Community forests management in central Africa, progress and challenges - Richard Ebba Atyi, CIFOR-IRCAF Community forestry enterprises in the Congo Basin Seminar Chaired by Verina Ingram & Serge Piabou (Wagenignen UR) 10.00 -13.00 2 April 2024 NCountR Room, Impulse, Wageningen CMAPUS & online doctoral Defense Serge Piabuo “Community Forest Enterprises (CFEs) as successful social enterprises: Empirical Evidence from Cameroon” 16.00 – 17.30 2 April 2024 Omnia Auditorium, Wageningen campus & online Link to recording https://wur-educationsupport.screenstepslive.com/m/111045/l/1595365-about-recording-and-livestreaming-a-promotion-phd-defence-graduation-ceremony-inauguration-farewell-speech-or-other-public-events#where-can-i-watch-the-livestream

1. Community Forest Management in
Central Africa: Progress and Challenges
Richard Eba’a Atyi
CIFOR-ICRAF
Wageningen 2 avril 2024

2. A broad view of community forest management in the world
(Duncan Macqueen, IIED, presentation 2022)
Indigenous
people’s (IP)
forests
Indigenous
territories with
mainly
subsistence use
governed by
customary
authorities in
natural forests
Local community
(LC) forests
Collective
forest
management
areas with
mixed
subsistence
and
commercial
use in
managed
natural forests
Private
smallholder
forest farmers
Associations
between
multiple private
smallholders for
commercial
and
subsistence use
of mostly
planted forests
Forest and farm
processing
clusters
Peri-urban
processing
groups serving
mostly local
markets for
food, fuel,
construction
materials,
medicines and
cosmetics
Urban
community
forests
Trees in parks,
roadside
planting or
gardens
managed by
urban groups or
housing
associations

3. Benefits and Potential Advantages of
Community-Based Forest Management
Significant contributions to
climate change mitigation and
adaptation
Better protection of
forests, biodiversity,
soil and water
Direct benefits to
communities' rights and
livelihoods (poverty
reduction)
Promotion of good
governance at the
community level
(participation and
democratic approach)
Strengthening the
tenure security of
local communities
©
Axel
Fassio/CIFOR

4. Origins and Evolution of Community-
Based Forest Management Approaches
in Central Africa
• Existence of traditional community-based forest management
approaches (forest territories) in Central Africa (e.g. sacred forests) that
are not very widespread. Rather community-based management of
forest resources...
• Formalization of post-Rio community forest management (1992):
o Adoption of the concept of sustainable management at the global
level
o Donor conditionalities in the context of structural adjustments
o Promotion of decentralization
• Inclusion of community forests in different bodies of legislation
1. Cameroon Pioneer
2. Equatorial Guinea, CAR, Chad
3. DRC remodeling into a "local community forest"
©
Axel
Fassio/CIFOR

5. Indigenous territories with mainly
subsistence use governed by
customary authorities in natural
forests
Two preferred Approaches to Community Forest
Management in Central Africa
Indigenous people’s (IP) forests Local community (LC) forests
Collective forest management
areas with mixed subsistence and
commercial use in managed natural
forests

6. Synoptic summary of community
forest management practices in
Central Africa
Cameroon, DRC, Gabon

7. Cameroon
Approach to the management of a community forest
Community Identification and
Mobilization: This step involves
identifying local communities that want
to participate in forest management
and mobilizing them around this goal.
Development of a forest management
plan: Once communities are identified
and mobilized, they typically work with
government organizations, NGOs, or
other stakeholders to develop a forest
management plan.
Obtaining legal permission: Before
communities can implement their
management plan, they must obtain
legal permission from the relevant forest
or government authorities.
Implementation of the management
plan: Once the necessary approvals
are obtained, communities can begin
to implement their forest management
plan.
1
2
3
4

8. Enthusiasm of local communities to
participate in and benefit from the
management of forest resources.
Currently, Cameroon has a total of about
300 community forests (990,000 hectares)
allocated to communities, and more than
200applications for the creation of community
forests (about 600,000 hectares).
State of Community
Forest Management in
Cameroon
Capacity building and institutional
development: Throughout the process, it
is important to build the capacity of local
communities in forest management and
to support institutional development to
ensure effective governance of forest
resources.
Ongoing participation and
consultation: Participation and
consultation with local communities
should be maintained throughout
the forest management process.
Monitoring and evaluation: The management
of community forests requires continuous
monitoring to assess the effectiveness of the
activities undertaken and to ensure that
management objectives are met.
5
6
7

9. Management of local community
forests in the DRC
the institutional approach
Recognition of customary rights: The
authorities recognize the customary
rights of local communities to the
forest lands they have traditionally
used and occupied.
Establishment of Local Committees:
To represent the interests of local
communities and facilitate the
process of allocating forest rights.
Land Identification and Mapping: Land
is identified and mapped to clearly
delineate the boundaries of their rights.
Development of a management plan:
Describe how communities intend to use and
protect forest resources in a sustainable
manner.
1
2
3
4
Validation and approval: The developed
management plan is validated by the relevant
authorities, often at the local or provincial level.
5
Formal allocation of rights: After validation, forest
rights are formally allocated to local communities,
giving them the exclusive right to use and manage
forest resources within defined boundaries
6
Monitoring and monitoring: ensuring that
communities comply with the sustainable
management conditions set out in their plan
7

10. The four key steps:
1. application for allocation,
2. issuance of a provisional agreement,
3. technical work (multi-resource inventory,
4. mapping and simple management plan) and signature of
the final agreement.
During all these stages, the administration provides free technical
support to the villagers and assesses the community's
organizational capacity to take over forest management.
The villagers use the 15-tree leased logging authorized in the
provisional agreement to finance the technical work, which
varies between 2 and 8 million CFA francs.
Community Forest
Management in Gabon
The Intentional Approach
Suspension of the
granting process for
Community Forest
Management Practice
in Gabon (2022)
Provisional
Agreements
9
definitive
agreements
19
Community
Forests Allocated
28
years
13
(2009 - 2013)

11. Progress in Community
Forest Management in
Central Africa

12. Institutional progress
Business partnerships between
local communities and formal
companies
Strong technical commitment on
the part of administrations to
strengthen national processes for
the allocation and management
of community forests
Recognition of people's rights to
forest territories and resources
Strengthening the organizational
capacity of communities that
aspire to forest management
Strengthening local
governance
Raising additional revenue
from communities for
community projects

13. Technical progress
Sustainability Certification Opportunities
Better quantification of forest resources
management at the national level
(resource inventories)
Diversification of approaches to the
conservation of forest ecosystem resources
Knowledge of forest products marketing
channels
©
Axel
Fassio/CIFOR

14. Many challenges to overcome...

15. Institutionally and politically
• The external origin of the process always weighs
heavily and leads to a lack of ownership of the
process. The objectives of States and the international
community are out of step with the objectives of the
Communities.
• Limited decentralization of state institutions that still
limit the rights of communities.
• Communities' capacities are still limited in the face of
the ever-demanding requirements of sustainable
management.
• Lack of continuity between forestry legislation and
land tenure
©
fanjianhuea/freepik

16. On the technical side
• Methods and techniques applied in the
management of community forests
inspired by the management of
industrial concessions and not adapted
(simple management plan)
• Impacts on poverty reduction target still
very low
• Important legality issues in the sector
©
Axel
Fassio/CIFOR

17. In the end...
• The principle of community-based
management of forest resources seems to
have become established in Central Africa.
• The lessons learned from the first decades of
implementation should be used to draw
lessons and improve technical and institutional
frameworks for community-based forest
resource management.
• There is still a significant need for institutional
and technical capacity building.
©
Fiston
Wasanga/CIFOR

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