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Benefits and Barriers to Certification of Community-Based Forest Operations in Cameroon: An Exploratory Assessment

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Abstract

Community-based Forest Operations (CFOs) have played a notable role in promoting sustainability within Cameroon’s indigenous forest-dependent communities, but they are fraught with a range of socio-economic and ecological hurdles. As a means of achieving more sustainable forest practices, one possible solution would be for CFOs to adopt forest certification, though various barriers would have to be overcome. Using a number of examples at the regional level, this paper examines the potential benefits and barriers to community forest certification in Cameroon. Specifically, the paper identifies these barriers as legislative and political, economic, and informational in nature. While adoption of forest certification hinges upon what initiatives are employed by CFOs, it is argued that there is also a need for the government of Cameroon to play a leadership role in removing hurdles and promoting the uptake of certification.

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Notes

  1. In informal interviews in 2008, representatives of two civil society organizations working with CFOs in Cameroon indicated that to the best of their knowledge, no CFO in Cameroon was certified.

  2. This question was used to update information received previously indicating there were no CFOs in Cameroon.

  3. Regulations can also be enacted to prohibit this human right violation.

  4. These companies include oil and gas companies, companies producing chemicals, food processing companies, and agro-industrial companies.

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Acknowledgments

This research was made possible with support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and the Africa Forests Research Initiative on Conservation and Development (AFRICAD) in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia. The authors would also like to express their gratitude to all those interviewees who spared their valuable time to share their knowledge and experiences about community forest operations in Cameroon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia, 4612-2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Dieudonne Alemagi

  2. Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia, 2900-2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Reem Hajjar & Serena David

  3. Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia, 4040-2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Robert A. Kozak

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  1. Dieudonne Alemagi
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Correspondence to Dieudonne Alemagi.

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Alemagi, D., Hajjar, R., David, S. et al. Benefits and Barriers to Certification of Community-Based Forest Operations in Cameroon: An Exploratory Assessment. Small-scale Forestry 11, 417–433 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-011-9192-9

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