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An Assessment of Institutional Capacity for Integrated Landscape Management in Eastern Cameroon

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Abstract

Landscape approaches have become prominent in efforts to address issues of conservation and development through bringing together different actors and sectors, to reconcile diverse land uses, and promote synergies. Some have suggested that integrated landscape management approaches are consistent with the goals of REDD+ and offer a strategy to address multiple goals of climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, maintenance of ecosystem services, and socio-economic development. Institutional or governance arrangements have been shown to be a critical component in influencing outcomes in landscapes. Using diverse methodologies, this study investigated the capacity of institutions to support the planning, implementation, and resource mobilization needed to integrate climate change mitigation, conservation, and livelihood goals in a forest mosaic landscape in East Cameroon. Results showed that diverse institutions are present in the landscape, including institutions of relevant government agencies, local government, local non-government, the private sector, and hybrid institutions of conservation, development and research institutions. However, the overall institutional capacity for integrated landscape planning and management in the study area is limited, although some institutions exhibit increased capacity in some areas over others. Multiple strategies can be employed to build the necessary human, financial, and leadership capacity, and facilitate the institutional planning and coordination that is foundational to multi-stakeholder landscape governance. Given the complexity of integrating climate change mitigation, conservation and livelihood goals in a landscape, building such institutional capacity is a long term endeavour that requires sustained effort and ongoing financial, technical and human resource support.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all of the participants for giving time from their busy schedule to take part in this study. I appreciate the help of my research assistant MBOCK Germain. Funding for this research was provided by an internal research grant from the University of Prince Edward Island and an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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  1. Associate Professor and Director of Environmental Studies, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

    H. Carolyn Peach Brown

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All data collection involving human participants was in accordance with the ethical standards of the Research Ethics Board at the University of Prince Edward Island and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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Brown, H.C.P. An Assessment of Institutional Capacity for Integrated Landscape Management in Eastern Cameroon. Environmental Management 62, 118–127 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1048-z

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