Discourses of FLEGT and REDD + Regimes in Cameroon: A Nongovernmental Organization and International Development Agency Perspectives

Richard S Mbatu

doi:10.3390/f11020166

Abstract

This paper applies the international environmental negotiations framework (IENF) and the multiple streams framework (MSF) to analyze the influence of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Development Agencies (IDAs) in the development and implementation of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade agreement (FLEGT) and the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) regimes in Cameroon. Deforestation, forest degradation, and illegal logging are critical issues in forest management in many forest-rich countries around the world. In attempt to curtail illegal logging, global forest governance in the past few years has witnessed the development of a number of timber legality regimes including FLEGT. In the same light, the international community has recently seen the emergence of the REDD+ regime to fight against global warming and climate change. Based on sixty-eight interviews in Cameroon with representatives of NGOs and IDAs, government officials, the timber industry, and members of forest communities, as well as eleven informal conversations, and more than sixty documents, the paper finds that NGO and IDA influence on the FLEGT and REDD+ regimes in Cameroon has been growing in three areas: stakeholder participation, project development, and institutional development. Thus, the increasing influence of NGOs and IDAs will pave the way for future interventions on social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues, including land tenure, carbon rights, benefit distribution, equity, Free, Prior and Informed consent, legality, and stakeholder process, related to the FLEGT and REDD+ regimes in Cameroon.

Highlights

With global warming and climate change taking center stage on global environmental issues, the international community agrees that a more rigorous emissions reduction mechanism on avoided deforestation should play a major role in the fight against global warming and climate change [1].After decades of international negotiations on avoided deforestation mechanisms [2,3], the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015 recognized and acknowledged the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program in the Paris Agreement [4]
The results are presented in three sections: (1) Synthesis of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Development Agencies (IDAs) activities; (2) decision-making discourses of FLEGT; and (3) decision-making discourses of REDD+
Concept originated with European-based NGOs, who wanted EU member countries to implement stricter rules for companies importing tropical timber into their country. This is demonstrated by the fact that international NGOs, led by the European Community Forest Platform (ECFP), working in collaboration with local NGOs, set up an internal information-sharing mechanism, which increased the participation of civil society organizations in the FLEGT process, albeit indirectly

Summary

Introduction

After decades of international negotiations on avoided deforestation mechanisms [2,3], the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015 recognized and acknowledged the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program in the Paris Agreement [4]. The objective of REDD+ is to use financial incentives and market instruments to mitigate carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and to promote conservation efforts in developing countries [5]. Some contend that the regime would significantly benefit tropical forest-rich countries as they would take advantage of the direct financial incentive while reducing deforestation and forest degradation at the same time [6,7,8].

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Discussion

Conclusion