile review articles on 511 species (English and French) have been inserted in
the web database, Protabase. The sources of verification indicated in the logframe are the number
of records in the web database. At the homepage www.prota.org, information seekers can search
PROTABASE. A search in the Basic Search Screen for Timbers under the category ‘Uses’ would
find a total of 470 ‘Timber’ records: 280 on Primary Use Timbers which are part of this project,
and 190 Secondary Use Timbers which have been compiled under other commodity groups. The
280 review articles have also been published in an English book (704 pp.) and a French book (785
pp.), each in a print run of 1,200 copies. 100 copies of each have been shipped to ITTO for internal
distribution. The bilingual CD, which is normally distributed in combination with the books, has
been printed in 1,000 copies. A special stand-alone ITTO edition of 200 copies has been shipped to
ITTO for internal distribution.
The knowledge synthesis was discussed in a brainstorm workshop with about 20 stakeholders from
25-27 November 2008 in Kumasi, Ghana. It yielded a Conclusion and Recommendation Matrix
‘280 species × 6 topics’ which has been posted on the PROTA homepage for general access. It
deals with promising species, development gaps, research gaps, thesis subjects, conservation needs
and policy measures. Follow-up activities in dissemination and outreach will proceed beyond the
project’s term. The knowledge synthesis and the stakeholder consultation will now be followed up
(under different donor funding) by a special document called ‘PROTA recommends…..Timbers
1’, and market studies and pilot projects on promising species in due time and with adequate
funding. Results under the project have become available. The Core products (web database,
books, CD-ROM) have become available as well as a derived set of Conclusions and
Recommendations for the intermediate target groups.
1.2.2 Specific objectives achieved
The project two specific objectives were achieved in an admirable way. Information gathering,
exchange and synthesis were critical activities in the documentation process. The resulting web
7
database, handbook (in English & French), CD-ROMs have increased access to information on
Timbers of Tropical Africa substantially.
1.3 LESSONS LEARNED
1.3.1 Developmental Lessons
A documentation project of the magnitude of PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I) is about different actors of
different levels (Coordinators, editors, authors, data collectors) and processes (writing, editing,
printing, translation) and their interaction. We have seen how one element can affect the other.
The varying response rate, the quality of output of different actors could somehow derail
schedules. Many of these can however be overcome when you have an experienced and tested
core team in place. This is the trump card of the PROTA initiative. As part of the larger PROTA
programme, PD 264/04 benefited and had a flying start due to the fact that the formal and
informal structures and processes for the documentation project were already in place prior to the
project start-up.
1.3.2 Operational Lessons
There was strict adherence to project design with minimum changes to the original plan. This strict
adherence to project plan and timelines ensured the project completion within the scheduled three-
year period. There were cases of delays in submissions of articles by authors but these were
resolved through timely reminders and expeditious editing by our in-house editors. Funding
dislocations on some of the budget lines were discussed by the project steering committee and
addressed through budget –neutral adjustments approved by the Executive Director of ITTO as per
his letter dated 10 January 2008.
The project steering committee has been quite serious with its role and ensured that all
bottlenecks likely to derail the smooth implementation of the project were addressed in a
timely manner. While major issues dealing with ITTO policies have been referred to the full
house of the steering committee in the annual meetings, relatively minor issues have been dealt
8
with by members of the committee involved in the day to day implementation of the project
and reported in the annual meetings.
The approval of the Editors meeting in November 2005, prior to the official starting date of the
project (January 1, 2006) by ITTO paved the way for the writing, editing and illustration
process to take off earlier than indicated in the workplan.
Inspite of the generally smooth implementation, the project was influenced by external factors
that needed resolution. The transition of the larger PROTA programme from the First
Implementation Phase 2003-2007 to the Second Implementation Phase 2008-2012 exacted
heavy claim on manpower with respect to external review, international workshop, and
fundraising activities.
Also the transfer of project funds in dollars to the Euro zone and reconversion to dollars to
collaborating institutions sometimes affected the value of funds.
1.4 RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of similar projects the following
recommendations are presented.
Documentation projects of such magnitude involving many authors and processes and their
interaction usually face delivery delays. While this project was largely successful, the delays
experienced could be avoided or minimised in future by identifying back-up authors.
Project implementation should start with a planning workshop involving all key personnel
during which project concepts, workplan, roles and responsibilities and schedule of activities
are discussed by all project partners and personnel. The devolution of responsibilities to others
in the course of the project implementation can cause uneasiness.
The project benefited exceedingly from the experience of the Network Europe team. Since
PROTA is largely an African programme, a structured capacity building plan should be
mapped out in the follow-up projects.
9
Involvement of African scientists in the editing is limited by training. Efforts should be made
to train more Africans in editing in any follow-up project.
A number of factors accounted for the success of PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I). These could serve as
lessons for similar documentation projects
Pre-project consultative meeting of editors.
Preparation and distribution of comprehensive guide to authors.
Payments of honoraria to authors
Firm promise to list the names and affiliations of contributors in the products.
Strict adherence to workplan / timelines
Existence of basic infrastructure for project implementation
PART 2: MAIN TEXT
2.1 PROJECT CONTENT
Decision-makers, natural resource managers, students and educators, extension workers and
researchers in Tropical Africa still depend for an overview of the utilization of the plant resources
on a few botanically oriented and regionally focused handbooks. Most handbooks treat the plant
resources from a single-discipline angle. Research in tropical agronomy, horticulture, forestry and
economic botany is continuing and expanding rapidly, aided by new techniques. New information
on food values, properties, medicinal efficacy and applications, ecological relations between
cultivated and wild plants and related subjects are mounting. But the new information is dispersed
and not readily accessible to those who need them most. Even the best search engines are not able
to direct information seekers to all information sources. Moreover, the inadequacy of internet
services in many African institutions and countries presents its own difficulties.
What is urgently needed is a modern databank and handbook, providing up-to-date information
about the useful plants of the continent, both cultivated and growing wild. This is the development
objective of the PROTA Programme.
10
PROTA has been preparing the ground for this ambitious programme since 2000. During the
Preparatory Phase 2000-2003, the format and content of databank and handbook were worked out
in sample products (www.prota.org, ‘Basic list of species and commodity grouping’, ‘PROTA
Precursor / Précurseur’). The PROTA Network was established (11 organizations in 11 countries),
international consensus was reached on organization and set-up through an international Workshop
(Proceedings Workshop Nairobi, 2002), and subsequently PROTA was registered as an
international non-profit Foundation in the Netherlands. Action is underway to extend the PROTA
Network through contact persons and data collectors in catchment countries of nodal countries.
11
For the purpose of PROTA, Tropical Africa covers the 47 countries that for their greater part lie
within the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn (the whole of Africa except 6 countries in North Africa
12
and 3 countries in southern Africa, but including Madagascar and nearby islands in the Indian
Ocean).
A great majority of the population in Tropical Africa, a total of 800+ million people, largely
depends on the plant cover, the useful plants in particular, for their survival and well-being. Plants
also provide livelihood for over 90% of the people in extreme poverty. The current rate of forest
cover loss in Tropical Africa has tremendous consequences on the livelihood of the poor. In
Tropical Africa, the timber trees constitute a major element of the natural vegetation, and in a large
number of economies, exploitation of the timber plays an important role. But illegal extraction of
timber is also having a toll on the forests. For instance in Ghana, illegal timber extraction and
overharvesting account for over 65% of the cost of forest depletion, and 3% GDP. Fortunately,
efforts to protect and conserve tropical forests have worldwide support. Beside improved
silvicultural management of natural forests, cultivation of valuable timbers is being encouraged.
Commercialization of other products produced by timber trees (e.g. edible fruits and nuts, resin
and other exudates, medicines, fibres, essential oils, dyes and tannins) may give additional income
to forest village communities and may protect forests from destruction. For functional plantation
development, knowledge on ecological requirements, species characteristics, propagation
techniques, seed production and longevity, growth and productivity, diseases and pests, geographic
distribution, degree of threat and trade potential, is a necessity. All these call for up-to-date
knowledge on the useful and potentially useful timber species.
PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I) on PROTA 7(1): ‘Timbers 1’ targeted synthesis of information on the 350
species in the more important taxonomic families. It is to be complemented in due time by PROTA
7(2): ‘Timbers 2’ dealing with the 550 species in the currently less important taxonomic families,
in order to arrive at a complete overview of the ‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’.
The division of timber species over the 2 parts of PROTA 7 according to taxonomic families has
the advantage of publishing information on related species simultaneously. This is beneficial to
users, but also to the editors from the efficiency point of view. In the Web database, the artificial
subdivision will disappear.
13
2.1.1 Development objective
The development objective of the project was to improve access to interdisciplinary data on the
timbers of Tropical Africa as a basis for sustainable tropical forest management, and to improve
networking leading to better cooperation and information exchange between forestry actors. Many
of the documentation on tropical Africa plants presents information from single-discipline angle,
e.g. silviculture and management, distribution and tree ecology, pests and diseases, processing and
utilization. The project brought together these different facets of timber species to aid sustainable
tropical forest management.
2.1.2 Specific objectives
The project had two specific objectives
1. To gather, evaluate and synthesize the dispersed information on the ‘Timbers of Tropical
Africa’ through improved networking.
2. To facilitate wide access of target beneficiaries to the information on the ‘Timbers of Tropical
Africa’ in electronic and printed forms.
The two activities were in line with the approach for documenting information on all PROTA
commodity groups.
2.1.3 Outputs
2.1.3.1 Specific objective 1: Networking, information gathering, exchange and synthesis. The
targets envisaged and the actual achieved are shown in table below.
14
2.1.3.2 Specific Objective 2: Wide access to the information in electronic and printed forms
Output 2.1: 280 Validated textfile review articles on 511 species (English and French) have
been inserted in the web database, PROTABASE.
The sources of verification indicated in the logframe are the number of records in the Web
database. At the homepage www.prota.org, information seekers can search PROTABASE. A
search in the Basic Search Screen for Timbers under the category ‘Uses’ would find a total of
470 ‘Timber’ records: 280 on Primary Use Timbers which are part of this project, and 190
Secondary Use Timbers which have been compiled under other commodity groups.
Output 2.2: The 280 review articles have also been published in an English handbook (704 pp.)
and a French book (785 pp.), each in a print run of 1,200 copies. 100 copies of each have been
shipped to ITTO for internal distribution. The Desk-Top-Publishing of ‘Timbers 1’, English
edition, was completed in October 2008. The book was presented to ITTO and donors during
the 44th ITTC (3-8 November 2008, Yokohama, Japan).
The full reference to the book is:
Louppe, D., Oteng-Amoako, A.A. & Brink, M. (Editors), 2008.
Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 7(1). Timbers 1.
PROTA Foundation, Wageningen, Netherlands.
Output Target Actual
1.1 Worldrefs 25,000 34,000
1.2 Afrirefs 1,500 1,310
1.3 Expertise 100 178
1.4 Imagefile 1,200 1,638
1.5 Textfile (species) 450 511
1.6 Translation process 450 511
15
Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, Netherlands.
CTA, Wageningen, Netherlands.
704 pp.
The Desk-Top-Publishing of ‘Bois d’œuvre 1’, French edition, was completed in November 2008.
The full reference to the book is:
Louppe, D., Oteng-Amoako, A.A. & Brink, M. (Editeurs), 2008.
Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale 7(1). Bois d’œuvre 1.
[Traduction de: Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 7(1). Timbers 1. 2008].
Fondation PROTA, Wageningen, Pays-Bas.
Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, Pays-Bas.
CTA, Wageningen, Pays-Bas.
785 pp.
Both editions were printed in 1,200 copies. CTA will distribute 600 copies of each, ITTO 100
copies of each, PROTA 300 copies of each. The remainder of 200 is available for commercial
distribution by Backhuys Publishers.
Output 2.3: The bilingual CD, which is normally distributed in combination with the books,
has been printed in 1,000 copies. (A special stand-alone ITTO edition of 200 copies has been
shipped to ITTO for internal distribution). CTA will distribute 400 copies, PROTA
Foundation 200 copies and the remainder is available for commercial distribution (and for
future orders of CTA).
Output 2.4: The knowledge synthesis was discussed in a brainstorm workshop with about 20
stakeholders from 25-27 November 2008 in Kumasi, Ghana. It yielded a Conclusion and
Recommendation Matrix ‘280 species × 6 topics’ which has been posted on the PROTA
homepage for general access. It deals with promising species, development gaps, research
gaps, thesis subjects, conservation needs and policy measures.
16
It also guarantees that follow-up activities in dissemination and outreach do not stop at the
completion of the project. The knowledge synthesis and the stakeholder consultation will now be
followed up (under different donor funding) by concrete formulation of conclusions and
recommendations in a document called ‘PROTA recommends…..Timbers 1’. If funding permits,
market studies and pilot projects on promising species will follow suit.
Results under the project have become available. The Core products (web database, books, CD-
ROM) have become available as well as a derived set of conclusions and recommendations for the
intermediate target groups.
2.1.4 The strategy adopted in carrying out project
The commodity group approach used in the publication of PROTA handbooks was employed in
the ITTO project. This enables one group to be handled at a time and allows group specialists
(editors) to be assembled and involved in an efficient way. Within the PROTA Programme, work
on 4 Commodity groups (PROTA 1: ‘Cereals and pulses’, PROTA 2: ‘Vegetables’, PROTA 3:
‘Dyes and tannins’, PROTA 14: ‘Vegetable oils’) has been completed. The electronic databank is
growing at a fast pace (PROTABASE at www.prota.org).
The framework of the PROTA Programme and the lay-out of the web database and Handbooks,
developed during the Preparatory Phase 2000-2003, are soundly based. The project on 'Timbers 1'
was carried out by experienced PROTA staff members in 7 African and 3 European countries and
an experienced team of editors from institutions linked to the PROTA programme, in this case
especially the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), Agropolis International (France) and
Wageningen University (the Netherlands).
The PROTA Programme is not overlapping but clearly complementary to various taxonomical and
flora projects on the continent. Cooperation is sought with relevant information initiatives such as
IUFRO (GFIS), CABI (Forestry Compendium) and Forestry Research Network of sub-Saharan
Africa (FORNESSA Information Service – FORNIS). About 60% of the authors of the articles are
17
from African institutions. The project has enhanced their visibility to the international community.
The comprehensive guidelines made available to the authors facilitated delivery and improved the
writing skills of many authors. The number of hits on the PROTABASE increased steadily during
the implementation of the project as articles were inserted in the web database.
2.1.5 Workplan
The project agreement between the Government of Ghana and ITTO was signed by Mr. E. Otoo,
the then Executive Director of Ghana’s Forestry Commission and Manoel Sobral Filho, the then
Executive Director of ITTO. The first yearly workplan was prepared by the project secretariat and
approved by ITTO prior to official start-up. The first tranche of project funds of USD 136,080 was
received in November 2005. The implementation of the project started officially on 1 January
2006. A proposal for budget neutral adjustments submitted by the project’s General Coordinator
was approved by the Executive Director of ITTO as per letter dated 10 January 2008. The adjusted
amounts per budget lines as applied appeared in the project Financial statement submitted to ITTO.
The project workplan (output/activity/timelines) was strictly adhered to. The key components of
the work plan were the scanning of the international and grey literature; making Afrirefs and
expertise databases available to authors and editors; surveying and digitising illustration materials;
standardisation of wood anatomical descriptions, translation from English to French, insertion of
textfile / imagefile in Protabase (www.prota.org) and publication of the handbook, CD-ROMs and
special products. The entire project activities were completed as originally scheduled (36 months)
from January 1 2006 to December 30, 2008.
2.1.6 Required Inputs
The budget provided by ITTO in total of US$ 577,886 (including US$ 66,806 ITTO monitoring
and support costs) has been efficiently applied to cover the three-year project implementation. The
ITTO contribution constituted about a third of the total project budget of US$ 1,608,299 (US$
1,541,493 nett). Detailed budget and sources of funds is shown below:
18
SOURCE CONTRIBUTION IN US$
ITTO 577,886
(511,080 nett)
PROTA 626,703
DUTCH GOVERNMENT (DGIS) 403,710
TOTAL 1,608,299
(1,541,493 nett)
The administration of ITTO funds was in accordance with the prevailing ITTO regulations which
were integrated in the overall PROTA financial administration system. Below is the yearly
expenditure of funds over the three-year project term.
Source Year Expenditure ITTO 2005 EUR 2,750
ITTO 2006 EUR 83,199
ITTO 2007 EUR 115,892
ITTO 2008 EUR 167,518
Subtotal 2005-2008 EUR 369,359 = US $ 526,040
DGIS 2006 EUR 99,553
DGIS 2007 EUR 101,799
DGIS 2008 EUR 106,240
Subtotal 2006-2008 EUR 307,592 = US $ 432,558
PROTA 2006 EUR 149,069
PROTA 2007 EUR 137,018
PROTA 2008 EUR 162,675
Subtotal 2006-2008 EUR 448,744 = US $ 627,153
GRAND TOTAL EUR 1,125,695 = US $ 1,585,751
19
2.1.7 Project Adjustments
A budget-neutral adjustment request to ITTO was approved by the Executive Director of ITTO
(Mr. E. Ze Meka) as per response dated 10 January 2008.
2.1.8 ITTO Context of the Project
2.1.8.1 Compliance with ITTA 1994 objectives
The primary goal of the project was to compile up-to-date knowledge on the timbers of Tropical
Africa and to publish it in electronic (Web database, CD-ROM) as well as in printed forms
(Handbook). Information on uses, trade, properties, anatomy, taxonomy, ecology, silviculture,
genetic resources, prospects have been presented. The project output is in compliance with all of
the ITTO Objectives laid down in the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA 1994).
Direct relationships can be found in the following objectives:
Objective c. To contribute to the process of sustainable development.
Objective f. To promote and support research and development with a view of improving forest
management and efficiency of wood utilization as well as increasing the capacity to
conserve and enhance other forest values in timber-producing tropical forests.
Objective g. To develop and contribute towards mechanisms for the provision of new and
additional financial resources and expertise needed to enhance the capacity of
producing members to attain the objectives of this Agreement.
The project complies with six of the criteria for project activities (ITTA, 1994):
Criterion b. Environmental and social effects: the comprehensive approach of the project in
complementing information on the timber aspects with ample attention for the by-
products of the timber trees, contributes to a well-balanced use of natural forests. As
20
such it contributes to conservation, but also to appropriate returns from sustainable
managed forests for local communities.
Criterion c. Maintaining an appropriate geographical balance: the project was a regional project
(Tropical Africa) in which producer countries closely work together with consumer
countries (European Union members).
Criterion d. Interests and characteristics of each of the developing producing regions: the
information resulting from the project will complement the ‘Timber’ project done
by PROSEA for South-East Asia. It will serve as an example for a similar
undertaking envisaged for South America.
Criterion e. Equitable distribution of resources among the priority fields: the project covered
diverse areas including wood use, natural forest management, reforestation
development, harvesting, and training of technical personnel and indirectly to the
area of institutional framework and national planning.
Criterion f. Cost-effectiveness: the project made use of the existing infrastructure of the
PROTA Programme including the operational network in Tropical Africa.
Criterion g. Avoid duplication of efforts: the PROTA programme, besides its formal network,
has built up an extensive informal network of contributing institutions and
specialists. Maximum use was made of existing expertise.
2.1.8.2 Compliance with ITTO Action Plan
Information on lesser-known timber species is basic for many aspects of the objectives formulated
in the ITTO Action Plan (1990) and Priorities (e.g. for sustainable forest management, sustainable
production of timber together with non-timber products, training, forest policy, rural development,
etc.).
21
A priority ITTO objective related to the present project is to arrest the decline and degradation of
tropical forests by incorporating sustainable management practices. All export of tropical timber
products should originate ultimately from sustainable managed forests. Lesser-known timber
species constitute up till now a largely unknown element in sustainable management. PD 264/04
Rev. 3 (M, I) has contributed to the knowledge base on Lesser-Used species as many of the species
dealt with are categorised as LUS.
Another objective formulated in the ITTO Action Plan concerns the promotion of cooperation
between institutes through networks. The PROTA Network in Tropical Africa and Europe, in
which key research institutions are cooperating and are able to exchange information and
experience, was further expanded in the course of the project through involvement and
participation of many authors in Africa and elsewhere.
The ITTO Action Plan is also directed to enhancing the ability of local communities, particularly
those within or near the forest, to obtain appropriate returns and other benefits from sustainable
managed forests. Regulated collection, cultivation and trade of by-products of the timber trees will
provide employment and income to forest village communities. Up-to-date information on all
aspects of timber species, as was the objective of the project, will ultimately greatly contribute to
reach this goal.
2.2 PROJECT CONTEXT
PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) is a similar initiative for Tropical Africa as PROSEA
(Plant Resources of South-East Asia) was for South-East Asia in the 1990s. Both documentation
programmes were initiated in recognition of the difficulty in accessing information on plant
resources in the tropics by decision makers, researchers, students, consultants, environmental
groups, entrepreneurs, donors, landowners, forest managers, media and the general public.
PROSEA/PROTA are ‘information brokerage’ programmes.
22
The aim of the PROTA Programme as a whole is to document the existing wealth of dispersed
information on the plant resources of Tropical Africa, and to make it available for education,
extension work, research and industry in the form of a Web database, an illustrated multivolume
Handbooks, CD-ROMs and derived products in two languages, English and French. About 7,000
useful species will be dealt with, subdivided into 16 commodity groups as listed and categorized in
the PROTA ‘Basic list’:
Bosch, C.H., Siemonsma, J.S., Lemmens, R.H.M.J. and Oyen, L.P.A. (Editors), 2002. Plant
Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources Végétales de l’Afrique Tropicale. Basic list of
species and commodity grouping / Liste de base des espèces et de leurs groupes d’usage.
PROTA Programme, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 341 pp.
The subdivision in Commodity groups is as follows:
PROTA 1: Cereals and pulses / Céréales et légumes secs (completed)
2: Vegetables / Légumes (completed)
3: Dyes and tannins / Colorants et tanins (completed)
4: Ornamentals / Plantes ornementales
5: Forages / Plantes fourragères
6: Fruits / Fruits
7: Timbers / Bois d’œuvre
7(1): Part 1 PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I) (completed)
7(2): Part 2 PD 479/07 Rev. 2 (M) (in progress)
8: Carbohydrates / Sucres et amidons
9: Auxiliary plants / Plantes auxiliaires
10: Fuel plants / Bois de feu
11: Medicinal plants / Plantes médicinales
11(1): Part 1 (completed)
11(2): Part 2 (in progress)
11(3): Part 3
11(4): Part 4
23
12: Spices and condiments / Epices et condiments
13: Essential oils and exudates / Huiles essentielles et exsudats
14: Vegetable oils / Oléagineux (completed)
15: Stimulants / Plantes stimulantes
16: Fibres / Plantes à fibres (in progress)
The commodity group 'Timbers' is the second largest group distinguished by PROTA, comprising
over 1,000 primary use species. Another 650 species have ‘timber’ as secondary use, and are dealt
in other commodity groups.
Because of the large number of species, PROTA 7 was subdivided into two parts:
- 7(1): Timbers 1 (about 500 species in the more important timber-producing taxonomic
families)
- 7(2): Timbers 2 (about 550 species in the currently less important timber-producing taxonomic
families)
PROTA 7(1) has been completed as at 31 December 2008 (3 years); PROTA 7(2) took off in
January 2009. For the PROTA programme as a whole an implementation period of 13 years is
foreseen (2003-2015).
2.3 PROJECT DESIGN AND ORGANISATION
2.3.1 Project beneficiaries
At the national level, the key beneficiaries are the major timber-producing countries in Tropical
Africa such as Gabon, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire,
Liberia, but also the other countries in Tropical Africa will benefit.
24
In these countries the direct beneficiaries of the electronic (Webdatabases, CD-ROMs) and printed
output (Books) are those professionally concerned with timbers (in government, research,
education, extension, industry). Within these broad target categories, the key actors have been
identified in the Target Group Address (TGA) system. Also existing directories of ITTO, ATO,
IUFRO were used to identify more beneficiaries.
The strength of the PROTA Programme is that the direct recipients are at the same time the
contributors: a large cross-section of the professionals engaged in the sectors described above
contributed to the core output of the PROTA Programme as editors or authors. For PROTA 7(1) on
the ‘Timbers’, over 80 authors, editors and associate editors were involved.
In due time information will be presented to the indirect beneficiaries (communities depending on
the forest) through specially prepared materials, such as brochures and leaflets, by the extension
service or through other means.
2.3.2 Project Coordination
The PROTA programme has a board of trustees with representation from each of the eleven
participating institutions, namely – The Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), Ghana;
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CENAREST), Gabon ; Centre
National de Semences Forestières (CNSF), Burkina Faso; Makerere University, Uganda; National
Herbarium and Botanic Gardens (NHBG), (Malawi); Parc Botanique et Zoölogique de Tsimbazaza
(PBZT), Madagascar; Agropolis International, France; Royal Botanic Garden, UK; PROSEA
Foundation, Indonesia; World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya; and Wageningen University
(WU), Netherlands.
The lead institutions in the implementation of PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M, I) were the Forestry Research
Institute of Ghana, Wageningen University and Agropolis International. The project steering
committee made up of representatives of Ghana Forestry Commission, Forest Service Division
(Ghana), Ghana Timber Millers Association, Timber Industry Development Division (Ghana),
ITTO, General Project Coordinator, Editorial Coordinator, and Network Coordinator was chaired
25
by the Chief Executive of Ghana Forestry Commission. The Steering Committee met annually to
appraise the project progress and ensured that project implementation was in accordance with
project workplan. The regional offices, country offices, and the network offices gathered relevant
information for the PROTA databank which was made available to authors to assist in the write-up
of articles. The Editorial Coordinator in the PROTA Network Office Europe was responsible for
the editorial activities of the project, coordinating a large external network of editors and authors.
The General Project Coordinator dealt with policy issues relating to the project implementation
and ensured that project inputs were received and applied in the most efficient manner.
The key personnel in the project team were:
Dr. Joe Cobbinah (FORIG) - General Project Coordinator
Dr. Jan Siemonsma (WU) - Editorial Coordinator
Dr. Martin Brink (WU) - Internal Editor
Dr. Dominique Louppe (Agropolis) - Editor
Dr. Andrew Oteng-Amoako (FORIG) - Editor
Dr. (Mrs) Elizabeth Omino - Coordinator, Network Office Africa
Mrs. Stella Britwum Acquah - Regional Officer West Africa node
2.4 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
There were no serious implementation bottlenecks. Key project staff stayed on through out project
implementation. All donors (ITTO, the Dutch government and PROTA Foundation) met their
financial commitments in admirably way. In cases where authors had difficulty in meeting
timelines the editorial secretariat had to support or take up the write-up of the articles.
2.4.1 The most critical differences between planned and actual project implementation
The major differences were as follows
Timber species covered in the project increased from 350 originally planned to 511. 280
validated textfile reviewed articles on 511 species (English and French) have been inserted in
the webdatabase – PROTABASE
26
The project steering committee meetings originally planned twice a year were reduced to once
a year. The decision was taken at the first Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting to hold
cost within budget. This, however, did not have any negative effect on project as key project
personnel maintained close on-line links with the ITTO representative as well as other
members of the committee.
Budget adjusted: By a letter dated 10 January, the ITTO Executive Director approved a request
by the project steering committee for budget-neutral adjustments of the ITTO budget.
An overspending of ITTO budget amounting to US$ 9,927 (US$ 14,958 – 5,031 interest) was
borne by the PROTA Foundation.
100 copies of handbooks, 200 special stand-alone ITTO edition of bilingual CDs were shipped
to ITTO for distribution. The original plan was to make available to ITTO Secretariat a sample
of the products (Handbooks, CD-Roms, and derived products)
2.4.2 Measures and actions that could have avoided the variations
Generally, the difference between the actual and planned activities was positive and indicative of
the success of the project. The overrun of the ITTO budget (US$ 9,927) and the total project
budget could be explained by a number of interacting factors including continuous changes and
disparity between the United States dollars and Euros and changes in the cost of air travels and
printing. The project team was able to hold the variations within reasonable limits.
2.4.3 Project sustainability
A follow-up project proposal (Timbers of Tropical Africa 2) was submitted in November 2007.
Revision 1 of the follow-up project PD 479/07 was submitted in June 2008 by the Ghana Forestry
Commission to ITTO for funding. Timbers of Tropical Africa 2 would deal with the remaining
510 timber species of tropical Africa and would be anchored on the foundation built during phase
one of the project. The timbers are one of the 16 commodity groups in the PROTA programme.
The PROTA programme has made considerable progress since its inception in 2000. The
programme has moved from the preparatory phase (2000-2003) through the first implementation
phase (2003-2008) to the current phase (second implementation phase 2008-2012). All 11
27
participating organizations, Netherlands government agencies, CTA, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and the COFRA Foundation have made commitments to the second implementation
phase (2008-2012).
The supporting databases (Worldrefs, Afrirefs, Imagefile and Expertise) on timbers have increased
substantially. Capacity building in wood anatomy and editing of African Scientists coupled with
strategic recruitments in the Network Office of Africa and phased transfer of responsibilities to
institutions in Africa would ensure the internalization of the programme in Africa and
sustainability beyond project term.
2.4.4 Appropriateness of project’s inputs
Project inputs (personnel, physical facilities and finances) were generally appropriate for project
implementation. The budget-neutral adjustment was to correct skewness in budget lines. The
slight over run on ITTO budget was due to currency changes and cost changes that could not be
predicted during the project formulation stage.
2.5 PROJECT RESULTS
2.5.1 The situation existing at project completion compared to pre project phase
Lack of access to interdisciplinary information (distribution, uses, properties, description, anatomy,
growth and development, propagation, management) on major timber species of tropical Africa
was the pre-project situation. PD264/04 Rev. 3 has synthesized existing knowledge on major
timber species of tropical Africa and made it accessible through web database, handbook and CD-
ROM to policy makers, education and extension workers, researchers and industry, small-scale and
commercial tree growers in two languages (English and French).
As a result of the project implementation the following has been achieved.
28
2.5.1.1 Capacity Building in Wood Anatomy
A Wood Anatomy workshop was held as scheduled from 16-25 May 2007 in Montpellier, France.
The Workshop was hosted by Agropolis International and took place at the premises of CIRAD-
Forêt. For 203 Timber species new standardized wood-anatomical descriptions were made. The
training and production workshop had 14 participants: 6 experienced instructors (Baas, Detienne,
Wheeler, Beeckman, Gasson, Oteng-Amoako) and 8 trainees: Ebanyenle (Ghana), Mugabi
(Uganda), Uetimane (Mozambique), Ng’andwe (Zambia), Ngok Banak (Gabon), Mollel
(Tanzania), Masamba (Senegal) & Louppe (France). Three intended trainees did not make it in the
end for various reasons (accident, visa refusal): Dié (Côte d’Ivoire), Nduwamungu (Rwanda) and
Kikufi Batoba (DR Congo). They were replaced by Massamba Thiam (Senegal) and Louppe
(France).
2.5.1.2 Capacity building in Editing
From 28 October till 22 December 2008, Mr. Emmanuel Ebanyenle, staff of the Forestry Research
Institute of Ghana (FORIG), was attached to the PROTA Network Office Europe at Wageningen
University for an intensive editorial training, in anticipation of a possible role in the follow-up
project on PROTA 7(2): Timbers 2.
2.5.2 Extent to which the projects specific objectives were achieved
All the two project’s specific objectives were accomplished.
1. Objective 1: – To improve networking in order to gather, exchange, evaluate and synthesize
the dispersed information on the ‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’. Networking during the project
implementation expanded beyond the 11 core organisations. A number of data collectors from
catchment countries of nodes joined. Also as many as 60 authors many of which are affiliated
to institutions in Africa participated in the timber synthesis.
29
2. Objective 2: - To organize wide access of the target beneficiaries to the information on the
‘Timbers of Tropical Africa’ in electronic and printed forms. 280 validated textfile review
articles on 511 species in English and French have been inserted in webdatabase –
PROTABASE. Copies of desktop publication of ‘Timbers 1’ in English and French have been
sent to partners, authors and all major stakeholders. CTA is distributing 600 copies to mainly
ACP countries. ITTO has received 100 copies for distribution and 200 are being distributed by
a commercial publisher Backhuys. The bilingual CD-ROMs are being distributed by CTA,
PROTA Foundation, ITTO and Backhuys publishers. A derived product (a matrix with
conclusions and recommendations on ‘280 species x 6 topics’) in line with PROTA format for
publication of PROTA Recommends Series has been posted on PROTA homepage for general
access. It deals with promising timber species, development gaps, research gaps, thesis
subjects, conservation needs and policy measures. Perhaps the only unfinished activity in
respect of objective 2 is pilot projects on promising species – an activity the Project Steering
Committee (PSC) felt would be better organized after covering the entire spectrum of Timbers
of Tropical Africa in the follow-up project.
2.5.3 Impact of Project’s Results
Key to development is knowledge and informed people. The ultimate impact sought is improved
access to interdisciplinary data on timbers of tropical Africa as a basis for sustainable tropical
forest management. The project has used varied carriers (webdatabase, handbook, CD-ROM) to
reach out to different information seekers.
There is now increased knowledge amongst forest managers, researchers, extension officers,
educationists on best practices for propagating and ensuring healthy stands, for substitute species
for major species overexploited in the past. Knowledge gaps have heightened researchers and
students interest in some of the species.
30
A survey conducted by PROTA indicates that hits on PROTABASE have increased substantially
since the insertion of information on timbers on the web database.
2.6 SYNTHESIS OF RESULTS
a) Specific objectives achievement
b) Outputs
c) Schedules
d) Actual Expenditure
e) Potential for Replication
f) Potential for scaling up
Realised
Partly realised
Unrealised
Realised
Partly realised
Unrealised
In advance / on time
Delayed but not seriously
Seriously delayed
Below planned
More than 10% above planned
More than 20% above planned
High
Medium
Low
High
Medium
Low
Actual expenditure exceeded planned by 1.7%
31
PART 3: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1 DEVELOPMENT LESSONS
Mobilisation, synthesis and dissemination of information on over 500 timber species distributed
throughout tropical Africa in three years is a daunting task in every respect. The success is
attributable to a number of interacting factors including: sound and well-defined objectives, project
planning, commitment of project key personnel including editors, authors, data collectors and
timely release of project funding by donors (ITTO, Netherlands government agencies and the
PROTA Foundation). The project had a smooth take off because it was part of a much larger
PROTA programme that had its formal and informal structures and processes firmly in place five
years prior to the commencement of the project.
3.2 OPERATIONAL LESSONS
a) Project organisation and management
The project team adhered strictly to the project’s workplan. The project key staff stayed on
throughout the project implementation. The project steering committee (PSC) played a
proactive role in directing the project. Although not all members of PSC were actively
involved in the day to day implementation, the annual meeting addressed a number of issues
that emerged during project implementation. The operational processes for Timber 1 replicated
earlier processes employed for the publication of the other PROTA commodity groups
(Vegetables, Cereals and pulses, Dyes and tannins, Vegetable oils) published in 2004, 2005,
2006 and 2007. To iron out difficulties arising from imbalance in the distribution of project
funds, the project Coordinator sought the approval of the Executive Director of ITTO for a
budget-neutral adjustment of project funds. The Executive Director’s approval expedited
project implementation.
b) Dissemination of Results
Project key output – synthesis of information on 511 timber species of tropical Africa – has
been disseminated through web database (PROTABASE), Timbers 1 handbook, CD-ROM and
32
a derived product – PROTA recommends. Project reports to ITTO were all prepared and
dispatched as per the agreed schedule. A special poster announcing the publication of the
handbook and CD-ROM has been circulated through regional nodes and data collectors
throughout tropical Africa.
34
c) Monitoring and Evaluation
Project monitoring and evaluation was conducted through half-yearly progress reports to ITTO
and annual presentations at the PSC meetings. In November 2007 the ITTO representative on
the PSC, Dr. Amha Bin Buang paid a working visit to Network Europe Office in Wageningen
to observe the editorial and publishing processes.
3.3 RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO FUTURE PROJECTS
In order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of similar projects in the future, the following
recommendations are made:
Documentation projects of such magnitude involving many authors and processes and their
interaction usually face delivery delays. While this project was largely successful, the delays
experienced could be avoided or minimised in future by identifying back-up authors.
Project implementation should start with a planning workshop involving all key personnel
during which project concepts, workplan, roles and responsibilities and schedule of activities
are discussed by all project partners and personnel. The devolution of responsibilities to others
in the course of the project implementation can cause uneasiness.
The project benefited exceedingly from the experience of the Network Europe team. Since
PROTA is largely an African programme, a structured capacity building plan should be
mapped out in the follow-up projects.
Involvement of African scientists in the editing is limited by training. Efforts should be made
to train more Africans in editing in any follow-up project.
A number of factors accounted for the success of PD 264/04 Rev. 3 (M,I). These could serve as
lessons for similar documentation projects
Preproject consultative meeting of editors.
Preparation and distribution of comprehensive guide to authors. This served as framework
for authors.
Payments of honorarium to authors
35
Firm promise to list the names and affiliations of contributors in the handbook and other
products.
Strict adherence to workplan / timelines
Existence of basic infrastructure for project implementation