Trends

Cameroon has already developed the tools it needs for forest management. But implementation of the practical phase of management is still lagging behind. Since 1996, the allocation of FMUs under the new law has given new impetus to private sector forest management under government supervision in Cameroon. There is also a trend towards enhanced public involvement in forest management.

Promotion of sustainable forest management

Pilot management projects are primarily intended to improve the basic parameters of sustainable forest management plans and implementation. These projects are found throughout Cameroon¿s various forest formations. The Dimako pilot integrated management project for rational forest harvesting was launched in Eastern Cameroon Province. The So¿o Lala Project launched in 1992 under ONADEF supervision on an FMU straddling Central and Southern Cameroon Provinces was based on a forest management plan designed to produce timber on a steady but sustainable basis whilst respecting the other functions of the forest. Since July 1994, the Cameroon Tropenbos Project (Kribi) has been an integral part of the Tropenbos Programme to enhance tropical forest management. One Tropenbos objective is to develop strategies and methods for sustainable forest management. The ¿Land and forests¿ project (1997) followed the Dimako project. Its objective was to provide support for the various forest management stakeholders with respect to the new provisions of the 1994 forest law. Other field projects in Cameroon focus on these changes and on identifying the local social and cultural underpinning for implementing community forest projects such as the Dja and Lokoundjé-Nyong projects.

Under the institutional guidance of the Community Forestry Unit of MINEF¿s Directorate of Forestry, various projects are looking at procedures for implementing the new law on community forests. The programme ¿Establishment of Community Forests in the Northern Section of the Dja Wildlife Reserve¿ has been working for the past year on a management plan for the Kompia community forest in Eastern Cameroon. Cameroon has made great strides in the issue of community forests, as its experience is based on translating the legal process into practical approaches for intervention.

The diversity of forest formations also holds great potential for the development of ecotourism. This has found concrete expression in two ONADEF/ITTO projects: the Ottotomo forest management project and the SIKOP project in the coastal province. There are also a number of sub-regional initiatives for cooperation and coordination in natural resource management (ECOFAC, REIMP, CEFDHAC, CARPE, etc.).

last updated: Friday, May 13, 2005