




































In ternationa l
Scholars
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African Journal of Environmental Economics and Management ISSN 2375-0707 Vol. 8 (2), pp. 001-008, 
February, 2020. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals 

 

Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. 
 
 
 

Review 

 

Sustainable development in Cameroon’s forestry 
sector: Progress, challenges, and strategies for 

improvement 

 
Dieudonne Alemagi* 

 
Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia, 4612 - 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Tel: (604) 822- 

6092. Fax: (604) 822-9104. E-mail: dalemagi@yahoo.co.uk. 
 

Accepted 11 October, 2019 
 
This paper examines initiatives formulated by the government of Cameroon to promote sustainable development 
within its forestry sector, and proffers a series of policy recommendations for advancing sustainable forest 
management in Cameroon. Since the enactment of Cameroon’s comprehensive forestry law (Law N0. 94/01 of 20th 
January 1994), which regulated the forestry sector in the country, the government, in particular, the Ministry of 
Forests and Fauna, has made a series of efforts with relevant ministries, as well as civil society to promote 
sustainable forest practices within its forestry sector. However, careful evaluation reveals that while these efforts 
have led to some progress, the sector is still plagued with a series of socio-economic and ecological challenges 
namely, poverty, corruption, inadequate capital and technical expertise for producing value-added wood products, 
illegal logging, insufficient university input, inter institutional conflicts, and inadequate monitoring. The paper 
concludes by advancing a series of recommendations that could be used to promote sustainable forest management 
in Cameroon. 

 

Key words: Sustainable development, forestry sector, sustainable forest management, Cameroon. 

 
INTRODUCTION 

 
In Cameroon, forestry has contributed considerably to the 
country’s socio-economic arena. Forestry operations in 
Cameroon employ between 45,000 and 70,000 people and 
account for more than 10% of the country’s GDP (Ameriei, 
2005; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010; Alemagi, 2010a). 
Estimated at 19,631,000 hectares (Mbile et al., 2008), 
Cameroon forests - which contain high value tropical tree 
species like Baillonella toxisperma and Milicia excels - is part 
of the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo Basin (Figure 1) 
in Central Africa and products emanating from these forests 
contributed to 19.8% of Cameroon’s merchandised exports 
between 1990 and 2000 (Lebedys, 2004; Alemagi and 
Kozak, 2010; Alemagi, 2010a). That said, forestry operations 

in Cameroon are associated with a plethora of problems. For 
instance, unabated logging irrespective of ecological 
degradation of forested ecosystems is common practice 
in the country. Socio-economically, despite these rich 
forests that contribute 10% of the country’s GDP, most 
forest communities of Cameroon are poor. The benefits 
of these rich forests and forestry are not accrued to the 

 
 

 
local people.  

In 1994, the government of Cameroon enacted a major 
forestry law (Law N0. 94/01 of 20th January 1994), and in 
the following year, a fundamental decree (Decree N0.95-
531-PM of 23rd August 1995) was formulated and 
passed to facilitate the implementation of this law (Oyono, 
2004; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010). The 1994 forestry law 
has been cited as the first attempt to decentralize forest 
management practices and address issues of 
sustainability and inequity in the Congo Basin (Oyono, 
2004, Alemagi and Kozak, 2010). In fact, since the 
enactment of this law, efforts have been made by the 
government and civil society to improve the socio-
economic and ecological sustainability of the forestry 
industry. However, from a review of the relevant 
literature, I argue that the efficacy of these initiatives has 
not been adequately addressed. In other words, while 
many authors have broached the topic of sustainable 
forest management in Cameroon (for example, Kouna, 



  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Figure 1. Map of Cameroon and its regions. Tree icons represent Cameroon’s dense tropical rain forest of the 
Congo Basin. (Source: Adapted from Mertens et al., 2001). 

 

 

2001; Efoua, 2001; Oyono, 2004; Oyono, 2005; Oyono et 
al., 2005; Cerutti et al., 2008; Clough et al., 2008; Cerutti 
et al., 2010), few have provided answers to the following 
fundamental questions: 

 

(i) What are the impacts of initiatives formulated by the 
government of Cameroon to promote sustainable forest 
management, and are there any stakeholders that have 
been neglected in terms of assistance?  
(ii) Is there any accountability and transparency in the 
management of forest resources?  
(iii) Are there any conflicts between the relevant 
regulatory institutions? 

 

Answers to these questions are central to advancing 
sustainable forest management in Cameroon.  

The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to examine in 
detail the initiatives that have been formulated by the 
government of Cameroon to promote sustainable deve-
lopment in the forestry sector and to suggest a series of 
recommendations for advancing sustainable forest 
management. The study is based on a combination of 
exploratory interviews with forestry stakeholders, as well 
as a comprehensive literature review of relevant 
documentation. The paper provides an overview of the 
concept of sustainable development within the context of 
forestry in Cameroon and outlines some of the 
fundamental steps taken by the government and civil 

 
 

 

society to facilitate improved socio-economic and 
environmental management in the forestry sector. The 
discussion highlights some of the major hurdles to 
sustainable forest management in Cameroon. The paper 
concludes by prescribing recommendations that could be 
used to advance sustainable practices within Cameroon’s 
forestry sector. 
 

 

Profiling sustainable development in the context of 
forestry 

 

The Brundtland report emphasises the need for industries 
to be responsible for their negative environmental 
impacts and offers a vision for sustainable development 
which is defined as a development that meets the needs 
of the present without jeopardizing the requirements of 
the future generation (WCED, 1987). In order to fully 
adhere to this definition, forests exploitation must not 
exceed production so that the forests continue to grow to 
have enough forest resources for future generations.  

As quoted in Karsenty et al. (2008), the United Nations 
Forum for Forests defines sustainable forest manage-
ment as the “the stewardship and use of forests and 
forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their 
biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality 
and their potential to fulfill, now and in the future, relevant 
ecological, economic and social functions, at 



 
 
 

 
Table 1. Allocation of forested Lands in 2007 (Reproduced from Mbile et al., 2008).  

 
 Forested land use regime Area (ha) Percentage of total 

 Community forests 380764.5 1.9 

 Communal forests 413622.3 2.1 

 Forest licenses 6063457 30.9 

 Forest reserves 1541111 7.9 

 Forest management units 7066647 36.0 

 Sales by standing volume 379745.2 1.9 

 Protected areas 3785653 19.3 

 Total estimated forested land use regime 19631000 100 
 

 

local, national, and global levels and that does not cause 
damage to other ecosystems”. Thus, since sustainable 
development involves improvements in the socio-
economic and ecological arena, there is a salient need for 
stakeholders (forest companies, government, and civil 
society) to be actively engaged in improving the living 
standards of the communities, as well as promoting the 
ecological integrity of the forests in which these com-
munities are situated. As it is explained subsequently in 
this paper, since the enactment of the main legislative 
framework (Law N0. 94/01 of 20th January 1994) 
governing Cameroon’s forestry sector, the sector has 
received increased oversight from the government, as 
well as national and international donor agencies. 
 

 

Advancing socio-economic sustainability in 
Cameroon’s forestry sector 

 

Before proceeding with initiatives undertaken to advance 
socio-economic sustainability within the forestry sector in 
Cameroon, it is important to briefly discuss forest tenures 
and governance in Cameroon. The majority of 
Cameroon’s forests occur on publicly held lands. 
Specifically, apart from community and communal forest, 
all forests in the country is owned and administered by 
the government (Table 1).  

The Ministry of Forests and Fauna (MINFOF) is the 
governing body responsible for administering the sale of 
standing timber – up to a maximum area of 2,500 
hectares over a three-year lease – to logging companies 
owned and operated by Cameroonian nationals (MINEF, 
1996; Karsenty, 2007; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010; 
Alemagi, 2010a). In addition, it also oversees the granting 
of long-term tenures of fifteen years to large-scale logging 
companies, up to a maximum area of 200,000 ha 
(MINEF, 1996; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010; Alemagi, 
2010a).  

The responsibility for granting community forest 
licenses - which confer to local communities, the right to 
operate a maximum forest area of 5,000 ha with tenure 
durations of at least 25 years – is also vested in the 
hands of MINFOF (MINFOF, 2009). “As of 2008, there 
were 135 fully operational community forest licenses in 

 

 

Cameroon covering about 2% (621,245.4 ha) of the 
country’s forest” (Mbile et al., 2008; Alemagi and Kozak, 
2010; Alemagi, 2010a).  

By legalizing forestry operations, the government of 
Cameroon has taken a fundamental step toward im-
proving the socio-economic and ecological sustainability 
of its forestry sector. As Kishor and Rosenbaum (2003) 
pointed out, legalization is vital in mitigating unacceptable 
forest management practices. Indeed, effective and 
efficient implementation of forestry legislation is essential 
in eliminating operational hurdles that affect sound 
management and productivity.  

Any person or party that is interested in forest 
exploitation (especially timber exploitation) in Cameroon 
must apply for a license. According to MINEF (1996), 
Alemagi and Kozak (2010), and Alemagi (2010a), for 
concession-based forestry, the process of acquiring a 
license starts with the prospective concessionaire 
(logging company) submitting a file containing ten copies 
of an administrative and technical bid, as well as a 
financial bid to the relevant authority in MINFOF, 
following a call for public tender by the government. The 
duration of this advertisement is forty-five days. A forest 
concession is awarded to the highest bidder by MINFOF 
after approval is granted by an Inter-Ministerial 
Committee. After the successful applicant has paid a 
caution fee into the state treasury within 45 days, an 
official order is issued that assigns the forest concession 
to the concessionaire. Apart from a few forest enterprises 
that are owned and operated by Cameroonian nationals, 
a majority of concessions in Cameroon belong to Asian 
and European companies from France, Italy, the 
Netherlands, Belgium, Malaysia, China, Hong-Kong, and 
Lebanon (Karsenty, 2007; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010; 
Alemagi, 2010a).  

Concession-based forestry remains the dominant 
business model in Cameroon’s forestry sector (Alemagi 
and Kozak, 2010). In order to further promote the socio-
economic sustainability of this model, the provision of 
social services (like schools, hospitals, good roads, and 
electricity) to the communities in which their logging 
concessions are located is part of a contract that is 
negotiated by concessionaires and communities after the 
logging contract is awarded to a concessionaire by the 



 
 
 

 
Table 2. Forest taxes since the creation of the forest revenues enhancement program (Reproduced from Tieguhong 
and Betti, 2008).  

 
 Year/Period Amount of revenue (in billions of FCFA) % increase over 1999 Figure 

 1999 11 - 

 2000-2001 27 145 

 2001-2002 38 245 

 2002-2003 39 255 
 
 

 

state (Karsenty, 2007; Karsenty et al., 2008). In addition, 
as a means of providing local employment, con-
cessionaires are also obliged to set up timber processing 
units within each forest concession (Siebock, 2002).  

Law N0. 94/01 of 20th January 1994 ordains that a 
proportion of royalties collected from logging companies 
are to be set aside for community development. Alloca-
tion of these royalties is done in the following manner 
(Oyono, 2005; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010; Alemagi, 
2010a): 50% to the state; 40% to the rural council within 
which the concession is located; and 10% to the 
neighbouring village communities that accommodates the 
logging company. Furthermore, forest companies are 
also obliged to pay an “ecotax” of US$1.5 per cubic meter 
of timber to forest communities in which their concession 
is situated (Milol and Pierre, 2001; Oyono, 2005). Some 
concessionaires have gone a step further by paying 
neighbouring communities a voluntary contribution of 
US$ 1.20–1.60 per cubic-meter of wood that is harvested 
and sold (Massoukou, 2007; Karsenty et al. 2008).  

A fundamental obligation of order No. 
00122/MINEFI/MINAT of 29th April 1998 is the esta-
blishment of a management committee responsible for 
managing forest royalties in all sub-divisions and villages 
where forest concessions are situated (Alemagi and 
Kozak, 2010). A management committee at the sub-
division level is supervised by two administrative author-
ities (the “sous-prefet” and mayor), while at the level of 
villages, the committee is headed by a chairman and four 
to five local residents (Oyono et al., 2005; Alemagi and 
Kozak, 2010).  

As a means of combating corruption, generating higher 
revenue, obtaining greater efficiency, and promoting 
competition among logging companies, Tieguhong and 
Betti, (2008) report that logging concessions are allo-
cated through a competitive bidding process. They assert 
that in a bid to increase the contribution of forest revenue 
to the country’s national budget, the government created 
the Forest Revenue Enhancement Program in 1999. As a 
result of implementing this program, there was a 
significant increase in the amount of forest revenues 
(Table 2) from 11 billion FCA in 1999 to 39 billion FCFA 
in the 2002-2003 fiscal year (Tieguhong and Betti, 2008).  

With respect to community forestry, the licensing 
procedure for establishing a community forest in 
Cameroon is as follows: MINFOF (2009) states that any 

 
 

 

prospective applicant must submit an application file to 
the Divisional delegate responsible for forestry in the area 
concerned.  

The file must contain a stamped application that is 
endorsed by the relevant authority and should layout the 
objectives ascribed to the proposed forest. In addition, 
the file must also include a plan revealing the location of 
the forest, the name of the community forest, a 
description of previous activities undertaken in the forest, 
a probationary management agreement form for the 
forest, a certificate detailing the surface area of the forest 
and the minutes from public consultation meetings. 
Should this plan be endorsed, a probationary license is 
issued which permit the applicant to manage the forest 
for a three year period. After this period, the applicant 
must submit a simple management plan for review and 
approval before a permanent license is issued. This 
license is valid for at least 25 years.  

Section 37 (3) of Law N0. 94/01 of 20th January 1994 
stipulates that, in a community forest, timber, non timber 
forest products, wildlife and fishery resources (except 
those forbidden by law) belong to the communities 
(MINFOF 2009). Thus, communities have the right to 
exploit these resources and use the proceeds for 
community development. Besides, all activities in a 
community forest must comply with the provisions of a 
simple management plan. The plan among other things 
documents the resources available in the forest, the 
activities that are envisaged in the forest and the 
contribution of the forest to socio-economic development 
within the community in which the forest is located 
(MINFOF, 2009).  

Mbile et al. (2008) report that international funding 
agencies like the British Department of International 
Development (DFID), the Netherlands Development 
Agency (SNV), and other locally-based Non 
Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have developed 
capacity building projects to facilitate the effective 
implementation of community forest projects in 
Cameroon.  

They note that the efforts of these international donor 
agencies have been impressive, particularly in Lomié 
(Southeast Cameroon), where there is a strong network 
of local NGOs (like CAFT – Trinational Agroforestry 
Cooperative) that are guiding and training villagers in 
community forest management. 



 
 
 

 

Advancing ecological sustainability in Cameroon’s 
forestry sector 

 

With assistance and administrative leadership from 
organizations like Global Witness, MINFOF has 
established an Urgent Action Program (UAP) and the 
National Brigade for the Control of Forests and Wildlife 
which is responsible for monitoring and regulating illegal 
logging in forest concessions (Tieguhong and Betti, 2008; 
Alemagi and Kozak, 2010). On May 6 2010, the 
government of Cameroon also signed a voluntary 
partnership agreement with the European Union (EU) that 
aims to ensure that legal harvested timber is sold in 
Cameroonian markets, as well as other EU countries 
when it is exported (FERN, 2010). More to the point, 
there are other legal instruments designed by 
international bodies to fight illegal logging in Cameroon 
like the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade 
(FLEGT) action plan of the EU.  

Efforts have also been made by civil society nationwide 
to reduce the problem of illegal logging in Cameroon. A 
classical example is the application of satellite imageries 
and the geographic information system (GIS) to identify 
illicit operations within forest concessions in the 
Southeast Region of Cameroon by the German agency 
for technical cooperation (GTZ) (Pandya, 2002, Alemagi 
and Kozak, 2010). Additionally, the government has 
instituted an assortment of supporting and monitoring 
services like verification points on roads and regular 
auditing and monitoring at sawmills to tract down illegal 
logging operations (Pandya, 2002).  

After a forest concession is allocated to the highest 
bidding company, the company is given three years to 
prepare a forest management plan (FMP), and once 
approved, the plan must be revised after every five years 
(MINEF, 1996; Cerutti et al., 2008; Alemagi, 2010a). As 
Cerutti et al. (2008) explains, a FMP is a comprehensive 
document in which the potentials of forest resources are 
assessed, trade-offs among the ecological and socio-
economic aspects of forest management are evaluated, 
and equitable solutions are proferred. As of 2007, about 
3.5 million hectares of forests in Cameroon were 
managed using approved FMP (MINFOF, 2007; Cerutti et 
al., 2008; Alemagi, 2010a). It is also important to note 
that procedures for preparing a FMP are prescribed in 

Order N
0
 0222/A/MINEF of 25th May 2001(Alemagi, 

2010a). More importantly, article 33 of this law stipulates 
that the commission that is responsible for assessing 
FMP must confirm and validate a logging company’s 
choice regarding (i) tree species identified for 
management (ii) the logging cycle, and (iii) calculations 
used to determine the annual allowable cut (MINEF, 
2001).  

The use of a simple management plan to promote 
replanting of havested tree species within community 
forests is recommended in the manual of the procedures 
for the attribution, and norms for the management of 

 
 
 
 

 

community forests in Cameroon. Specifically, section 7.9 
of the manual reads:  

“While implementing a simple management plan, the 
community must undertake operations aiming at ensuring 
the maintenance of the ecological potential of their forest. 
Such actions, namely conservation and regeneration 
activities, must be in line with a simple management plan” 
(MINFOF, 2009).”  

Monitoring is also necessary to ensure legal 
compliance. In Cameroon, local communities and 
MINFOF share the responsibility for monitoring illicit 
activities within community forests (Alemagi, 2010b). 
Finally, other important efforts that have been made by 
the government to promote biodiversity conservation 
within the forestry sector include the creation of nature 
reserves, national parks, and zoological gardens. By 
2008, the government had created 14 national parks, 7 
wildlife reserves, 3 zoological gardens, and 1 gorilla 
sanctuary (Tieguhong and Betti, 2008). 
 

 

DISCUSSION 

 

Given all the initiatives undertaken by the government to 
advance socio-economic and ecological sustainability in 
the forestry sector, it might be tempting to conclude that 
these actions have been successful in achieving 
significant socio-economic and ecological outcomes in 
the forestry sector. In fact, such a conclusion would be 
fundamentally flawed. As detailed in this sector of the 
paper, a considerable number of challenges to 
sustainable forest management still prevail within 
Cameroon’s forestry sector.  

Most concessionaires in Cameroon are foreign-owned 
(Karsenty, 2007; Alemagi, 2010a; Alemagi and Kozak, 
2010). To this end, very little of the enormous wealth that 
they do generate is used in the establishment of social 
services in the communities in which they are operating 
(The rainforests foundation and forests monitor, 2007; 
Alemagi, 2010a). Many have noted that the two main 
beneficiaries of these revenues are the government and 
the forest products firms (Oyono, 2005; Njoh, 2007; 
Alemagi, 2010a). As a result, poverty remains endemic in 
most forest communities that accommodate logging 
concessions belonging to these firms. “During field visits 
to some of these communities in the Southwest and East 
Region of the country in March 2009, it was noticed that 
basic social amenities like schools, hospitals, electricity 
and good roads are fundamentally lacking” (Alemagi, 
2010a). In addition, during field visits to the Southwest 
Region of Cameroon in March 2009, it was also 
witnessed that although two large-scale forest products 
companies controlled logging concessions in the 
communities of Kembong, Ewelle І and ІІ, Ajayukndip, 
Ossing, Talangaye, Okoroba, Mbinda, and Bakogo 
neither actually operated sawmills in the communities 
implying that they provided little in the way of local 



 
 
 

 

employment,  
Two principal reasons underpin the forest-poverty trap 

in Cameroon. First, many concessionaires may not be 
meeting their obligations with respect to corporate social 
responsibility (Alemagi, 2010a). For example, Mindourou  
– a town in the East Region of the country- lacks 
electricity, while nearby concessionaires have access to 
private electricity (Alemagi, 2010a; Alemagi and Kozak, 
2010). Second, even though the prevailing legal 
disposition mandates that 10% of forest royalties be 
apportioned to forest communities within which forest 
concessions are situated (Oyono, 2005; Alemagi, 2010a; 
Alemagi and Kozak, 2010), the communities contend that 
this proportion is inadequate (Oyono et al. 2005; Alemagi, 
2010a; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010) and cannot provide the 
infrastructure required for sustainable societal 
development. A head of civil society in an Aboriginal 
community in the East Region of the country provided a 
more accurate account of this problem during a personal 
discussion: “After all these tours you can see for yourself 
that these forest-dependent communities are poor. Look 
at the type of houses where people are living in.... these 
are rather huts and not houses... in all the communities 
that we have visted there is no electricity as you have 
seen, look at how bad the roads are.. in the raining 
season it is horrible ... it is true that the council has used 
some of the money from the government to build schools 
in some of these villages but this money is surely not 
enough and not well spend ..... otherwise there will be 
signs of development in these communities....” Further-
more, it is reported that corruption and embezzlement of 
forest royalties by members of the sub-division and 
village management committees situated in the East 
Region of Cameroon are common (Assembe, 2001; 
Efoua, 2001; Kouna, 2001; Oyono, 2001; Oyono et al., 
2005; Alemagi, 2010a; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010).  

In a report entitled “A forest policy context and case 
study analysis to support alternative tenure and enter-
prise options for trees and forest resources management 
in Cameroon” written by Mbile et al. (2008) for Rights and 
Resources Initiative, it is reported that the major problems 
faced by community forest operations (CFOs) in 
Cameroon include, inter alia, limited size for community 
forests, inefficient equipment and machinery, insufficient 
working capital, insecurity in prices of forest products, 
and inadequate technical expertise. However, inadequate 
working capital and technical expertise for producing 
value-added wood products is the main concern. During 
personal discussions with heads of civil society in the 
East, Southwest, and Littoral regions of the country, it 
was revealed that because of inadequate expertise and 
financial resources, most CFOs are unable to add value 
to timber and non-timber forest products. The importance 
of valued-added wood products as a means of achieving 
socio-economic and ecological sustainability cannot be 
over emphasized. As Kozak (2007) explains, by 
producing value-added wood 

 
 
 
 

 

products, more jobs are created per unit of wood 
harvested and this constitutes a robust strategy for 
striking a fair balance between socio-economic well-being 
and ecological sustainability.  

It was also interesting to note that the University of 
Dschang- the only University in Cameroon that offers 
forestry- has minimal involvement in research in the 
forestry sector. During personal communications with 
personnel at this university in March 2009, it was reported 
that most of the few research projects in the university 
are crafted and masterminded by faculty and students 
with minimal assistance from the government and the 
forest products companies. In reality, the University of 
Dschang like any other local university in the country 
competes with industries and civil society for limited funds 
from the government. As a result, this institution is 
underfunded and lacks the state-of-the-art facilities for 
undertaking forestry research.  

Conflicts are prevalent in Cameroon and have 
eventually led to unsustainable forest management. To 
say the least, conflicts do not help in promoting 
sustainable forest practices. In Cameroon, “the Ministry of 
Environment and Nature Protection (MINEP) has the 
mandate to articulate, execute, and assess the 
government’s policy in relation to the environment” 
(Republic of Cameroon, 2005; Alemagi and Kozak, 
2010). However, as Alemagi and Kozak (2010) explain, 
the forestry sector and its policy is enacted, assessed, 
and implemented by a different ministry, MINFOF. 
Clearly, there is an overlap in the functions of these 
ministries as both compete to implement Cameroon’s 
environmental policies. This has resulted in inter-
ministerial conflicts between these two ministries. As 
quoted in Alemagi and Kozak (2010), one government 
official in MINFOF explained that: “We are trying to stop 
this illegal logging, but still, we have conflicts at times with 
another ministry like MINEP, especially when you look at 
the problem of environmental impact assessment (EIA) in 
the forestry area that is validated by MINEP and not us. 
This is a problem.”  

Nguemdjom (2006) notes that timber extraction from 
most forest concessions in Cameroon is unsustainable 
from an ecological point of view, with estimates of the 
annual forest loss of Cameroon forests being 1%. 
Additionally, it is reported that illegal logging is common 
within most concessions belonging to large-scale logging 
companies in Cameroon (Amariei, 2005; Clough et al., 
2008; Alemagi and Kozak, 2010). The fundamental 
rationale behind this ecological issue is that the MINFOF 
which is responsible for monitoring illegal operations 
within Cameroon’s forests is faced with logistical issues. 
Specifically, during field visits to Eyumojock subdivision in 
the Southwest region of the country in March 2009, it was 
noted during a personal conversation with the traditional 
head of a village community that the whole of this 
subdivision was staffed with only one permanent forestry 
personnel. Additionally, in another personal discussion 



 
 
 

 

with an authority at the Regional Delegation of Forests 
and Fauna in Buea - capital of the Southwest region- it 
was understood that the divisional delegate of forests and 
Fauna for Fako division did not have a service car. 
 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 

 

The foregoing section has identified and discussed the 
major challenges to sustainable forest management in 
Cameroon. Recognizing these dilemmas, this section of 
the paper proffers some important recommendations for 
policy makers to consider as they attempt to advance 
sustainable forest management in the country. 

 

1) To tackle corrupt practices in the forestry sector, 
accountability, transparency, and democracy must be 
promoted and employed in managing forest resources 
and the royalties obtained from them (Alemagi, 2010; 
Alemagi and Kozak, 2010).  
2) Results of this study also point to a pressing need for 
the government to be more proactive in making sure that 
the social and environmental obligations of forestry 
companies are fulfilled for the benefit of the communities 
in which they are located. As Alemagi (2010a) opine, this 
could be achieved by promoting the importance of checks 
and balances in the enforcement of responsible corporate 
practices.  
3) The government and civil society should provide 
support to business operations that are engaged in the 
production of value-added wood products. Indeed, 
support could be in the form of financial incentives, 
training and education with regards to the sustainability of 
value-added wood products.  
4) This paper also presses the need for the government 
to promote fundamental and strategic research in local 
universities, especially research geared towards 
developing improved socio-economic and environmental 
management practices within the forestry sector. More 
specifically, relevant ministries like MINFOF and MINEP 
should form forestry research partnerships with the 
University of Dschang.  
5) Adequate monitoring is highly recommended if 
sustainable forest management is to be achieved in 
Cameroon. Indeed, in the absence of sufficient 
monitoring, enforcement of laws geared at promoting 
sustainable forest management is difficult.  
6) It is time to re-examine the responsibilities of the 
relevant ministries that are responsible for forest 
management in Cameroon to ensure that conflicting 
responsibilities are streamlined in order to eradicate the 
current overlaps.  
7) Immediately suspend or revoke forestry licenses 
given to forest product firms that violate forestry 
regulations. This will serve as a deterrent to defaulters 
and will help to ensure that communities obtain a fair 
share of proceeds emanating from forestry operations. 

 
 

 
 

 

In summary, the promotion of transparency and local 
democracy in the management of forests resources, 
support for value-added wood manufacturing, research 
contribution from local universities, adequate monitoring, 
a redress of conflicting institutional responsibilities, and a 
suspension or revocation of licenses belonging to 
defaulting forestry companies are keys to advancing 
sustainable development in Cameroon’s forestry sector. 
A series of fundamental initiatives have already been 
undertaken by the government to advance socio-
economic and ecological sustainability in the forestry 
sector. However, implementation of the aforementioned 
recommendations by all the relevant stakeholders will 
certainly go a long way to promote sustainable forest 
management in Cameroon. 
 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

 

The author would like to thank heads of civil society in 
forest-dependent communities of Cameroon for giving 
their valuable time to participate in discussions about 
forest management in their communities. This study was 
funded principally by the Social Sciences and Humanities 
Research Council of Canada. 
 

 
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