The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

Objectives and Content of the Reforms 47All holders of harvesting rights to UFAs must design and implementforest management plans. 4 This policy marks a departure from timberharvestingpatterns determined solely by the market to a more organized,socially and environmentally responsible, long-term approach to forestmanagement. Management plans must be completed within three yearsof the concession award; during this time the concession holder retainsonly provisional rights and can use only a small portion of the concession.Rights are canceled if the holder fails to prepare an approved managementplan. Management plans are analyzed by a technical subcommissionand then submitted to an interministerial committee that meets atleast twice a year.Management plans must contain a description of the UFA’s naturaland social environment, cartographic data, a forest management inventory,a definition of zones and user rights, the marking of UFA boundaries,and a calculation of the UFA’s timber production potential. Importantmandatory requirements are that traditional rights must be surveyed andrespected by the concession holder and that socioeconomic surveys andconsultation must be used to define spatial organization and secure customaryuser rights within a UFA.From a technical perspective, the key parameters to be adhered toare the area and boundaries where timber can be harvested legally eachyear and the minimum diameter of trees that can be harvested legally(box 3.6). To determine these parameters, the company must completean inventory and process the data using an algorithm that simulatesforest growth in subsequent harvesting cycles. The simplicity and limitednumber of parameters to be checked by the Forest Administrationare crucial to the feasibility of control, given the government’s limitedcapacity.From a company perspective, the preparation of a management planrepresents an additional investment estimated at $5–12 (CFAF 3,000–7,000) per hectare, most of which goes to pay for the forest inventory,technical expertise, and data gathering. Management plans can profoundlyalter the costs and benefits of timber enterprises. Managementplan prescriptions limit the area open for harvest each year and mayincrease the minimum diameter of harvestable trees, thereby reducingbenefits. On the other Delivered hand, by the The improved World Bank knowledge e-library to: of forest resourcesThe World Bankafforded by management plans IP : allows 192.86.100.34 less costly and more efficient roadnetworks to be developed Mon, and 09 Nov informs 2009 17:06:18 the company about secondaryspecies that can gainfully enlarge the range of marketed species. Whetherthese opposite impacts result in a net cost savings or cost increase depends(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank