The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

In-Depth Analysis of Impacts 75has helped indigenous groups defend their traditional rights to the forest.Although consultations with local groups do not always feature the kindof participation envisioned in the legal framework—and in some casesthe legal niceties are disregarded altogether—coercive or cursory participationdoes decrease when local NGOs are involved. Local NGOs havebecome considerably stronger in recent years and are becoming moreactive advocates for full local participation in forest decisions.Impacts on Illegal LoggingTrends in Illegal LoggingIllegal logging has clearly declined since 2002, but in any assessment of illegallogging it is important to consider that “illegal” is a relative concept. Whatis illegal in one country may be perfectly acceptable in another, and practicesonce regarded as legal in a given country may become illegal as rules changeor become more restrictive. A country such as Cameroon, with more stringentregulations and relatively better control, is more likely to reveal illegallogging than a country where rules and controls are more loosely applied.The types of illegal logging and their impacts—environmental, social,economic—can also vary widely: The ecological impact of harvestingtrees from a biodiversity reserve is not the same as that of a firm cuttingtimber outside its specified annual harvested area but within its concession.The larger point is that while numbers are important, they do nottell the full story of illegal logging, which must be carefully characterizedand understood to be curbed. Estimates of the percentage of illegal loggingin Cameroon are very sensitive to assumptions about the level ofdomestic consumption, and reliable data on domestic consumption andthe informal sector are not available.The formal sector. In a comprehensive description of illegal logging inCameroon by specific activity between 1990 and 2004, Cerutti and Tacconi(2006) found that illegal logging by industry (that is, for export)appears to have been significant between 1998 and 2002 but that it occurredat a level “well below” the 50 percent of the total harvest commonlycited. 1 They distinguished two periods in which illegal industriallogging had very distinct characteristics:• The years from 1998 Delivered to by 2002 The World saw illegal Bank e-library activity to: develop on a massivescale (figure 5.1); it could IP : 192.86.100.34 have represented more than one-thirdThe World Bankof annual production. Many Mon, 09 forces Nov 2009 contributed 17:06:18 to the proliferation ofillegal logging by industry at this time. The effects of the devaluationpersisted; licenses had expired; small harvesting titles had been sus-(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank