The Contribution of Community Forestry on Livelihood Improvement and Environmental Protection in Cameroon

Abstract

The sustainable management of community forests in Cameroon is a success story for the achievement of Community-Based natural Resources Management (CBNRM). This approach empowers local communities to take the lead on natural resources management, giving them a sense of responsibility and ownership. This study was carried out in three community forest (Woteva, Bakingili and Bimbia-Bonadikombo community forests) in Fako Division, South West Region of Cameroon. The aim of this research was to verify the contribution of community forestry to the wellbeing of the local population, and how it enhances the conservation of biodiversity. In this study, 135 (45.8%) of the 295 respondents were from Bimbia-Bonadikombo, 109 (36.9%) from Bakingili and 51 (17.3%) from Woteva. From this total, 155 (52.5%) were female and the rest (140 or 47.5%) were male. 89.4% of the population use the forests for fuelwood collection, 25.7% for timber exploitation, 40% for farming, and 41.3% for non-timber forest products (NTFPs) harvesting. Interestingly, only 17.9% of the respondents reported an increase in community members income under community forestry, 53.9% perceived no change especially as not everyone in the community is committed to community forestry. However, an improved adoption of sustainable exploitation practices was noted, and this can be explained by the numerous sensitization and training workshops and field demonstration carried out by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife through the Programme for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources-Southwest (PSMNR-SW), as well as Mount Cameroon prunus africana Association (MOCAP).