Cameroon's Forests at a Crossroads: Balancing Livelihoods and Conservation
"Discover the critical challenges facing sustainable forest management in Cameroon and how prioritizing community needs is key to preserving its natural resources."
Cameroon, a central African nation, is a powerhouse in the Congo Basin forest region. Its forests, spanning an estimated 20 million hectares, are vital for biodiversity and climate regulation. However, this precious resource is under threat, with annual forest loss estimated at 1% between 1990 and 2010. This deforestation poses significant challenges to the nation's sustainable development goals.
Sustainable forest management in Cameroon requires a multifaceted approach that addresses forest law enforcement, governance, and community needs. The country's comprehensive Forestry Law, enacted in 1994, was intended to be a milestone in this direction. However, despite advancements in creating protected areas, monitoring systems, and revenue enhancement programs, challenges persist.
This article delves into the challenges to sustainable forest management in Cameroon, focusing on the delicate balance between community livelihoods and conservation efforts. By examining the Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve (SBFR), we uncover localized factors driving deforestation and explore strategies for a more sustainable future.
Rising Forest Loss
Cameroon has experienced an upward trend in deforestation and forest degradation in recent years. The reported deforestation rate rose from 0.94% during 1990–2000 to 1.04% in the following decade. In 2021, Cameroon ranked seventh among the world’s top deforesters, with 89,000 hectares reported as affected.
Management Gaps
Forest management in Cameroon commonly relies on approved management plans and technical prescriptions, including rules for production, diameter increments, mortality rates, and minimum cutting diameters. However, research on 38 forest management units found that legal weaknesses and weak ministry controls allowed much annual production to proceed as though management rules were not being applied. Other assessments link continuing forest loss to unsustainable agriculture, logging, and urbanization.
From Governance Challenges to Green Transition
Historical assessments describe Cameroon’s forest sector as constrained by weak governance, inadequate policies, and underdeveloped institutions. The Central African Forest Initiative’s Letter of Intent set an ambition to mobilize $2.5 billion over ten years to support Cameroon’s transition to a green economy, deforestation-free agriculture, and sustainable development. More recent community-led work has focused on addressing intensive farming and protecting forests in the Western Highlands and South Region.
Unveiling the Root Causes of Deforestation: It's More Than Just Logging
The pressure on Cameroon's forests stems from a complex interplay of socio-economic and ecological factors. Issues such as complicity in implementing forest laws, unequal distribution of forest tax revenue, institutional conflicts, and inadequate resources exacerbate the problem. At the community level, the creation of forest reserves without proper consultation or alternative livelihood options for local populations leads to unsustainable exploitation.
- Agriculture: Expansion of farmland for food and cash crops is a primary driver, especially given the limited availability of fertile land elsewhere.
- Fuelwood: Dependence on wood for cooking energy places immense pressure on forest resources.
- Illegal Timber Exploitation: While less frequent, illegal logging for timber generates high income for those involved, contributing significantly to deforestation.
- Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs): Collection of products like nuts, leaves, and medicinal plants provides sustenance but can still impact the ecosystem.
Community Enterprises and Economic Stakes
Recent research examines community forest enterprises as organizations that apply business approaches to improve economic, social, and environmental outcomes. The research also notes that limited evidence exists on how community forest enterprises perform across all three dimensions in tropical countries. Forestry remains economically significant in Cameroon, representing about 6% of GDP and ranking as the country’s third-largest economic sector. A separate assessment reports that Cameroon lost 2% of its rainforest between 2001 and 2015, equivalent to approximately 440,000 hectares.
Implementation Risks
Forest conservation and livelihood strategies may fail when policies do not align with local economic needs or when implementation capacity is weak. Approaches that appear sustainable on paper can produce limited results if enforcement, coordination, and community participation remain inadequate. These risks suggest that conservation claims should be assessed against outcomes on the ground rather than policy intentions alone.
Viable Conservation and Livelihoods
Cameroon’s central challenge is to reconcile community livelihoods with forest conservation. One proposed approach is to transform land use and forest management around Permanent Forest Areas into climate-resilient, low-emission, and economically viable systems. Such systems are intended to generate forest ecosystem goods and services for national and local economies while reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation.
A Path Forward: Prioritizing People and Planet
Sustainable forest management in Cameroon requires a holistic approach that prioritizes both environmental conservation and community livelihoods. This means investing in modern agriculture, promoting non-wood domestic cooking energy, and improving rural transport systems. By addressing the root causes of deforestation and empowering local communities, Cameroon can secure a future where its forests thrive and its people prosper.
Local Governance and Restoration
Strengthening local forest governance is presented as part of the effort to restore degraded landscapes and build management capacity in Cameroon. A WWF-reported study found that communities in Southeast Cameroon would be among those most affected by climate change linked to deforestation and forest degradation. Research on forest-adjacent communities around Mount Cameroon also emphasizes the importance of recognizing local communities in conservation policy.
Building Sustainable Pathways
Cameroon’s future forest strategy will likely depend on whether conservation can be connected to viable local livelihoods. Progress may require stronger institutions, better coordination, and approaches that recognize communities as participants in forest management. The available evidence supports cautious optimism, but outcomes will depend on implementation rather than commitments alone.
Beyond Individual Projects
Cameroon’s forest pressures reflect interacting governance, economic, agricultural, and land-use challenges. Addressing one driver in isolation may therefore produce limited results if other pressures continue. Durable progress will likely require coordinated policies that connect conservation, development, and local decision-making.
Communities at the Center
Forest change directly affects people who depend on forests for livelihoods, resources, and local environmental stability. Conservation measures that overlook these dependencies may create tensions or fail to gain lasting support. A durable balance will require treating affected communities as stakeholders in both forest protection and economic planning.