The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

44 The Rainforests of CameroonManaging Cameroon’s Forest Production: The BasicsA production forest management plan begins with topographical, biological,and socioeconomic surveys. The survey data guide decisions ondividing the concession into conservation series (relatively small areaswithin the concession that have exceptional biodiversity values and areclosed to logging), agroforestry series (areas where farmers and other sedentarypopulations may continue using the land for farming and otheractivities), and forest production series (where industrial forestry ispracticed).The forest production series is divided into a number of subareas(annual coupes). The number of annual coupes is based on the intervalbetween harvests—the harvesting cycle. The length of the harvestingcycle depends on the time required for the annual coupe to recover frombeing harvested. In this interval, the remaining, smaller trees must reachthe minimum permissible size for harvesting, and a new generation ofdesirable tree species must become fully established. Harvesting cyclesusually range from 25 to 50 years. In Cameroon they have been set at30 years.The size of each annual coupe is determined in ways that minimize differencesin annual production. The annual coupe will be smaller in treerichareas and relatively larger in areas with fewer trees. Once harvested,each annual coupe is left to rest for the duration of the harvesting cycle,and access tracks to that particular coupe are destroyed or abandoned.Selective harvesting involves felling a few commercial trees per hectareevery 30 years. When cutting a given species, foresters must ascertainthat enough trees of that species of adequate size remain for that speciesto regenerate and maintain its long-term presence in the local ecosystem.To foster this outcome in Cameroon and preserve the economic value ofthe UFA, forest management plans impose tough constraints on harvestingmost high-value species (see the next section). These requirementsheighten the incentive for companies to harvest more “secondary” species,even if they are less valuable per unit of volume.Of the more than 100 species generally available in the tropical humidforests of Central Africa, fewer than 12 are usually harvested by any individualforest company. Well-managed, selective harvesting seeks to alterthe composition and Delivered the biodiversity by The World Bank of the e-library forest to: as little as possible,The World Bankbut some alterations cannot be IP : avoided 192.86.100.34 (box 3.5). It is essential to bearin mind that maintaining Mon, forests 09 Nov in their 2009 17:06:18 original state is what protectedareas and biodiversity reserves are designed to do, and this is why it isvital for them to be established in advance of production forests.(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank