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Sustainable management of African rain forest
FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN, AN IMPLEMENTING INSTRUMENT
FOR SUSTAINABLE TIMBER PRODUCTION
1 1 2
B. Foahom , P. Schmidt and J.P. Fines
SUMMARY
A Forest Management Plan (FMP) is a tool for forest management, nowadays designated for
sustainable production of timber and other forest products. The Cameroonian forest law
stipulates the drawing of a FMP for each production forest. Since 1993, the Tropenbos
Cameroon Programme (TCP) has carried out research into selected aspects of forestry. It is to
produce scientifically sound knowledge, which can serve as a basis for forest management
planning, and which will be used among others to write a forest management plan for a
production forest within the TCP research site. The TCP research, which will serve these
purposes, is introduced.
Keywords: forest management, production forest, research programme, Cameroon.
1. INTRODUCTION
While early people used the forest mainly for hunting and gathering, human needs vis-à-vis the
forests have multiplied as the population has grown. Human demands for benefits derived from
forest nowadays easily exceed limits posed by sustainability, not only because of the increasing
demand of forest resources, but also because of ill-considered forestland use. The future of the
tropical forest has therefore become a major concern among the general public and so does the
concept of sustainable forest management. Tools have been developed or are still under
development in order to meet this issue of sustainable forest management. The Tropenbos-
Cameroon Programme (TCP) on its part had made it a point of duty to contribute to the
Cameroonian government’s implementation of a new forest policy, whose aims is to shift
emphasis from the single timber tree to the entire forest ecosystem. Forest management plans
(meant for production forest) can be a support of the mentioned policy as it is stipulated in
specific regulatory instruments on forestry and wildlife management elaborated by the
government of Cameroon.
The Tropenbos-Cameroon Programme is a problem-oriented research programme, and its
implementation is expected to provide tools (methods and strategies) for a sustainable
production of timber and other forest products and services. This paper addresses the issue of
forest management plans, which are important tools in the process of securing the multiple
functions of the forests. It is presented as a frame, within which other papers (van Leersum et
al., 2001; Parren and Bongers, 2001; Bibani Mbarga and Jonkers, 2001) give more details on
the contribution of TCP.
2. THE QUESTION OF SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT
Sustainable forest management can be referred to as "the process of managing permanent forest
land to achieve one or more clearly specified objectives of management with regard to the
production of a continuous flow of desired forest products and services without undue reduction
of its inherent values and future productivity, and without undue undesirable effects on the
1
Tropenbos-Cameroon Programme, P.O.B. 219, Kribi, Cameroon.
2
Tropenbos Cameroon Programme. Present address Project GEF-Campo Ma’an, P.O.B. 219, Kribi, Cameroon.
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Part II: Symposium
physical and social environment" (ITTO, 1992). It is a complex issue, integrating many
interrelated components.
Sustainable forest management therefore aims at ensuring multi-purpose management of the
forest so that it can fulfil its multiple functions now and in the future. Its overall capacity to
provide goods and services are preserved. For the Cameroonian situation, a shift in emphasis
from the single tree to the entire forest is needed.
A forest, which is sustainably managed, will consequently provide timber on a sustainable basis.
It will at the same time fulfil its socio-economic (contiguous supply of fuel wood, other timber
products, and NTFPs to communities living in and around the forest), socio-cultural (spiritual
and religious values, heritage value, educational value, etc.) and ecological (nutrient cycling,
watershed protection, soil protection, stability and local and global climate, habitat of plants and
animals) functions. Appropriate management systems, requiring relevant technologies for forest
regeneration and harvesting practices are prerequisites to achieve this aim.
3. CAMEROON GOVERNMENT EFFORTS
The Cameroonian forest sector has gone through profound institutional and legislative reforms.
This has resulted in a certain number of actions, some of which are referred to in this paper.
These are legal regulations on forestry and wildlife (MINEF, 1997), the National Zoning Plan
(Côté, 1993) and guidelines developed for forest management plan drawing (MINEF, 1998a;
1998b).
3.1. Legal regulations on forestry and wildlife
The new forest law of 1994 (Law N° 94-01 of 20 January 1994) is the legal framework for the
implementation of the National Forestry Action Programme, as well as an integral part of the
government strategy to ensure sustainable conservation and use of its forestry, wildlife and
fisheries resources, and of the various ecosystems. It lays down regulations with a view to
attaining the general objectives of Cameroonian New Forest policy. Its implementing
instruments are made of three common (Decrees N° 86-230, 96-237-PM and 96-238-PM)
instruments and of three specific regulatory (Decrees N° 95-531-PM, 95-678-PM, and 95-678-
PM).
3.3.1. National Zoning Plan
The National Zoning Plan is an indicative framework for land use in the whole country. It acts
as tool for the planning, orientation and exploitation of natural resources within the southern
forested area. According to the provision of the Legal Regulations (Law N° 94-01), permanent
(State forests and Council forests) and non-permanent (Communal forests, Community forests
and forests belonging to private individuals) forests are distinguished here (Figure 1). These two
categories of forests are likely to be found in the Tropenbos-Cameroon Programme site.
3.3.1. Guidelines for the Drawing up of Forest Management Plan for Production Forests
Permanent forests shall be managed in such a way that their production capacity will be
maintained. It is in this respect that the concept of forest management plans is presented in the
law (N° 94-01). According to its Section 29, "A management plan shall be drawn up for State
forests defining, in accordance with the conditions laid down by decree, the management
objectives and the rules for each forest, the means needed to achieve the said objectives, as well
as the conditions under which the local population may exercise their logging rights, in
accordance with the provisions of the classification instruments".
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Sustainable management of African rain forest
NATIONAL FOREST ESTATE
Permanent forest Non-permanent forest
State forests Council forest
Production forests* Council replanted forests Communal forest*
Protection forests* Council classified forests Community forests*
Forest plantations Individual private forests
Teaching and research forest*
Recreation forest
Plant life sanctuaries
Botanical gardens
Integral ecological reserves
Game reserves
Hunting areas
State game ranches
Wildlife sanctuaries
Buffer zones
State zoological gardens
National parks
* Types of forests likely to be found at the TCP research site
Figure 1. The National Forest Estate in Cameroon
The above-mentioned guidelines entitled "Guide d'élaboration des plans d'aménagement des
forêts de production du domaine forestier permanent de la République du Cameroun" (MINEF,
1998b) were developed to coach the implementation of this Section 29 provision. It falls within
the framework of the forest production strategy and goes a long way to enhance sustainable
forest management. The procedure to draw the forest management plan as planned by the
guidelines includes:
• Data collection on biophysics of the forest;
• Study of the socio-economic environment of the forest;
• Evaluation of the state of the forest;
• Presentation of the proposed management system;
• Provisions for the participation of the populations to the forest management;
• Definition of the duration of the plan revision planning;
• Plan of operations;
• Financial and economic assessment of the management plan.
TCP is carrying out research in selected forestry aspects (see Foahom and Jonkers, 1992) both
to develop elements to be integrated in the process of drawing a FMP, as well as to contribute to
the improvement of the guidelines for writing a FMP. The actual research results will be
implemented in a model forest management plan, as it will be written by TCP for a production
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Part II: Symposium
forest in the TCP research area. The eventual implementation of this plan offers good
opportunities for studies evaluating this model and the guidelines behind it.
4. THE CONTRIBUTION OF TCP
Much is still unknown about tropical rain forests. This can be the reason that many uses
afterwards have to be classified as being wrong. We still need to know for example how it reacts
after the disturbance. It is based on these and many other questions, that the TCP research
projects were prepared (see Foahom and Jonkers, 1992). Hence, TCP is an interdisciplinary
research programme dealing with sustainable production of timber and other forest products and
all forest services by Cameroonian rain forest. It is expected to generate information needed for
a better understanding of this forest ecosystem and of its uses and users. Some of its research
questions or results aim at providing elements or material to be included in (the framework of)
forest management plans.
The TCP study site covers a total area of about 165 000 ha; in which an area of 18 000 in one
block (11% of the total area) is found suitable for production forest. A model forest
management plan will be drawn for this production forest.
The following technical aspects, which are important parts of an FMP and are studied
extensively by TCP, are discussed below: appropriate land use planning, reduced impact
logging, improved silvicultural techniques and participatory approach.
4.1. Appropriate land use planning
The forest ecosystem is a source of multiple functions. Unfortunately, forests were not always
perceived according to this multiple-use vocation. The different users - who can also be referred
to as stakeholders - have each an isolated perception of the use of the forest. This kind of
behaviour unavoidably leads to conflicting interests which consequently are not always properly
managed. The challenge is to harmonise contradictory users' needs (Foahom, 1998), which can
be summarised as:
• Local dwellers rely mainly on forest products and on agriculture; shifting cultivation and
slash-and-burn agriculture are the most wide spread agricultural systems in tropical forests
(Jumuar, 1991; Jepma and Blom, 1991; Cleaver, 1992);
• Many governments of developing countries depend heavily on the export of tropical wood;
• Tropical forests are recognised as a real reservoir of biodiversity and other non-consumptive
benefits.
Not only it is expected to produce more forest products on less land (by shifting from extensive
harvesting systems to intensive use of small proportions of forestland), to allocate more land for
other uses, but also all uses, inclusive that for forestry should be guided by long-term objectives.
Hence, all land allocation should be based on careful land use planning. This applies to all forms
of land use, including timber production. Land inventory and evaluation (van Gemerden and
Hazeu, 1999; van Gemerden et al., 2001; Hazeu et al., 2000) therefore form important
components of the TCP research activities.
4.2. Reduced impact logging
The search for improved logging practices has become a matter of great concern and many
publications have been devoted to it (e.g. Hendrison, 1990; Bertault and Sist, 1995; Blate, 1997;
Webb, 1997; van der Hout and van Leersum, 1998). The development of sound harvesting
techniques in order to reduce logging damage is one of the prerequisites for sustainable forest
management. The concept of reduced impact logging was therefore developed. Reduced impact
logging is defined as a practice that "comprises new techniques and new concepts of organising
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