Cameroon Tackles Forest Management Hurdles

Government with the assistance of development partners is revising the 1994 forestry and wildlife law to render it more practicable. Cameroon??s forest-environment regulatory framework is pregnant with hurdles that hamper the smooth and efficient forest management. The hurdles are related to statutory omissions,

contradictions within and between the law and decree of application, excessive use of administration discretion, defective drafting, deferments, as well as the lack of technical and logistical capacity at operational level, disclosed Dr Vabi Michael, Social-forestry consultant working with the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), government??s partner in revising the forest-environment regulatory framework. The government through the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife with the assistance of development partners has since September 2008 embarked on the revision of the 1994 forestry and wildlife law to render it more practicable. Dr Vabi said a technical secretariat is in place at the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife to supervise the entire revision process that is basically participatory and inclusive. Different partners are concerned with particular aspects of the law. The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) is concerned with community-based forest management, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) with Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is dealing with protected areas and community-based wildlife management, he stated. The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) in fulfilment of its engagement, last August 26 and 27 at Sangmelima in the South Region, organised a preliminary consultation meeting that brought together other partners including the government. Dr Vabi Michael, the main speaker during the consultation meeting on behalf of the SNV, told Cameroon Tribune that discussions were on governance, community-based forest management and the exploitation of Non-timber Forest Products, stating that SNV intends to animate consultation meetings in the same domain throughout the revision process of the regulatory framework.
Emmanuel KENDEMEH, Cameroon Tribune

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