31 research outputs found
Forest exploitation in Cameroon (1884-1994): An oxymoron of top-down and bottom-up forest management policy approaches.
Forest exploitation in Cameroon goes back to the preâcolonial period when early ethnic settlers used the âlaw of statusâ system to manage land and forests in the territory. With the arrival of colonial powers, beginning with the Germans in 1884, the law of status system was replaced by topâdown stateâcentred management system. This topâdown management system was inherited by postâcolonial authorities and enforced until 1994 when a new forestry law was launched, based on bottomâup management system. This paper reviews all these three systems. Communities are not benefiting from an actual bottomâup management system. The author argues that the forests sector in Cameroon needs a new management paradigm