The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

84 The Rainforests of CameroonFigure 5.3. Approval of forest management plans, 2003–06Number of approved plans per year40 4.5353025201510509342003 2004 2005 2006Year944.03.53.02.52.01.51.00.50Cumulative hectares under anapproved plan (millions)Source: MINFOF, April 2006.allocated by 2005 (some 5.6 million hectares). Delays in approval before2004 (figure 5.3) were occasioned partly by delays in gazetting.Assessing the sustainability of forest management plans is challenging,even if they are well implemented (box 5.2). Assessments in Cameroonhave focused exclusively on timber. The sustainable management ofnontimber products, such as medicinal plants, hunting, fishing, or environmentalservices, has not been studied.Box 5.2What makes a forest management plan “sustainable”?Can 30-year harvesting cycles such as those practiced in Cameroon be consideredsustainable if the number of high-value trees never returns to itsoriginal level? It would be excessive to conclude in such a situation that managementplans do not promote sustainable forestry. The forest transition—in which afirst harvest including large numbers of long-maturing, high-value trees is succeededby a harvesting cycle with fewer high-value trees and subsequent stable harvestingcycles—is a well-known phenomenon. It is routinely taken into account in forestmanagement strategies Delivered and by is The not World unique Bank to the e-library management to: plans adoptedin Cameroon. Additionally, some species The World may Bank become increasingly rare at the localIP : 192.86.100.34level without being threatened Mon, more 09 Nov widely. 2009 Finally, 17:06:18 industry can adapt to the changingspecies composition in several ways: by pursuing technical change (for example,(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank