Abstract:This paper reconstructs and analyzes the establishment of the Community Forestry (CF) processes in Cameroon, questioning the extent to which the CF models can act as a decentralization and devolution tool. It includes community based natural resource management through programs/projects emphasizing biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management directly involving the local communities. Thirteen communities were explored in the South West Region (SWR) of Cameroon. Samples selection was based on inf… Show more
“…Regarding local communities, the empirical results have not matched expectations because communities have struggled with their new rights and management tasks as well as facing various institutional obstacles which threaten the sustainability of local forests (Oyono et al 2012;Yufanyi Movuh 2013).…”
In the last three decades, with the increasing threat of environmental degradation and indigenous calls for involvement in the governance of natural resources, decentralization policies have been implemented globally in the hope that the participation of rural communities and governments will help improve the conservation of those resources. It is partly under this assumption that, in recent years, an increasing number of local council forests are being created in Cameroon's forest regions. Using semi-structured interviews of national, regional and local actors and key informants, empirical observations in eastern Cameroon as well as documentary evidence, this paper analyzes municipal forest governance in the Dimako Council Forest, the oldest of its kind managed by local elected officials in Central Africa. According to the empirical results, the Dimako experience had veered off course as local authorities appeared to have bypassed the restrictions imposed by the management plan. Furthermore, the data show that timber harvesting proceeded without any planning as well as throughout the entire forest in search of high value species. Finally, the council reforestation efforts had all but fallen short of expectations. Essentially, a clear and enforceable framework is needed from national policy-makers to reverse the trend in Dimako.
“…Regarding local communities, the empirical results have not matched expectations because communities have struggled with their new rights and management tasks as well as facing various institutional obstacles which threaten the sustainability of local forests (Oyono et al 2012;Yufanyi Movuh 2013).…”
In the last three decades, with the increasing threat of environmental degradation and indigenous calls for involvement in the governance of natural resources, decentralization policies have been implemented globally in the hope that the participation of rural communities and governments will help improve the conservation of those resources. It is partly under this assumption that, in recent years, an increasing number of local council forests are being created in Cameroon's forest regions. Using semi-structured interviews of national, regional and local actors and key informants, empirical observations in eastern Cameroon as well as documentary evidence, this paper analyzes municipal forest governance in the Dimako Council Forest, the oldest of its kind managed by local elected officials in Central Africa. According to the empirical results, the Dimako experience had veered off course as local authorities appeared to have bypassed the restrictions imposed by the management plan. Furthermore, the data show that timber harvesting proceeded without any planning as well as throughout the entire forest in search of high value species. Finally, the council reforestation efforts had all but fallen short of expectations. Essentially, a clear and enforceable framework is needed from national policy-makers to reverse the trend in Dimako.
“…1 shows that public administration and forest user group representatives are the most frequent relevant actors. The common practice is confirmed (Yufanyi Movuh, 2013, Schusser, 2012a, 2012b, 2012cMaryudi, 2011;Devkota, 2010) since both actors have to take part in community forestry programmes. Due to official requirements, each of the user group representatives is initiated as an actor through the community forestry programmes.…”
“…In general, studies on secured forest rights pay attention to five main variables: excludability, duration, assurance, robustness, and simplicity (Macqueen 2010). In this respect, most analysts of the Cameroon 1994 Forestry Law agree that unlike postcolonial institutions, contemporary formal laws give forest communities access and trade rights, which are exercised within the context of CFs in Cameroon (Oyono 2009, Movuh 2013Ngwasiri, Djeukam, and Vabi 2002, unpublished manuscript). Within the context of enterprise development, it means that forest communities have at least the basic rights to collect resources from their CFs for economic reasons.…”
Since the concept of community forests was instituted in Cameroon in 1994, there has been an upsurge of such forest management arrangements in the country. However, up to now there is no conclusive evidence as to whether such schemes can operate as profitable ventures and at the same time meet their social and environmental objectives. The latter is the core objective of a social enterprise that constitutes the basis of our analysis. In fact, little attention has been paid to understanding the business side of community forests. In this regard, we review existing evidence about community forests making profits and simultaneously meeting their social and sustainable forest management goals. The analysis is based on a range of literature covering 20 years of community forestry experience in Cameroon and also from information gathered from nine case study community forests in Cameroon. Although not overwhelming, the existing literature shows that community forests can be run as profitable enterprises. However, profitability is conditional on the type of activities the enterprises engaged in, the capacity of the community forest entrepreneurs to run the business themselves rather than subcontracting, and on the capacity of the enterprises, especially timber related ones, to diversify into nontimber forest products (NTFPs) and agricultural activities. The available evidence suggests mixed results about the contribution of community forests to community development projects and livelihoods, and emphasizes that the legal form of the community forest, the kind of enterprise the community focuses on and the type of support received by the community forest are important drivers of viable community forest enterprises. The study further notes the absence of a sustainable funding model for community forest enterprises and recommends that government should officially classify them in the social enterprise sector. By so doing, community forests can benefit from special programs meant for the social enterprise sector including the provision of starting capital and capacity building on basic business principles.
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