Community Forestry

While the Cameroon Mountains are naturally geographically isolated, human activities are increasingly fragmenting, degrading and isolating the remaining forest patches. High population pressures mean that the natural habitats of this ecoregion are highly threatened and are being lost through conversion to agriculture, unsustainable use of timber, fires and collection of firewood and construction materials. Forest management in the Cameroon Mountains is regulated under various procedures, depending on the legal status of the forest. In National parks like e.g. the Korup National Park the main aim of the forest management is nature conservation and no logging or other forms of forest exploitation are allowed. In Forest Reserves the main aim is to produce timber, and logging is managed by the government, in 2005 this was the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF). Still another class of Forest Reserves is aimed at conservation of the forest in anticipation of declaration of a national Park. In these forests no forest exploitation is allowed but in practise very little or no monitoring and law enforcement is in place. Finally forests can be under authority of local traditional rulers and communities. Since the legal status of these forests does not allow the local community the full responsibility of managing these forests, the instrument of Community Forestry was installed. In a Community Forest forest management includes both forest conservation activities and sustainable use of natural resources. Some parts of the community forests are usually protected, with no or very limited use by the community, whereas income generating activities like bee keeping, harvesting of medicinal plants and fire wood collection are allowed, under conditions, in other parts of the forest. A community forest is owned and managed by the local population that allows both conservation and sustainable use of the natural resources in the forest. In Cameroon the law on community forestry dates from 1994 and has been especially applied in the South and East Provinces where the forests still contain considerable amounts of timber suitable for commercial logging. In the North-West Province however, commercial logging of timber is a marginal activity due to the smaller size of the trees at these higher altitudes. Community forestry here however was taken up by several communities in order to save the last patches of forest that are essential to them for supply of water, firewood and non-timber forest products like honey and medicines. Several programs have been in operation to protect these forests through community forestry activities, notably the Kilim Ijim Forest Project (1987-1998), the Bamenda Highlands Forest Project (1998-2004), the Mount Cameroon Project and the Mount Kupe project. As a result of all these efforts, as of 2005 several forests in the Cameroon Mountains are now protected under the law on Community Forestry. Many communities are still in the process of applying for a Community Forest and if granted, a large portion of the remaining Afrotropical Montane Forest in Cameroon may be protected under this law.

The procedure to apply for a community forest is summarised below.

1. The first step is to establish and register a legal entity representing the community, e.g. a Forest Management Institution (FMI) or a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO). This legal entity can submit the application on behalf of the population and a management agreement can be signed by this legal entity.
2. The next step is to hold a consultation meeting with all stakeholders in the proposed community forest. The aim of this meeting is to (1) agree on the boundaries of the Community Forest, (2) to define the objectives of the said Community Forest and (3) to appoint a Forest Management Officer (FMO). Representatives from the government, either the Divisional Officer or the Senior Divisional Officer and technically assisted by the Chief of Forest Post or Delegate for MINFOF, is chairing the meeting. The main role of the DO or SDO is to ascertain that there is no conflict with respect to the proposed Community Forest. The government representative decides whether in his/her opinion the local population was sufficiently informed and whether everyone was consulted on the issue of the proposed Community Forest. If the decision is positive, the community can proceed with their application.
3. The third step is submitting an Application Dossier by the community. In this dossier the name of the Community Forest is given, the names of the manager of the FMI or NGO, a map of the forest, the primary forest uses and the minutes of the consultation meeting. If the community receives no reply within 6 months or a positive reply from the appropriate government institution to this application, the application is said to have been approved. From this moment on the forest shall be reserved for the said community for a period of 18 months.
4. The fourth step is the elaboration of a Simple Management Plan (SMP). This SMP contains information about the community and the legal entity, the name, location and size of the forest, maps of the different forest compartments, its contents, wildlife and main uses. A management plan is included for the following 5 years and an annual plan of operation is elaborated and included. The customary rights to the forest (traditional uses for social or religious purposes) are described. The SMP is signed by the legal entity representing the community. In addition to the SMP, a management agreement is prepared which includes a list of the beneficiaries, the boundaries of the forest allocated to them and the special instruction on the management of areas of woodland and/or wildlife, formulated at the behest of the said communities.
5. The fifth step is approval of the management agreement and SMP by the provincial delegate. In case the community does not receive a reply from the government this does not imply that the application was approved. After approval by the government the community continues to manage their Community Forest according to their Management Plan. Each year an annual plan of operation is submitted to the government and after 5 years an updated SMP is submitted. Community Forests are attributed for 25 years and this attribution is renewable. A detailed procedure for the attribution, norms for the management of community forests can be found in [MINEF, 1998].