Abstract
There is evidence that institutions related to climate change and natural resource influence each other's performance, and that local settings also affect policy outcomes. We examine how policy implementation processes and institutional interactions shape the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme in Cameroon. While institutional and governance features of REDD+ have been extensively studied, research on REDD+ implementation has primarily focused on resource tenure, benefit-sharing and participation. Less attention has been given to how implementation typology determines the highly influential factors for REDD+ outcomes, and how preexisting forest institutions affect REDD+. We apply a policy implementation framework and a theory for institutional interaction to examine how REDD+ implementation typologies, and interactions with forestry regulations influence the outcomes of three REDD+ pilot projects in South and West Cameroon. Drawing from four focus group discussions with project beneficiaries and thirteen interviews with local stakeholders and land-users, we find that REDD+ projects epitomise political implementation in the South and experimental implementation in the West. We also indicate how project outcomes have been affected by rules regarding community forests, reforestation and timber processing. Our findings suggest that cultural understanding and local knowledge as well policy designers' ability to satisfy community preferences is important for projects'outcomes in the South, while resource availability and social capital are pivotal in the West. Incentives to promote local timber processing, rethink and expedite the decentralisation of forest governance would improve REDD+ project implementation in Cameroon.
Highlights
Anthropogenic land-use change and deforestation account for 12-20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and mainly originate from tropical forest-rich developing countries (Pachauri et al 2014)
We analysed the implementation typology of three REDD+ projects in South and West Cameroon to identify the key determinants of their outcomes, and examined how these have been shaped by horizontal interactions from forestry institutions
We found that REDD+ projects represented political implementation in the South and experimental implementation in the West
Summary
Anthropogenic land-use change and deforestation account for 12-20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and mainly originate from tropical forest-rich developing countries (Pachauri et al 2014). Tenure conflicts are reported from across REDD+ projects, but while in some cases such conflicts hamper project sustainability (Lasco et al 2013), in others, REDD+ projects are successfully implemented despite unclear tenure (Resosudarmo et al 2014). To explain such differences in project performance, we need to understand implementation contexts (Matland 1995). Policy implementation refers to the process in which actions are directed toward putting policies into effect (Goggin et al 1990) It has traditionally been studied through a top-down and a bottom-up perspective (Van Gossum et al 2010, Jensen, Johansson, and Löfström 2018). The bottom-up approach emphasizes the role of local actors and context: policy success relies on the autonomy and skills of local policy implementers to adapt policies to local conditions (Lipsky 1978, Berman 1980); but overemphasising local autonomy risks disregarding the level of policy control of elected representatives (Sabatier 1986)
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