COMMUNITY FORESTRY IN CAMEROON: FAILURE OR SUCCESS? MIXED RESPONSE

Community forestry is coming to Cameroon as a result of concerted action by donors particularly the World Bank and the Government of Cameroon. It puts an end to the period of super monopoly of the State owner of all forest resources to open a new area marked by decentralized management in which communities are invited in addition to their traditional right of use to participate in the sustainable exploitation of natural resources in an area of up to 5000 ha of their village land governed by a convention that binds them with the forest administration for a renewable period of 25 years. This initiative has been warmly welcomed and has generated a lot of hope among rural communities. Its implementation is a dynamic process which has not always produced the expected success; on the contrary the path is punctuated by many pitfalls and very regularly texts decrees and circulars have been issued by decision-makers to correct the imperfections and shortcomings so that the expected objectives are achieved i.e. to ensure that community forestry fulfils its objectives.