Forêt communautaire en Afrique Centrale : une perspective à relativiser... du moins au Cameroun

La forêt communautaire est fréquemment présentée comme une option économique majeure pour les populations locales en Afrique centrale. Deux articles récents, basés sur des études de cas camerounaises, tendent au contraire à montrer que l'essentiel des moyens de vie de ces populations vient de pratiques exercées en dehors des forêts communautaires.

Parmi celles-ci, l'exploitation du bois d'oeuvre disponible dans les espaces agricoles et agro-forestiers est une activité qui a pris beaucoup d'ampleur durant la dernière décennie, même si on n'observe pas encore de gestion explicite de ce type de ressource sur le terrain.

Les deux articles dont les résumés figurent ci-après ont initialement été présentés à la conférence "Taking Stock of Smallholder and Community Forestry: Where do we go from here?" co-organisée par le CIRAD, le CIFOR et l'IRD en mars 2010 à Montpellier. La revue Small Scale Forestry en a tiré un numéro spécial, dont les résumés sont consultables à http://www.springerlink.com/content/120445

From Farmers to Loggers: The Role of Shifting Cultivation Landscapes in Timber Production in Cameroon

Valentina Robiglio, Guillaume Lescuyer, and Paolo Omar Cerutti

Abstract  -  This article focuses on timber sourced from the agricultural areas in the shifting cultivation landscapes of the Central Region of Cameroon. Data about volumes marketed in urban centres, harvesting operations and on-farm timber management are used to discuss the ecological impact of small-scale logging and its sustainability in the long term. An opportunistic association exists between small-scale logging and agricultural land uses, determined mostly by the abundance of valuable species in fallows and on cocoa farms, their easy accessibility and the low price of farmland timber. Farmers apply various strategies to the management of tree resources in fallows and cocoa agroforests, with most felling authorized in fallows and most trees preserved on the cocoa farms. With current agricultural expansion and intensification trends associated with small-scale logging, timber resources on rural land are at risk of depletion with direct consequences for domestic timber supply and the thousands of livelihoods it sustains. Marketing and regulatory changes are needed to encourage the integration of timber production in agricultural management systems. 

Sustainable Forest Management at the Local Scale: A Comparative Analysis of Community Forests and Domestic Forests in Cameroon

Guillaume Lescuyer

Abstract  -  In Cameroon, community forests are frequently presented as a relevant option to increase the welfare of rural populations and simultaneously improve local governance and forest resources conservation. But apart from community forests, rural livelihoods also depend on forest areas, designated as ‘domestic forests’ in this article, where local users enjoy informal customary rights. The specific contributions of community and domestic forests to the evolution of the prevailing socio-ecological system are assessed through a diachronic study of a village which is located in southern Cameroon. The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework is used to compare the progress of this social-ecological system between January 2008 and December 2009. The overall evolution of livelihoods was found to be positive during that period. In this case study, domestic forests and community forests are based on complementary models, which are often observed in southern Cameroon. Domestic forests constitute the basis of socio-economic development, while community forests might offer opportunities for a local-level carbon sequestration payment mechanism. 

Publiée : 19/04/2012