Governing natural resources : the case of illegal forest activities in Cameroon

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 1990s, illegal logging and, more broadly, Illegal Forest Activities (IFA) have occupied a growing and prominent place in international discussions about forest policy, management and governance. Despite widespread concerns, there is still significant uncertainty however, about the quantitative and qualitative nature of the problem. In many countries it is unclear what the political, economic, social and ecological dynamics that underpins IFAs are. To better understand those dynamics, one needs to weave together several theoretical and practical aspects that only when considered as a whole could help to clarifying the complex nature of IFAs, and to set the stage for devising policy options to effectively address the problem. Therefore, this research addresses two main questions: what is the nature of IFAs and what are their impacts? Through a series of published papers focussing on the case study of the Republic of Cameroon, in the context of the European Union's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, this thesis seeks to answer those questions by weaving together bodies of literature-namely on governance theory and sustainable forest management, forest certification and the redistribution of forest revenues-that have often neglected each other. The analysis suggests that a set of dichotomies, juxtaposing concepts such as 'legality-sustainability' versus 'illegality-unsustainability', or 'legality-better livelihoods' versus 'illegality-poverty', normally considered as clear-cut in the public discourse on IFAs, need to be dissected. This is necessary both to be able to assess the distinctive characteristics of their constitutive elements, and to allow the planning of more informed policies on IFAs. Results show, for instance, that forestry operations can in some cases be both legal and unsustainable. In other cases, the occurrence of illegal acts does not necessarily imply a need to prevent and repress them. In some instances, a revision of the legislation may be warranted. By considering the relation between legality, sustainability and environmental governance, the analysis indicates that non-state market-driven governance systems, such as forest certification, have the potential to improve the way logging companies manage the resource. Nonetheless, in countries where weak governance is the norm, there exists for logging companies a natural tendency, unchecked by those countries' concerned ministries, to try and adopt a degraded version of the original, more restrictive standards required by international forest certification schemes. The analysis also suggests that particular attention must be paid to the dynamics that weak governance, and notably corruption, engenders in the spaces where IFAs occur. Policy options developed without considering those dynamics-especially when corruption becomes systemic and it is allowed to spread over the long-term-are likely to fail. The legitimacy of the institutions proposing policy reforms, vis-a-vis forestry operators as well as the general population, becomes a fundamental issue in this regard, key to the ultimate success of any proposed reform. Lastly, the analysis discusses some implications for a future research agenda on the complex nature of IFAs and their impacts. -- provided by Candidate. Show more