- Governance of Prunus africana in Cameroon is complex, with a mix of statutory laws, customary rules, and informal arrangements, rather than a single governing system as initially assumed - In practice, harvesters and farmers have low awareness of laws, monitoring and enforcement is difficult, and benefits are unevenly distributed, unlike assumptions of strong centralized governance and large, consistent income sources - Key lessons are that governance arrangements strongly influence access, benefits and sustainability, and policies should actively support cultivated sources to distinguish between wild and farmed Prunus africana

1. Dr. Verina Ingram
Assistant professor, Forest & Nature Conservation Policy, Wageningen UR
verina.ingram@wur.nl
CITES Tree Species Programme Regional Meeting
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
11-15 March 2019
Reflections on governing Prunus africana
in Cameroon

2. Overview
Overview
Reflections on governing Prunus africana in Cameroon
• Governance
• What we thought: assumptions & what we now
know: practice
• Lessons learnt

3. What is governance?
“The many ways in which society - public
and private actors from the state, market,
customary and/or civil society - govern
public issues at multiple scales,
autonomously or in mutual interaction”
(Arts, van Bommel, Ros-Tonen & Verschoor 2012).
Governance

4. The ways a society organizes itself
• A playing field
• Rules of the game formal & informal
• Boundaries
• Teams
• Stewards
• Supporters
• Umpires
......winners & losers
What is governance?
Governance

5. ......winners & losers
Why is governance important?
Governance
Determines:
- Who participates
- Who benefits
- How & how much
- Who’s accountable to who
- Legitimacy
- Transparency

6. Governance
Assumed: Governed by statutory
laws & CITES
Practice:
• Mix of governance arrangements
• Incoherent forest conservation,
exploitation & agriculture laws
• Most harvesters and farmers poorly
informed about laws
• Difficulties in monitoring,
enforcement & sanctions
Assumptions & Practice

7. Multiple, overlapping governance
Data: Ingram 2014, Awono 2016, Nsom 2017
Governance intensity scoring: Ingram, Ros-Tonen, Dietz 2013
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Statutory regualtion
Voluntary/market standards
Customary regulation
Projects
Corruption
International standards
Governance intensity score
10 = strong governance
0 = weak governance
Non timber Forest Product value chain s
Cameroon & DR Congo
Honey & beeswax
Gnetum
Irvingia
Prunus
Cola
Raphia
Bamboo
Gum arabic
Njangsang
Safou
Karite
Fuelwood
Assumptions & Practice

8. Governance changes over time
Ingram 2014, Awono 2016 Assumptions & Practice
Customary
Voluntary-
Market
Projects
Int. Stds
Statutory
Corruption
2011 2015 201920071995 1998 2000
EU
SUSPENSION
STIEPFS
STR
2004 2006 2008
MOCAP
CFs
Forest
Law
1987 1994
Quotas
PAUs
KIFP BHFP
Inventory
Inventory Inventory
Inventory
Inventory
50
Permits
25
Permits
Forest
Law
9
Permits
National
Mgt. Plan
Moratoriums

9. IUCN & Appendix II listed species
Assumption: Vulnerable, wild species
Practice:
• Outdated vulnerability assessment
• History of cultivation
– Nurseries
– On-farm & boundary planting
– Plantations
– Enriched & managed forests
• Harvesting in Protected Areas
Assumptions & Practice
Awono 2016, Ingram 2014, Nsom 2017

10. An export product
Assumption: Traded for export
Practice:
• Majority exported
But also
• Local timber trade
• Local bark use and trade
• Possible cultivation outside of Africa....
Assumptions & Practice

11. Inventoriable & traceable
Assumption: Inventories of available quantity
Practice:
• Difficulties to inventory accurately
• Costly & timely
• Difficulties for CFs to finance
• Requires different forest and farm methods
• Availability, genetic diversity & chemical composition
inventories not linked
• Traceability to source limited
Assumptions & Practice
Ingram 2014, Ingram 2014a

12. Benefits
Assumption: Large, major income source for
harvesters
Practice:
• Occasional, small income
• Uneven distribution of benefits along value chain
• Power capture by elites
• Challenges in Community Forest governance
• PAU model favours large exporters
• Value adding for export market difficult
• Control & monitoring costs outweigh revenues
Assumptions & Practice
Awono et al 2009, Ingram 2014, Ingram 2014a, MOCAP 2004,
Ehlers 2013, Cunningham et al 2016

13. Appropriate harvest methods
Assumption: Rotational bark harvest
feasible
Practice:
• Rotational 2/4 bark harvest
– Prone to abuse
– No scientific evidence of sustainability
– Safe rotation period for different areas
unproven
• Coppicing & felling for cultivated,
owned trees not legal – disincentive
to cultivation
Assumptions & Practice
Nkeng 2009, Ehlers 2013, Ingram 2015, Ingram 2015a, Betti et
al 2016, Cunningham et al 2016

14. • Look beyond statutory governance, recognise plural governance
• Awareness, monitoring and enforcement of regulations
• Multi-sectoral approach needed
• Distinction between wild & cultivated sources in regulations & conventions
• Governance arrangements affect access, benefits & their distribution
• Policy and regulatory systems should actively support cultivated P. africana
• Cultivation rates a sustainability indicator for future
• Land and tree tenure challenges for formalising cultivated trade
• CFs & PAUs costly & limited success
• High costs of regulating harvesting vs economic returns and conservation
benefits
• International inventory and harvest standards needed
Lessons
Lessons learnt

15. Thank you!
Questions?
verina.ingram@wur.nl

16. References
Awono, A., V. Ingram, J. Schure, H. Tabuna and O. Ndoye (2009). La valeur ajoutée des produits forestiers non ligneux par le
développement de la transformation et les petites entreprises paysannes en RDC et au Cameroun. World Forestry Congress XIII 2009
Buenos Aires, Argentina, FAO.
Awono (2016) Enjeux et dynamiques de l’exploitation des Produits Forestiers Non-Ligneux au Cameroun. PhD Thesis. Universite Paul-
Valery Montpellier 3, Montpellier.
Betti, J. L., Ngankoue, C. M., Njukouyou, F. O. N., & Eric, W. E. T. E. (2016). Monitoring the implementation of Prunus africana (Rosaceae)
management plans in Cameroon: Respect of national norms. African Journal of Plant Science, 10(9), 172-188.
Cunningham, A., V. Anoncho and T. Sunderland (2016). "Power, policy and the Prunus africana bark trade, 1972–2015." Journal of
ethnopharmacology 178: 323-333.
Ehlers, C. (2013). Prunus Exploitation Management practices in MCNP. Report: Working session on current practices. Buea, Programme
For The Sustainable Management Of Natural Resources In The South West Region Of Cameroon (PSMNR-SWR): 23.
Ingram, V. J., Ros-Tonen, M. A., & Dietz, A. J. (2015). A fine mess: Bricolaged forest governance in Cameroon. International Journal of the
Commons, 9, 24.
Ingram, V. J. (2014) Win-wins in forest product value chains?: How governance impacts the sustainability of livelihoods based on non-timber
forest products from Cameroon. African Studies Centre, Leiden.
Ingram, V. (2014a). Profitability and value chain analysis of Prunus africana commercialisation from Mount Cameroon, Cameroon.
ProPSFE- GIZ. Coopération Germano – Camerounaise. Ministère des Forêts et de la Faune (MINFOF). Ministère de l'Environnement
et de la Protection de la Nature et du Développement durable (MINEP). Cameroon.
Ingram, V., B. Vinceti and N. van Vliet (2017). Wild genetic resources (including non-timber forest products) Handbook Of Agricultural
Biodiversity. D. Hunter, L. Guarino, C. Spillane and P. C. McKeown, Routledge
Ingram, V., J. Loo, B. Vinceti, I. Dawson, A. Muchugi, J. Duminil, A. Awono, E. Asaah and Z. Tchoundjeu (2015). Ensuring the future of the
pygeum tree (Prunus africana). Briefing on Prunus africana cultivation and harvesting. The Hague, LEI, Wageningen UR: 8.
Ingram, V., J. Loo, I. Dawson, B. Vinceti, A. Muchugi, J. Duminil, A. Awono and E. Asaah (2015). Perspectives for sustainable Prunus
africana production and trade. State of knowledge on Prunus africana policy and practice. The Hague, LEI, Wageningen UR: 10.
Njie, N. E. (2004). Report of meeting MOCAP CIG and chiefs of the MT. cameroon Region: prunus africana exploitation in the Mt. Cameroon
Region. GTZ-PGDRN Conference hall. Buea 25th August 2004. Cameroon, GTZ and MCP: 28.
Nkeng, P. F. (2009). Sustainable management of Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalk. in Cameroon: An assessment of exploitation methods in
South-West, North-West and Adamaoua vicinities. Degree of Ingenieur des Eaux et Forets et Chasses MSc Ingenieur des eaux et
forets et chasses, University of Dschang.
Nsom Jam A (2017) Perceptions and participation of local communities in the management of Prunus africana in the Cameroon Western
Highlands: A qualitative insight. PhD Thesis. Colorado Technical University November, 2016