Sustainable forest management in Cameroon needs more than approved forest management plans

One of the main objectives of the 1994 Cameroonian forestry law is to improve the management of production forests by including minimum safeguards for sustainability into compulsory forest management plans. As of 2007, about 3.5 million hectares (60%) of the productive forests are harvested following the prescriptions of 49 approved management plans. The development and implementation of these forest management plans has been interpreted by several international organizations as long awaited evidence that sustainable management is applied to production forests in Cameroon. Recent reviews of some plans have concluded, however, that their quality was inadequate. This paper aims at taking these few analyses further by assessing the actual impacts that approved management plans have had on sustainability and harvesting of commercial species. We carry out an assessment of the legal framework, highlighting a fundamental flaw, and a thorough comparison between data from approved management plans and timber production data. Contrary to the principles adhered to by the 1994 law, we find that the government has not yet succeeded in implementing effective minimum sustainability safeguards and that, in 2006, 68% of the timber production was still carried out as though no improved management rules were in place. The existence of a number of approved management plans cannot be used a proxy for proof of improved forest management

Aggiornamento delle conoscenze relative alla fauna ittica del Lago di Mergozzo (VB) con brevi note gestionali

No abstract availableLa presente relazione si propone di analizzare sinteticamente lo stato della fauna ittica del Lago di Mergozzo (VB), ed evidenziarne le peculiarit? e criticit? confrontando i dati attuali con quelli relativi ad indagini dettagliate effettuate in passato (Giussani 1994). Il campionamento dell\u27ittiofauna del Lago di Mergozzo rientra nelle attivit? incluse in due progetti di ricerca e gestione delle risorse idriche finanziati dalla Comunit? Europea: il progetto WISER (www.wiser.eu) e il progetto LIFE + Inhabit (www.life-inhabit.it), entrambi focalizzati alla implementazione della Direttiva Europea sulle Acque (2000/60/CE). Tali progetti, finalizzati all\u27utilizzo di indicatori biologici per valutare lo stato ecologico degli ecosistemi acquatici, vedono l\u27impegno comune di realt? come ARPA Piemonte e numerosi e qualificati Istituti di Ricerca Italiani ed Esteri, tra cui il CNR-ISE. Al di l? dell\u27impegno istituzionale legato a progetti di ricerca su larga scala, il CNR-ISE si propone di redigere la presente relazione anche con lo scopo di fornire agli attori locali (Comune di Mergozzo, Associazione Pescatori del Lago di Mergozzo e, in secondo luogo, Provincia del VCO) informazioni utili alla conoscenza e gestione dell\u27ittiofauna di questo lago