Dilemmas in tackling deforestation in Cameroon
|
The Cameroon forest size is 23.8 million hectares and it experiences an annual reduction rate of 1%. The Millennium Development Goal for Environmental Sustainability calls for this reduction to be halted and reversed into a rate of increase by 2015. But Cameroon is the 6th largest world exporter of tropical wood and the largest in Africa. The forest sector contributes to 8.9% of GDP and 28.2% of non oil exports. It contributes over $60 million of fiscal revenue each year and employs 20,000 persons full time. How can sustainability be achieved without eroding the economic importance of the sector?
Communities living around the forest area draw a major part of their income either through forest fiscal revenues paid to them by the government, or through employment in forest industries, or through the exploitation of non timber resources which exist in most of the forest area. However, a substantial part of the revenues goes to multinationals who are foreign investors. The Cameroon government has pursued over recent years a natural resource policy aimed at sustainable management of natural resources, including forest resources. This forest policy promotes the involvement of all the stakeholders (government, private sector and civil society). It has put in place two national action plans, namely the National Forest Action Programme and the National Environmental Management Programme. The central focus of the forest policy and related programmes revolves around decentralisation, good governance and the fight against poverty. A major accent is put on ensuring that the local communities receive a substantial part of the forest revenues and play a major role in the
Despite all these initiatives, there remain many problems related to sustainable management of the forest resources as the country continues to witness an increase in the exploitation of the forest, continued
It is worth noting that since the new forest policy was enacted, local forest communities tend to profit more from forest fiscal revenues, taxes paid by forest exploitation companies that are paid directly to local authorities, and job offers from these same companies, and finally by the management and exploitation of protected areas. The prosperity of local communities has been aligned with that of the logging companies; sustainability of the forest comes at a price which neither group may be willing to pay. The idea of carbon trading provokes a similar quandary. In studying the concept, the government remains unsure whether trading carbon credits will yield sufficient revenue to replace a slower rate of timber sales. Sustainability must be at very least a zero sum game if developing countries are to be persuaded to participate. André Nguemdjom is Volunteer Editor of the OneWorld Cameroon Guide |
Printable version
top of the page