Challenges to Sustainable Forest Management and Community Livelihoods Sustenance in Cameroon: Evidence from the Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve in Southwest Cameroon

Ewane, Ewane Basil; Olome, Ewane Bertrand; Lee, Heon-Ho

doi:10.5539/jsd.v8n9p226

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…They concluded that curtailing these setbacks would necessitate the inclusion of these local communities into stakeholder decision making discussions. Also, Ewane et al (2015) reported on the importance of a general national reform policy in forest governance and management such as to ensure future sustainable forest management in Cameroon. The study proposed a participatory approach involving both local forest-dependent communities and government institutions which will foster collaboration and adaptive management in forest management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Characteristics and Forest Resources Dependence in the Rumpi Hills of Cameroon

Beckline¹,

Sun²,

Etongo³

et al. 2018

Appl. Ecol. Env. Res.

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Abstract. Rural households have over decades depended on forests and forest products for sustenance and livelihood values. This dependence is usually driven by the individual household's dynamics, forests availability and accessibility. However, with overexploitation and agricultural expansion, these forests are rapidly declining putting in peril household livelihoods. This study aims at examining and analyzing household dynamics and how these dynamics combine with other factors to influence household dependence on forest resources in the Rumpi hills of Cameroon. Data were collected from 484 households, across 20 villages and at four selected sites through household surveys and 20 focus group discussions. Household characteristics such as uneducated heads (p-value 0.000381) significantly influenced the use of forest resources than male heads (P-value 0.000642) and years of residence (11-15) (p-value 0.00624) in the village at the 95% level of significance. Forest dependence was mostly conditioned by the household's ability to farm, forest abundance, and unemployment. Additionally, income from agriculture and forest resources respectively constituted 36.7% and 34.1% of the average total rural household income. Investment in climate-smart agriculture, non-wood domestic cooking energy, agroforestry systems and reliable rural transport systems is necessary in order to curb forest dependence and improve on livelihoods and sustainable forest management initiatives.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Characteristics and Forest Resources Dependence in the Rumpi Hills of Cameroon

Beckline¹,

Sun²,

Etongo³

et al. 2018

Appl. Ecol. Env. Res.

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show abstract

“…In particular, conversion of forest to agricultural land use is not explicitly excluded in the simple management plan of CF in Cameroon and fuel wood collection and illegal timber extraction are highly prevalent [25,21,29,30]. Thus, agricultural and timber exploitation activities are by far the most important economic benefits of local communities at the expense of biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration in CF [9] and other forest management types in Cameron [14,15,31,32].…”

Section: √ = Positive Government Intervention (Lead To Positive Fores...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The higher percentage of forest loss in FR than in PF and PA suggests that FR is less effective in reducing forest loss. Forest reserves as components of PF are technically designated for the production of timber and face significantly greater pressure from illegal timber exploitation and agricultural encroachment of cocoa and food production by adjacent local communities [32].…”

Section: √ = Positive Government Intervention (Lead To Positive Fores...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest Governance Effectiveness of Community- and Government-managed Forests in Cameroon

Ewane

2022

IJECC

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Effective implementation of forest governance principles such as transparency, participation, accountability, coordination, capacity, user rights protection and security driven by positive government interventions are instrumental for sustainable forest management. The study used satellite-derived data to explore forest loss in community forest (CF) and government-managed forest in Cameroon from 2001 to 2014. The study also examined the extent to which community forest rights are legally recognised and protected and how government interventions undermine or promote CF management effectiveness in Cameroon. The rationale was to understand the forest outcome of different forest management approaches with varied user rights and management objectives. This is considering that community forest managers have been seen as better managers of forests than government agencies, if their full rights are well recognised and protected. We used semi-structured open-ended questionnaires, followed by focus group interviews with CF management institutions and document review for data collection. Forest loss showed significant increasing trends and was higher in CF than in other forest management types from 2001 to 2014. Stakeholder perceptions of CF rights and government intervention or actions varied between CF management institutions. Community forest rights such as rights to full ownership and control, full management, unlimited duration, alienation, and due process and compensation are not legally recognised and/or protected in community forestry in Cameroon, producing negative forest outcomes. Negative government interventions such as imposing excessive bureaucratic obstacles and initial financial investment in the processing of application files for CF applications and commercial user rights of timber harvesting, colluding with local elites, individuals and corrupt municipal and administrative authorities, and retaining full administrative ownership and control of CF land and resources, also produces negative forest outcomes. The non- recognition and protection of higher level CF rights and excessive negative government interventions in CF management contributes to undermining community’s willingness and readiness to prevent deforestation activities and voluntary engagement in conservation activities involving tree planting and management for long term community benefits. Therefore, recognising, strengthening and protecting all the CF rights proposed by the Rights and Resources Initiative and avoiding negative government interventions in CF management are helpful strategies in achieving the expected conservation and local development objectives of CF in Cameroon and in the Congo basin region.

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“…This shows an increasing rate of deforestation for Cameroon in the Congo basin. This increase in deforestation has been linked mainly to timber exports, agriculture, unsustainable and illegal exploitation of timber, infrastructure and fuelwood exploitation (Alemagi & Kozak, 2010;Ewane et al, 2015;Lescuyer et al, 2016;Ngome et al, 2019;Rudel et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Effect of Trade Openness and Agriculture on Deforestation in Cameroon

Sotamenou,

Nehgwelah

2024

A&R

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This study aimed to measure the effect of trade openness and agriculture on deforestation in Cameroon from 1980 to 2021 by using a fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) approach. Data used are from the World Bank and FAO. The results obtained indicate that when trade openness increases, deforestation also increases, but when trade openness increases up to a certain threshold, deforestation decreases. This study also reveals that agriculture is one of the major causes of deforestation in Cameroon. Agricultural output and agricultural value-added both have a positive and significant impact on deforestation. There is an inverted curve relationship between economic growth and deforestation in Cameroon, this shows that the EKC is respected with deforestation as it is postulated that at higher levels of income, GDP turns to reduce deforestation meaning a unit change in GDP2 leads to a reduction of deforestation. We recommend the implementation of concrete actions and strict environmental policies focused on a green economy, to control the exploitation of natural resources with particular attention to the sustainable exploitation of wood. Sustainable agricultural practices should also be implemented, as well as more suitable liberal trade policies.

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Challenges to Sustainable Forest Management and Community Livelihoods Sustenance in Cameroon: Evidence from the Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve in Southwest Cameroon

Cited by 7 publications

References 15 publications

Household Characteristics and Forest Resources Dependence in the Rumpi Hills of Cameroon

Household Characteristics and Forest Resources Dependence in the Rumpi Hills of Cameroon

Forest Governance Effectiveness of Community- and Government-managed Forests in Cameroon

Investigating the Effect of Trade Openness and Agriculture on Deforestation in Cameroon

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