Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
16.10.5 Afforestation and Reforestation
The government of Cameroon meanwhile, launched a forest regeneration pro-
gramme in 2009 aimed at planting about three million trees in the country with
special priority given to ecologically fragile zones. The Minister of Forestry and
Wildlife, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle said that the forest regeneration program is aimed at
fighting climate change. According to this programme, which is sponsored by the
governments of Cameroon, Chad and the United States of America, 13,000 trees
will be planted across the North West Region, 60,000 trees in Mt. Bamboutos in
the West Region and 90,000 trees along Lake Chad. But perhaps it is worthwhile
mentioning here that tree planting is only part of the solution to the serious prob-
lem of deforestation and forest resources degradation. There is need for a twin ap-
proach of conservation and rural development.
16.11 Conclusions and Recommendations
On the whole, Cameroon could be said to have a fairly good environmental policy
but for the fact that it lacks a suitable implementation strategy. Some principal
constraints to policy implementation are bad governance, corruption, weak institu-
tional capacity, limited enforcement and lack of monitoring capacity (Essama-
Nssah and Gockowski 2000). Against a backdrop of the economic crisis, the size
of the civil service has dwindled amid hiring freezes, early retirement and low
wages. Consequently, inefficiency is a major hurdle to the strengthening of the in-
stitutions necessary for the sustainable development of forest and agricultural re-
sources. Without additional support, the full potential of the current forest policy
would not be realized. Furthermore, regarding the new dispensation of forestry
management, the local people and communities should be given a direct and tan-
gible interest in the sustainable management and conservation of forests. Commu-
nities cannot be effective at managing their forest resource unless their authority is
clearly established and recognized. It is only by involving the local people as full
partners with appropriate incentives that effective management can take place.
Lastly, strong measures need to be taken against corruption in Cameroon's for-
estry sector.
To preserve its forests, Cameroon requires a system of sustainable management
that guarantees a steady flow of socio-economic benefits. Sustainable strategies
geared towards rural development would minimize damage and to some extent
improve the environmental benefits of the forest ecosystem. Since smallholder ag-
riculture is a major source of land degradation, any forward-looking multisectoral
approach must start with agriculture and rural development. Furthermore, a pol-
icy-led effort to intensify perennial crop and food crop systems to deflect further
encroachment on the forest margin is needed.
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