Market Forces and Decentralization Reforms: Effects on Non-Wood Forest Product Management Systems in Cameroon

Abstract

"In Cameroon, some resources such as non-wood forest products (NWFPs) are normally managed as common pool resources in traditional systems. However, over the past 20 years the growing domestic and international market for NWFPs and a policy of decentralization in forest management have influenced these systems. This research explored the effect of the growing market and the new decentralized management system, particularly Community Forests, on the customary management system, and whether the NWFPs are being sustainably managed. Findings show that the customary NWFP management system is changing in response to the growing market, through increasing privatization of access for some products, but is not adapting quickly enough to prevent degradation of some species. Although NWFPs are not yet being actively managed within Community Forests, these new decentralization reforms have had an effect on the rules of access for outsiders in Community Forest areas."