Tropical Rainforests of Africa: Can Conservation Projects Reconcile Forest Conservation and Development of Forest-Dependent Communities?

Abstract

Most of Africa’s remaining rainforests are found in the Congo River Basin and in Cameroon. Parts of these forests still comprise intact canopy but relatively unstudied compared to other continents. Local communities derive a bulk of resources in the form non-timber forest products from the forest canopies of these areas (Amrose-OJI 2003). To protect these forests, protected areas have been created, followed by a number of restrictions vis-à-vis the local population. Many local people believe that they have been alienated and would like to exercise their traditional rights to forests as they have always done in the past. Also there is a general frustration among these communities, because these protected areas were established without consideration of their requirements. There have been an increasing number of pilot or demonstration biodiversity conservation projects which now involve local people. Led by the conservation of NGOs (national and international), these projects have mostly been based on innovative land use strategies, including protected areas, multiple-use conservation areas, buffer zones on protected area boundaries, community forestry, and a variety of other approaches. All these projects aim to conserve biodiversity with local participation. Despite numerous NGO projects during recent years, successful and convincing examples with local needs reconciled with biodiversity conservation remain difficult to find. There is increasing evidence that national parks and other protected areas alone are insufficient for the conservation of Africa’s biodiversity. Similarly, sustainable community development in buffer zones around protected areas has proved elusive for adjacent rural dwellers. So the question remains if we need an alternate conservation paradigm for Cameroon.