A workshop to present the national results of the study on the effectiveness of community forestry in three Central African countries, including Cameroon, Gabon and the DRC, was held on February 13, 2025 in the Tsinga district of Yaoundé.
To what extent have community forestry actions had a positive impact on the livelihoods of local populations in Central Africa? This was the question addressed by a post-doctoral research project carried out by a consortium of research institutions and organizations. These were the Support Service for Local Development Initiatives (SAILD), the Institute for Agronomic and Forest Research (IRAF), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the organization Initiatives for the Promotion and Protection of Endangered Peoples and Species (APEM). The study was carried out over 18 months in three Central African countries: Cameroon, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The aim was to carry out an in-depth diagnosis of community forestry. To publicize the results of this research, the SAILD consortium leader organized a workshop in the Tsinga district of Yaoundé. Participants from Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo joined in the discussions by videoconference.
The meeting brought together some twenty participants from a wide range of backgrounds. These included civil society and international organizations, research institutions, government officials, and community forest promoters and managers in the three countries. According to the project’s postdoctoral researcher on duty at SAILD, the results of the research conducted on the basis of simultaneous field surveys in the three countries reveal faults in community forest management. “In the case of Cameroon, 58% of the funds earmarked for management activities were spent outside villages, and only 42% within villages. We can draw whatever conclusions we like from these results”, Fabrice Kengne emphasized.
Weaknesses were also observed in all states in terms of the capacity of community forests to preserve forest cover. “We can see that situations vary from one forest to another and from one zone to another. But there were as many losses in community forests as in areas without community forests”, he concluded.
The national results of the study conducted as part of the RESSAC program (Applied Research in Ecology and Social Sciences in Support of the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa), funded by the European Union, will be used to draw up a sub-regional synthesis, presenting the overall situation of community forestry in the sub-region.
Preserving forest cover is imperative
The workshop, punctuated by speeches and group work, also enabled stakeholders to identify shortcomings and make suggestions for improving the study. For Christiane Zebaze, of the Forest and Rural Development Association (FODER), the study is highly relevant, enabling a better assessment of the impact of community forestry on rural development. “Generally speaking, given the results, the impact of this concept on rural development remains very mixed, and could have a greater impact if the way it is implemented in the field were to change. For example, the interests and practical needs of indigenous populations need to be taken into account, so that they can contribute to development at local level”, she explains.
Community forests are lands formally allocated to local populations so that they can carry out various activities to improve their living conditions and contribute to the preservation and conservation of forest cover and ecosystems. In view of the results of the study, which provide ample evidence that these objectives are not being achieved in the three countries concerned, opinions converge on the need to revise community forest management models so that they make a significant contribution to the fight against rural poverty and to the sustainable use of forest goods and services.
- Sharon Maché
