The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

122 The Rainforests of CameroonAttract New Eco-investors to Make Conservation EffortsMore SustainableCameroon is moving to a more holistic approach in forest management,based on multiple uses of forests and integrated production of forestproducts and global environmental services. To this end, Cameroon seekspartners to transform about 900,000 hectares of forest, originally destinedfor logging, into conservation concessions that will store carbon,harbor biodiversity, and yield other global goods. Arrangements for conservationconcessions would need to include compensation for the economicand fiscal revenues forgone by removing the land from industrialuse. Attracting qualified investors who can negotiate fair arrangements,especially with respect to enhancing local livelihoods, will be fundamentalfor Cameroon to retain a positive view of forest management optionsthat are not based exclusively on timber.Reshape Community ForestryEven though the regulatory framework is being revised, major adjustmentsneed to be made, starting at the conceptual level, if communityforests in Cameroon are to represent a better option than business-asusualland and tree management.As a first step, the prospects of community forestry can be vastly andrapidly improved by removing the well-known impediments of costlyinventories and excessive regulation (including environmental impactassessments, whose usefulness has yet to be demonstrated) and by permittinggreater freedom in identifying the particular technologies andpartnerships employed to manage these forests. The primary actionsrequired are to adjust impeding regulations and issue and disseminatethe new community forestry manual. This manual is the result of longand difficult discussions among several parties and represents a very significantimprovement over the previous manual.Simplified procedures will be more successful if communities learnhow to implement them. It is imperative to strengthen communitycapacity to prevent other actors from assuming a disproportionate rolein decisions related to community forests.As a second step and more broadly, there is scope to rethink the entirecommunity forestry Delivered approach by The and World conceive Bank e-library community to: initiatives thatThe World Bankcan be implemented throughout IP : 192.86.100.34 the forest space whenever they arecompatible with other forest Mon, uses 09 Nov (for 2009 example, 17:06:18 in managed forest concessionsand natural parks, where communities can partner with governmentor NGOs).(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank