The Quest for Sustainable and Decentralized Forest Governance in Eastern Cameroon: The Dimako Council Forest Case Examined

Abstract

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.

Revisiting the Factors Shaping Outcomes for Forest and Landscape Restoration in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Way Forward for Policy, Practice and Research

“…In a study in Uganda, Galabuzi et al [95] reported that the conditionalities for farmers to participate in forest restoration schemes included assuring them secure access to forest resources and equitable benefit sharing. Ofoulhast-Othamot [98] highlighted the shortcomings of local participation when the conditions are not propitious. Local participation in community forest management in Dimako, Eastern Province of Cameroon, was deemed ineffective due to poor implementation by local officials, lack of accountability, and inconsistencies in implementation against project objectives.…”

“…Davies [97] further took a local perspective on governance and divided community engagement into local participation in decision-making, compliance with laws and rules, and empowerment. However, Ofoulhast-Othamot [98] also cautioned that local participation does not always result in ab improvement in natural resource governance and conservation if compliance and enforcement are poor. Davies [97] stressed the greater benefits that stem from strengthening governance, emphasizing the two-way influence that governance and tenure security and rights have on each other.…”

The conundrum between political and sectoral decentralizations: The case of Cameroon

“…Moreover, the lack of focus on the key developmental objectives of council forests seems to have carried on into the governance of the forest itself. It transpires that from 2004 municipal authorities had bypassed the restrictions imposed by the management plan and engaged in logging practices that called into question the long‐term sustainability of the FCD (Om Bilong et al., ; Ofoulhast‐Othamot, ). This happened in large part because local mechanisms designed to involve the forestry administration, municipal authorities and village representatives in monitoring the implementation of the FCD management plan essentially collapsed in the face of elite capture (Singer, ; Cuny, ; Ofoulhast‐Othamot, ).…”

“…This article builds on that literature by examining the dual processes of devolution of power to municipalities and municipal forest governance in Cameroon. On the one hand, although the literature on council forests is still developing, numerous studies have already begun to show the negative outcomes associated with municipal forest governance on both the utilization of forest revenues and the sustainability of those forests (Om Bilong, Zongang Ngongang, Kaffo Nzouwo, Ondoua, & Nguenang ; Cuny, ; Kouna Eloundou, ; Ofoulhast‐Othamot, , ; Zamedjo; ). On the other hand, despite its status as forerunner in forest policy reform in the Congo basin, the locus of global efforts to protect Africa's tropical rainforests, no extant study has fully examined the connection between the political and sectoral forest management decentralizations in Cameroon.…”