The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

100 The Rainforests of CameroonBox 5.5Rights and achievements of local populations followingforest reformCameroon’s 1994 Forest Law recognizes the existence and use of traditional forestrights, which are the rights that people traditionally living near or withinforest areas may exercise with a view to satisfying their need for forest products.These rights are free of charge and freely accessible, as long as the beneficiariesmaintain geographic proximity to the forest, harm no protected species, andremove forest products only to meet their personal or collective and strictlynoncommercial needs. The Forest Law stipulates, however, that these rightsmay be restricted or even entirely revoked if they become incompatible withsustainable management of forest resources.Recognition of these rights is one of the most visible and tangible changesbrought about by the decentralization of forest management. Local populations—includingindigenous people—may use forests even in protected areassuch as Lobéké in southeastern Cameroon and Campo Ma’an in the south. Theyparticipate in forest zoning and have set limits on areas allocated to commercialtimber concessions (for example, UFA 004 allocated to TRC in the Ebo’o forest).They have established community forests and community hunting zones. Asignificant share of the revenue from forests and wildlife is dedicated to thedevelopment of the surrounding communities, which increasingly participatein decisions related to forest management.Source: Adapted from Bigombe Logo 2008.In the absence of appropriate measures to protect their rights, forestinterventions—running the gamut from illegal logging to biodiversityconservation—threaten to increase the marginalization and impoverishmentof Cameroon’s indigenous groups by depriving them of traditionalforest use rights with little or no compensation. Potential ways of overcomingthese limitations are discussed in the next chapter.Do Forest Revenues Delivered Reach by Communities?The World Bank e-library to:The World BankBecause communities do not enjoy IP : 192.86.100.34 legal status and cannot receive publicmoney directly, the mayors Mon, (locally 09 Nov 2009 elected 17:06:18 officials) who head the localcouncils are the primary recipients of the shares of area tax correspondingto councils and communities. Indigenous groups, because they not(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank