The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

The Advent of Forest Reform 23introduced into auction procedures, the limitations imposed on the sizeof forest concessions, the excessive role of the state, and the potentialperverse economic effects of the ban on log exports. At any rate, evenwith the adoption of two important implementing decrees in 1995, thelaw remained relatively inactive until 1998, owing to the lack of correspondingregulations, political commitment, and institutional capacity.Economic LeverageThe economic crisis gave the World Bank and the International MonetaryFund an opportunity to introduce and support far-reaching reformsin the forest sector, which would encourage the sector to contribute toeconomic growth and strike at the heart of the patronage system. Theforest sector was a focal point of three successive structural adjustmentprograms negotiated between the World Bank, the IMF, and Cameroon:the Economic Recovery Credit of 1994 and the second and third StructuralAdjustment Credits—SAC II and SAC III—approved in 1996 and1998, respectively (see appendix 1 for details). However, both the EconomicRecovery Credit and SAC II enjoyed little government ownershipand thus did little to further the reform agenda. Unlike the previousstructural adjustment programs, SAC III contained detailed and specificconditions related to forests. These measures, discussed in detail in thenext chapter, were designed to generate and test political commitmentto the 1994 Forest Law, create a regulatory infrastructure to implementthe Forest Law, design and enforce a new forest taxation system, improvetransparency and governance, and combat corruption throughout thesector. Together, these measures would create a more transparent, organized,and sustainable system for accessing forest resources that wouldbenefit more of Cameroon’s people and the environment.Synergies and PartnershipsThe reforms would not have progressed without the collective energiesand critical input of a range of partners.International Monetary Delivered Fund by The World Bank e-library to:The World BankThe IMF’s focus on transparency IP : 192.86.100.34 and economic reform was instrumentalin helping the government Mon, reform 09 Nov its 2009 forest 17:06:18 sector. SAC III and relatedforest issues and reforms featured prominently in the IMF’s PovertyReduction and Growth Facility, 2 as well as in the monitoring of the HIPC(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank