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Illegal logging in Cameroon: Causes and the path forward
Abstract
Despite the systemic problems associated with illegal logging in Cameroon, minimal research has been undertaken to explore the reasons underlying these practices. Based on a series of interviews and analyses of relevant literature, this paper identifies the underlying causes of illegal logging in Cameroon, namely, systemic corruption, poverty, conflicts, licensing schemes, usurpation of property rights, and inadequate institutional support, and provides a path forward to potentially curb illegal logging activities in the country. It is hoped that results of this study will be used by the government of Cameroon (and other interested stakeholders) in crafting and implementing policies, plans, and programs directed at minimizing illegal logging practices.
... Illegal logging is a global issue that affects both developing and developed countries (e.g. FAO 2001;Contreras-Hermosilla 2002;Smith 2004;Alemagi and Kozak 2010). It often leads to forest degradation and/or deforestation, thus threatening not only valuable forest ecosystem services and biodiversity, but also the welfare of those dependent on forest resources for their livelihoods (e.g. ...
... A few country-level studies (e.g. Palmer 2001;Smith et al. 2003;McElwee 2004;Hansen and Treue 2008;Alemagi and Kozak 2010;Miller 2011) and multi-country reports (e.g. Karsenty 2003;Seneca Creek Associates and Wood Resources International 2004a;Contreras-Hermosilla et al. 2007;Hoare 2015;Kleinschmit et al. 2016b) assume factors such as corruption, conflicts and population growth to be general causes of illegal logging. ...
... Second, illegal logging activities are assumed to be facilitated in periods of political crisis and armed conflict (e.g. Karsenty 2003; Seneca Creek Associates and Wood Resources International 2004a; Alemagi and Kozak 2010;Pokorny et al. 2016). This is not least because people usually face shorter time horizons and higher discount rates during periods of war and political instability, and thus log as fast and as much as they can to maximize profits and minimize risk (Burgess et al. 2015). ...
Illegal logging is a global concern, associated with severe negative environmental, social and economic impacts, such as deforestation, degradation of biodiversity and loss of government revenues. Despite recent international efforts to combat illegal logging activities, the problem remains widespread. While the academic literature on the subject is extensive, little systematic research has been devoted to analysing the causes of illegal logging. Here, this knowledge gap is addressed with a cross-national assessment of factors hypothesized to impact illegal logging. The logistic regression analysis conducted in this study corroborates some widely held beliefs, but also provides some new insights on the factors that are important for whether illegal logging is likely to be a problem. It is shown that, besides physical-geographic characteristics, a number of factors relating to the level and speed of a country’s economic-institutional development are associated with illegal logging. These include gross domestic product per capita, economic growth, voice and accountability, rule of law and control of corruption. The findings also have implications for existing policies to tackle illegal logging activities.
... La loi ne semble pas avoir permis d'accroître l'assistance aux FC pour en assurer la bonne gouvernance. Les agents forestiers manquent de formation en foresterie communautaire et exigent parfois des pots-de-vin auprès des communautés (Brown et Schreckenberg, 2001 ;Alemagi et Kozak, 2010). Dans les communautés, le faible niveau d'alphabétisation, le manque d'expérience des procédures bureaucratiques et la méfiance des chefs traditionnels envers les FC nuisent à la gouvernance forestière (CAR-FAD et MINFOF, 2006). ...
... Malgré la volonté de décentraliser la gestion forestière, l'État, dans la loi forestière de 1994, n'a pas reconnu le rôle des chefs traditionnels dans la gestion des forêts (Oyono, 2005 ;Alemagi et Kozak, 2010). Le processus de décentralisation a été structuré sur un socle juridique dualiste, où un dispositif légal de droit moderne se superpose à un dispositif de droit coutumier, le premier tendant à ignorer le second (Ongolo et Brimont, 2015). ...
... Dans ce contexte, l'État a tenté de contourner les chefs traditionnels en mettant en place les FC. Dès lors, certains chefs traditionnels ont parfois encouragé l'exploitation illégale, ce qui nuisait à la gouvernance forestière et désavouait les gestionnaires des FC (Oyono, 2005 ;Alemagi et Kozak, 2010). Le manque d'harmonisation a ainsi créé une concurrence entre l'État et les chefs traditionnels Samndong et Vatn, 2018). ...
Au Cameroun, les communautés locales font face à des défis de gouvernance forestière et de propriété des forêts communautaires. Les déterminants du succès de la gouvernance forestière ont été étudiés dans douze forêts communautaires (FC) de l’Est-Cameroun. Des groupes de discussion et des entrevues individuelles ont permis de réaliser la cartographie des acteurs d’appui, de documenter la perception de la gouvernance des forêts communautaires et d’en identifier les déterminants, pour ensuite proposer une échelle de gouvernance des forêts communautaires. Les résultats montrent que les acteurs d’appui influencent grandement la création des forêts communautaires. L’exception de la FC A3 montre qu’une communauté peut créer une forêt communautaire sous la seule impulsion du chef traditionnel, sans soutien extérieur. La perception de la gouvernance forestière par les communautés était positive lorsque l’appui à la création de la forêt communautaire provenait d’acteurs tournés vers la communauté (organisations non gouvernementales, administration des forêts et Église) et négative lorsque l’appui provenait d’acteurs tournés vers la ressource ligneuse (élites et opérateurs forestiers privés). Le diagramme des déterminants relationnels entre communautés et acteurs d’appui, basé sur la cohésion entre les principes de gouvernance (participation, transparence, légitimité, équité, intégration, imputabilité, capacité et adaptabilité), met en évidence les actions correctives possibles pour mieux tenir compte des besoins des communautés afin d’atteindre la dévolution sur l’échelle de la gouvernance.
... In Latin America, the situation is fundamentally the same like most developing countries. In Honduras for example, due to poor governance of forests and the resources therein, illicit timber production by logging companies is about 75 to 85% (about 125,000 to 145,000 m 3 ) of the total annual hardwood production, while in Nicaragua, it is estimated to account for half (30,000 to 50,000 m 3 ) of the total annual hardwood production and 40 to 50% (110,000 to 135,000 m 3 ) of the softwood production (Del Alcocer Lopez, 2003;Richards et al., 2003;Alemagi & Kozak, 2010). ...
... As Lebedys (2004) explains, between 1990 and 2000, timber-based forest products accounted for 19.8% of Cameroon's exports. Cameroon's forestry operations employ between 45,000 and 70,000 people and output from these operations accounts for more than 10% of the country's GDP (Ameriei, 2005;Alemagi & Kozak, 2010;Alemagi, 2010;Alemagi, 2011). ...
... Large-scale logging operations remain the dominant business model in Cameroon's forest sector (Alemagi and Kozak, 2010). These operations occupy about 63% of the country's productive forestland (Kozak, 2009) and accounted for about 3 % of the country's GDP in 2004 (Karsenty, 2007;Alemagi & Kozak, 2010). ...
This article critically reviews the socio-economic and environmental performance of large-scale logging companies operating in countries endowed with the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo Basin in Central Africa and offers possible solutions to problems identified. After independence, these countries formulated a series of strategies to attract foreign investment in the large-scale logging industry. Recently, while a plethora of policies and regulations have been designed to advance sustainable forest management in these countries, the sustainability of this industry has been brought into question in light of the impoverish state of local forest-dependent communities. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the regulatory framework of this industry in the developing world, as well as assess their performance with a particular focus on six countries where the forests of the Congo Basin are concentrated in Central Africa.
... Market opportunities for value-added wood products currently exist both within Cameroon and all over the world [15]. Indeed, in the United States alone, higher value wood products represent a US$200 billion market [14]. ...
... In a series of personal interviews with some council officials, it was revealed that actors involved in this illicit practice include "unidentified persons coming from other communities with local residents as accomplice and as a result of poor forest monitoring from forest guards." The issue of poor forest monitoring as one of main factors unpinning illegal logging in Cameroon is supported in the prevailing literature [15,18,19]. Others have identified poor forest governance from the relevant ministries as the root cause for this illegality [15,20,21]. ...
... The issue of poor forest monitoring as one of main factors unpinning illegal logging in Cameroon is supported in the prevailing literature [15,18,19]. Others have identified poor forest governance from the relevant ministries as the root cause for this illegality [15,20,21]. Indeed, as Cerutti et al. [21] report, each year, Cameroon's State officials may be collecting an estimated sum of 6 million Euros in the form of informal payments or bribes from illegal chainsaw loggers operating in the country. ...
Council forests were officially enacted in Cameroon in 1994 as part of the forestry law reform. The law provided rural councils with the legal right to create their own forests estate within the Permanent Forest Estate (PFE) of the State, following the preparation of a management plan approved by the forest administration. In this chapter, we analyze the socioeconomic and climate change mitigation potentials of these forests and propose possible options for improving their socioeconomic importance as well as their ability to mitigate climate change. Results indicate that Cameroon’s council forests provide socioeconomic opportunities to communities in which they are located including employment and revenue from the sale of timber and nontimber forest products emanating from these forests. Additionally, given their diversity in terms of the various forest types (e.g., humid dense evergreen forests, humid dense semideciduous forests, and gallery forests), these forests have enormous carbon stocks which can provide huge opportunities for international climate initiatives such as the REDD+ mechanism to be initiated within them as a potential for mitigating global climate change. The chapter identifies and discusses possible options for improving the socioeconomic and climate change mitigation potential of these forests. Progress on the options the chapter opines, will help in improving the contributions of these forests to socioeconomic development and climate change mitigation.
... Despite the systemic problems associated with log smuggling in the world, few studies have been conducted to explore the reasons underlying these practices. Alemagi & Kozak (2010) during their study about illegal logging in Cameroon, pointed out the effect of factors such as systemic corruption, poverty, conflicts, licensing schemes, usurpation of property rights, and inadequate institutional support in log smuggling. Richards et al (2003) analyzed log smuggling in Honduras and Nicaragua, dealing with the issue of log smuggling in 5 sections. ...
... In non-transparent office environments, the possibility of administrative corruption increases and corrupted behaviours are facilitated. Tacconi et al (2003), Richards et al (2003) and Alemagi & Kozak (2010) reported that the issue of corruption is one of the main causes of log smuggling. Livelihood insecurity caused by poverty and chronic unemployment is the most important problem in forested areas and marginalized communities. ...
Undoubtedly, log smuggling is one of the most significant factors in quantitative and qualitative reduction of the Caspian forests in north of Iran, while it has received less attention in forest studies. This study was conducted to identify the causes of log smuggling in Guilan Province, Iran. A team of 24 experts from Forest Protection Department, Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization, Guilan Province was selected, and the study was carried out in three phases by questionnaire and Delphi method. According to the frequency of responses to the first open-ended question in the first stage of Delphi method, number of 24 various specialists' ideas were identified as the causes of log smuggling. Greed of profiteers, unemployment and the need for income especially among young people, lack of planning in each forest area, poverty in forest communities, easy access to forest areas through forest roads, and closure of forestry plans had the highest frequency among responses. Based on the results from phase two of Delphi method, unemployment and the need for income especially among young people was the notable cause of log smuggling. Systematic corruption, greed of profiteers, poverty in forest communities, failure to deal effectively with log smuggling agents, buying and selling smuggled wood without any trouble are ranked second to sixth, respectively. The Kendall's W test showed no concordance between experts on the questions in relation to the comparison between the ranks among the variables. The results of the tests also showed that the "unemployment and the need for income especially among young people" factor was the first rank, while the "timber industry dependency on certain types of wood" was the last one. The summary of interviewee's opinions after the Kendall's W test illustrated that the most principle log smuggling causes are as follows: unemployment and the need for income especially among young people (94%), systematic corruption (89%), greed of profiteers (86%), and poverty in forest communities (84%), and failure to deal effectively with log smuggling agents (82%). By identifying the factors affecting log smuggling, the necessity of using a strategy to deal with these factors in Guilan Province is felt more than ever.
... In order to avoid work delays, it is very likely that businesses opt to harvest wood illegally. This is an example where bureaucracy becomes one of the factors that fuel illegal logging [23]. Weak government mechanisms fail to sustain logging activities [24] and vague laws encourage corruption. ...
... As the incompetent laws fail to stop illegal operations and punishments are futile, the conflicts in a society will never cease and illegal logging practices thus proliferate. When Alemagi and Kozak [23] studied the main cause for local illegal logging in Cameroon, they observed a high frequency of conflicts coupled with an increase in the opportunities for illegal wood harvesting. For example, disputes between local departments allowed enterprises to use such divides to run illegal businesses. ...
To eradicate illegally harvested wood sources in its domestic market, it is critical to conduct risk assessments on wood sourcing in regions with illegal loggings. It is not reliable to use a single indicator to analyze suspicious illegal logging. This study integrates three key global indicators: CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index), HDI (Human Development Indicator), and WGI (The Worldwide Governance Indicators) by applying the entropy weight method to establish a new risk indicator to rank suspicious illegal logging regions. This study aims to establish better risk indicators by considering more factors to assess the risks of illegal logging and its trade flow more reliably. By analyzing roundwood production, Myanmar, Congo, and Nigeria are rated high-risk. Countries such as the U.S., Germany, Canada, and Finland are rated low-risk.
... Approximately 28% of wood was exported to Japan, and 65% -to China. [2] Currently, only about 10% of wood is processed in Russia. In some regions, this volume is even smaller. ...
... The temporary policy of collecting only half of the value added tax (VAT) when importing wood from Russia is significant [2]. ...
... In fact, 40% of its land area is covered by the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo Basin, representing 22 million hectares of dense and degraded forest, of which 17.4 million are exploitable for timber [18]. This makes the country the sixth largest exporter of tropical woods worldwide, achieving on average more than 1.5 million cubic metres of round wood equivalent (RWE) exports each year [19,20]. The forest sector makes a significant contribution to Cameroon's total export base, with forest products accounting for 19.8% of Cameroon's merchandised exports or approximately US$60 million in revenues every year [19], and is the second largest export product after crude oil [20]. ...
... This makes the country the sixth largest exporter of tropical woods worldwide, achieving on average more than 1.5 million cubic metres of round wood equivalent (RWE) exports each year [19,20]. The forest sector makes a significant contribution to Cameroon's total export base, with forest products accounting for 19.8% of Cameroon's merchandised exports or approximately US$60 million in revenues every year [19], and is the second largest export product after crude oil [20]. As in other wood-producing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, primary processing is the dominant value-adding activity in Cameroon's wood industry and the main part of wood products is intended for export to the EU and Asia [21]. ...
Energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains a challenging issue at the midway point to the United Nations' development goals. From the perspective of energy efficiency and diversification of power-generation sources, this paper investigates the capacity of the wood-processing industry to contribute to the decentralised power generation by performing a techno-economic analysis of the use of wood residues for cogeneration. Using a survey performed in Cameroon as a case study, a biomass-fuelled cogeneration scheme and a model analysing its viability are proposed for the specific context of SSA. A sensitivity analysis indicates for a given process efficiency of the industry, the attractiveness of cogeneration as the processing capacity and feed-in tariffs of electricity increase. More specifically, the threshold of feed-in tariffs ensuring the economic viability of CHP in the sub-region is estimated at $0.15 per kWh for mills where the output capacities of sawn timber products are of 5000 cubic metre per annum and more. The power-generation potential from the primary processing of timbers in the sub-region is about 388 kWh per cubic metre of sawn wood, while the energy intensity of the sawing process is estimated at 132 kWh per cubic metre. Therefore, the industry can generate up to 2472 GWh of electricity in the three sub-regions of East, West and Central Africa if a total of US$ 2.5 billion is invested, allowing a substantial increase of 1% of the current electricity-generation capacity for the geographic location which has the most important forestry resources on the continent.
... 45) states that 'the [country's] law governing land issues are clear: the laws take precedence over customary right'. The R-PP mainly refers to 1974 land tenure and 1994 forestry laws, which do not recognize customary rights to forest and land, and limit IPs and communities' rights to user and access rights (Alemagi and Kozak, 2010;Assembe-Mvondo et al., 2014). Moreover, both land and forestry laws attribute the ownership of valuable forest resources to the state (Mbatu, 2015) and do not specify whether carbon ownership is associated with rights over trees. ...
... A further challenge is 'strong division and conflicts among national CSOs and intra-community between those favouring conservation or conversion' noted an interviewee from CSOs. This sentiment corroborates similar findings by Ongolo (2015), Alemagi and Kozak (2010) and Wodschow et al. (2016). Such competition hampers the ability of nonstate actors and hinders collective action to influence the policy elites and advocate for coherent policy implementation. ...
Two key international policy processes have been developed to combat illegal logging and promote the contribution of forests to climate change mitigation in developing countries: the European Union's Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and its Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change policy on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD +). The implementation of these policies raises concerns about unintended adverse effects on the environment and local peoples' livelihoods. To prevent such effects, both processes involve developing country-level safeguards, so that they ‘do no harm’. This paper presents (i) a comparison of the social safeguards of the FLEGT-VPA and REDD + processes and an explanation of their commonalities and differences, and (ii) an exploration of the potential synergies and the challenges to realizing them. The three main research methods used in the study were semi-structured interviews, content analysis of policy documents, and focus group discussions with local communities and indigenous peoples in south and east Cameroon. Our analysis shows that whereas FLEGT-VPA includes legality-based safeguards with legally binding monitoring and reporting obligations, REDD + adopts a right-based approach to safeguards. Potential synergies between the two approaches were identified. The synergies lie in the participatory nature of the process of designing benefit sharing mechanisms, strengthening forest and land tenure, and defining the criteria and indicators in FLEGT-VPA and REDD + safeguards. However, realizing the synergies is challenging, given the existing political economy of Cameroon.
... The finding that financial supports helps reducing the illegal logging activity is supported by many studies, such as Gençay and Mercimek (2019), who suggest that the best way of preventing forest crimes are to increase the income of the people and reduce their need for forests and forest resources. Similarly, Alemagi and Kozak (2010) count poverty among the causes of the illegal logging activities in Cambodia. They also report that some employment was provided to villagers to curb illegal logging. ...
Forest crimes are among the serious threats destroying forests. To prevent the forest crimes there are various solutions proposed, such as fortification of the laws, increasing the penalties, or increasing the public awareness. This article, however, suggests an alternative solution of preventing the forest crimes by investigating the relations between the individual financial supports provided to forest villagers and the levels of various forest crime types in Turkey. The study shows that, when the forest villagers are given financial supports, the levels of illegal logging, illegal transferring of forest products, illegal expansion of private lands into forests, illegal processing of trees, and illegal pasturage crimes decrease significantly. However, the financial supports do not affect the levels of illegal occupation of forestlands crime.
... Zeb et al. (2019) add that illegal logging in the Kalasha valleys of Pakistan is due to dependence on the forest as the population's economic resource. In this vein, several studies (Lima et al., 2018, Bouriaud, 2005, Alemagi and Kozak, 2010 note that unemployment and poverty are among the main drivers of illegal logging. Lastly, illegal logging may be due to economic push (Damette and Delacote, 2012). ...
Previous studies indicate that the shadow economy is truly an environmental foe, with positive linkages with energy intensity, air pollution, and emissions. This study extends the literature by considering the environmental influence of the shadow economy on one of the most important components of the ecosystem, the forest. The analysis is carried out for a global sample of 148 countries from 1991 to 2017 using various panel techniques. Analyses are also conducted for four subsamples by income level and seven subsamples by region. The results are robust and consistent. Increases in the shadow economy seem, surprisingly, to have a positive impact on forest land in the short run. The effects are documented as consistent across four income groups and six out of seven sub-regions. However, the shadow economy appears to exacerbate deforestation in the long run. The results reveal asymmetric linkages between the shadow economy and forest area. More attention is then given to the consequences of the shadow economy on forest reservation, especially for long-term policy setting.
... Destruction as specified in Article 406 to Article 412 refers to the element of deforestation in the crime of illegal logging departs from the idea of the concept of licensing in the forest management system which contains the function of controlling and supervising the forest to ensure the sustainability of forest functions. Illegal logging is essentially an activity that violates the existing licensing provisions [32,33], whether it does not have an official permit or has a permit but violates the provisions contained in the permit, such as overtaking or logging outside the concession area owned. In addition, promoting law enforcement against illegal logging needs to be carried out in conjunction with monitoring forest reforestation by permit-holding corporations. ...
... These domains are (i) illegal occupation of forestlands; (ii) illegal logging; (iii) woodlands arson; (iv) illegal timber transport; (v) trade and timber smuggling; and (vi) transfer pricing, illegal accounting practices, and illegal forest processing [13] . Illegal timber logging is the most leading forest crime reported in the literature [14][15][16][17][18][19] . However, an increasing number of researchers [20][21][22] have reported increasing illegal mining cases in forest estates in recent times. ...
The high prevalence of illicit forest activities has adverse effects on biodiversity and the environment and setbacks to sustainable forest management and economies. This paper analyzed official reports on forest offenses and linked tree offenses' types to their ecological importance over a ten-year period (2008 to 2017) in the Bibiani Forest District. It sought insights from forestry officials and forest fringe communities' motives and means of managing forest offenses in Ghana. The reviewed official records revealed seven offenses types, with the most frequently recorded offense being illegal farming (n=67). It was followed by illegal logging (n=51), illicit mining (n=33), and chainsaw lumbering (n=13). The lowest recorded offenses (n=3) were human-induced wildfire, charcoal production, and canoe carving. From the tree species related offenses, a total of 31 timber species were reportedly felled illegally, with Celtis mildbreadi being the most felled, followed by Triplochiton scleroxylon and Pterygopta macrocarpa. It was also revealed that most of the trees were under imminent threat of extinction (Scarlet-star rated species). The study found lack of farmlands, limited access to NTFPs and trees, logistical challenges (e.g., vehicle, motorbikes, staff and modern technology like drones), weak law enforcement and interferences from some key stakeholders to be factors that motivate culprits to commit illicit forest activities. It is recommended that the Forestry Commission should invest more in technological and human resources to strengthen its surveillance in partnership with forest fringe communities to enhance the ecological, economic and social benefits of forest resources to all segments of society.
... In fact, cancellations of forest concessions are seen in many countries in the tropics (Sloan, 2014), indicating that illegal logging or different kinds of violation were conducted by the concession holders. Many scientists as well as environmental watches have reported illegal logging activities in the tropics (Alemagi and Kozak, 2010;Finer et al., 2014;Santos de Lima et al., 2018), and the rates of illegal logging ranging from 20 to 80% (Lawson and MacFual, 2010). ...
The management of tropical forests can achieve multiple purposes. Here, we assessed timber production, bioenergy generation, and emission reductions through the management of production forest for timber and bioenergy production in Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2060 through a comparative study between the conventional and reduced impact logging (RIL) systems. Whilst producing an average of 35.1 million cubic metres per year (m³ year⁻¹) of wood products, the adoption of the RIL can result in emission reductions of 96.6 teragrams of carbon dioxide (TgCO2) over a 60-year period. Apart from deforestation, emissions from logging operations were the second-highest source of emissions, indicating that attention should be made to improve the efficiency of logging machinery whilst reducing deforestation and forest degradation. When combining all emissions together, total emission reductions were estimated at 229.9 TgCO2, 215.4 TgCO2, and 207.9 TgCO2 annually during the Paris Agreement between 2020 and 2030 if compared to coal, diesel, and natural gas, respectively. Southeast Asia could generate about US$2.1 billion–US$2.3 billion year⁻¹ under the result-based payment of the REDD+ scheme at a carbon price of US$10. Introducing tax exemptions or financial incentives for carbon and environmental taxes and/or energy tax could materialise the RIL-based forest management.
... In fact, cancellations of forest concessions are seen in many countries in the tropics (Sloan, 2014), indicating that illegal logging or different kinds of violation were conducted by the concession holders. Many scientists as well as environmental watches have reported illegal logging activities in the tropics (Alemagi and Kozak, 2010;Finer et al., 2014;Santos de Lima et al., 2018), and the rates of illegal logging ranging from 20 to 80% (Lawson and MacFual, 2010). ...
Global efforts have been made to manage tropical forests for timber production and climate change mitigation. This study assessed carbon emission reductions through the improved forest management and the substitution of fossil fuels with wood biomasses under the conventional (CVL) and reduced impact logging (RIL) systems in
Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2060. During this period, carbon emissions from logging and deforestation in the region were approximately 10% of carbon emissions from tropical deforestation. By adopting the RIL, 96.6 Tg CO2 of emissions can be reduced, while producing 35.1 million m3 year−1 of wood products. If woody biomasses are used to substitute the combustion of coal, diesel, or natural gas for bioenergy production, total emission reductions could be 229.9, 215.4, or 207.9 Tg CO2 annually during the Paris Agreement, respectively. Depending on chosen carbon price, management of natural forests in Southeast Asia could generate about US$2.1–2.3 billion annually over 10 years between 2020 and 2030. Although costs for bioenergy production from wood biomass remain the concern, enabling global policies, emerging sustainability markets, and financial incentives through carbon tax, environmental tax, and energy tax could materialize the sound management of tropical forests for long-term timber production and climate change mitigation.
... Such disturbances occur both legally and illegally, making the sustainable management of tropical forests complex and difficult (Lewis et al., 2015;Reboredo, 2013;Vasco et al., 2017). Illegal logging and the associated trade of illegally logged timber have long been serious global issues (Abugre and Kazaare, 2011;Alemagi and Kozak, 2010;Gunes and Elvan, 2005;Hansen and Treue, 2008) with social, economic, and environmental impacts (Gutierrez-Velez and MacDicken, 2008;Reboredo, 2013;Zhang et al., 2016). It has been reported that the amount of illegally logged timber exceeds the amount of legally harvested timber in developing countries (Gan et al., 2016;Kuemmerle et al., 2009), and approximately 15%-30% of the volume of timber traded globally is obtained illegally (Nellemann and INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme (eds), 2012). ...
Illegal logging is a globally important issue, but there is dearth of quantitative information on the spatial and temporal patterns of illegal logging on the ground. We measured the size, species, and ages of stumps from illegally or legally logged trees along a total of 10 km of 20-m-wide transects in traditional production forests of Myanmar. The number and basal area of stumps resulting from illegal logging were 9.93- and 3.89-fold greater, respectively, than those of legal logging. Illegal logging always targeted high-quality trees for timber, but it increased significantly after legal logging. Spatial patterns of illegal logging varied before, during and after legal logging. More illegal logging occurred in areas that were closer to old footpaths before legal logging, but more illegal logging occurred closer to main and logging roads after legal operations. We conclude that current legal logging operations facilitate illegal logging because the construction of logging roads makes it easier for illegal loggers to transport their harvests. Therefore, the government should enforce existing rules that require that logging roads be decommissioned and rendered impassable after the cessation of legal logging operations.
... No cases have been successfully prosecuted although research showed that 13 cases of alleged corruption have occurred in the issuance of licenses (NEPCon, 2018). Potential corruption can presumably be contained by encouraging competition in the procurements of logging permits and concessions (Alemagi & Kozak, 2010). ...
Background and Purpose: A model by the World Bank (2006) explained the causes of illegal logging and environmental crimes in terms of the simultaneous presence of methods, motives, and opportunities. This paper aims to examine the opportunity factors behind the commission of illegal logging and forest offences in Malaysia based on the perceptions of forest enforcement agencies. Methodology: Responses from the agencies were mainly obtained through a set of questionnaire though semi-structured interviews were also carried out to support the quantitative findings. The strength of the factors was determined through data analysis using SPSS, where opportunity factors for committing illegal logging were analyzed according to the results of measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion. Findings: Insufficient enforcement facilities and equipment were found in the study to be the most significant factors which present opportunities for committing the offences. Respondents also perceived the level of enforcement, cooperation between government agencies and the possibility of conviction as the factors which open up opportunities for illegal logging and forest offences. Contributions: The results of the study may help create awareness and provide inputs for policy makers to formulate appropriate policy responses to curb illegal logging and other forest crimes. Keywords: Environmental crime, illegal logging, opportunity factors, policy response, Act 313. Cite as: Mohd Noor, M. N. H, Kadir, R., & Muhamad, S. (2020). Illegal logging and forest offences in peninsular Malaysia: Perceived opportunity factors. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(2), 86-102. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp86-102
... Therefore, some infractions of the law pertaining to chainsaw milling are sometimes handled in clear contradiction to what the regulations provides; this does not motivate both the forestry officials and the police to pursue prosecution (Nutakor et al., 2011). Corruption and weak institutional governance have been pinpointed in a number of empirical studies outside Ghana as factors promoting CSM (Alemagi and Kozak, 2010;Cerutti et al., 2013;Kamara et al., 2010;Kambugu et al., 2010;Lescuyer et al., 2010). In many of these instances, CSM is banned on paper but allowed, or even subtly promoted, in practice. ...
Chainsaw milling has in recent times gained currency in public discourse in Ghana. Governments over the years have tried to curtail the activity but such attempts have always met strong resistance from the locals who engage in the operation as a means of livelihood. A critical analysis of the industry is necessary for a sustainable livelihood development. This paper, through empirical research, uses discourse analysis to examine the politics of chainsaw operation in Ghana, focusing on what push locals into it in spite of attempts to curb it. Our findings indicate that for most people, unemployment, corrupt government officials, lack of agricultural lands and inadequate policy response to domestic timber demand are the reasons for getting into the industry. However, the rules and regulations as well as the monitoring regimes, coupled with complex ambiguous relationships between state agencies, large-scale lumber and milling companies, traditional authorities and chainsaw operators, together entrench chainsaw activities in the country. Our findings provide a different approach to state agencies' discourse on chainsaw dominated by buccaneering and criminalisation narratives in Ghana. Rather than the antagonistic tactic towards the chainsaw phenomenon by the Forestry Commission and other state bureaucracies, they could initiate policy and legislative reforms to help tidy up the chainsaw operations in Ghana.
... Building consensus among stakeholders with conflicting interests is a major aspect examined in many studies on participation [69,70]. The informal domestic forest sector in Cameroon is made up of a cross-section of local forest users ranging from chain-saw millers, small-scale farmers, indigenous communities, petit-traders, and subsistence wood users [23,71]. Due to the large number of individuals involved in informal forest activities coupled with limited organizational capacity, it was difficult for the consortium to agree with the multi-stakeholder platform on a traceability system that protects the interests of the informal sector without compromising the credibility of the county's legality assurance system (LAS). ...
This paper applies the international environmental negotiations framework (IENF) and the multiple streams framework (MSF) to analyze the influence of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Development Agencies (IDAs) in the development and implementation of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade agreement (FLEGT) and the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) regimes in Cameroon. Deforestation, forest degradation, and illegal logging are critical issues in forest management in many forest-rich countries around the world. In attempt to curtail illegal logging, global forest governance in the past few years has witnessed the development of a number of timber legality regimes including FLEGT. In the same light, the international community has recently seen the emergence of the REDD+ regime to fight against global warming and climate change. Based on sixty-eight interviews in Cameroon with representatives of NGOs and IDAs, government officials, the timber industry, and members of forest communities, as well as eleven informal conversations, and more than sixty documents, the paper finds that NGO and IDA influence on the FLEGT and REDD+ regimes in Cameroon has been growing in three areas: stakeholder participation, project development, and institutional development. Thus, the increasing influence of NGOs and IDAs will pave the way for future interventions on social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues, including land tenure, carbon rights, benefit distribution, equity, Free, Prior and Informed consent, legality, and stakeholder process, related to the FLEGT and REDD+ regimes in Cameroon.
... In Cameroon, a large-scale illegal log harvest occurred during 1999-2006 due to an illicit ministerial regulation which suspended all small-scale logging titles (Cerutti & Tacconi 2008). Since the forestry regulations and laws regarding forestry control in many countries are often set by elite groups without involvement of community members, there is serious doubt over the legitimacy of law enforcement (Rosander 2008;Alemagi & Kozak 2010). ...
Many previous studies argue that harsher forestry legislation should be enforced to handle the problem of tree poaching. However, empirical studies on the behavioural analysis of poachers’ decision making is largely lacking. Drawing from conversations with 65 inmates imprisoned for Forestry Act offences in Taiwan, we discuss the reasons behind the intention whether or not to stop tree poaching. The majority (81.5%) of the sample expressed their intention to stop tree poaching. Among the 16 demographic, offence and punishment characteristics, we identified only four variables to be included in the final logistic regression model to predict the decision to stop. We found that (1) having no previous experience of stout camphor tree ( Cinnamomum kanehirae ) theft, taking a log from a stout camphor tree and selling it to buyers; or (2) higher level of education could predict a greater likelihood of intending to quit. Given the limitation of the existing control approach, we propose a restorative justice approach to the poaching problem. A restorative justice approach, instead of focusing solely on the violation of law, recognizes the harm done and forms collaborative work to repair the harm and prevent future wrongdoings. It also helps break the vicious cycle of a poaching subculture.
... First, the establishment of PAs can weaken the tenure rights of indigenous and local communities, eroding their authority to deter outsiders and providing opportunities for other people or companies to enter the reserve. In this way PA designation can spur encroachment rather than prevent it (25). Studies looking at PA downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD) have found that many PAs, particularly in the tropics, experience reduced effectiveness inside their boundaries associated with resource extraction and development as well as local land claims (26,27). ...
One-sixth of the global terrestrial surface now falls within protected areas (PAs), making it essential to understand how far they mitigate the increasing pressures on nature which characterize the Anthropocene. In by far the largest analysis of this question to date and not restricted to forested PAs, we compiled data from 12,315 PAs across 152 countries to investigate their ability to reduce human pressure and how this varies with socioeconomic and management circumstances. While many PAs show positive outcomes, strikingly we find that compared with matched unprotected areas, PAs have on average not reduced a compound index of pressure change over the past 15 y. Moreover, in tropical regions average pressure change from cropland conversion has increased inside PAs even more than in matched unprotected areas. However, our results also confirm previous studies restricted to forest PAs, where pressures are increasing, but less than in counterfactual areas. Our results also show that countries with high national-level development scores have experienced lower rates of pressure increase over the past 15 y within their PAs compared with a matched outside area. Our results caution against the rapid establishment of new PAs without simultaneously addressing the conditions needed to enable their success.
... However, SFM is suffering from a mix of challenges related to governance, economic, technical and financial issues (Alemagi, 2011;Cerutti et al., 2008Cerutti et al., , 2017Ewane, Olome, & Lee, 2015). Unsustainable practices in the forestry sector have been linked to the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Cameroon (Alemagi & Kozak, 2010;Epule, Peng, Lepage, & Chen, 2011;MINEPDED, 2017;Tegegne, Lindner, Fobissie, & Kanninen, 2016). ...
As the role of forests in climate change mitigation is explicitly recognized in the Paris Agreement, the need to enhance the adoption of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) practices is crucial. Therefore, this paper aims at identifying and evaluating barriers in adopting SFM practices in the context of forest carbon emission reductions. A total of 15 barriers in adopting SFM practices are listed through literature and expert inputs. Using Cameroon as a case study, the listed barriers are then evaluated by experts to determine their relative importance using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. According to our findings, the ‘Regulatory and Legislative frameworks’ barrier category was attributed to the highest importance among other categories, in adopting SFM practices in the forestry sector. ‘Inadequate political will and incentive to enforce regulations’ appears to be the major obstacle in adopting SFM practices in Cameroon. As carbon emission reduction initiatives are being developed, there is need to move from broad to concrete suggestions that will overcome these barriers. However, proper diagnosis is necessary in order to target barriers with the right incentives and enabling conditions that will support carbon programs and projects to deliver effective emission reductions.
... In addition, the country's poor image has been linked to high levels of corruption. Based on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, Cameroon has been ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries (see Alemagi & Kozak, 2010). Considering the above, the image of a corrupt country does not gel well with a tourism industry whose success is largely based on positive perceptions among the potential investors and tourists (Assibong, 2010). ...
Tourism is increasingly seen as a pathway to development. However, a condition for the developmental role of tourism is that it is properly planned and managed. This is usually based on specific tourism policy frameworks and research providing guidance and targets for planning and development actions. This research note is contextualised within a tourism planning and development situation in which tourism policy guidelines are missing, and supporting tourism research is extremely limited, with the case focusing on the emerging economy and tourism destination of Cameroon, in Central Africa. The paper provides a thematic overview of tourism research in the country, outlining the key issues and challenges in the national tourism governance and policy landscape. It is concluded that, to capitalise on the benefits of the growing industry, there is an urgent need for national tourism policies, supported by more intensive research on tourism and its role in development.
... The determinants of the illegal logging in other countries have been examined in the literature as well. Alemagi and Kozak (2010) discuss the factors that affect the illegal logging in Cameroon, including systemic corruption, poverty, conflicts, licensing society, usurpation of property rights, and inadequate institutional support. Hansen and Treu (2008) estimate the amount of illegally logged timber in Ghana from 1996 to 2005 by using the timber export statistics, domestic timber consumption estimates, and official harvesting records. ...
Illegal logging is a significant problem in Indonesia, which is one of the few countries with a large forest area. In this paper, we study factors that affect harvesting and supply of illegal timber from Indonesia to China and Japan. We also look at factors that lead to demand of Indonesian illegal timber from China and Japan. A simultaneous-equation econometric model of illegally logged timber demand and supply is developed and tested using annual data over the period 1996–2010. We find that corruption and decentralization in Indonesia have significant and positive impact on illegally logged timber supply while excess demand in Japanese construction and furniture industries as well as Japan’s housing starts are significant factors affecting illegal logging in Indonesia. Law enforcement or policies aimed at reducing illegal harvesting in Indonesia are found to be more effective than policies targeting the import of illegal logged timber into Japan and China.
... 0264-8377/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. and forest degradation. Most of that research has focused on the relationship between corruption and illegal logging in that corruption contributes to forest degradation because it facilitates illegal activities such as overharvesting or high-grading (Alemagi and Kozak, 2010;Barnett, 1990;Callister, 1999;EIA and CIP, 2005) or harvesting outside concession areas (Smith et al., 2003a). However, this relationship may not always be direct and a nuanced understanding is needed for specific contexts (Cerutti et al., 2013;Palmer, 2005). ...
Corruption has often been blamed for causing deforestation, however, the evidence is mixed. The paper develops a framework to assess the impacts of corruption on forests and prioritize policy responses. Rather than relying just on a theoretical description of corruption, the framework is developed by analyzing how corruption manifests itself on the ground in the forest sector in Indonesia. The framework considers the potential impacts of corruption at different stages of forest management. We argue that to identify the specific impacts of corruption, it is necessary to understand intervening factors. It is shown that the impacts of different types of corruption on forests may be direct, indirect, ambiguous, or even negligible. Therefore, anti-corruption efforts should be more targeted to the specific types of corruption that are most likely to contribute to deforestation and forest degradation.
Forest crimes are among the serious threats destroying forests. To prevent the forest crimes there are various solutions proposed such as fortification of the laws, increasing the penalties, or increasing the public awareness. This article, however, suggests an alternative solution of preventing the forest crimes by investigating the relations between the individual financial supports provided to forest villagers and the rates of various forest crime types in Turkey. The study shows that, when the forest villagers are given financial supports, the levels of illegal logging, illegally expended trees, and illegal pasturage crimes decrease significantly. However, the financial supports do not affect the levels of illegal transfer of the forestry products, illegally expanding the lands into the forests, and illegal occupation of the forest areas crimes.
Forest crimes are among the serious threats destroying forests. To prevent the forest crimes there are various solutions proposed such as fortification of the laws, increasing the penalties, or increasing the public awareness. This article, however, aims to investigate the relations between the financial supports provided to forest villagers by the state in Turkey and the levels of various forest crime types to see whether the financial supports provided will cause any change in the forest crime levels. The study shows that, when the forest villagers are given financial supports, the levels of illegal logging, illegally expended trees, and illegal pasturage crimes decrease significantly. However, the financial supports do not affect the levels of illegal transfer of the forestry products, illegally expanding the lands into the forests, and illegal occupation of the forest areas crimes.
Forest crimes are among the serious threats destroying forests. To prevent the forest crimes there are various solutions proposed such as fortification of the laws, increasing the penalties, or increasing the public awareness. This article, however, suggests an alternative solution of preventing the forest crimes by investigating the relations between the individual financial supports provided to forest villagers and the rates of various forest crime types in Turkey. The study shows that, when the forest villagers are given financial supports, the levels of illegal logging, illegally expended trees, and illegal pasturage crimes decrease significantly. However, the financial supports do not affect the levels of illegal transfer of the forestry products, illegally expanding the lands into the forests, and illegal occupation of the forest areas crimes.
Ecosystem services have continued to dwindle due to human activities, with likely implications for the dependent populations. This paper assesses the relationship between poverty and ecosystem degradation within the peri-urban domain of Obafemi-Owode local government area (LGA) using a range of research methods including satellite imagery analysis to track land-use change, economic valuation of ecosystem services, and surveys to construct a multidimensional poverty index (MPI). The analysis shows that vegetation and wetlands have been replaced with built-up area and savannahs. This has resulted in a net loss in the value of ecosystem services worth US$ 11.3 million, most of which is attributable to the decline in waste-management services provided by peri-urban wetlands. The major activities cited as causing environmental degradation were lumbering and land clearing, which were perceived to be deepening poverty through water contamination, food shortages, loss of farmlands, unemployment, increased erosion, epidemics and dropping out of school.
The rise of global value chains (GVCs) has increased competition in global markets because of the constantly changing critical success factors which result in shifting comparative advantages. In such a context, countries are increasingly interested in assessing their relative competitiveness in order to better shape policies and business strategies. Going from UN Comtrade data, this paper provides a rich competitive analysis of the wooden furniture industry for 25 nations selected across all income groups and from diverse geographical regions. Balassa's index of Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) along with two other competitiveness measures (market share and trade competitiveness) enable to conclude that, most African countries have remained in a position of comparative disadvantage, with no significant improvement over the years. However, Asian countries of different income groups emerged more competitive and act as palpable examples of successful upgrading in this sector. European and American countries on their part, despite exhibiting strong competitive positions, are nonetheless experiencing downward trends. This paper further highlights that, successful upgrading in the wooden furniture value chain can only be made possible by the inevitable interplay of actions by major stakeholders like government and industry actors, as well as individual firms. The findings of this study provide practical and policy implications whose significance span beyond the wooden furniture value chain.
It is observed worldwide that forestland conversion policies have created serious loopholes enabling illegal logging, especially large-scale illegal logging. Research has also addressed the crime’s various driving factors but little attention has been paid to cultural facets. By conducting secondary data analysis and examining numerous reports, legal documents and newspapers articles, this paper examines two factors driving illegal logging in Vietnam: loopholes in forestland conversion policies, and traditional consumption of rare and endangered timber. It is revealed in this paper that commercial companies or timber barons have sophisticatedly abused forestland conversion policies and flouted relevant legal requirements to harvest large volumes of timber. It also documented that one of the key factors driving illegal logging in Vietnam is the traditional consumption of rare and endangered timber. The consumers are rich Vietnamese who are passionate about products made from endangered timber and are willing to pay enormous amounts of money to purchase these products.
Forest crimes are among the serious threats destroying forests. To prevent the forest crimes there are various solutions proposed such as fortification of the laws, increasing the penalties, or increasing the public awareness. This article, however, aims to investigate the relations between the financial supports provided to forest villagers by the state in Turkey and the levels of various forest crime types to see whether the financial supports provided will cause any change in the forest crime levels. The study shows that, when the forest villagers are given financial supports, the levels of illegal logging, illegally expended trees, and illegal pasturage crimes decrease significantly. However, the financial supports do not affect the levels of illegal transfer of the forestry products, illegally expanding the lands into the forests, and illegal occupation of the forest areas crimes.
Community forestry (CF) was set-up in Cameroon about 20 years ago to enable better environmental, economic, and social benefits for communities. Since then, 430 community forests have been attributed, covering an area of almost 1.7M ha. However, less than a quarter (10%) are in active management or enterprise. Weak institutions have been widely cited as a leading cause of poor performance in the community forestry process. This paper examines the current state of institutional deficits in Cameroon and identifies pathways for overcoming the deficits. Our analysis is based on a rigorous review of documented experiences so far. Results obtained revealed that emerging deficits revolve around form and functions. Legal; power, authority and rights; and size and biophysical potential deficits were grouped under the realm of form while resources; capacity; and governance deficits were grouped under the realm of functions. Proposed solutions to these deficits point to the need to recognize and manage inter-dependencies between challenges and corresponding potential solutions. Hence a system or integrated approach is needed to tackle the problems identified.
Deforestation is a major environmental problem confronting countries in the Global South. In response to the high rate of deforestation, policymakers have over the years implemented a myriad of afforestation programmes. This study sought to assess the prospects and challenges of Ghana’s Youth in Afforestation Programme. The data used for this study was collected from 60 recruits of the afforestation programme. The researchers also relied on institutional interviews and documents from relevant agencies. Overall, the results showed that the Youth in Afforestation Programme has enormous potentials in restoring Ghana’s degraded forests and protecting existing ones. However, it is confronted with several challenges ranging from financial, logistical to political. The inability of the implementing agencies and other relevant stakeholders to address these challenges has reduced the programme to a mere rhetoric rather than serving as a tool for transforming the socio-economic and environmental frontiers of the Ghanaian society.
This paper presents ideas and strategies to prevent illegal logging of timber. Globally, illegal logging is a substantial problem. While the exact amount of timber harvested illegally is unknown, the problem is estimated to cost USD$30–100 billion annually. Criminological theories suggest intervention mechanisms that could either prevent or severely limit illegal logging in the forests. Utilizing situational crime prevention techniques, certain strategies for prevention on the ground include signage indicating boundaries, gates lining access roads, and checkpoint locations. Transparency strategies include remote sensing, wood tracking operation standards and procedures, and independent certification. Additionally, forestry law enforcement, forestry management, and local communities must be encouraged to actively combat the problem of illegal logging.
This article aims to understand why extractive firms in the industrial logging industry in central Africa are reluctant to certify or label their activities. The methodology is based on three empirical case studies of logging companies in Cameroon: one opposed to certification and labeling (the model), the other is in the process of being certified (intermediate case) and the last is certified (negative case). The preferred option followed by this study was to avoid the copying of the first case by prospecting an intermediate case. The "negative" case permitted the model to be saturated. The comparative analysis of data collected highlighted some key obstacles to the commitment to environmental labeling: corruption, low turnover, high certification cost and the source of capital.
The empirical link between governance and illegal logging is widely accepted amongst scientist, although a minority still purports that illegal logging does not necessarily prevail because of poor governance. However, the nexus linking governance, illegal logging and carbon emission is not well enshrined in scientific literature. This paper seeks to review the literature on illegal logging and governance and empirically investigate the effect of illegal logging and governance effectiveness on carbon emission. Using panel dynamic ordinary least square method on data covering three Congo Basin timber-producing countries and three Asian timber-producing countries, this paper further investigates disaggregated effects between these two groups of countries. The empirical evidence underscores that Congo Basin timber-producing countries are characterised by increasing trend of illegal logging, poor governance effectiveness and corruption. Panel regression reveals a positive and significant impact of illegal logging, governance effectiveness and corruption on carbon emission. Asian producing countries depict a reducing trend in illegal logging and improvements in governance and corruption. There is a positive but not significant impact of illegal logging on carbon emission, and governance effectiveness reduces carbon emission. Thus, the dynamics of governance, illegal logging and carbon emission is not the same between timber-producing countries in Asia and Congo producing counties, thus suggesting the ability of institutions to curb illegal logging and enforce laws to reduce the effects of carbon emission. Multi-stakeholder consultations, government engagement, partnerships and training of control staff can help curb corruption. Legality checks should go beyond having legal documents to effectively check and control of timber concessions and small-scale logging.
The concept of the human right to a healthy environment represents the most pragmatic and cognitive approach to ensure environmental protection from a rights-based perspective. Yet, human rights approaches to environmental protection seem to be poorly developed in some domestic jurisdictions like Cameroon, where there seems to be inadequate protection of the environment, when analyzed from a rights-based paradigm. This chapter assesses the potential successes, limitations and prospects of using human rights norms, principles and standards to ensure environmental protection in Cameroon. Based on the assessment, it is argued that Cameroon’s legal framework is characterized by limitations and therefore appears to be insufficient, inadequate and ineffective. Consequently, the government has a responsibility to address these shortcomings, if it is truly committed to proactively protect the environment and other rights-based entitlements of people.
This paper presents four case studies in which forest data catalysed shifts in public policy and corporate activities. Brazil greatly reduced deforestation during the period between 2005 and 2014; Cameroon introduced a structured forest concessions regime; Viet Nam achieved their forest transition; and corporate operations around the world invested in supply chain management to alleviate deforestation concerns. We break the problem-solving required for these achievements into four steps: problem recognition, proposal and choice of solution, putting the solution into effect, and monitoring results. At each of these steps, we consider the relevant forest data. Data helped place issues on policymaker agendas, supported reaching sound decisions and enabled quantitative targets. Policy instruments for implementing change were built around available data and forest monitoring helped evaluate progress. The details of these successes can be an inspiration to those interested in improving collection of data on forests that can effectively support decision-making and better policies. There have been impressive recent improvements to many developing countries’ national forest monitoring capabilities. The successful examples of data application presented and evaluated here provide insight into how these new data can be effectively leveraged.
Deforestation has become an issue of public interest and sensitivity in Cambodia. Community-based forestry (CBF) and the accompanying local institutional community forestry (CF) arrangements are increasingly recognized as successful mechanisms to achieve sustainable forest management. However, in most community-managed forestry studies, there has still been no significant exploration of the viewpoints of local people to determine the monitoring and actions needed to enable CBF to achieve sustainable forest management. Therefore this study examines the perspectives of local experts across a range of issues and challenges facing CBF sustainability, using Q-methodology. This paper adapted and used four criteria for sustainable forest management to design the 43 Q-statements to guide examination of the subjectivity of local experts concerning CBF sustainability in Cambodia. The 52 respondents were purposively selected from the 13 Community Forestry sites to Q-sort the Q-statements. The findings revealed that most local experts felt that the environmental condition (criteria I), the loss of forest, is critical but one factor strongly disagreed. Considering socio-economic benefits and needs (criteria II), there were similarly polar views about whether the community desperately needs external finance now or whether they have the collective will to act and need to show that first. Only one of the factors supported further REDD+ projects reasonably strongly; others valued eco-tourism opportunities. None of the factors ranked the quality of community-based forest management practices (criteria III) strongly although there was mild agreement about a lack of CF management accountability. There were contrasting views on the legal, policy, and institutional framework and governance (criteria IV), with disagreement about the importance of local enforcement, and quality of local communication and consultation. All agreed, however, that the current position does not give them meaningful ownership and control over forest resources.
Illegal logging has attracted worldwide attention, and some measures, such as timber procurement policies and timber regulations, have been taken. However, there are no studies that examine the governance of illegal logging using game theory. This paper applies game theory to analyze the subsidy policy for governing illegal logging as well as the effects of the subsidy on the benefits of suppliers and operators of forest products. The results show that controlling illegal logging has an impact on exporting enterprises, and the effects produced by subsidies and non-subsidies are different for enterprise. Enterprises that receive subsidies will occupy foreign markets and gain additional profits, while enterprises that are not subsidized will exit foreign markets. The amount of subsidies is related to enterprise’s governance cost. The benefit for operators and suppliers depend on the combination of supervision level and forest products’ legality. The critical point of regulation of operators is related to regulatory costs, the additional benefits of weak supervision of suppliers, and penalties for regulatory failure. The critical point for suppliers to select legal raw materials is related to suppliers’ operating costs, gray income, and the degree of punishment.
Environmental harm and crime have become an increasingly critical issue, of which every single person, organisation, state and global community as a whole should be aware. A great number of threats stemming from environmental problems are challenging humanity’s security today. As a starting point, take just two examples that illustrate how environmental harm and crime threaten the living entities on Earth.
The identification of key causes and conditions of crime, and suggested appropriate solutions to eliminate these factors, thereby curtailing crime are an important task in criminological research. This is particularly meaningful in the field of environmental crime where practical solutions to control the crime have not yet received much attention (Chap. 2). As White and Heckenberg (2014: 19) rightly argue “knowing about the damage and about criminality is one thing. But in the end, it is how groups, organisations, institutions and societies respond to environmental harm that ultimately counts”. This chapter considers the key factors that drive timber trafficking in the context of Vietnam and then suggests corresponding solutions to tackle these root causes. Two types of solutions are identified and explained in this chapter: policy framework and law enforcement.
Performance bonding is a common method to enforce logging standards and timber contract rules, yet their applications in tropical concessions are still uncommon, with prohibitively high cost of capital, imperfect enforcement, risk of corruption, and long payback periods cited as reasons. In the face of these factors, we derive conditions for a feasible bond scheme and the amount of additional insurance a landowner can ask from a harvester in the form of a higher than strictly needed bond payment. We then determine the effect of confiscation risk on the feasibility of bond schemes, with this risk stemming from the presence of a corrupt inspector and taking the form of either collusive or non-collusive corruption. We show that confiscation risk can seriously limit the range of possible bond payments and the effects differ between the corruption types. An empirical example evaluates these results in the context of enforcement of reduced impact logging techniques in tropical concession management. The results will help governments better apply bond schemes and in particular adjust them in the presence of risks and external constraints.
In the republic of Cameroon, groundwater is distributed for community water supply from water points (WP) (spring catchments, wells and boreholes) and Mini Water Conveyances (MWC) for middle-sized urban and rural areas. Groundwater resources are abundant and erratically distributed in different aquifers in the country while water supply infrastructures are still unsatisfactory. Many constraints such as the weakness of institutions and legal framework constitute the roots of poor management of groundwater resources which is structurally overdrawn. This article primarily describes the groundwater resources availability, its use and its quality in the Republic of Cameroon. Equally, the current situation of the development of these resources was discussed as well as the policy framework and decision making, based on the surveys and the research work conducted by the previous authors. Simultaneously, it was also emphasized that the various polluting point and non-point sources may be addressed to avoid the onset-of epidemics for averting big catastrophes in future. Suggestions for modifications in the policies for better development and utilization of groundwater resources have been articulated based on the future requirements under looming climate change scenario. Suggestions have also been made to improve and overcome the managerial ineffectiveness for management of water sources.
Cross-national research that examines the impact of corruption on forest loss has yielded contradictory findings. These findings may be due to the use of aggregate measures of corruption. I use newly available data to examine how grand corruption in the executive branch and petty corruption in the public sector impacts the change in forest loss from 2001 to 2014. The specific question of this research concerns whether both petty corruption in the public sector as well as grand corruption in the executive sector yield higher levels of forest loss, as petty corruption consists of small, yet frequent infractions, while the grand corruption encompasses large, though infrequent violations. Therefore, this study considers if both forms of corruption, theoretically and empirically, impact forest loss, or if this disaggregation reveals new information. To accomplish this task, I use ordinary least squares regression for a sample of 87 low- and middle-income nations. The dependent variable, forest loss, uses satellite data from 2001 to 2014.
In the past four decades, a range of policies and governance mechanisms have been created to deal with complex problems associated with the use of the world’s forests. Two of the most recent international policies are the European Union’s Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and its bilaterally negotiated Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs), and the United Nations mitigation policy on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). The emergence of these policies with some overlaps brings into question the success of these policies: do they build effective and enduring forest governance in isolation or in coordination? Focusing on the Congo Basin countries of Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo, this doctoral research explored the synergies between and the impacts of FLEGT–VPA and REDD+ processes. The key lessons for the global forest governance mechanisms are discussed in this dissertation.
Theories and methods from the fields of forestry, social sciences and political sciences were used to answering the research questions. Comparative analysis was employed to study the interactions between FLEGT–VPA and REDD+ under varying socio-political conditions. Various methods were used during data collection, including in-depth expert interviews, content analysis of policy documents, and focus group discussions with local communities and indigenous peoples.
The study results suggest that institutional and policy factors, especially political culture (e.g. corruption and vested interests), are the most important and difficult to address causes of deforestation and forest degradation (paper I). Subsistence and commercial agriculture and legal and illegal logging remain important drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. To successfully address deforestation and forest degradation, policymakers must recognize the conflicting interests (conservation vs conversion) that the governments of the countries are facing.
This research found 13 cases of interactions and potential synergies between FLEGT–VPA and REDD+ (paper II). Both processes can support each other in areas such as safeguard mechanisms, information transparency, ensuring multi-stakeholder participation, monitoring and reporting and addressing drivers of forest loss (papers II & IV). The possibilities for the synergies between and potential impacts of FLEGT–VPA and REDD+ will eventually be limited by domestic political processes, institutional silos and the vested interests of powerful actors (papers III & IV). Thus, 1) transformational change is required to achieve multilevel coordination across all sectors that affect land use (from global to local); 2) national state and non-state actors as well as global proponents (e.g. EU, World Bank, UNREDD) and donors of the processes should adopt a holistic rather than a silos approach; and 3) the processes should look beyond timber legality and reducing CO2 emission to recognize the significant role of tropical forests in providing non-carbon benefits.
The results point to the conclusion that fundamental governance reform and a change in incentive structures and enforcement will be needed for FLEGT and REDD+ to effectively contribute to the global efforts of reducing tropical deforestation. FLEGT and REDD+ and other global policies to reduce deforestation should be mainstreamed into national economic strategies to help tropical countries shift away from extractive scenarios, otherwise the processes will have only a marginal overall impact on protecting and conserving tropical forests.
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In Cameroon, the evolution towards the sustainable use of
forest products can be classified into five main dimensions:
ecological, social, economic, institutional and technical.
For sustainable forest management to be achieved, the
social, economic and ecological aspects need to be properly
integrated and understood by all stakeholders involved in the
forest sector of Cameroon
The notion of 'illegal exploitation' is more difficult to define than one would expect. The laws and regulations vary a great deal from country to country. Offences are different and haphazard, and all have different degrees of seriousness, as they concern the laws of the country or
the management of resources. We run the risk of penalising the very countries that are making an effort to better their regulation systems. When Friends of the Earth claims, as it did in 2001, that 70% of wood is cut illegally in Gabon, based on the fact that only part of the profession has
begun to put into practice management plans which have become compulsory, it gives an erroneous picture of the evolution of the forest and of its management conditions. Development prospects are rather better in Gabon than in other places, and the resource is less in jeopardy than in neighbouring
Equatorial Guinea for example.
In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the secondary wood manufacturing sector across Canada. Strengthening and facilitating the secondary wood manufacturing or the value-added sector is seen as the next step to creating a more sustainable economy across Canada. This research considered a large sample of secondary wood manufacturers across Canada and has provided standardized information for the entire sector. To evaluate the competitive position of the Canadian secondary wood manufacturers, two steps were undertaken. First, factors that have determined success in other sectors were identified. Second, the sector's current business environments and the factors that contribute to its success were evaluated. The data that contributed to this research was based on a mail survey that was sent to all secondary wood manufacturers across Canada. The data indicated that the majority of businesses in this sector are small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and have common concerns that effect SMEs. Problems obtaining financing for expansion, market research, expanding to new markets, and upgrading employees' skills are examples. There are also opportunities for increasing efficiencies through lean manufacturing and optimizing supply chains, but these types of initiatives will require education and training. Using logistic regression, we found that being a member of an industry association greatly increased the likelihood of a business being profitable. Thus, industry associations could be an effective conduit for the required training and education.
The Ottotomo Forest Reserve in the Central Province of Cameroon is one of the protected areas in the country where several management strategies have been tested with varying degrees of success (e.g., the Tropical Shelterwood System (TSS) silvicultural technique was piloted in this forest more than 30 years ago). From 1994 with the enactment of the new forestry legislation in Cameroon, the management strategy shifted considerably, moving away from the classical 'fences and fines' to a collaborative approach whereby the aspirations of the local communities are taken into consideration. This paper attempts to provide an account of a collaborative management efforts facilitated by CIFOR in the reserve. Using a series of Participatory Action Research (PAR) tools, this paper identifies specific management problems, attempts to analyse those problems and establishes collaborative arrangements for future management inputs into the reserve. The paper ends with a series of lessons learned from this exercise.
Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) has traditionally been described as a set of forest management practices that reduce logging impacts and improve productivity. In this paper, we review the evolution of the logging sector in the Congo basin since the early 20th century. We argue that logging in the Congo basin has been little influenced by RIL until the recent regional Forestry Law reforms that started in Cameroon in 1994. RIL has not been integrated into the logging sector of the region as an independent body of knowledge, but more as a complement of the new mandatory management plans. In spite of its proven environmental and economic advantages, the role of RIL in improving forest management has been poorly understood, and we identify some causes of this situation. Finally, based on a regional study of 30 concessions, we analyse the frequency of some RIL-related practices and their relation with markets and certification schemes. We conclude that a clear definition of what RIL techniques are embraced by the logging sector is needed if RIL is to fully benefit from the recent development of new market and logging schemes based on certification, improved logging efficiency and a more transparent chain of custody.
The problems posed to mankind by corruption due to the lack of its definitive and universalistic conceptualisation and, its resultant conscious and unconscious institutionalisation, in most cases, across various polities of the world form the core of the analysis of this paper. Specifically, zero-ing in, on Nigeria and other developing polities of Africa, with concrete examples, this paper examines the concept of corruption and its hydra-headedness in our society as does, what to be done in combating the increasing spread of its tumour to all fibres of the socio-economic, political and cultural physiology of these nations. In the process, it was revealed that, the lack of definitional unanimity on the concept has made its mere explanation the analytical goal rather than offering meaningful solutions to the problems it poses by way of its covert or overt institutionalisation, to the growth of our societies and mankind in general. These problems notwithstanding, this paper perused and synopsized the explanatory efforts already made regarding what constitutes corruption and its danger to the socio-economic system of most polities (Nigeria inclusive) within the global political community. In the process, and, without prejudice to the issues of cultural relativism and normative narrowing, we have been able to establish that idiosyncratic philosophy, normative impediments, and, paucity of civic virtues among others, are causally related to corruption in most polities of the world and, particularly in Nigeria. It has equally been analytically shown with current and concrete Nigerian examples, that, corruption in whatever form is inimical to the development of any society. Given this, it is our conclusion that further research on the possibility of a definitional consensus is necessary, if only to properly understand more, the moral fibres of our societies and their receptivity or otherwise to the issue of corruption in view of its malignancy to national development.
International concern about illegal forestry activities has grown markedly. Asian, African, and European governments have held high-level regional conferences on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG). Indonesia has signed path-breaking Memoranda of Understanding on illegal logging with the United Kingdom, China, and Norway. The Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Forum on Forests, the International Tropical Timber Organisation, and the G8 have all issued forceful statements, and incorporated the issue in their work plans. The European Commission has committed itself to formulating a European FLEG Action Plan. Japan and Indonesia have initiated an Asian Forest Partnership, with a major focus on illegal logging. Global Witness, the Environmental Investigation Agency, Transparency International, Greenpeace, Global Forest Watch, and Friends of the Earth have raised public awareness about the problem.
In this paper, a comparative review of the community forest models prevailing in two countries is made: the province of British Columbia in Canada and Cameroon in Central Africa. A series of assessment criteria emanating from community forest attributes in both jurisdictions were identified and employed as a basis for assessing and comparing the performance of both models. Results of this study revealed that fundamental similarities and differences exist in the two models and none of the models is superior to the other. However, it is argued that when both models are evaluated against specific criteria, one model often exhibits some sort of dominance vis-à-vis the other. To conclude, the paper prescribes a series of recommendations for improving the efficiency and quality of the community forest model in both jurisdictions.
The paper distinguishes between collusive and non-collusive corruption in the forestry sector and analyses their interaction with the political/institutional environment. While non-collusive corruption increases costs for the private sector, collusive corruption reduces costs for the bribee, therefore it is more persistent. Data from confidential interviews in Indonesia show that illegal logging, supported by collusive corruption, became widespread after the fall of President Suharto. While economic liberalisation and competition among government officials may lower non-collusive corruption, they exacerbate Collusive corruption. During political transitions, countries are particularly vulnerable to collusive corruption because governments are often weak and fragmented, with underdeveloped institutions. Sustained wider reform and institutional strengthening to speed up the transition to a true democracy is needed to fight collusive corruption. For Indonesia greater accountability of government, legal and judicial reform and encouragement of public oversight could be useful corner stones for combating illegal logging and corruption.
This paper summarises a diagnostic analysis of the illegal timber trade in Nicaragua and Honduras conducted by a team of local and international researchers during 2002.(1) Evidence of the scale and dynamics of illegal logging in both countries, as well as its economic, social, environment and governance impacts are presented. The paper describes how over-complex regulations and market competition from cheap illegal timber reduce the economic viability of operating legally. This particularly affects small-scale producer groups, leaving them vulnerable to economic capture by illegal timber traders. The paper calls for a combination of measures to reduce regulatory "barriers to legality", while tackling corruption and organised crime. Incentives for sustainable forest management, and regional coordination of forest law enforcement and governance in Central America, are also required.
Illegal logging here is taken to mean any felling and extracting of logs from forests that is not in conformity with an approved management plan, or is not officially licensed or permitted in any other way by a forest authority in accordance with operations that are permitted under
prevailing forest laws. The latter may include harvesting of trees for land clearance for other economic purposes. The perpetrators of illegal logging according to this definition could be: (i) companies holding concessions that harvest outside the approved harvesting blocks, or harvest trees
that are restricted in some way due to species or size class; or (ii) they could be organised gangs that enter forest where other parties hold concessions or harvesting permits; or (iii) they could be individuals or groups from local communities that harvest trees for their own use or for
sale without any form of permit or license. Regarding the latter type of illegal logger, there may be some dispute about the legality or illegality of their actions where the community have been free in the past to harvest the forest on land that they consider to be traditionally theirs, but
these "user rights" have been nullified by changes in the law or by concessions being awarded to third parties. The second category is often organised by 'rent seekers', usually in powerful positions, and they may exercise intimidation in order to recruit labour. Where there is poverty
and lack of job opportunities it is easier to recruit labour for illegal logging.
The issues of illegal harvesting and trade of forest products have received substantial attention in international and domestic policy arenas in recent years. Recent developments include the publication of an action plan on illegal logging by the European Commission (EU 2003), the announcement
of the President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging by the US State Department (USDOS 2003) (see McAlpine this issue) and a Japan-Indonesia Action Plan to curb illegal logging (Anon 2003). While the problem is a global one, with losses to timber theft in the USA alone having been estimated
at over $1 billion annually (Mendoza 2003), the focus of global attention has been on the tropics where the World Bank estimates that illegal logging results in annual losses of $10-$15 billion per year (World Bank 2002).
Since the mid-1990s, Cameroon has launched a process of decentralization of the management of its forests. Among other innovations, this decentralization process has transferred powers over forests and financial benefits accruing from their exploitation to local communities. This article explores and profiles such local-level outcomes. It shows that the experiment has not yet brought up expected positive results and very often generates internal conflicts, a new social stratification and the marginalization of traditional authorities. Second, the article argues that decentralized management is not producing positive economic results, as there is no significant economic change in the case study villages. Third, it demonstrates that the experiment is leading to negative environmental results, such as the degradation of many community forests in the forested Cameroon. The author recommends that policy makers, researchers, nongovernmental organizations, and the local communities design a monitoring framework for decentralized management.
Community-based forestry management is emerging as an important component of forest policies in the developing world. Using the Philippines as a case-study, this article critically examines the way in which community-based forestry is constructed and understood among government policy makers. The author suggests that the new policy discourse of community-based forestry policy in the Philippines is still shaped by efforts to maintain centralized control over forest management and a political economy orientated towards commercial timber production using the principles of ‘scientific management’. While timber production and the technical aspects of forest management are emphasized, social and environmental considerations remain neglected.
Over the last decade, forests have played an important role in the transition from war to peace in Cambodia. Forest exploitation financed the continuation of war beyond the Cold War and regional dynamics, yet it also stimulated co-operation between conflicting parties. Timber represented a key stake in the rapacious transition from the (benign) socialism of the post-Khmer Rouge period to (exclusionary) capitalism, thereby becoming the most politicized resource of a reconstruction process that has failed to be either as green or as democratic as the international community had hoped. This article explores the social networks and power politics shaping forest exploitation, with the aim of casting light on the politics of transition. It also scrutinizes the unintended consequences of the international community’s discourse of democracy, good governance, and sustainable development on forest access rights. The commodification of Cambodian forests is interpreted as a process of transforming nature into money through a political ecology of transition that legitimates an exclusionary form of capitalism.
Among many other stakes, the economic stake derived from the exploitation of tropical forest resources is a burning issue. This is evidenced by insecurity in intergenerational access to forest resources and financial benefits relating to the latter, on the one hand, and by a deep iniquity at the intra-generational level, on the other hand. The following paper highlights, as a moral, social and policy dilemma, how stakeholders and generations, ‘self-interested’, mark out access to forest resources and to financial benefits relating to the latter. Through intensive participatory research, quantitative data collection, participant observation, future scenarios and some International Forestry Research's social science methods and interactive games (SSM & IG) based on the evaluation of the sustainability of forest management systems, field research conducted in the forest zone of Cameroon on access to forest resources has generated two central results. Firstly, future generations will be confronted—in a dramatic way—to quantitative and qualitative scarcity of forest resources, following their over exploitation by present generations. Secondly, as concerns the intra-generational access benefits generated by commercial exploitation of forests and the assessment of the circulation of forestry fees, there is much inequity, in as much as those benefits are more profitable to a ‘forestry elite’—‘a self-interested block’—than to local communities, who strongly claim to have historical rights over these forests. As a contribution of social science to public knowledge and to policy development, this article is nourishing ‘rational choice’ and ‘rational egoism’ theory and is targeting decision-making processes in the ever first attempt of forest management decentralization and ‘legal’ benefits sharing in Central Africa (the second largest forest of the World). The article recommends the shortening of the distance between decision-making and beneficiaries, downwardly accountability, ‘bottom-up’ mechanisms of public dialogue in forest management and a collaborative infrastructure in the circulation and the distribution of forest benefits.
BLDSC reference no.: D206129. Thesis (doctoral)--University of Oxford, 1999.
Decentralisation in Cameroon's forestry sector has opened opportunities for peripheral actors to participate in forest management. Yet local governance structures created to represent local communities are not grounded in local realities. Instead, these committees obey instrumental and administrative priorities, resulting in weak structures that are not supported by sound institutional arrangements or local collective action. This weak organisational infrastructure has generated inefficiency in the local management of forests and related benefits, a new social stratification and the hijacking of committees by a self-interested elite connected to state authorities. The process has also led to ecological uncertainty, due to local opportunistic behaviour.
This paper presents two propositions about corruption. First, the structure of government institutions and of the political
process are very important determinants of the level of corruption. In particular, weak governments that do not control their
agencies experience very high corruption levels. Second, the illegality of corruption and the need for secrecy make it much
more distortionary and costly than its sister activity, taxation. These results may explain why, in some less developed countries,
corruption is so high and so costly to development.
The objective of this study was to test the value of the concept of the net commercial value of standing timber in predicting the impact of logging activities on forest-cover modifications. A study area was selected in the East province of Cameroon which contains major primary forests and which contributes strongly to national timber production. A Geographic Information System containing ecological and economic variables was used in combination with remote sensing data to define the net commercial value of standing timber in the East province. Taking account of the potential commercial value of standing timber improves our understanding of the spatial determinants of logging activities and of the resulting forest-cover modifications. The occurrence of logging-induced forest-cover modifications increases with the value of forest rent. In one of the study sites, half of the very high rent areas have already been logged. In that site, therefore, it is mostly the low rent or marginal forest areas that remain unlogged. This was not the case, however, throughout the study area as shown by the observations at another site.
In this paper we start with a discussion of some of the different denotations of the problem of corruption. We then consider the ways in which the damaging consequences of corruption operate in a developing economy, while not ignoring its possible redeeming features in some cases. We pursue the question of why corruption is perceptibly so different in different societies and also persistent. Finally, we examine the feasible policy issues that arise in this context.
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