Measuring the local community's participation in the management of community forests in Cameroon

Abstract

Cameroon revised its forestry policy and included the legal concept of community forests, a concept difficult to develop. This study aims to resolve this difficulty by understanding the concept as it is designed by the Cameroon Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MINEF). To this end, two formulae, the second simpler than the first, were developed to measure the percentage of involvement of the local community in the process of implementing a “community forest”. A questionnaire constructed to assess the importance of the activities in this process provided the coefficients for the first formula. The questionnaire was administered to five groups representing the possible participants in the implementation process. There are statistically significant differences among the mean ratings of importance by the five groups and for the various activities. Despite the latter differences, the numerical difference between the two formulae is negligible. Correlations of the ranking of the importance of the activities predict successful collaboration among MINEF, conservation project officials, and members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In contrast, the local communities are less likely to collaborate with the first three groups. There is a gulf between the communities and outside organizations (Ministry, conservation project officials and NGOs). Strategies for facilitating the process of implementing the “community forest” are suggested.