Contribution of non-timber forest products to cash and non-cash income of remote forest communities in Central Africa

Abstract

SUMMARY This paper evaluates the contribution of NTFPs to cash and non-cash income of local communities within the jointly managed Sangha Tri-National and Dja-Odzala-Minkebe Tri-National forest landscapes that lie between Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon and the Central African Republic in Central Africa. Data were collected from respectively 172 and 158 Bantu and IP households by applying the Poverty-Forests Linkages Toolkit method. Ten species of NTFPs that are important sources of cash and non-cash income for the study groups were recorded. More than 45% and 55% of Bantu and IP incomes are respectively derived from NTFPs. NTFPs contribute higher to non-cash income for the Bantu and IP in Cameroon and CAR but contribute more to cash income in Congo. Bantu communities get higher total incomes from NTFPs than IP. In all groups, Bushmeat is the most important income generating NTFP. These results could contribute to resource allocation for implementation of long-term development plans in Central Africa, ...