The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

70 The Rainforests of Cameroonovercome the limitations of traditional forest control by shifting the burdenof checking for compliance with technical and legal standards toindustry and away from government. It is possible that more than 1 millionhectares will have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Councilalone in Cameroon by the end of 2008.Industry StructureCameroon’s forest industry changed markedly after sustainable managementrules and the auction system were introduced. A significant part ofCameroon’s forest industry has restructured, adapting its business modelto cost structures that include higher fixed costs, new investments formanagement plans, and increased social and environmental responsibility.New alliances and partnerships have emerged. Rather than focusingalmost exclusively on logging, industry gives greater emphasis to processingand producing higher-value products. This diversified and less monolithicindustry seems less intent on maintaining old privileges and moreopen to change. The diversification of capital, the arrival of new investors,the acquisition of more concessions by the same investors, the demise ofthe old timber barons, and the affirmation of national companies are allgenerally positive features.Employment has also increased. Smaller and informal enterprises supplyinglocal markets have contributed to vibrant job creation in ruralareas—although much artisanal activity appears to contribute to untaxedand illegal logging.Effects of Fiscal Reform on IndustryChanges in the structure of forest taxation created a new balancebetween the taxes levied on forest resources and taxes on exported timber.Taxes on exports fell; taxes on forest resources rose through the areatax and felling tax. Taxes as a percentage of company turnover increasedthreefold between 1992 and 1998; since then they have been relativelystable at around 19 percent on average. Fiscal reform changed the varietyof products as industry moved away from exporting logs to processingthem. The tax on unprocessed logs for export remains the highest percubic meter of product, serving as a disincentive to export unprocessedlogs and an incentive Delivered to produce by The processed World Bank e-library timber to: products.The World BankIP : 192.86.100.34Poverty and LivelihoodsMon, 09 Nov 2009 17:06:18The reforms have fostered greater recognition of the rights of communitiesand indigenous peoples to use forest land, benefit from forest(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank