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Community Mapping and Tenure Recognition in Forest Zones of Cameroon:

A Scoping of Cases, Questions and Methods

Conference on Community Forests, Montpellier, FranceMarch 24-26, 2010

Study By Mbile Peter Paper synthesis and presentation Serge

Ngendakumana

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

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Presentation Plan

• Introduction and concepts

• Research methods

• Main findings and implications

• Conclusion and policy recommendations

3

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Some RRI Coalition In Cameroon

Other National NGOs and CBOs: CED, CAMECO, CAFT

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Introduction and concepts

•Participatory resource mapping (PRM), is ‘an emerging tool to empower local communities and

indigenous peoples to become more involved in natural resource management (UNEP)

•Local people’s abilities to make maps only became widely known in the early 1990s

•Many ethical issues present troubling dilemmas, and lead to overarching questions about empowerment and

ownership

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But, why this study in Cameroon?

• There is lack of easily available information in many countries including Cameroon undergoing reform on the status of recognition of tenure rights, ownership, access and use of forest resources under different regimes; customary versus statutory, including land environment and forest laws

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But, why this study in Cameroon?

• Information is very incomplete and incoherent in terms of sample cases and extent of contestations, either in the form of overlapping or conflicting claims or lack of respect for customary ownership and control of forest resources, especially in areas recorded as official domains of the State.

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Methodology

• In this Cameroon scoping study we review a selected number of contestations most of which possessed a mapping component, involving local communities and traversing questions from conflicts with agro industries, conservation zones, forest reserves and timber concessions occurring across the entire forest zones (Map next slide).

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Study sites

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Three types of mapping products were anticipated in this study

Type 1

community maps— ephemeral maps –conceived using local materials (stones, sticks, lines on the dirt-ground, etc), sometimes copied unto Kraft paper, but focusing on very small-scale land use characterization, were ignored as most lacked the essential conflict element and higher spatial scales required in forest policy support.

These are also the mostly common maps produced in CM activities.

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Type 2

• community mapping products, comprise a combination of ephemeral

mapping, sketch-mapping and geographic information system (GIS) —more elaborate with use of coloured pencils with emphasis on territorial borders; often copied unto Kraft paper and sometimes integrated into a GIS were

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Type 3

• community mapping products comprising mainly of representations

of use areas, mostly points in space, using global positioning systems (GPS) were also collected.

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Key findings• Three sets of finding have been developed:

Our first case is the Korup and Boa plains—south west region

This territorial mapping within sought to represent perceptions of customary use zones within the Korup national park and within CDC agro industrial plantation lease holds respectively.

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Korup NP

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• The Korup case used type 2 and 3 tools and techniques but focused on developing a territorial perception only, without attempting to negotiate retrocession of territories with any State department.

• The Boa plains community mapping used both tools, techniques and got the National

• Cartographic Institute involved in a bid to acquire para-legal recognition of the maps produced.

[Figure 2: Boa plains community mapping]

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Figure 3: Type-1 community mapping in Kienke

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In both cases submissions have been made to Government including the unimplemented Prime Ministerial decree n° 95/531/PM of 23rd August 1995, authorizing creation of enclaves (UFA 07002).

In both cases also, facilitation has been done by local NGOs as opposed to international organizations in the Korup case (World Wide Fund for nature) and Boa cases (Mount Cameroon Project).

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Type 3 case

• Perceptions of use conflicts between Bagyeli and Baka pygmies with industrial plantations, protected areas and timber concessions present our third and final case:

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Fig 4.Map: People and forests conflicts

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Figure 5: Type-3 representation of use

zones by Baka communities

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A number of the Baka maps were endorsed by official government stamps and the facilitators report successes in getting projects and park management authorities to collaborate with Baka populations in joint management of hunting zones and timber concessions

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Conclusion and policy recommendations

• CM will represent more effective communication when facilitators hand over the baton to communities.

• At the moment more time and resources are invested in CM activities than its usefulness for communities.

• The apparent simplicity of CM encourages facilitators to start implementation before fully considering ethics.

• Where there is real chance of retro-cession CM tends to be most effective such as in Boa.

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Conclusion (end)• Retrocession was also found to happen more

readily with the private sector than with Government.

• Government’s role remains ambivalent; endorsing community map products but

• seeming uncompromising in responding to retrocession demands.

• Mapping tools and techniques represent investments and there is a direct positive relationship between investment and expected outcomes.

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Thanks for your attention