Abstract
Foundjem-Tita, D., L. A. Duguma, S. Speelman, and S. M. Piabuo. 2018. Viability of community forests as social enterprises: A Cameroon case study. Ecology and Society 23(4):50. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10651-230450
Highlights
The global policy foundation of community forestry lies on the theoretical argument that forest communities should be given the legal rights to manage forestlands and resources, which in many cases they had been doing outside the legal framework
Profitability is conditional on the type of activities the enterprises engaged in, the capacity of the community forest entrepreneurs to run the business themselves rather than subcontracting, and on the capacity of the enterprises, especially timber related ones, to diversify into nontimber forest products (NTFPs) and agricultural activities
This review was set out to assess the viability of community forest enterprises (CFEs) in Cameroon
Summary
The global policy foundation of community forestry lies on the theoretical argument that forest communities should be given the legal rights to manage forestlands and resources, which in many cases they had been doing outside the legal framework. Ever since the approval of the 1994 Forestry Law and its corresponding decree of application in 1995, the Government of Cameroon with support of both national and international NGOs has struggled to operationalize the concept of community forestry They have developed approaches to assist forest communities to meet policy objectives amongst which (i) create jobs and income generation activities in rural areas, (ii) improve the living conditions of local communities, and (iii) ensure sustainable management of the environment while meeting the basic needs of rural communities. Other signs of success are the creation of the subdepartment of community forestry and the existence of quite a good number of these community forests thanks in part to the publication of a manual of procedures for the attribution and norms for management of community forests (Minang et al 2007) This manual has clarified the process of studying and approving files. They wonder if the current dispensation as provided by the law offers the necessary impetus for communities to sustainably manage the forests and ensure poverty alleviation (Ngwasiri, Djeukam, and Vabi 2002, unpublished manuscript)
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