CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Cameroon’s extensive climatic, geographic and ecological diversity has not given rise to the levels of economic prosperity anticipated when the country gained its independence from both France (1960) and Britain (1961) and became a unified nation in 1972. An early track record of growth based on agriculture and forestry was bolstered by exploitation of petroleum reserves in the 1980s, promising a bright future for Cameroon’s growing population. In the late 1980s, however, sharp drops in the prices of Cameroon’s key exports – cotton and coffee as well as oil – were followed by a major devaluation of the currency in 1993 and significant declines in per capita incomes. The economy has gradually recovered, but productivity growth in the agricultural sector has not been strong and forestry exploitation is reportedly advancing at an unsustainable pace even as it generates revenues through timber exports. The agricultural and forestry sectors account for only about 20% of GDP, even though two-thirds of the country’s population depends in whole or in part on incomes from these sectors.[1]

Forestry rights have become increasingly complex and subject to active dispute. Recent efforts to decentralize management of forests to communities appears, in many cases, to have increased rather than resolved local conflicts over access to and management of this important resource. Many groups concerned with sustainable forest management in Cameroon have concluded that the prospects remain bleak until major governance challenges are overcome. Cameroon’s current forest legislation includes opportunities for forest communities to register rights to community forests and enter into agreements regarding their management. The legislation includes several benefit sharing provisions intended to ensure that forest communities and local governments benefit from forest resources. But studies have found that the intended benefits are not reaching communities in part because community management committees have often been hijacked by special interests and communities do not have sufficient decision making roles.[2]

Forty-six percent of Cameroon (about 214,000 square kilometers) is covered in forest. The country has highland and mountain forests, northern savanna and woodlands, mangrove forests and dense rainforests. The forests are home to about 936 species of birds and 211 species of mammals, including giant pangolin, panther, gorilla, forest elephant and the red river hog. Cameroon has numerous unique forest ecosystems, including the Dji-OdzalaMinkebe Tri-National Landscape (TRIDOM), which is a large lowland forest wilderness spanning Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and Gabon. The Cross-Sanaga-Bioko Coastal Forests eco-region, which comprises the lowland and coastal forests of southeastern Nigeria, southwestern Cameroon and the island of Bioko, includes dense mangrove forests and about half of the 7,000–8,000 plants endemic to tropical West Africa.[3]

Lowland rainforests, which are located in the eastern and southern regions of the country and the savanna transition zone in the country’s center, tend to be relatively sparsely populated. The coastal plain and mountainous areas of the west and northern provinces have higher population densities. Cameroon’s people use the forest for hunting, grazing, timber, fuel wood, cultivation and the harvest of a variety of non-timber forest products, including bush meat etc.[4]

Cameroon’s forests are threatened by degradation and deforestation. About 80% of forest loss is attributed to the use of slash and burn cultivation practices and the development of new areas for cash crops, especially cocoa. Illegal logging is responsible for an estimated annual loss of 540,000 cubic meters of wood. The bush meat trade also contributes to forest degradation and deforestation. The development of Cameroon’s mining sector, which will require development of expensive infrastructure within the forests, is also expected to have a negative impact on the forests. In some areas new mining concessions overlap with existing logging concessions, creating the potential for conflict and pressure on forest resources.[5]

The 1994 Forest Law[6] states that the ownership of the country’s forests is as defined by land laws and the specific provisions of the Forest Law. The state is responsible for the protection of the country’s forests and sets a standard of maintaining at least 30% of total land area as protected, permanent forest. The Forest Law recogniSes three types of forests: (1) state forests (e.g., nature reserves, national parks, reforestation areas, forest plantations, buffer zones); (2) collective, private and council forests, to which citizens have harvest rights, but whose uses are restricted; and (3) national domain forests, which includes all other forestland. The government passed a number of decrees in 2006–2007 that were designed to support further commercial investment in the sector and poverty reduction goals through support for sustainable management of forests. The decrees reclassified forest products, allowed for small-scale logging permits, set standards for sports hunting permits and provided for forest monitoring.[7]

The 1994 Forest Law is the most important piece of legislation regulating forests, fauna and fisheries in Cameroon. It permits the zoning of all of Cameroon’s forest lands as planned by the 1993 zoning system. It also introduces the concept of community forests for the first time by allowing forests outside the permanent domain that are less than 5,000 hectares to be divided and managed by “communities” or villages.

Customary law in Cameroon governing forestland varies by region and community, but in general, communities tend either to regard forests as an open access resource in which people are free to use the forest products without restriction, or as a communal resource in which use of forestland and resources is subject to some measure of control by traditional authorities. In some areas, forested land up to three kilometers from a village is recognised as exclusively being for the use of the village, while land beyond three kilometers can be used as common area for several villages. Individual community members can obtain individualised rights to forestland by clearing the land for cultivation and maintaining crops or recognized fallow periods. The customary right of a community to gather forest products in unprotected areas, as recognized by the Forestry Law, can be temporarily or permanently suspended for reasons of public interest, but the holders of these use rights must be compensated.[8]

1.2 Problem Statement

            The forest sector plays a key role in the social and economic development of Cameroon. With a share of 4% in the GDP, the forest sector is the third most important sector after hydrocarbons and Agriculture. In the view of maintaining the economic, social and ecological functions of forests, the Government of Cameroon, in the wake of the 1992 Rio Summit on Environment and Development, has focused on participatory and sustainable management as one of the main objectives of its Forest Policy and Law.[9] The country intends to promote the fight against climate change and good governance in the forest sector. This led to the enactment of the 1994 Forestry Law with the aim of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well as conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

The World Council on Environment and Development pointed out that environment and development are not separate challenges, but are inexorably linked, thus development cannot subsist upon a deteriorating resource base. It will, however, be shown that to date ‘development’ in Cameroon has been mainly based on the destruction of the country’s forests, a strategy which is clearly not sustainable. Therefore, “the whole notion of ‘development’ is open to serious question as humanity seems to move inexorably towards its own demise through ecocide”[10] A management strategy has to be found, which is based on sustainable resource use.

In 1994 a new forest law was passed in Cameroon and the country was said to have one of the most advanced forestry laws in the Congo Basin. The 1994 Forest Law stipulates that the exploitation of forest products is done based on specifications with specific clauses. However, recently the Cameroonian government has been criticized for not fully implementing the legislation. In order to promote SFM in the country certain changes of the law will be necessary, such as the logging concession policy or tax laws. A very important change, however, lies outside the forestry sector and concerns current power structures in Cameroon.

• Objectives of the Study
  • Main Objective

The main objective of this work is to look at how the law ensures the sustainability ecosystem in an attempt to fight the deforestation and degradation of the forest thereby protecting it.

• Specific Objectives

• To examine the guarantee afforded by the law that ensures the sustainability of the ecosystem of Cameroon.
• To examine the measures taken to ensure the sustainability and the difficulties in maintaining sustainability of the forest in Cameroon
• To examine the Impact of unsustainable forest exploitation and implementation of regulations.
  • Research Questions
    • Main Research Question

How does the law ensure the sustainability of Cameroon’s ecosystem?

• Specific Research Questions

• How does the law ensures the sustainability of the ecosystem of Cameroon?
• What are the measures taken to ensure the sustainability and the difficulties in maintaining sustainability of the forest in Cameroon?
• What are the Impacts of unsustainable forest exploitation and implementation of regulations?

[1] The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Country Profile, Property Rights And Resource Governance: Cameroon p 1, at http://usaidlandtenure.net/cameroon

[2] Ibid, p 2

[3] Cerruti, Paolo (O), Verina (I) and Sonwa (D), (2008), “The forests of Cameroon in 2008. In The Forests of the Congo Basin: State of the Forests,” eds. C. de Wasseige, D. Devers, P. de Marcken, R. Eba’a Atyi, R. Nasi and Ph. Mayaux, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, P 44 at http://www.observatoire-comifac.net/docs/edf2008 /EN/SOF_02_Cameroon.pdf (accessed 1^st September 2018).

[4] Ibid

[5] Essama-Nssah (B) and Gockowski (J.J), (2000), “Cameroon: forest sector development in difficult political economy,” World Bank Operations Evaluation Department at http://lnweb90.worldbank.org/oed/oeddoclib.nsf
/DocUNIDViewForJavaSearch/293FB3F9728509978525698B0055B9AD (accessed 1^st September 2018)

[6] Law No. 94/01 OF 20 JANÙARY 1994 to lay down Forestry, Wildlife and Fishery Regulations in Cameroon (hereinafter referred to as the 1994 Forestry Law).

[7] Cerruti et al, loc cit, p 45.

[8] Egbe (S) (1997), “Forest tenure and access to forest resources in Cameroon,” Forest Participation Series No. 6.
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London at http://www.iied.org/pubs/pdfs
/7521IIED.pdf (accessed 1^st September 2018).

[9] Laurence (W.S), (2016), “Forest Legality in Cameroon: To which extent social obligations have been complied with?” Forêts et Développement Rural (FODER), LFR Project No. 2, p 3, at htt: // www.forest4dev.org (accessed on 1^st September 2018).

[10] Tandon (Y), (1995), “Village Contradictions in Africa” In: Sachs, W. (Ed.) (1995) Global Ecology. A New Arena of Political Conflict. (2nd Edition) Zed Books, London, New Jersey, p 209.