The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

In-Depth Analysis of Impacts 99concession, and value of its tree species (also higher in other countries inthe region).Impacts on Poverty and LivelihoodsForest reforms had a number of effects related to poverty and livelihoods.Experience with the evolution of indigenous peoples’ rights, communityforestry, and local timber markets under the reforms provides substantialguidance to develop and test alternatives that may offer better means ofsustaining forest communities and the resources on which they depend.Improving Indigenous Peoples’ Access to Forest Land and ProductsAbout 30,000 individuals—Aka, Baka, and Kola peoples gathered in oraround 300 settlements in 33 councils—constitute Cameroon’s indigenouspeoples. Legally, they are citizens with rights equal to those of allother citizens. Yet they lack the de facto political influence; legal status;and organizational, technical, and economic capacity enjoyed by othergroups. Fundamentally, their settlements are not recognized “communities,”and therefore they cannot interact legally with government services.Although they are the most forest-dependent people in Cameroon, theyhave no legally sanctioned access to the forests where hunting and gatheringgenerate more than 65 percent of their livelihood, on average. 23The 1994 Forest Law began restoring some of the rights that colonialand postcolonial rule had taken from forest people. Although muchremains to be done, the reforms provided a much-needed entry point forimproving the livelihoods of indigenous people (and indeed of all peoplewho rely on customary access to forests) (box 5.5).The experience with Cameroon’s forest reforms revealed some limitationsin helping indigenous people secure rights to their forest resources.First, forest zoning allocated a significant area of indigenous communityland to the permanent forest domain, where community forests cannotbe established. The current regulatory framework for these areas doesnot sufficiently specify local inhabitants’ rights to hunt, gather, or fish.Second, in the nonpermanent estate, where community forests can beestablished, the dominant Bantu communities have already claimed theland, perpetuating a history Delivered of by marginalization The World Bank e-library of Pygmy to: people. 24 Finally,The World Bankaspects of community forests IP are : 192.86.100.34 inconsistent with the livelihoods andresources of indigenous people, Mon, 09 such Nov 2009 as the 17:06:18 emphasis on small-scale timberproduction or administrative structures that conflict with traditionalforms of land use.(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank