Thesis environment cameroon thaly

M.A.-Thesis
Otto-Suhr Institut
Freie Universität Berlin
Environmental Policy
Analysis of Cameroon
First Examiner: Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke
Second Examiner: Dr. Kirsten Jörgensen
Submitted by: Dominique Thaly
Matr.-Nr.: 3101337
Berlin, 10. Mai 2000

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TABLE OF CONTENT
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 6
2 ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN CAMEROON.................................................... 8
3 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN CAMEROON BEFORE 1992 ............................... 11
3.1 ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION AND INSTRUMENTS .................................................... 12
3.1.1 National legislation........................................................................................... 12
3.1.2 International Conventions ................................................................................. 13
3.2 ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTIONS ................................................................................. 14
3.3 ENVIRONMENT-RELATED PLANNING EXERCISES.......................................................... 16
4 ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY AFTER THE 1992 RIO CONFERENCE ............ 17
4.1 THE ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY ............................................................................... 17
4.1.1 The introduction of a comprehensive environmental policy................................ 17
4.1.2 Problem perception and agenda setting............................................................. 19
4.2 THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW........................................................................................ 22
4.2.1 The Law No 96 / 12 of 5 August 1996 relating to environmental management ... 22
4.2.1.1 Preventive measures ...................................................................................... 23
4.2.1.2 Incentive measures ........................................................................................ 25
4.2.1.3 Repressive measures...................................................................................... 25
4.2.2 Evaluation of the environmental law.................................................................. 26
4.3 FORESTS WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES............................................................................. 28
4.3.1 The 1994 Forest Law and its Decrees of Application......................................... 29
4.3.1.1 Preventive measures ...................................................................................... 32
4.3.1.2 Incentive measures ........................................................................................ 33
4.3.1.3 Repressive measures...................................................................................... 33
4.3.2 Evaluation of the forestry legislation ................................................................. 34
4.4 INSTITUTIONS ............................................................................................................ 35
4.4.1 The Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Environment ........................................ 35
4.4.2 The National Advisory Commission on the Environment and Sustainable
Development (NCSD)........................................................................................................ 36
4.4.3 The MINEF ....................................................................................................... 36
4.4.4 The Permanent Secretariat of the Environment.................................................. 37
4.4.5 The decentralized environmental administration................................................ 37
4.4.6 Other ministries involved in environmental management................................... 38
4.5 ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING...................................................................................... 39
4.5.1 The National Environmental Management Plan ................................................ 40
4.5.2 Evaluation of the planning exercise ................................................................... 41
5 CAPACITY ANALYSIS FOR SUCCESSFUL ENVIRONMENTAL CAPACITY IN
CAMEROON.......................................................................................................................... 47
5.1 ACTORS..................................................................................................................... 48
5.1.1 Governmental institutions for environmental protection in Cameroon ............... 49
5.1.1.1 Policy making institutions.............................................................................. 49
5.1.1.2 Implementing agencies .................................................................................. 51
5.1.1.3 Legislation and international conventions ...................................................... 52
5.1.2 Political Parties ................................................................................................ 53
5.1.3 Environmental organizations............................................................................. 53
5.1.4 Media................................................................................................................ 56

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5.1.5 Ecologically innovative firms ............................................................................ 57
5.1.6 Epistemic community......................................................................................... 57
5.1.7 International and multilateral organizations...................................................... 57
5.2 THE SYSTEMIC FRAMEWORK OF ACTION..................................................................... 61
5.2.1 The cognitive-informational framework conditions............................................ 61
5.2.2 Political-institutional framework conditions...................................................... 64
5.2.2.1 The political system of Cameroon.................................................................. 64
5.2.2.2 Participative capacity..................................................................................... 67
5.2.2.3 Integrative capacity ....................................................................................... 69
5.2.2.4 Capacity for strategic action .......................................................................... 70
5.2.3 Economic-Technological framework conditions................................................. 72
5.2.3.1 Economic performances in Cameroon............................................................ 72
5.2.3.2 The economic structure.................................................................................. 74
5.2.3.3 Technological standard.................................................................................. 74
5.3 UTILIZATION OF THE CAPACITIES................................................................................ 76
5.3.1 Strategy, will and skill of environmental actors ................................................. 76
5.3.1.1 Strategy, will and skill of environmental proponents...................................... 76
5.3.1.2 The strategy, will and skill of environmental opponents................................. 80
5.3.2 The situative opportunity................................................................................... 83
5.4 STRUCTURE OF THE PROBLEM..................................................................................... 84
5.4.1 Politicization..................................................................................................... 84
5.4.2 Power structure................................................................................................. 85
5.4.3 Options.............................................................................................................. 86
6 FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................... 87
7 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 92

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Abbreviations and Acronyms
AAC Assiette Annuelle de Coupe / Annual exploitation area
APEMC Association pour la Protection des Ecosystèmes Marins et
Côtiers
ATD Association Terre et Développement
CBOs Community-based Organizations
CDC Cameroon Development Cooperation
CED Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement
CENEDAFOR Centre National de Développement de la Forêt / National Center
for Forest Development
CERDIE Centre d’Etude, de Recherche et de Documentation en Droit
International et pour l’Environnement
CFAF France de la Coopération Française en Afrique Centrale
CIPCRE Cercle International pour la Promotion de la Création
CNEDD Commission Nationale pour l’Environnement et le
Développement Durable
CONGAC Confédération des ONG d’Afrique Centrale
CRTV Cameroon Radio and Television company
CU Co-ordination unit (for the NEMP in the MINEF)
DATE Directorate of Territorial Management and the Environment
DFID Department of Foreign and International Development (former
Overseas Department Administration of the British
Cooperation)
DME Diamètre Minimum d’Exploitation / Minimum Exploitation
Diameter (own translation)
ECOFAC Ecosystèmes Forestiers en Afrique Centrale
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FDCCC Fonds de Contrepartie Canado-Camerounais
FEICOM Fonds d’Equipement Intercommunal / Inter-Municipal
Equipment Funds
FONEDD Fonds National de l’Environnement et du Développement
durable (National Environmental and Sustainable Development
Fund)
FONGEC Fédération des ONGs d’Environnement
FSC Forest Stewardship Council
IDA International Development Association
IDF Institutional Development Fund
IIED International Institute for Environment and Development
IMF International Monetary Funds
IMPM Institut de la Recherche Médicale et d’Etude des Plantes
Médicinales / Institute of medical research and of medicinal
plant studies

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IRAD Institute of research for Agricultural development
IRGM Institut des Recherches Géologiques et Minières / Institute of
geological and mineral research
IRZ Institut de Recherche Zootechnique / Institute of Zootechnical
Research
IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature now called
World Conservation Union
LAVANET Laboratoire National Vétérinaire / National Veterinary
Laboratory
MAB Man and Biosphere Committee
MINAGRI Ministère de l’Agriculture / Ministry of Agriculture
MINASCOF Ministère des Affaires Sociales et de la Condition Féminine /
Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare
MINDIC Ministre de l’Industrie et du Commerce / Ministry of Industry
and Commerce
MINEF Ministère de l’Environnement et des Forêts / Ministry of the
Environment and Forests
MINEFI Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances / Ministry of Economy
and Finance
MINEPIA Ministère de l’Elevage, des pêches et des industries animales /
Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries
MINMEE Ministère des Mines, de l’Eau et de l’Energie / Ministry of
Mines, Water Resources and Power
MINPAT Ministère du Plan et de l’Aménagement du Territoire / Ministry
of Planning and Territorial Management
MINREST Ministère de la Recherche Technique et Scientifique / Ministry
of Scientific and Technical Research
MINTOUR Ministère du Tourisme / Ministry of Tourism
NATCOM National Commission on the Environment
NCS National Conservation Strategy
NCSD National Advisory Commission on the Environment and
Sustainable Development
NEMP National Environmental Action Plan
NFAP National Forestry Action Plan
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NTFP Non-Timber Forest Products
ODA Official Development Assistance
ONAREF Office National de Régénération des Forêts / National
Reforestation Service
ONDADEF Office National de Développement des Forêts / National Office
for the Forests Development
PAFN Plan d’Action Forestier National
PAPGE Programme des Actions Prioritaires pour la Gestion de
l’Environnement / Program of Priority Actions for the
Environmental Management

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PNGE Plan National de Gestion de l’Environnement
PRGIE Programme Régional de Gestion de l’Information
Environnementale / Regional project on Management of the
Environmental Information
RDPC Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Camerounais /
Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement
REDDA Réseau pour l’Environnement et le Développement Durable en
Afrique
SAP Structural Adjustment Plan
SDF Social Democratic Front
SDNP Sustainable Development Network Program
SDR Special Drawing Rights
SOCAPALM Société Camerounaise d’Huile de Palme / Palm Oil Company
SONARA Société Nationale de Raffinerie / National Refinery Corporation
SONEL Société Nationale d’Electricité / National Electricity Company
SPE Secrétariat Permanent de l’Environnement / Permanent
Secretariat of the Environment
TFAP Tropical Forestry Action Plan
TRC Technical Regional Committee
UFA Unités Forestières d’Aménagement / Forest Management Units
UFE Unités Forestières d’Exploitation / Forest Exploitation Units
UN/ESA United Nations Economic and Social Development
UNDP United Nations Development Program
UNDP Union Nationale pour la Démocratie et le Progrès / National
Union for Democracy and Progress
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization
UNSO United Nations Sudano-sahelian Office
WRI World Resources Institute

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1 Introduction
The main environmental problems on the African continent are related to resource depletion: an
estimated 500 million hectares of land have been affected by soil degradation since about 1950
including as much as 65% of agricultural land. Africa lost 39 Million hectares of tropical forest
during the 1980s and another 10 million hectares by 1995. 14 countries are subject to water
stress or water scarcity, and a further 11 will join them by 2025. Comparatively, Africa emits
only 3.5% of the world’s total carbon dioxide, and this is expected to increase to only 3.8% by
the year 20101
.
The fast growing population, the rapid urbanization and the expanding agricultural and industrial
activities are the direct causes for these environmental degradation. But above all, the major
cause and consequence for these problems is poverty, which is expected to rise during the next
century.
In Cameroon, the major environmental problems relate to soil degradation and desertification
due to agricultural activities and deforestation, loss of biodiversity due to deforestation and
hunting, siltation of waterways and uncontrolled urbanization: the urban population is expected
to grow to 13.8 million by 2,010 compared with the present 5.2 million.
The underlying cause of the natural degradation is, as for the whole continent, the growing
poverty of the population: about half the population lives below the poverty line of FCFA2
148,000 (US $ 250) a year. There has been a crisis in Cameroon since 1985 due to the fall in
revenues from oil and agricultural exports. Since 1988 Cameroon has been undergoing several
structural adjustment programs that did also have a negative impact on poverty and environment.
The globalization of environmental policy did not spare the African continent and African
countries have been practicing in this new field since 1987. The African countries have been
building up their capacity in environmental policy especially through the establishment of new
environmental ministries and agencies, and new legislation.
Although Cameroon did start pretty late, it has by now an extensive set of institutions and
legislation at its disposal: one line ministry and several agencies, two extensive laws for forest
and environmental management and several implementation decrees constitute its institutional
capacity. It also has a National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP) at its disposal which
has been developed with the newest capacity building paradigms.
1 UNEP (1999), Global Environment Outlook 2000, United Nations Environment Programme, Earthscan Publication Ltd, United Nations
Environment Programme, 1999, Kenya. Online: http://www.unep.org/geo2000.
2 FCFA: Franc de la coopération Francaise en Afrique Centrale. FCFA 100 = FF 1.

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The environmental policy problems found at the continental level deal with the lack of qualified
personal, expertise, funds and equipment to implement existing national laws and international
conventions, a lack of commitment of national governments, a largely regulatory approach to
environmental protection and management rather than a sound use of economic instruments and
legal incentives and a progressive empowerment of rural communities over natural resource on
the land on which their lives depend.
Despite a modern approach, a lot of voices also raise to express critics towards the
environmental policy of the Cameroonian government. One reproaches to the Cameroonian
government a lack of political commitment to the effective implementation of the environmental
policies and programs proposed in the NEMP. A lack of resource commitment (material,
personal, financial) has also been ascertained. The forest policy is being undermined by
economic interests and by the incompetence of the services in charge of its implementation3
.
Why is it that the environmental policy fails to achieve its goal in Africa in general and in
Cameroon in particular?
To answer this question, the model of policy explanation regarding the preconditions for
successful environmental policy and management developed by Martin Jänicke4
will be used.
This model analyzes a set of variables that influence the capacity for environmental policy of a
given country. It analyzes the capacities of the proponents of environmental policy regarding
their strength, competence and configuration. These proponents are moving in given cognitive-
informational, political-institutional and economic-technological structures, which also need to
be analyzed. After this formal analysis of the capacities for the environment, one has to look at
how these capacities are being utilized by analyzing the strategy, will and skill of the proponents
and their situative opportunities. And of course the structure of the problem needs to be taken
into account: is it an urgent problem? And what are the capacities of the target group to oppose
the environment policy. This theoretical model will be further explained in a later section5
.
The application of this model to the study-case Cameroon should help us understand why the
environmental policy has not been yet as successful as it has been expected to be. It should show
the deficits in the political and societal systems that led to the deficits in the implementation of
the environmental policy.
3 See among others Bomba, Célestin Modeste Dr. (199b), Nouveau régime forestier du Cameroun: le ballet classique des intérêts, in: Ecovox Nr.
3, Octobre 1999, Bafoussam. Online: http://wagne.net/ecovox/eco03/dossier2.htm. Kengne Kamgue, Maurice (1999), Des institutions et des
compétences, in: Ecovox Nr. 3, October 1999, Bafoussam. Online: http://wagne.net/ecovox/eco03/dossier4.htm. Njog, Nathanaël (1999), Arrêt
de l’exportation des grumes: Le combat n’a pas commencé, in: Ecovox Nr. 19, Juillet/Septembre 1999, Bafoussam. Online:
http://wagne.net/ecovox/eco19/actual3.htm.
4 Jänicke, Martin (1995), The Political System’s Capacity for Environmental Policy, Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik, Freie Universität Berlin,
FFU-report 95-6, 1995, Berlin.
5 See Chapter 5.

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The reason why Cameroon has been chosen is because it has developed its environmental policy
quite recently, and therefore has benefited from the experience of the neighboring countries in
developing such a policy. The environmental plan has been conceived with the newest
instruments of policy planning available in Africa. The conditions have been quite favorable, and
there should be actually a good level of policy success. Nevertheless protests have overshadowed
the policy implementation, and the first results are not quite satisfying. Therefore it should be
interesting to find out why it so happened.
Secondly the German Development Cooperation agencies had quite a lot to do with capacity
building in environmental policy in Cameroon. Therefore gray literature on this topic is available
in Germany, what one can not affirmed of other African countries.
Thirdly Cameroon has attracted the attention of the international community because of the
destruction of its wildlife in the remaining tropical forests: elephants are being hunted for their
ivory, apes are being hunted as trophies and for their flesh. There is furthermore the issue of the
construction of the pipeline from the petroleum fields in Chad going through Cameroon, which
has caused the protest of local and international NGOs. A third issue relates to the construction
of a route, which was to be financed by the European Union and which has proved to be harmful
for the forest it was to go through, what raised an European protest where Germany has been
quite active, and that actually led to a temporary stop in the project6
. Cameroon has therefore
been the object of attention from the environmental policy related international community and
could be an interesting case-study.
Before treating the environmental policy through the study of the legislation, institutions and
planning, we shall take a closer look at the environmental problems in Cameroon, so as to have a
clear picture of the environmental problems. The environmental policy in Cameroon after 1992
will be thoroughly analyzed with the help of the Jänicke’s model for policy analysis, but before,
it will be interesting to look at the environmental policy before 1992, as this date constitutes a
fundamental step for Africa in this area and for Cameroon in particular.
2 Environmental problems in Cameroon
In this chapter, we shall have a short, indicators-based overview of the environmental problems
in Cameroon with the main causes and consequences.
The key environmental problems of Cameroon are desertification, mostly in the Sudano-Sahelian
zone (affecting 25% of the total population), deforestation in the coastal, central, eastern and
southern regions, soil erosion and degradation in the high plateau region of the west and north
6 [no name] (1999), Regenwald Report, Nr. 3/99, October 99, Hamburg.

9
west provinces, water supply, urban waste management and industrial pollution in the urban
centers as well as marine pollution in the coastal areas. Population growth and environmental
degradation are closely linked in both rural and urban setting as it impacts on the natural
resources according to density and activities.7
The deforestation rate amounts to yearly 0.6% affecting 1,292 square kilometers8
. Up to 60% of
the primary forest has been lost, which is more than in any other country in Africa9
. The main
causes are shifting cultivation, logging, gathering of fire-wood, road construction and
uncontrolled settlement in city area. Concerning the technique of shifting cultivation and the
gathering of firewood, these activities are originally not harmful, when practiced in a sustainable
way. But the population growth (2.9% for the period between 1990 and 199710
) put much
pressure on the land and wood resources.
The consequences of the deforestation problem are the loss of biodiversity, the loss of soil
productivity and the phenomena of soil compaction11
. A positive effect of the selective logging is
that the sink and ecological service functions of the remaining vegetation is not reduced, it might
even become greater, as it allows for a new vegetation to grow12
.
The forest cover degradation is a milder form of deforestation and it affects up to 2,000 square
kilometers yearly13
. It mainly occurs through inadequate agricultural practices like bush fires, the
disorganized and irrational use of resources and utilization of rudimentary tools and of chemical
pesticides. Other negative practices are the overgrazing and the extensive breeding. Agroforestry
techniques are not widely used because they are not known yet. At the bottom of all these
problems there is the land tenure issue. Although a modern land tenure law exists, it is not
respected as it collides with the traditional land tenure system and the sensitivity of the
population14
.
The consequences are the same as for deforestation.
7 UNDP / SDNP (1996), UNDP SDNP Cameroon Project Document, UNDP, 1996, New York. Online:
http://192.124.42.15/sdnp/af/cameroon.htm.
8 World Bank (1999c), World Development Report: Knowledge for Development, The World Bank, 1999, Washington D.C. p. 206.
9 Fombad, Charles Manga (1997), Overcoming the Legal and Institutional Challenges to implementing Cameroon’s National Environmental
Management Plan, in: Environmental Policy and Law, Vol. 27 Number 6, December 1997, Bonn. P. 489.
10 World Bank (1999c), p. 194.
11 The phenomena of soil compaction can also occur through logging, even selective logging as it takes place in Cameroon: “as much as 30 to
50% of the remaining trees can be destroyed or fatally damaged and the soil can become so impacted as to impede regeneration.” WWF (1995),
Structural adjustment and sustainable development in Cameroon. A World Wide Fund for Nature Study, Working Paper 83, ODI, 1995, London.
P. 32.
12 Ibid.
13 MINEF (1998b), Forests in Cameroon: A situation Report. Prepared for the Cameroon/UNDP Global Programme on Forest Management to
support sustainable livelihoods, Department of Forestry, prepared by Fofung Tata, Thomas, August 1998, Yaoundé. P. 4.
14 The 1974 land tenure law and the traditional land tenure law cohabit in practice. The 1974 law allows any Cameroonian or collectivity having
exploited the land before 1974 to access to a land title. This was part of the governmental strategy to develop the country. But at the same time,
the state appropriated every single piece of land, without respecting traditional rights. Some pieces of land were attributed to individuals,
although they had always been considered being the property of the local community. The local community felt cheated by the state as well as by
the individuals (often retired civil servants who know the law better) who appropriated the land without respecting former laws. This lead to the
fact that by 1987, only 2,4% of the rural plantations had been registered. As the property of land is a great incentive for the responsibilization of
the peasant for taking care of the land, the insecurity of land property leads to environment-damaging behaviors. MINEF (1995a), Analyse des
conflits et du cadre juridique et institutionnel de l’environnement au Cameroun, Octobre 1995, Yaoundé. Pp. 37.

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The desertification affects about 100,000 square kilometers in the northern part of Cameroon,
and there is a cyclical drought about every ten years. Beside the climate change, the main
anthropological reasons for desertification are uncontrolled bush fires and gathering of firewood.
Pollution affects the soil, the air and the waterways. The soil pollution mainly occurs through the
use of fertilizers in the rural area and through household and industrial wastes in the urban area.
1992/93, 2.92 kg fertilizers per square kilometers were used, and by 1995, this had already
increased by more than 50% to 4.36 kg per square kilometers15
. According to the Ministry of the
Environment and Forests, the household waste in secondary cities amounts to 0.4
kg/inhabitant/day as against 0.8 kg/inhabitant/day in the main cities16
. This increase is mainly
due to the population pressure, the urbanization (1995, the urbanization rate amounted to 5.57%
and the urban population represented 45% of the total population of 13 million17
) and the
deficient infrastructure, which leads to the presence of dump mountains in the city.
The carbon dioxide emission amounted 1995 to 4.1 million metric tons, that is 0.3 metric tons
per capita18
. The greenhouse gas emission amounted 1990 to 5.6 million metric tons, of which
89% was carbon dioxide gas, 9.2 % methane and 1% sulphure trioxide19
.
The main cause lays in the change of land use through slash-and-burn techniques, soil burning
and bush fires to gain agricultural land (this contributes to 85.4% of the greenhouse gas
emission), energy consumption, mainly firewood consumption (6.75%), wastes (0.7%) and
pollution through industries (0.6%)20
.
The water is polluted through the use of fertilizers in the rural area and the proximity of pollution
sources such as industrial zones, lavatories and septic tanks in the urban area.
The main consequences are the water-originated illnesses like bilharziosis21
, appearance of the
guinea worm22
, typhoid and mosquitoes relating diseases23
.
Coastal erosion occurs as a consequence of the clearing of the shores for settlements, the
disorganized organization of the pits and quarries to extract construction materials, the
disappearance of coconut trees on the beaches and of other trees important for the mangrove.
15 CSD (1997), Profil de Pays. Examen des progrès accomplis depuis la CNUCED – Juin 1992: Cameroun, CSD / UNDP, 1997, New York.
Online: http://sdnhq.undp.org/sdncmr/docs/profilcm.doc / http://sdnhq.undp.org/sdncmr/docs/misonu.doc.
16 MINEF (1996), vol. II, 1 p. 362.
17 MINEF (1996), vol. I, p. 107.
18 World Bank (1999c), p. 208. Compare to Germany: 835.1 million metric tons, that is 10.2 metric tons per capita.
19 Ngnikam, Emmanuel and Emile Tanawa (1998), Observatoire Mondial de la Viabilité Energétique: Rapport du Cameroun, 1998, Yaoundé.
Online: http://www.globenet.org/helio/FFORUM/Frappnat/FnCAM.html.
20 Ibid.
21 Also called blood flukes: chronic disorder caused by small, parasitic flatworms, that live in the blood vessels of man and other mammals,
releasing eggs that produce tissue damage. The course of the disease usually begins with an allergic reaction to the parasites and their by-
products, and symptoms may include inflammation, cough, late-afternoon fever, skin eruption and swelling and tenderness of the liver. Next to
malaria, it is probably humanity’s most serious parasitic infection. In: The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th edition, Chicago, 1997.
22 Common parasite in man of tropical regions of Asia and Africa. The disease caused by the worm is called dracunculiasis. The human being
becomes infected when drinking water contaminated by this worm. For humans the disease dracunculiasis can be extremely debilitating and
painful, with worms slowly emerging from open blisters. The open blisters are also common point of entry for other infections, such as tetanus.
In: The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th edition, Chicago, 1997
23 MINEF (1996), vol. II, 2, p. 529.

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The marine pollution is due to the dumping of harmful wastes in waters like metals from urban
wastes, chemicals from chemical industries and from agro-industrial plantation, and the dumping
of household wastes.
This leads to the quantitative and qualitative reduction of the biodiversity. The unhygienic
conditions of living of the local population who use the polluted waters as lavatories lead to
microbial pollution, which itself can lead to eutrophication24
There are no figures available for both the coastal and marine pollution.
The loss of biodiversity is a growing problem in Cameroon. This is mainly due to poaching, the
overexploitation of faunal and floral species, the illegal and irregular export of protected species,
the weak administrative control25
and the insufficient legislation. The growing poverty and the
growing demand for bushmeat in the cities are incentives for poachers. The loss of biodiversity
can lead to heavier losses, as not all the species have been indexed, and some might disappear
that could have been helpful in the treatment of illnesses26
.
Natural catastrophes are quite a common occurrence in Cameroon. The natural risks relate to
volcanism, seism, toxic gas emissions, landslides and heaps of rock, flooding and drought.
The causes of such occurrences are natural, as there is a volcanic geological fault of a length of
1,700 km that concerns about 50% of the population. The Mount Cameroon volcano is still
active, causing for instance in March 1999 the destruction of 100 buildings and leaving about 20
families homeless. Furthermore, Cameroon is internationally well-known for the natural gas
explosion of the Lake Nyos in 1986 that killed 1,746 people, and that might kill again, as the
carbon gas continues to accumulate in the depths of the lake27
.
Landslide, on the other hand, might occur for a natural reason, as it is typical of tropical regions
with an important pluviometry, but it can also be human-induced through the clearing of land
and the overgrazing that accelerate the erosion.
3 Environmental policy in Cameroon before 1992
24 Eutrophication is the gradual increase in the concentration of phosphorus, nitrogen, and other plant nutrients in an aging aquatic ecosystem.
Blooms, or great concentrations of algae and microscopic organisms, often develop on the surface, preventing the light penetration and oxygen
absorption necessary for underwater life. In: The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th edition, Chicago, 1997.
25 1996, there were only 300 forest rangers to monitore 4.2 million ha, that is 14,000 ha for each forest ranger. MINEF (1996), vol. II, 1. p. 155.
26 Two plant species are worth mentionning, as they have important medicine qualities, and they have been discovered quite recently: the pygeum
africana, which bark is good for the treatment of the prostate (and which is overexploited) and the ancestroclaudus korupensis that has given
good in-vitro results in the treatment of AIDS. Therefore the forest contains a great potential yet to be indexed and exploited in a sustainable
manner. Pfaff, Renate and Ulrich (1996), Kamerun auf dem Holzweg, in: Tropenwald: Robin Wood-Magazine 3/96. Online: Pfaff, Renate and
Ulrich (1996), Kamerun auf dem Holzweg, in: Tropenwald: Robin Wood-Magazine 3/96. Online: http://www.netzweber.de/robin-
wood/german/magazin/artikel/9603.htm.
27 Soh Bejeng, Pius and Christopher Ngwa (1990), The Lake Nyos Catastrophe, in: Revue science et technique: Série sciences humaines, Vol.
VII, N° 1-2 Janvier – Juin 1990, Yaoundé. P. 46. The catastrophe of the Lake Nyos impressed the Cameroonian population a lot, as it did not
know what caused it. A great controversy broke out and the rumor accusing the Japanese Government of conducting nuclear tests went around.
This rumor still exists (personal communication).

12
Until 1992 one can not really speak of environmental policy in Cameroon. Since the 70’s the
Cameroonian Government actually committed itself to the protection of the environment and
considered itself as model for the protection of the environment in Central Africa28
. The struggle
against the environmental degradation was translated into laws and was part of the development
plans. At the same time, it cooperated with other countries at the regional level. But these
measures were actually only a reintroduction and modernization of protection measures that had
been adopted in colonial times for the management of natural resources.
3.1 Environmental legislation and instruments
3.1.1 National legislation
The environment-relevant laws were spread out in the legislation and decrees.
The only law which object was principally the protection of the environment was the Law N°
81/13 of 21 November 1981 laying down forestry, wildlife and fisheries regulation in Cameroon.
It affirmed the principle of prevention through the creation of national parks, protection areas
and natural reserves, the classification of animal species for the purpose of their protection, the
interdiction of certain activities that contribute to the degradation of the environment like the
felling of trees in ecologically sensitive areas and the restriction of the fishery rights29
.
Three application decrees to the Law 81/1330
were adopted that contained exploitation norms and
repressive measures relating to the infraction of the law.
There were no other laws regulating specifically the environment, but rather sections in some
laws and decrees mentioning environmental provisions.
Regarding the waste and industrial pollution management, there were provisions for the risk
management but few provision for the restoration of the polluted areas and the repair of the
damages causes by the pollution. The household waste management was strictly regulated
through two texts31
regarding the collect, transportation and dump. These texts were deemed
satisfactory enough if applied. The management of toxic and dangerous wastes has been quite
good regulated since 1989 concerning their introduction, production, stocking, detention,
transportation, transit and dump on the national territory32
.
28 Rietsch, Britta Joséphine (1991), Périodisation des logiques de gestion des ressources naturelles et fondement d’une politique
environnementale au Cameroon, in: Afrika Spectrum, No. 26, 1991, Hamburg. P. 369.
29 Zang, Laurent (1998), Normes africaines en matière de protection de l’environnement, in: Africa Development, Vol. XXIII, No. 2, 1998. Pp.
35.
30 Decree N° 83/169 laying down the forest regulation, Decree N° 83/170 laying down he wildlife regulation and Decree N° 83/171 laying down
the fishery regulation. These three decrees have been adopted on April 12th, 1981. Zang, Laurent (1998), p. 39.
31 Order of October 1st, 1937 and circular of August, 20th, 1980. MINEF (1995a), p. 67.
32 Law N° 89/027 of December 27th, 1989. Ibid, p. 89.

13
There were some control and prevention provisions regarding the quality of mineral and spring
waters33
, but no quality control for ground waters. The marine environment was incidentally
regulated through the law on port-related activities34
and its application decree, with sanctions
foreseen for those ships polluting the port domain and dispositions on the pollution of the marine
environment. It did not regulate the pollution resulting from industrial activities, which is one of
the main polluting factor in the marine environment35
. The mineral and oil extraction activities
were not subject to much environmental provisions, except for a few preventive measures like
the constitution of a protection zone around certain mines. The oil extraction was more regulated
through individual contract than through the law, and these individual contracts did not contain
any environmental provision36
.
This legislation is mainly characterized by norm setting, control, authorization, prohibition,
classifications, and sanctions (administrative and penal) for the non-respect of these provisions.
This is the command-and-control approach. Except for the forest, fishery and wildlife, there were
no laws aimed at the protection of the environment or the prevention of pollution. The
environmental provisions that were to be found in some laws regulating the water, mineral and
oil extraction activities, the marine environment and the port-related activities were mainly
aimed at the preserving of the concerned resources for their continuing exploitation.
One sector that almost totally lacked any environmental provision was the agricultural sector.
There was no standard set or deficient standards for the use of dangerous products like
fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. In the modern breeding, hormone products were being used
without any control37
.
David Reed38
from WWF describes this legislation as follows:
the political setting for environmental policy [could] be described as centralist,
hierarchic, and geared to the collection and distribution of natural resource
surpluses (rents). Cameroon’s natural environment [was] viewed as an
opportunity for revenue rather than as interdependent resources to be managed
over the long term. Not surprisingly, the characteristic policies [were] not
coherent, they [were] motivated by revenue and control objectives, and they
[did] not provide the basis for rational management. There [were] many
competing offices and agencies.
3.1.2 International Conventions
The Government of Cameroon had adhered to several International Conventions that were aimed
at the conservation of the nature and natural resources, the preservation and management of the
33 Law N° 73/16 of December 7th, 1973.
34 Law N° 83/016 of July 21st, 1983.
35 MINEF (1995a), p. 157.
36 Ibid., pp. 136.
37 MINEF (1995a), p. 54.

14
marine environment, the protection of the air, atmosphere and climate and the chemical and
nuclear security39
.
Although signed and ratified, not all of these texts found their way in the national legislation.
This was due to a misunderstanding and negligence on the part of the Cameroonian Government.
It seems that the signed and ratified conventions were believed to be directly applicable on the
national territory, despite the fact that, according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties of 1969, the international conventions are subject to a national translation in term of
laws and decrees40
. This results in a confusion regarding the national translation of the
international convention: they are not always applied in Cameroon, and they are not well known
by those who are supposed to apply them.
A second problem related to the fact that Cameroon was not totally part of some of the
conventions that were deemed important. This concerned the Convention on Wetlands of
International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar, 1971), the Basel Convention
on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel,
1989) and at the regional level the Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the
Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes Within Africa
(Bamako, 1991). These conventions were important for Cameroon and their non-ratification
denoted a disinterest of the Government of Cameroon.
3.2 Environmental institutions
There was no line ministry responsible for the environmental policy, but rather a split of the
environmental related tasks between several ministries and agencies.
1984 the Government of Cameroon set up the Directorate of Territorial Management and the
Environment (DATE) within the Ministry of Planning (MINPAT41
). Its main task was to
elaborate the national environmental policy, to monitor the work of the departments and
38 Reed, David (1996), Structural Adjustment and the Environment, London, Earthscan, 1996.
39 MINEF (1995a), pp. 183. Regarding the conservation of the nature and natural resources, Cameroon adhered and ratified following
conventions: The Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Paris, 1972), the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, Washington, 1973), the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild
Animals (Bonn, 1979). At the regional level, it signed among others the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources (Algiers, 1968). Regarding the preservation and the management of the marine environment, it signed the International Convention on
Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (Brussels, 1969), the International Convention of the Safeguard of the Human Life in the Sea (London,
1974) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Montego Bay, 1982). At the regional level, it signed the Convention for
Cooperation in the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the West and Central African Region (Abidjan, 1981)
and the Protocol Concerning Cooperation in Marine and Coastal Environment of the West and Central African Region (Abidjan, 1981).
Regarding the protection of the air, atmosphere and climate, it signed the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna,
1985), the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal, 1987) and the Adjustments and Amendment to the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (London, 1990). Concerning the chemical and nuclear security, it signed the Convention on
Civil Responsibility in Nuclear Damage (Vienna, 1963). MINEF (1995a), pp. 183. Zang, Laurent (1998), pp. 31-32. The texts of these
conventions can be found online http://sedac.ciesin.org/entri.
40 MINEF (1995a), p. 177.
41 MINPAT: Ministère du Plan et de l’Aménagement du Territoire.

15
institutions active in the environmental field and to collaborate with the regional and
international institutions in this field.
But this broad mandate went well beyond the possibilities of this small department, as was
assessed in the National Report on the State of the Environment and Development in
Cameroon42
: “Dans la pratique, on constate qu’il y a une inadéquation relative entre les missions
de ce département et son organigramme, ses ressources humaines et matérielles, ses moyens
juridiques, les missions d’élaboration et de suivi de la politique gouvernementale en matière
d’environnement, ses missions de coordination restent lettres mortes dans les faits.” This
directorate was replaced 1992 by the Ministry of the Environment and Forests.
Several other ministries and administration had environment-relating tasks. Actually, virtually
every ministry had environmental responsibilities in its field of action.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MINDIC43
) mainly through the Directorate of Industry
and the Ministry of Mines, Water and Energy (MINMEE44
), through the Sub-Directorates of
mineral resources, of techniques and nuisances and of urban waters, were in charge with the
control of industrial and commercial activities regarding their compliance with environmental
norms45
.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI46
), the Ministry of Tourism (MINTOUR) and the
Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA47
) were in charge of the
management and protection of the natural resources. The management of the forests rested in the
hands of the MINAGRI through its Directorate of Forests48
and the responsibility for the
management of faunal and natural reserves was vested in the MINTOUR through the Directorate
for Faunal and Natural Reserves49
. Both Directorates were transferred in the Ministry of the
Environment and Forests in 1992.
At the decentralized level, provincial, departmental and district level forest units were in charge
with the implementation of forest-related tasks, and the municipalities were in charge with the
collect and treatment of wastes and with the implementation of hygiene and sanity measures50
Three non-governmental bodies were furthermore active in the environmental field: the National
Reforestation Service, the National Center for Forest Development and the National Committee
on Man and Biosphere.
42 Republic of Cameroon (1992), Conférence des Nations-Unies sur l’environnement et le Développement. Rapport National sur l’Etat de
l’Environnement et du Développement au Cameroun, 1992, Yaoundé. P. 113.
43 MINDIC: Ministère de l’Industrie et du Commerce.
44 MINMEE: Ministère des Mines, de l’Eau et de l’Energie.
45 Zang, Laurent (1998), p.p. 46.
46 MINAGRI: Ministère de l’Agriculture
47 MINEPIA: Ministère de l’Elevage, des pêches et des industries animales.
48 Law No. 89/140 of 29 January 1989. Zang, Laurent (1998), p. 48.
49 Decree No. 86/1460 of 12 December 1986. Zang, Laurent (1998), p. 49.
50 Zang, Laurent (1998), p. 53.

16
The National Reforestation Service, the ONAREF51
, was created 198252
. It was an autonomous,
executive public agency with the tasks of carrying out the governmental policy regarding forest
regeneration and management, reforestation, protection and erosion-control53
.
The National Center for Forest Development (CENADEFOR54
) was set up in 1981 with
Canadian technical and financial assistance to carry out forest reconnaissance and inventories,
draw up forest management plans and promote timber utilization. 1990 CENEDAFOR and
ONAREF merged in ONADEF55
as part of the structural adjustment program.
1977 a National Committee on Man and the Biosphere56
(MAB Committee) was set up. It was
located under the patronage of the Ministry of Higher Education. It had been established as part
of an international program of the UNESCO57
. It provided for the establishment of a worldwide
system of biosphere reserves representative of natural ecosystems and for the conservation of the
genetic diversity. Its purpose was furthermore to develop the scientific knowledge regarding the
rational natural resources management and to train a task force in these fields58
.
In Cameroon, it was in charge with the evaluation, monitoring and sometimes implementation of
researching projects. It was to regularly evaluate the state of the environment in Cameroon. It
took care of the environmental reporting, information and education. It promoted the
collaboration between the diverse directorates and administrations in charge with the
environment. Last, it acted as a liaison organ between the Government of Cameroon and the
international organizations, especially the UNEP and UNESCO, and it monitored the activities in
Cameroon relating to the International Hydrological Program and of the Inter-Governmental
Ocean Commission59
. Concretely, the MAB transformed the faunal reserve of Dja that is located
in Southern Cameroon and that covers an area of 526,000 ha, into a Reserve of the Biosphere60
.
The MAB committee was also terminated in 1990 and its tasks were spread between the
ministries of Education and of Planning 61
.
This institutional structure is characterized by a dispersion of the responsibilities regarding the
environment. These responsibilities were progressively added to existing ministries without
really seeking to coordinate them, as the DATE was too weak to carry out this task.
3.3 Environment-related Planning exercises
51 ONAREF: Office National de Régénération des Forêts.
52 Decree No. 82/636 of 8 December 1982.
53 WWF (1995), p. 35.
54 CENEDAFOR: Centre National de Développement de la Forêt..
55 ONADEF: Office National de Développement des Forêts / National Office for the Forests Development.
56 Decree No. 77/138 of 12 May 1977.
57 UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
58 Sayer, Jeffrey A. (ed.) (1992), The conservation atlas of tropical forests, IUCN, Macmillan publishers Ltd., 1992, London. P. 73.
59 Zang, Laurent (1998), p. 55.
60 Ibid., p. 33.
61 WWF (1995), pp. 34.

17
In the sixth 5-year-plan of Economic and Social Development (1986 – 1991), the regular overall
development Plan of Cameroon, a national policy for the rational management of the
environment and the appropriate legislation were supposed to be drawn62
. However this plan was
interrupted due to the 1987 economic crisis.
1988 Cameroon started to develop a Tropical Forest Action Plan (TFAP) with the help of the
World Bank. The concept of a TFAP itself was developed 1985 by the World Bank, the United
nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) within the
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The main finding of this
planning process was that the rapid worldwide deforestation was not to be coped with through
traditional forest management instruments only, but that this problem was due to a set of
complex factors that needed a more comprehensive framework of actions63
.
This was the first time that an attempt had been made to make an overall analysis of the causes
and consequences of environmental degradation with emphasis on the forest issue in Cameroon.
Sound recommendations were formulated for the rational management and conservation of the
natural resource base and the protection of critical zones of biodiversity. However this TFAP had
little impact on the forest situation in Cameroon: first of all it was formulated by a small group of
people, mainly forest technicians, focussing on forest exploitation. This led to the apparent
impression that forest conservation was being sacrificed on the bonfire of economic
performance. Secondly, although very good recommendations had been made, they were not,
according to WWF64
, put into practice in the subsequent projects. A third important influencing
factor is the fact that Cameroon was going through a very hard economic crisis, and the
government had signed 1988 the first Structural Adjustment Plan (SAP) that asked among others
for a reduction of public spending65
.
4 Environmental Strategy after the 1992 Rio
Conference
4.1 The environmental strategy
4.1.1 The introduction of a comprehensive environmental policy
62 Bendow, Joachim (1993), Elaboration du Plan National de Gestion de l’Environnement: L’approche du Cameroun, Réseau pour
l’Environnement et le Développement Durable en Afrique (REDDA), 1993, Abidjan. Online http://www.rri.org/envatlas/africa/cameroon/cm-
sum.html.
63 Vollmer, Udo (1990), Der Tropenwald-Aktionsplan als Instrument der Internationalen Zusammenarbeit zur Walderhaltung in der Dritten Welt,
in: Allgemeine Forstzeitschrift für Waldwirtschaft und Umweltvorsorge (AFZ), Heft ½, 13. Januar 1990. Pp. 37.
64 WWF (1995), p. 37.
65 Hillebrand, Ernst und Andreas Mehler (1993), Kamerun, in: Nohlen, Dieter; Nuscheler, Franz (1993), Handbuch der Dritten Welt. Westafrika
und Zentralafrika, Verlag J.H.W.Dietz Nachf., 1993, Bonn. Pp.444.

18
From 1992 onwards everything changed for Cameroon. Just before the Rio Conference, the
Ministry of Environment and Forest (MINEF) was created in April 1992. This new ministry was
part of a revision of the administrative structure of the Government through a Presidential
Decree66
following the general elections of March 1992 and the constitution of the new
government under an English-speaking Prime Minister, Simon Achidi Achu. Its mandate
contained expressly the task of developing a comprehensive national strategic plan aiming to
protect the environment and to conserve the natural resources of the country67
.
Cameroon’s new Minister of Environment and Forests, Professor Joseph Mbede, took part in the
1992 Earth Summit. The preparation process for the UNCED helped to develop a national
capacity for environmental planning. A national commission (NATCOM, the National
Commission on the Environment) was set up to prepare the national report for the summit. A
draft report under the sponsorship of UNDP and the Government of Canada was discussed at a
national seminary held in December 1991. Following this seminary, the Cameroon national
report for Rio was finalized, containing an up-to-date review of the environment68
.
1992, a UNDP-headed multidisciplinary mission, to which various UN agencies and interested
bilateral donors belonged, was created69
. It first drew up a potential environmental plan and
policy for Cameroon as part of a seminary that took place between September 7 and October 9,
1992. This report identified actions to be carried out and methods to be used for the
implementation of the sustainable development strategy of Cameroon70
.
This strategy was to be implemented as part of a UNDP-sponsored program, the Capacity 21
Program. This program was aimed at assisting developing countries to build up their capacity to
integrate the principles of Agenda 21 into national planning and development. It was initiated by
the UNDP and financed by a trust fund donated by Capacity 21 partner countries. It mainly
helped developing countries to draw up national programs of capacity building, the bulk part of
which being the draw up of national environmental plans71
.
66 Presidential Decree No. 92/069 of 9 April 1992. Its attributions were laid down in the Decree 92/245 of 26 November 1002 and the modalities
of its organization were defined by the Decree 92/265 of 29 December 1992. MINEF (1995a), p. 17.
67 WWF (1995), p. 36.
68 Republic of Cameroon (1992).
69 It was headed by Professor Aist K. Biswas on behalf of the UNDP with Mesack Tchana, Inspector-General of MINEF, as the National
Coordinator. Among the other UN agencies taking part were UNSO, FAO, UNESCO and UNIDO. Bilateral donors who fully participated in the
mission included Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States while the World Bank was also actively
involved in the discussions. Biswas, Aist K. and Cecilia Tortajada (1995), Environmental management in Cameroon: A participatory approach,
in: Le Courier ACP-EU No. 153, Septembre – Octobre 1995, Bruxelles. Online: Biswas, Aist K. and Cecilia Tortajada (1995), Environmental
management in Cameroon: A participatory approach, in: Le Courier ACP-EU No. 153, Septembre – Octobre 1995, Bruxelles. Online:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/publicat/courier/courier153bis.html.
70 This report was called „Environment and Sustainable Development for Cameroun, Report of Multi-Disciplinary and Multi-Institutional
Mission on Environment“. MINEF (1996), Vol. I.
71 UNDP (1992), Capacity 21. Online: http://ww3.undp.org/c21

19
The overall objective of the program “Capacity for sustainable Development”72
was to operate a
shift of the development focus from economic growth to long-term sustainability. The
government was to develop a broad program of environmental management and to integrate it
into the national development policy. The increase in the national capacity for environmental
management at both local and central levels was to lead to the improvement of the socio-
economic development of rural and urban areas. It particularly emphasized community
participation and the strengthening of institutional coordination. The principle of participation,
which is one of the core principles of the Agenda 21, was to be applied through a participatory
approach for the development of the National Environmental Management Plan and through the
realization of pilot programs.
4.1.2 Problem perception and agenda setting73
For a problem to get on the political agenda, it has to be perceived as such by the relevant actors.
This perception can depend on the very nature of the problem: a natural catastrophe or the
destruction of the tropical forests are highly visible topics and can be easier perceived than the
pollution of the air or of underground-waters. In this case the problem itself puts pressure on the
political actors. The existence of framework capacities to solve the problem can also be of
relevance: are the economic-technical, socio-cultural and politic-institutional capacities
available for the problem to be solved? If a government does not have these capacities, it might
not be able to perceive it as a problem or might try to avoid it in order not to have to solve it. A
problem might also get on the political agenda, because the concerned persons are close to the
media. If there are enough persons concerned by an environmental problem, a press campaign
can make the topic well-known to the whole society (media agenda) and it can then be taken
over by the politically relevant actors. The administration can also play an important role by
identifying the problem and trying to put it on the political agenda in order to expand its areas of
actions, for example.
Agenda setting means that a perceived problem is being put on the list of the governmental and
political tasks to be carried out. The question is, how can a problem, when it has been perceived,
become a political issue that is being handled by the executive and legislative organs? There are
several explanation variables. For example, when a society has reached a certain stage of its
socio-economical development, it will almost automatically be confronted with specific
problems of this development stage. This corresponds to the modernity theory74
. Also, if the
72 UNDP (1993), Cameroon. Capacity for Sustainable Development, Programme Number: CMR/93/G81. Capacity 21 Programme Summaries,
Number 24. Online http://www.undp.org/c21/prog/cameroon.html.
73 Priwitz, Volker v. (1994), Politikanalyse, Leske und Budrich, 1994, Opladen. Windhoff-Héritier, Adrienne (1987), Policy-Analyse: eine
Einführung, Campus Verlag, 1987, Frankfurt/Main.
74 Priwitz, Volker von (1994), pp. 138.

20
capacities to solve the problems are available, then it will be easier for it to be tackled, as it was
easier for it to be perceived by the relevant actors. In the same manner than for the perception,
the structure of the problem is also important for it to get on the political agenda. If an
environmental problem is urgent, the state will have to handle it. A political party or a
government can also choose to put a problem on its agenda to make its mark in politics. Usually,
several factors play a role in this process.
In the case of Cameroon, the necessity to devise an overall environmental policy had actually
already been acknowledged: this had been put on the agenda of the sixth five-year development
plan of 1986. Before 1986, the natural resources were exploited to produce monetary resources.
This was the purpose of the green revolution that took the form of the modernization of the
agriculture75
and was based on the utilization of the modern agricultural techniques at the
expense of the traditional know-how in this field.
But then the deregulation of the primary sector led to a shortfall in the food self-sufficiency, the
urbanization and the destruction of the environment. So the structure of the problem is the
explanatory variable that led to the problem perception: the degradation of the environment led
to concrete shortfalls in food supply. So that the planned environmental policy would have
certainly brought the available and the yet to be developed environmental plans and legislation
into an articulated framework.
But this development plan could not be carried out due to the economic crisis Cameroon had to
face from 1987 onwards. So even if there was a perception of the environmental issue, this could
not be tackled because there were other priorities on the political agenda, like coming to terms
with the Structural Adjustment Program. One can therefore say that the social and economical
framework conditions were not favorable for the environmental issue to get on the political
agenda.
As we saw before, the agenda setting that took the form of the planning process was actually
started by a multi-disciplinary mission made up of numerous multilateral and bilateral agencies
and few nationals. This was top-down start. One can talk of a case of vertical or even forced
diffusion pattern of a new policy76
.
This way of agenda setting does not correspond to any of the ways described above. Cameroon
could not get the environmental issue on its political agenda because of the inadequate socio-
political and economical frameworks. If there was a societal or media agenda, it doesn’t show in
the available literature. But one can not deny that the international events that took place in 1992
75 Rietsch, Britta Joséphine (1991), p. 360.
76 Kern, Kristine (1998), Horizontale und vertikale Politikdiffusion in Mehrebenensystemen, Freie Universität Berlin, Forschungsstelle für
Umweltpolitik, unpublished paper, 1998, Berlin. Online: http://www.fu-berlin.de/ffu/download/rep-98.6.pdf.

21
did not have a great influence on the perception of the environmental problem and on the will of
the Cameroonian government to put it on the political agenda. The Cameroonian Government
took actively part in the Rio Conference by completing a report on the State of the Environment
and by endorsing the Agenda 21. So the commitment of the Cameroonian government to the Rio
Principles and the Agenda 21, that implied a translation of the sustainable development principle
at the national level, could be considered as the impetus for agenda setting.
This constituted a kind of international agenda. And this corresponds to the vertical pattern of
policy diffusion, as defined by Kristine Kern77
. The vertical diffusion happens when a sub-unit
of a multi-layer system launches a policy initiative that is not only taken over by other sub-units
but also by the higher level unit in order to be implemented by other sub-units. So that it
practically starts in a few sub-units, goes up to the central, higher-located unit to trickle back
down to the other sub-units that are part of the system. This works in the international system in
the case when a policy is decided at the international level to be implemented at the national
level. This was the case for Cameroon.
But the way the sustainable development issue was actually put on the agenda makes it very look
like the third type of policy diffusion, that is the forced one: one high-level unit forces a decision
down upon lower units. This can theoretically not work in the international system, as no
international institution has the legal right to impose a policy to a national government. But in
this case, it is very close to this kind of policy diffusion pattern.
As a matter of fact the MINEF was created following a legislative election and a ministerial
reshuffle. But this new creation was actually part of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP).
This SAP was being partly financed through the IDA that strongly recommended the
Cameroonian Government to devise an environmental policy and to set up adequate institutions.
A deadline was set up for June 30, 1993 for the African Countries that were IDA-eligible only to
complete a National Environmental Action Plan or to be at an advanced stage of its
completion78
. Although the IDA can not de jure force the African states into adopting any policy
concept, it can de facto do it by refusing any further credit79
.
At this place I would like to add that this pattern was then changed during the course of the
planning process, during which a broad participation of the population was encouraged in order
to make of the environmental planning a society project.
77 Kern, Kristine (1998).
78 World Bank (1994), OP 4.02 Environmental Action Plans, in: World Bank [ no date], The World Bank Operational Manual, The World Bank,
Washington D.C. Online: http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/institutional/manual/opmanual.nsf/OP4_02.htm.
79 This has actually been the case for other African Countries that were IDA-eligible only, and that also started an environmental plan from 1992
onwards to comply with the IDA’s conditionality. Jan Schemmel came to this conclusion in his comparative work on environmental planning in
Africa. Although he didn’t talk of a forced diffusion pattern, he also considered the IDA’s conditionality to be the ultimate reason for numerous
African Countries to embark upon an environmental planning process. Schemmel, Jan Peter (1998), National Environmental Action Plans in

22
4.2 The Environmental law
4.2.1 The Law No 96 / 12 of 5 August 1996 relating to environmental
management
This law can be characterized as an umbrella environmental legislation. It was adopted in August
1996 and it represents a real progress compare to the previous situation of dispersed legislation.
It covers the domains of protection of the receptors of the environment – atmosphere, continental
waters and flood plains, coast and maritime waters, soil and sub-soil and human settlement – the
plants classified as dangerous, unhygienic or inconvenient and pollution activities – wastes,
classified establishments, harmful and/or dangerous chemical substances, resonant and olfactory
nuisances – the natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, and the risks and
natural disasters80
.
The framework environmental law of Cameroon defines the role of the different institutions in
the preparation, coordination and financing of the environmental policy. The president is to
define the national environmental policy, whereas its implementation is in the resort of the
government in collaboration with the decentralized territorial authorities, grassroots communities
and environmental protection associations [section 3]. The government is to formulate the
national strategies, plans and programs.
The Government is in charge with establishing quality norms for air, water, soil and any other
norms necessary to safeguard the human health and the environment [section 10, 1].
The environmental law provides for the creation of two additional institutions: the Inter-
Ministerial Committee on the Environment and the National Consultative Commission on the
Environment and Sustainable Development. According to section 10 § 2, they shall assist the
government “in its mission of formulating, coordinating, implementing and monitoring
environmental policies”81
.
It also provides for the creation of the National Environmental and Sustainable Development
Funds for environmental audits, sustainable development projects, research, education,
promotion of clean technologies, to support legalized associations involved in environmental
protection and to backup the actions of ministries involved in environmental management
[Section 11]. The resources of the fund come among others from proceeds from fines on
compromises that are paid by liable persons instead of the corresponding sanction [section 91]
Africa. Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik, Freie Universität Berlin, unpublished paper. Online: http://www.fu-berlin.de/ffu/download/rep-98-
8.pdf.
80 Republic of Cameroon (1996b), Law No 96/ 12 of 5 August 1996 relating to environmental management. Online:
http://sdnhq.undp.org/sdncmr/doc/envlaw.htm.
81 Republic of Cameroon (1996b), Section 10 § 2.

23
and which amount is to be fixed by the MINEF and the Ministry of Finances. They also come
from monies paid by holders of mining permits and quarrying for the rehabilitation of the
exploited sites [section 37 § 2].
The tasks devolved to the MINEF are essentially of coordinating and controlling nature. It is to
ensure that environmental concerns are included in all economic, energy, land and other plans
and programs. It is to ensure that the international commitments of Cameroon are translated in
national laws, regulations and policies. It is in charge of the environmental planing, the set up of
an environmental information system and the draw up of a bi-annual report on the state of the
environment82
. And of course, it is to take care of its resort attributions, which are the forest, the
wildlife and protected areas.
One of the most progressive provision of this law is the possibility for authorized grassroots
communities “to exercize the rights of the plaintiff with regard to facts constituting a breach to
the provisions of this law and causing direct and indirect harm to the common good they are
intend to defend” [Section 8 § 2]. Herewith, the tragedy of the neighboring Nigeria with the
plight of the Ogoni tribe, whose homeland has been devastated by industrial pollution caused by
oil extraction, is given a chance to be avoided: More that 2,000 Ogonis have died in violent
protests for compensation, and the playwright and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa wax hung
1995 together with eight other co-defendants for alleged involvement in the death of four Ogoni
elders during protests against the Nigerian government and the oil companies responsible for the
pollution. According to Fombad, this right could already be used in some hot spots in Cameroon
like around Limbe, because of marine pollution through the National Refinery Corporation
(SONARA) and in Douala because of the cement dust from the Cement Company
CIMENCAM83
.
The law bases the environmental policy on the following six principles: the principle of
precaution, the principle of preventive action and correction, the polluter-pay principle, the
principle of liability, the principle of participation and the principle of substitution84
.
4.2.1.1 Preventive measures
Preventive measures are set to prevent or control activities that could have an negative impact on
the environment.
Some products are prohibited. A decree is to complete a list of harmful or dangerous substances
produced in Cameroon, whose discharges into continental and marine waters are prohibited
[section 31], as well as a list of authorized fertilizers and pesticides with their authorized
82 Republic of Cameroon (1996b), Sections 14, 15, 16.
83 Fombad, Charles Manga (1997), p. 492.
84 Republic of Cameroon (1996b), Section 9.

24
quantities. It is prohibited to discharge any pollutant into the air beyond a certain limit [section
21]. Norm setting is another preventive measure and it goes hand in hand with prohibition
measures. Norms are foreseen in the case of atmosphere pollution (for example vehicles have to
respect technical norms) and water pollution. The specific norms are not mentioned in the law as
they have to be laid down in a decree.
Provision is made for the introduction of an Environmental impact assessment procedure
[section 7] to be completed before the beginning of any project which may endanger the
environment. “This to [sic] assessment shall determine the direct or indirect incidence of the said
project on the ecological balance of the zone where the plant is located or any other region, the
physical environment and quality of populations and the impact on the environment in
general.”85
. The Environmental law does not give any further indication regarding the
Environmental Impact Assessment procedure, leaving it to the executive to draw up the
procedure guidelines. Similar to the procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment, a study on
the dangers involved in the running of classified industrial and commercial establishments86
must be carried out by the competent administration before the opening up of the said
establishment [section 55].
The opinion of the Environmental administration is obligatory in two cases: in the allotment and
management of land for agriculture or other uses as well as in prospecting, research or
exploitation of sub-soil resources likely to endanger the environment [section 38]; and the urban
development plans and public or private housing development plans also need the opinion of the
MINEF [section 40].
Planning of land use, zoning, dissemination of ecologically efficient methods of land use [section
68] are foreseen for the protection of land against erosion and the prevention and fight against
desertification. The drawing up of a national map and of monitoring plans of high risks and
natural zones, especially seismic and/or volcanic zones, flood zones, zones likely to experience
landslides, marine and atmospheric pollution risk zones [section 70] are also foreseen for the
prevention of natural risks and disaster.
The law provides for a regulation for the elimination of waste. According to section 42, the
“waste shall be treated in an ecologically rational manner to eliminate or curb their harmful
effects on human health, natural resources, the fauna and flora, and on the quality of the
environment in general”. The task of eliminating the household waste should be devolved to the
decentralized administration [section 46].
85 Republic of Cameroon (1996b), Section 7 § 1.
86 According to section 54 of the Environment law, classified establishment are “factories, workshops, warehouses, building sites, and […]
industrial or commercial plants […] which pose or may pose dangers for public health, security, hygiene, agriculture, nature and the
environmental in general, or disadvantages for the convenience for the neighborhood..”. Republic of Cameroon (1996b), Section 54.

25
The principle of decentralization also come in another case, namely in case of dispute settlement
relating to the use of some natural resources, especially water and pasture. The traditional
authorities are competent and they settle the dispute on the strength of the local ways and
customs [section 93 § 1].
Last but not least, population participation is especially mentioned by the environmental law.
The Part IV entitled “Implementation and Follow-up of programmes” is exclusively dedicated to
the participation of population, underlining how vital they are for the successful implementation
of the sustainability strategy. Their participation should be ensured through their free access to
information, their consultation, their representation within environmental advisory bodies, their
sensitization and the introduction of environmental education in school curricula [section 72].
According to section 8 § 2, authorized grassroots communities may even exercise the rights of
the plaintiff in a trial with regard to facts constituting a breach to the provisions of the
environmental law.
4.2.1.2 Incentive measures
There are three incentives: the first one is related to specific actions and takes the form of a
financial helping program. According to the section 75, actions against soil erosion and
desertification as well as the promotion of the use of renewable resources especially in the
northern part of Cameroon should be partly financed by the above mentioned environmental
funds.
The two other incentives are tax incentives. First, industrial establishments that import
equipment to enable them to eliminate greenhouse gases in their manufacturing process or in
their products or to reduce any form of pollution, will benefit from a reduction of the custom
duty on these equipment [section 76 § 1]. The proportion and duration of this tax reduction is to
be determined by the Finance Law. Second, private individuals and corporate bodies promoting
the environment can also benefit of a tax reduction in the form of the reduction of the taxable
profits that is also to be determined by the Finance Law [section 76 § 2].
4.2.1.3 Repressive measures
The search and finding of breaches is carried out by sworn officers from several administrative
units. They can come from the environmental administration but also from the cadastral survey,
the town planning, the industry and tourism services.
The repression are of two natures: there are administrative sanctions and sanctions pronounced
by the court.
The administrative sanctions relate to the non-respect of norms and take the form of a
suspension, or execution at the expense of the polluter. In the case of non-execution or disrespect

26
of the impact assessment procedure for example, the work envisaged or initiated for the
implementation of the concerned project can be suspended [section 20]. Plants that discharge
pollutants into the atmosphere beyond the norms will have either to pay an administrative notice
or can be suspended [section 23]. In the same way, abandoned and dumped wastes as well as
waste processed in violation of the prescription of the law, will be eliminated by the
administration at the expense of the producer [section 48]. Another administrative sanction
relates to the seizure of prohibited products. This applied especially to manufactured, imported
or sold chemicals, harmful and dangerous substances. They can even be destroyed or neutralized
in case of a real and imminent danger [section 59].
Independently of the administrative sanctions, sanctions can also be pronounced by the court.
The fines lay between CFAF87
500,000 and 500,000,000 and the prison sentence can go from six
months to life imprisonment (!)88
.
They apply for following breaches89
:
·Implementation of a project needing an impact assessment without carrying it out or
implementation of a project that does not respect the requirements of the impact assessment.
·Obstruction of checks and analyses provided by the law.
·Dumping of toxic and/or dangerous waste on Cameroonian territory, dumping of hydrocarbons
or other environmentally harmful liquid substances into marine waters under Cameroonian
legislation.
·Import, production, ownership or use of harmful or dangerous substances
The sanctions can be doubled in the event of subsequent offences.
The repressive measures may seem impressive, but in the absence of norms or application
decrees, they might as well be useless.
4.2.2 Evaluation of the environmental law
This law is a mix of several environmental policy instruments, of which the regulative one
dominates.
Jänicke90
distinguishes between regulative, planning, economic, co-operational and
informational instruments. Their main distinctive feature lays in the way in which the state
chooses to implement a specific policy. It has the choice between very constraining instruments
like prohibitions and requirements supported by sanctions in case of non-compliance. But it can
also choose to be less constraining and to seek the dialog with the target group of which it wants
87 After the 1994 FCFA devaluation, the ratio was set at CFAF 100=FF 1.
88 According to section 80, any “person who dumps toxic and/or dangerous waste on Cameroonian territory shall be liable to a fine of 50,000,000
(fifty million) to 500,000,000 (five hundred million) CFA francs and life imprisonment.”. Republic of Cameroon (1996b), Section 80.
89 Republic of Cameroon (1996b), Chapter VI.

27
to change the behavior. By using the planning instrument, it seeks to reach a certain consent in
the objectives to be attained. The economic instruments in the form of tax incentives and
subventions are positive incentives for the economic actors but they can also take the form of
taxes, in which case they are felt as constraining. The co-operative instrument can be utilize by
the state to reach an agreement with a specific industrial branch, in which the latter commits
itself to abide by certain environment-friendly rules91
. Last, the informational instrument in the
form of environmental reports, awareness raising campaigns, educational, research and training
programs, but also in the form of the introduction of a certification system for sustainably
produced products is the less constraining instrument.
The more constraining an instrument is, the more difficult it will be to carry it through. So that
the cooperation and volunteering-based instruments are more likely to be accepted by the target
groups and to achieve their objectives. On the other hand constraining regulative instruments are
traditional, indispensable instruments of the state when it wants to reach concrete objectives.
These instruments can be to a certain extend successful, and the state can not renounce them. In
the face of the capacity of a state to carry out its political tasks, it will have to find the right
balance between the constraining and the dialog-based instruments if it is to reach its objectives.
Among these instruments, the Government of Cameroon uses the regulative one through norm
setting backed up by administrative and legal sanctions. The economic instruments are limited to
tax incentives and no ecological tax is provided for. Subvention in the form of financial helping
programs for the promotion of renewable resources and of program to combat the soil erosion
and the desertification are also provided for. These subventions come from the Environmental
funds that is to be financed by fines paid by liable persons culprit of having breached a provision
of the law. So that this is not really a subvention, but rather a self-financing mechanism.
The planning instrument is also mentioned as being a task to be carried out by the environmental
administration and to be amended every five years. By the same token a land-use plan is foreseen
for the rational management of land, and environmental concerns are to be included in other
policy areas. Management plans are also foreseen for endangered species and the preservation of
their habitat [section 64 § 1].
The cooperative instrument comes in the form of the promotion of popular, that is target-group
representation in environmental advisory committees through representatives, whatever these
committees are as no further details are mentioned. Consultation mechanisms are meant to “take
stock of the opinion and contributions of the populations” [section 72]. One does not know
90 Jänicke, Martin, Philip Kunig, Michael Stitzel (1999), Umweltpolitik. Lern- und Arbeitsbuch, Dietz Verlag, 1999, Bonn. Pp. 99.
91 Another kind of agreement can also be reached between an actor of the target group and environmental organizations. This kind of instrument
goes beyond the power of the state and rests in the hands of the private sector. Therefore it can not be used in the assessment of the governmental
environmental policy.

28
exactly what the role of the population really is. The letter of the law does not allow for a lot of
possibilities for the population to actually play an active role in negotiation and policy
formulation: the population seems rather to be the recipient of information and it may express its
opinion. The only power conferred to the population takes the form of the right of the
environmental organizations that have been recognized as such to claim any breaches of the
environmental law in court.
Last the informational instrument is well provided for through education, sensitization, training,
environmental reporting and awareness raising campaigns.
An additional instrument shall be mentioned, which is the takeover of environmental tasks by the
state92
. The logic behind this is that where one can not state who the polluter is or might be, the
state ought to prevent or to repair the environmental degradation. In Cameroon, this apply
especially in the cases of the erection and the operation of protected areas, sensitive areas
[section 22 § 2] and ecologically protected areas to be the subject of an environmental plan
[section 64 § 3]. It also applies to the elimination of household wastes, midnight and abandoned
dumping to be carried out by the decentralized territorial councils [section 46].
So that there seem to be a great emphasis on the regulative instruments backed up by
informational instruments to get the support of the population for the carrying out of the
environmental protection tasks.
4.3 Forests Wildlife and fisheries93
With its 22.5 million hectares of humid and dense forests, Cameroon has the second forest
reserve in Africa in terms of surface area after Zaire as well as the second biodiversity reserve
after Madagascar94
. These humid and dense forests cover about 47% of the national territory95
.
Beside this dense humid forest, there are wooded savannas, steppes and gallery forests. As a
whole 78% of the Cameroonian territory is covered by forest.
92 This form corresponds to the German expression “Infrastrukturleistung” or “Infrastrukturisierung”, that is the state overtakes environmental
protection tasks like the construction and operation of sewage plants. See Glagow, Manfred (1996), Umweltpolitik, in: Nohlen, Dieter (Hg.)
(1996), Wörterbuch Staat und Politik, Piper Verlag, 4. Auflage, 1996, München. Pp. 786-790.
93 MINEF (1995b), Programme d’action forestier national du Cameroun. Document de politique forestière, Novembre 1995, Yaoundé. MINEF
(1996), Plan national de Gestion de l’Environnement. 4 Volumes, Février 1996, Yaoundé. MINEF/ONADEF (1995), Forêts camerounaises: pour
une gestion soutenue et durable, 1995, Yaoundé. MINEF (1998a), Directives nationales pour l’aménagement durable des forêts naturelles au
Cameroun, Mars 1998, Yaoundé. MINEF (1998b), Forests in Cameroon: A situation Report. Prepared for the Cameroon/UNDP Global
Programme on Forest Management to support sustainable livelihoods, Department of Forestry, prepared by Fofung Tata, Thomas, August 1998,
Yaoundé. MINEF/ONDADEF (1994), Les efforts du Cameroun pour assurer l’aménagement durable de ses forêts tropicales d’ici l’an 2000,
1994, Yaoundé. MINEFI (1998), Contribution du Secteur Forestier à l’Economie Nationale (1992/3 – 197/98), Commission d’Etude sur le
Secteur Forestier, Septembre 1998, Yaoundé. Nguiffo Tene, Samuel Alain (1994), La nouvelle législation forestière au Cameroun, Fondation
Friedrich-Ebert au Cameroun, Août 1994, Yaoundé.
94 Cameroon is well-known for its great biological diversity. It is sometimes called little Africa, as most of the African species are to be found
there. 21% of the African fish species , 48% of the mammals (409 species), 54% of the birds (849 species), 50% of the batrachia, 30% of the
reptiles and 25% of the butterflies live in Cameroon. It ranks five in the biological diversity on the African Continent behind ex-Zaire,
Madagascar, Tanzania and South Africa. Some species are endemic: this concerns among others the black rhinoceros, and diverse parots. In:
CSD (1997).
95 MINEF (1998b).

29
The main activities within the forest are the timber industry, the gathering of firewood, the
gathering of Non-Timber Forest Products – NTFP – (medicine plants, nutritious plants and
service plants) and hunting.
1994/95, the annual timber production reached for the first time 3 million cubic meters. With an
export volume of 1.250 cubic meters, timber is the second export product in values and volume
behind oil (20% of the total exports in value)96
. The turnover amounted 94/95 to FCFA 153
billion and brought the government FCFA 25 billion in taxes. Theoretically the timber
production in Cameroon could reach an annual production of 5 million cubic meter for a century
without affecting the productive potential. Although as much as 300 species are exploitable, 60%
of the production is constituted by only three tree species97
. The legal exploitation takes place
on 7 million ha which represents half of the exploitable humid forest. The illegal exploitation is a
estimated at about 360,000 ha in the Littoral, Center and South-West.
The timber exploitation is growing very fast. The potentialities are great, but the exploitation
methods are so unsustainable that they endanger these potentialities. Only a few tree species are
exploited, so that this trees might disappear in the long run. Besides, the losses are great: up to
50% of the logged trees are left over. Furthermore the construction of logging routes entails the
clearing of up to 30 meters on each side of the track, and the fact that there are numerous logging
paths is a proof that loggers are more willing to sacrifice the nature than to invest in fuel98
.
These problems can occur because the administration in charge of the control of the existing
regulation is not effective: due to a lack of human, material and financial resources, there are
virtually non control in the logging exploitations. And when they take place the forest personal
depends on the concessionaires to be driven inside the concessions, so that the exploiters can de
facto plan their exploitation without any control. The corruption of the civil servant is a further
hindrance to the application of the law99
.
4.3.1 The 1994 Forest Law and its Decrees of Application
The Law N° 94/01 laying down Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Regulations in Cameroon was
adopted by the General Assembly in January 1994 and its Decree of application were adopted on
June 1995 and July 1995 regarding respectively the fishery and faunal regimes and in August
96 MINEF (1995a), pp. 91.
97 These species are the Ayous, Sapelli and Azobe. Ayou (also called abachi) is mostly used as plywood, for furniture parts and packaging.
Sapelli looks very much like mahogany and is used mostly for furniture, veneer and parquet floor. Azobe is used for hydraulic engineering,
(railroad) sleepers, railroad tracks, ceiling works, floors in department stores and external hardwood construction. Mombächer, Rudolf (et al.)
(1988), Holz-Lexikon, 2 Bänder, DRW-Verlag, 3. neubearbeitete Auflage, 1988, Stuttgart.
98 MINEF (1995a), p. 93.
99 It seems that a monthly subsidy paid to the foresters by the exploiters is a common practice. MINEF (1995a), Analyse des conflits et du cadre
juridique et institutionnel de l’environnement au Cameroun, MINEF, PNUD, PNUE, FAO, Octobre 1995, Yaoundé. P. 94.

30
1995 regarding the forest regime100
. The national Directives for the sustainable management of
the natural forests of Cameroon have been published in March 1998101
.
The 1994 law makes provision for the protection of nature and biodiversity. It splits the National
Forest Estate between the Permanent or classified Forests and the Non-Permanent Forests102
. It
requires the establishment of an inventory of the permanent forests in order to ensure a rational
exploitation and management. It gives directives on financial provisions regarding forest
revenues and their utilization. There are also directives for the promotion and marketing of
Timber and Non-Timber Forest products. At last it makes provisions for the protection of
Wildlife, Biodiversity and Fisheries.
One of the most spectacular provisions is the pledge of the Government of Cameroon to keep at
least 30% of the national territory under forest cover (in the category of Permanent Forest). The
new legislation aims at increasing the area of all reserved forests from the current 9% to 30% in
the medium term. The network of protected areas covers about 9% of the national territory
(4,232,899.07 ha). By 1995, there were 7 national parks (1,030,900 ha), 7 faunal reserves
(1,002,995 ha), 26 hunting reserves (2,200,000 ha) and 3 botanical gardens (407 ha)103
.
Each of the forests that falls into the category of permanent forests is subject to a development
program.
In this law, management of a permanent forest means the carrying out of certain
activities and investments, based on previously established objectives and on a plan,
for the sustained production of forest products and services, without affecting the
primitive value or compromising the future productivity of the forest nor causing any
damage to the physical and social environment.104
100 Décret N° 95/413/PM du 20 Juin 1995 fixant certaines modalités d’application du régime de la pêche ; Décret N° 95/466/PM du 20 Juillet
1995 fixant les modalités d’application du régime de la faune ; Décret N° 95/531/PM du 23 août 1995 fixant les modalités d'application du
régime des forêts.
101 MINEF (1998a), Directives nationales pour l’aménagement durable des forêts naturelles au Cameroun, Mars 1998, Yaoundé.
102 These two types of forest have been further divided as follows:
Permanent Forest Non-Permanent Forests
State Forests Council Forests Community forests Communal Forests Private Forests
Areas
protected for
wildlife
(national
parks, game
reserves,
zoological
gardens…)
Forest
reserves
proper
(production
forests,
protection
forests, forest
plantation,
integral
ecological
reserves…)
Forests that have been classified
on behalf of a local council or
has been planted by the local
council
Forests managed by
a community under
a management plan
Forests that do not
fall under any other
categories
Forests planted by a
natural person or
corporate bodies
Private property of the state Private property of the local
council concerned
Village
communities have a
right of preemption
but are not owners.
Preemption right,
but not owner.
From: Republic of Cameroon (1994), Law No 94/01 of 20 January 1994 laying down Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries regulations in Cameroon.
Online: http://sdnhq.undp.org/sdncmr/doc/forlaw.htm. Vermeulen, Cédric (1996), Problématique de la délimitation des forêts communautaires en
forêt dense humide, Sud-Est Cameroun“ Rapport intermédiaire, Novembre 1996, Yaoundé. Online :
http://www.ulb.ac.be/soco/apft/general/publicat/rapports/verm.HTM.
103 MINEF (1996), Vol. II, 1, p. 152
104 Republic of Cameroon (1994), Section 23.

31
The management plan has to contain the following sections: inventory, re-forestation measures,
natural or artificial regeneration, sustained forestry exploitation and infrastructure [section 63].
The production forests of the Permanent Forest Estate are to be managed with the aim of
providing permanent forest cover in the relevant areas. The forests will be divided into
development units (UFA: “Unités forestières d’Aménagement”) allocated as long-term forestry
concessions (15 years), linked to wood-processing factories. The allocation of these concessions
will be made by public tender. The development program for production forests will entail that
the exploitation for the sale of timber must only be for a limited period of time and the volume of
wood sold must be specified in advance and must not exceed the annual felling allowance.
Responsibility for the management contracts, based on specifications (“cahier des charges”), will
be placed upon the concessionaires, to ensure that the forest resources are maintained. Each
management contract will guarantee a yield, based on a calculation of the potential output; the
concessionaire in return must participate in the management and supervision of the concession.
The management plan included in the contract will determine the actual quantities of wood to be
produced, and the silvicultural operations to regenerate and improve the forest which are
indispensable to the preservation of the forest ecosystem105
.
The great innovation of this law is the creation of a new type of forest, namely the community
forest. It is a forest forming part of the non-permanent forest estate, which is covered by a
management agreement between a village community and the Forests Administration.
Management of such forests is the responsibility of the village community concerned, with the
help or technical assistance of the Forests Administration106
. According to the section 37, this
new type shall “promote the management of forest resources by village communities which so
desire”. Forests products, that is wood, non-wood, wildlife, fishery resources and special
products107
resulting from the management of community forests will belong to the village
communities concerned [section 37]. The minimum duration of the management plan is twenty-
five years and shall be revised every five years108
.
The constitution of community forests is meant to encourage the participation of the local
population in the sustainable management of its forests109
. This participation has been
furthermore improved, as part of the taxes are paid directly to them instead of to the Inter-
105 WWF (1995), p. 93.
106 Article 3 (I 1) of the Decree of 23 August 1995. In: SDNP Cameroon (1999), Manual of the Procedures and Norms for the Attribution and
Management of Community forests“. UNDP / SNDP Cameroon, July 23, 1999, New York. Online:
http://sdnhq.undp.org/sdncmr/doc/comfor.htm.
107 Ebony, ivory, wild animal horns, as well as certain animal, plant and medicinal species or those which are of particular-interest are considered
as special forest products. [section 9 § 2].
108 Article 30 (1) of the Decree of 23 August 1995. Ibid.
109 Before the 1994 law, the participation of the population in the management of the forest was limited to their notification of a unilaterally taken
decision about the gazetting of a forest or the opening up of a new concession. MINEF (1996), Vol. II,1. P. 91.

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