Institutional capacity needs assessment I conducted an initial screening of potential francophone institutions that have the mandate and some level of resources to support the development and implementation of SLM projects. CILSS in Burkina and CSE in Senegal were selected. I worked with staff at each institution to develop a vision of desired future capacities, then assessed current capacities versus this vision. I developed detailed recommendations for institutional capacity building for each. I subsequently provided training in sustainable land management and in GEF SLM project development for CILSS staff. Employed by UNOPS for UNDP in 2006.
Biodiversity Project Evaluation The Nazinga Game Ranch had the second largest herd of elephants in West Africa but the evaluation found that this government-managed ranch and project had not developed effective strategies for confronting the main threat to the viability of the state-managed game ranch, that of poaching of buffalo. Found that participation of local populations was only partial and with very limited financial benefits. Hotel and restaurant management had not been privatized as planned and was still being run by foresters. The highly innovative fire management program developed by previous managers had been forgotten. Employed by UNOPS for UNDP in 2006.
West African Review of Natural Resource Management Drafted issues paper and TOR for a review of natural resource management int he Sahel, interviewed candidates for preparation of technical papers and participated in the workshop held in Koudougou, Burkina Faso. Developed the first timeline of natural resource management in West Africa. Employed by IRG under USAID funding in 1999.
Urban Fuelwood Supply Strategies I mapped the wood supply zones of Burkina’s four largest cities (Ouagadougou, Bobodioulasso, Ouahyagouya and Koudougou) from satellite imagery and developed community-based sustainable natural forest management strategies for urban fuelwood supplies. My maps were used by the pioneering FAO community-based wooded savannah management project to target extensive areas of forest southwest of Ouagadougou and to successfully bring them under management. This is now believed to be the oldest surviving participatory forest management initiative in West Africa. Employed by ARD under World Bank funding in 1989.
University Undergraduate Forestry Instructor I served for six months as interim forestry instructor for fourth year forestry students at the Polytechnic Institute of Ouagadougou (ISPO). I demonstrated the financial non-viability of donor-funded, industrial scale, exotic fuelwood plantations established to confront the “fuelwood crisis” for my forest economics class. The results showed that the yields of these plantations established at the high costs of $500 to $1000/hectare (in 1980 prices) yielded little more that the non-managed local “worthless bush” forests. Employed under USAID funding in 1984.
Forestry Project Redesign I was a member of the redesign team for the USAID-funded Forestry Development and Education Project based in Dinderesso Forest Reserve near Bobodioulasso focusing on the natural forest management component of the project. Project was discontinued for political reasons before the redesign was approved when diplomatic relations between President Sankara and the US State Department turned sour. At the time FEDP was discontinued, it was probably the leader in participatory natural forest management in all of Africa and had operational systems for community-based fire management and range management in the wooded savannah forests of Dinderesso Forêt Classée. Employed by USDA/OICD in 1983.
Forestry Technician Training I was instructor for remote sensing/aerial photograph applications to forestry for forestry technician students at Matourkou technician school supported by the USAID-funded Forestry Education and Development Project. Experimented with controlled burning as a key forest management tool on the Dinderesso Forest Reserve. Employed by USDA OICD in 1982.
Remote Sensing Applications I was a natural resource management applications specialist at Regional Remote Sensing Center of Ouagadougou, Upper Volta. Worked on all of the pilot dryland forest management pilot projects that existed in Burkina at that time (about four), especially as it involved forest cover type mapping and forest inventory. Worked with many advanced remote sensing trainees from both Anglophone and Francophone West African countries on their remote sensing applications and their technical reports. Conducted a study on the limitations of the use of satellite imagery for savannah zone vegetation analysis and mapping and presented the results at the USAID-sponsored remote sensing mapping and resource inventory workshop at Bamako in May 1982. Employed by Spectral Data Corporation under USAID funding from November 1979 to July 1982.