Suchergebnisse

In 1994 Cameroon adopted a new forest law that focussed on the large-scale, export-oriented industrial forest sector while timber produced through small-scale logging for the domestic market was ignored, even in official statistics, and is generally produced without a valid permit. As Cameroon prepares to implement the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) it recently signed with the European Union, promising a legal framework for all national timber production, this occasional paper presents a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the country's domestic timber market. By adding our estimates for small-scale production of sawn wood sold on the domestic market to national statistics, total national production would amount to about 4.3 million cubic metres per year, in other words close to double the official figure for Cameroonian timber production. Our research also found that the domestic market is profitable for thousands of Cameroonians. Its informal structure, however, contributes to maintaining a huge, inescapable payment system run by State agents to launder the timber sold on local markets, informal transactions that are worth about 6 billion F CFA each year. The paper concludes with technical options to improve market operating conditions. These options may prove ineffective unless they are accompanied by determined efforts to fight the corruption that permeates the industry.

Concern about illegal logging has grown considerably over the past decade due to the interest in its environmental impacts, and more recently as a result of its perceived impacts on livelihoods. The authors find that the reality of illegal logging is much more nuanced than has been depicted and that there is a need to focus on illegal forest activities (IFAs) beyond just illegal harvest. This paper shows that the illegal log harvest in Cameroon is smaller than previously thought and that, in recent years, small-scale operators forced to operate illegally by an illicit ministerial decision contributed a significant share. This paper provides suggestions to the government and donor community about priority areas for interventions related to IFAs, sustainability, and livelihoods. These include allowing small-scale logging operations as a way to reverse the historical marginalization of rural people and reducing the misuse of the forest area tax, which is supposed to benefit rural communities.

As of mid-2008, 63 of the 101 available forest management units (FMUs) in Cameroon were managed according to approved management plans, and seven FMUs had received a FSC certification. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of the volumetric and financial variations incurred by logging companies and by the government when adopting both the management plans and the FSC regulations. The full adoption of sustainable, or at least precautionary, values into approved management plans could reduce available volumes of the most harvested species by 17%, while foregone revenues for the State could amount to about 18%. The financial losses incurred by both the State and logging companies by fully adopting improved forest management in Cameroon should deserve more attention, if viable alternative options are to be found and resistance to reform diminished.

One of the main objectives of the 1994 Cameroonian forestry law is to improve the management of production forests by including minimum safeguards for sustainability into compulsory forest management plans. As of 2007, about 3.5 million hectares (60%) of the productive forests are harvested following the prescriptions of 49 approved management plans. The development and implementation of these forest management plans has been interpreted by several international organizations as long awaited evidence that sustainable management is applied to production forests in Cameroon. Recent reviews of some plans have concluded, however, that their quality was inadequate. This paper aims at taking these few analyses further by assessing the actual impacts that approved management plans have had on sustainability and harvesting of commercial species. We carry out an assessment of the legal framework, highlighting a fundamental flaw, and a thorough comparison between data from approved management plans and timber production data. Contrary to the principles adhered to by the 1994 law, we find that the government has not yet succeeded in implementing effective minimum sustainability safeguards and that, in 2006, 68% of the timber production was still carried out as though no improved management rules were in place. The existence of a number of approved management plans cannot be used a proxy for proof of improved forest management.

The social clause system has its origins in (oral or, more rarely, written) agreements that forestry companies in the Congo Basin made with local communities living in the vicinity of the areas where they formerly had operating licences or permits. This system existed long before forestry laws – adopted after the 1992 Rio Summit – institutionalized the practice, inspired by the idea of financing local development through exploiting natural resources. The approach involves promoting social forestry within the broader concept of sustainable management; specifically, using financial contributions from forest concession holders to implement an adopted forest management plan.

The Cameroonian regulatory framework on forest, wildlife and fisheries requires logging companies to pay an Area Fee (AF), half of which must be redistributed to rural councils (40%) and villages (10%) neighbouring the logging concessions. The AF had the main objectives to provide a consistent contribution to the State budget and to improve rural livelihoods through an equitable and effective redistribution of forest-related benefits. After a decade of implementation, and about 85 million redistributed to about 50 councils, the literature unanimously evaluates the livelihood impacts of the distribution of the AF to communities as weak. Less comprehensive assessments have been carried out on the impacts of distribution of the AF to local governments. This paper discusses the potential of the AF as a tool for local development through local councils, with particular attention to the economic, equity and governance issues. One of the most significant findings is that mayors, although elected and unanimously blamed for embezzlements and mismanagement of the AF, are often only scapegoats in a complex political system that does not allow the rural population to directly sanction the misuse of the AF via the current electoral system.

Le cadre de réglementation camerounais sur les forêts, la faune et la pêche oblige les exploitants forestiers à payer une redevance forestière (RF), dont la moitié doit être reversée aux communes rurales (40 %) et aux villages riverains (10 %) des concessions forestières. La RF a pour objectifs principaux d'apporter des contributions régulières au budget de l'État et d'améliorer les moyens d'existence en milieu rural, par le biais d'une redistribution équitable et efficace des bénéfices tirés de la forêt. Après une décennie de mise en oeuvre et la redistribution d'environ 85 millions € à une cinquantaine de communes, les avis dont font état les publications sont unanimes pour dire que les impacts sur les moyens d'existence de la distribution de la RF aux communautés sont faibles. Les évaluations exhaustives des impacts de la redistribution de la RF sur les administrations locales sont moins nombreuses. Cet article examine si la RF peut être un outil de développement local par le biais des autorités locales (les communes), en accordant une attention particulière aux aspects économiques, ainsi qu'aux aspects liés à l'équité et à la gouvernance. Une des conclusions les plus importantes est que les maires, bien qu'ils soient élus et unanimement accusés de détournements de fonds et de mauvaise gestion de la RF, ne sont bien souvent que des boucs émissaires dans un système politique complexe qui ne permet pas à la population rurale de sanctionner directement les utilisations abusives de la RF par l'intermédiaire du système électoral actuel.

Forest-based conflict is one of the major global challenges for the international forestry agenda together with poverty, climate change, conservation, and biofuels. In this paper, we will estimate the scope of the problem for people and forests, identify the role of forest rights and tenure as part of the cause of and solution to conflict, and project future challenges. We will recommend a set of actions that donors, govern¬ments, and civil society organizations should embark on to fight corruption, to tackle power imbalances, to clarify rights, to improve corporate responsibility, and to engage communities in resource management. Forest tenure and governance reform will not resolve the most violent conflicts that play out in forests around the world. However, forestry sectors can contribute to the creation of enabling environments for peace by preventing conflict escalation and by contributing to postconflict reconstruction. Engagements in structural forest-sector reform and forest-based investment are particularly needed in forest-rich and conflict-prone countries in the tropics. The ideas and projections included in this paper are preliminary and meant to stimulate reflection rather than to insist on particular conclusions.

The 2008–2009 economic crisis has hit severely the African timber sector, with a brutal collapse of the foreign demand. Overall, the impact has been of around the loss of one-third of export and production. Companies have been unable to pay the fixed costs represented by the area tax, and this last has been suspended in several countries, notably in Cameroon. The brutality of the crisis has highlighted the absence of automatic correctors embodied in the fiscal system itself. A first, even though insufficient, answer could be to index the area fee to a nation-representative bundle of timber species FOB values. The absence of organisations such as the World Bank in the dialogue between the governments and the private sector is striking, given their past involvement in the forests fiscal reforms in central Africa. The current focus given on REDD, seen by many as an instrument for entering in a post-logging time could explain this passivity. Large FSC-certified companies announced their intention to sell out their concessions in Congo and Gabon. This could prefigure a new picture with various types of small logging enterprises filling the vacuum left by formal industry and some FSC-certified concessionaires replaced by large but less environmentally responsible companies

This Honduras report is part of a series of seven country level studies (Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia and Republic of Congo) which intend to gather qualitative and quantitative evidence of the impacts of the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade – Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA) process to date. This initiative was financed by the European Union and results are placed within the global European Union-FLEGT (EU-FLEGT) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) indicator database. The analysis is structured along five key thematic areas (with indicators clustered into governance and institutional effectiveness, illegal logging, forest conditions, economic development, and livelihoods and poverty). The methodology used is designed to be replicable over time as well as applicable to other countries. Each country assessment provides a baseline for future studies in the same country, that would help to measure progress (or regress) between two points in time. More countries can also be added over time to increase the overall sample and help to derive lessons based on more evidence. By covering seven countries that are in different stages of the VPA process – from negotiation to implementation to issuance of FLEGT licences – findings allow for global lessons to be learned across different geographies and time. These lessons and global findings are presented in a separate synthesis report, which combines results to outline a bigger picture of VPA process impacts where possible.

This Republic of Congo report is part of a series of seven country level studies (Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia and Republic of Congo) which intend to gather qualitative and quantitative evidence of the impacts of the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade – Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA) process to date. This initiative was financed by the European Union and results are placed within the global European Union-FLEGT (EU-FLEGT) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) indicator database. The analysis is structured along five key thematic areas (with indicators clustered into governance and institutional effectiveness, illegal logging, forest conditions, economic development, and livelihoods and poverty). The methodology used is designed to be replicable over time as well as applicable to other countries. Each country assessment provides a baseline for future studies in the same country, that would help to measure progress (or regress) between two points in time. More countries can also be added over time to increase the overall sample and help to derive lessons based on more evidence. By covering seven countries that are in different stages of the VPA process – from negotiation to implementation to issuance of FLEGT licences – findings allow for global lessons to be learned across different geographies and time. These lessons and global findings are presented in a separate synthesis report, which combines results to outline a bigger picture of VPA process impacts where possible.

Marketing strategies to promote behavioral change are increasingly used to reduce the unsustainable use of wild meat. One of the mayor keys for success of behavior change campaigns lies in the choice of the channel for communication and the messaging. In this research, we present a behavioral change campaign implemented in Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo framed around an integrated conservation and development objective: improve food security in rural communities, reduce the unsustainable use of wildlife for food and promote locally grown pork and chicken. The campaign was co-developed based on the research team's knowledge of the hunting system in the study area and the participation of key local stakeholders (village leaders, hunters and their families). It used participatory community theater, various printed materials, radio and face to face interactions. We evaluated the efficiency and clarity of messaging for channels used through semi-structured interviews with hunters, households and wildlife traders. We found that participatory community theater resulted in increased clarity and understanding among hunters and households. Moreover, community theater promoted word-of-mouth communication that reached an audience well beyond the location where the theater was held. Messages that were framed positively and used amusing channels of communication triggered positive receptiveness by our audience. Using local languages, avoiding written materials for illiterate audiences, and using repetitive means of communication may be among the strategies that could help increase the clarity of communication messages, particularly for sensitive topics such as this one. Our work calls for more lessons learnt from the ground about the most appropriate communication channels and messages, keeping in mind the social and cultural background of the audience, and ensuring that messages trigger emotions that lead to the desired changes.

This Côte d'Ivoire report is part of a series of seven country level studies (Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia and Republic of Congo) which intend to gather qualitative and quantitative evidence of the impacts of the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade – Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA) process to date. This initiative was financed by the European Union and results are placed within the global European Union-FLEGT (EU-FLEGT) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) indicator database. The analysis is structured along five key thematic areas (with indicators clustered into governance and institutional effectiveness, illegal logging, forest conditions, economic development, and livelihoods and poverty). The methodology used is designed to be replicable over time as well as applicable to other countries. Each country assessment provides a baseline for future studies in the same country, that would help to measure progress (or regress) between two points in time. More countries can also be added over time to increase the overall sample and help to derive lessons based on more evidence. By covering seven countries that are in different stages of the VPA process – from negotiation to implementation to issuance of FLEGT licences – findings allow for global lessons to be learned across different geographies and time. These lessons and global findings are presented in a separate synthesis report, which combines results to outline a bigger picture of VPA process impacts where possible.

This Guyana report is part of a series of seven country level studies (Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia and Republic of Congo) which intend to gather qualitative and quantitative evidence of the impacts of the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade – Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA) process to date. This initiative was financed by the European Union and results are placed within the global European Union-FLEGT (EU-FLEGT) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) indicator database. The analysis is structured along five key thematic areas (with indicators clustered into governance and institutional effectiveness, illegal logging, forest conditions, economic development, and livelihoods and poverty). The methodology used is designed to be replicable over time as well as applicable to other countries. Each country assessment provides a baseline for future studies in the same country, that would help to measure progress (or regress) between two points in time. More countries can also be added over time to increase the overall sample and help to derive lessons based on more evidence. By covering seven countries that are in different stages of the VPA process – from negotiation to implementation to issuance of FLEGT licences – findings allow for global lessons to be learned across different geographies and time. These lessons and global findings are presented in a separate synthesis report, which combines results to outline a bigger picture of VPA process impacts where possible.

The European Union's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan is an ambitious strategy to fight illegal logging and its negative impacts. The FLEGT theory of change is based on three types of FLEGT actions, namely timber production, demand, and global timber trade standards and dynamics. FLEGT works in more than a dozen countries through Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA). Very few studies exist on the global or country-level impact of the FLEGT-VPA process. We sought to understand the contribution of FLEGT-VPAs in three countries (Cameroon, Ghana, and Indonesia) at different stages of VPA implementation. A uniform methodology was applied to provide cross-cutting results on perceived changes directly linked to the FLEGT expected impacts while allowing for contextual specificities. This approach is designed to be easily replicable in all VPA countries and directly linked to the FLEGT global theory of change. This commentary presents our findings and their implications for policy makers.