Climate Action Cameroon Project #22520

Help Protect 75,000 Acres of Congo Basin Forest

by Rainforest Alliance

Project Report | Jul 20, 2017
Cameroon: Livelihoods

By David Chrystal | Project Leader

The Congo Basin is home to more than 150 different ethnic groups, and like most forest-dependent peoples, these communities possess an incredible amount of knowledge about local biodiversity as well as the harvest and practical use of local forest products. This type of trade has the potential to support people’s livelihoods, providing a stable source of economic growth.

At the Rainforest Alliance, we recognize that community forestry is among the most sustainable forms of forest management, and evidence from our work in Latin America emphasizes that community forestry can be a working solution in lieu of deforestation. When locals are able to take control of their own lands, their actions tend to reflect the community’s best interests. An analysis of Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve shows that deforestation rates in community forests where the Rainforest Alliance has worked were close to zero, while adjacent protected areas experienced forest conversion rates that were higher than regional averages.

A very recent example of successful sustainable forestry practices in this region comes to us from Cameroon’s Community Forestry Enterprises (CFE’s). Since revising its forestry law in 1994, Cameroon has established or recognized some 300 community forests, covering a total area of about 2.47 million acres (1 million ha).

Our work in this region lends support for CFE’s as they plan sustainable forest management activities, utilize best forestry practices, boost their business skills, and engage in strategies for value-added processing and penetrating premium markets for timber and other forest products. Since 2011, we have employed these very tactics in Cameroon, by focusing on two clusters of community forests which border protected areas in the country’s southern region.

To date, the Rainforest Alliance’s efforts have benefited 12 nearby communities, which are home to around 10,000 people. As a collective effort with these communities, we’ve laid the groundwork for sustainable methods of harvesting timber and non-timber forest products, while strengthening their internal governance and enabling them to operate in a competitive market environment. Additionally, we have facilitated the establishment of four local community-owned forest enterprises as a tool for pooling investments in equipment and social infrastructure, increasing negotiating power and improving access to markets. This work has been carried out in a participatory manner, in cooperation with two local NGOs.

The delivery of sawmills and the training of production teams are essential resources for which the freshly formed community forest enterprises. Portable sawmills are used to cut logs into lumber, typically juxtaposed next to the tree being felled. Pooled resources for the processing of wood also renders operational and maintenance costs more affordable for CFE’s, while allowing communities the chance to attain higher profit margins. First and foremost though, access to this type of processing equipment provides communities with options; it frees them from involvement with agents who may seek to take advantage by imposing unfavorable terms or by exploiting internal conflicts into unilateral and often illegal operations which tend to lack consent from the whole community.

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Apr 26, 2017
Cameroon: Saving Biodiversity and Wildlife Habitat

By David Chrystal | Project Leader

Baby Gorilla Congo Basin

West and Central Africa have strong rural economies set within some of the world's largest forest expanses. The Congo Basin spans eight countries, contains the world's second largest contiguous forest, and boasts abundant biodiversity and natural resources. The biodiversity-rich Congo Basin contains 10,000 species of tropical plants, 400 species of mammals, 700 species of fish, and 1,000 species of birds. Included in the wildlife population are endangered creatures such as lowland and mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and forest elephants.

The Congo Basin’s forests have stood for tens of thousands of years, with humans, flora and fauna, and wildlife all managing to coexist. Since 2011, the Rainforest Alliance has by focused on two clusters of community forests which border protected areas in the country’s southern region. We have applied this approach in Cameroon, focusing on two clusters of community forests that border protected areas in the country’s southern region—one cluster that’s adjacent to the CampoMa’an National Park and another that’s near the Dja Biosphere Reserve. Both protected areas harbor an array of endangered species, such as the lowland gorilla, African forest elephant, western chimpanzee and Grey-necked Picathartes.

Despite encountering challenging conditions, Cameroon’s community forest projects have made significant progress over the past five years. As a result of your support, they’ve approved management plans that cover a total of 74,000 acres (30,000 ha)—a major step forward for community forests in the region.

the Rainforest Alliance is working with local communities so they can earn livelihoods while conserving the neighboring forest—home to several endangered species such as lowland gorillas, forest elephants, and bonobos. Through this work in community forestry, those 10,000 species of tropical plants, 400 species of mammals, 700 species of fish, and 1,000 species of birds mentioned earlier are closer to safety.

Forest Elephant Mother and Baby

Bonobo Family Congo Basin

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Feb 2, 2017
Climate Change and Carbon Sinks in the Congo Basin

By David Chrystal | Project Leader

Overview:

West and Central Africa have strong rural economies set within some of the world's largest forest expanses. The Congo Basin spans eight countries, contains the world's second largest contiguous forest, and boasts abundant biodiversity and natural resources. It also provides food, water, and shelter to some 75 million people. When it comes to sustainability, the definition of success takes many forms. Whether it is rising populations of endangered species, robust crop yields, or higher and more stable incomes for smallholder farmers, studies show that the best management practices the Rainforest Alliance promotes throughout West and Central Africa produce encouraging results.

Deforestation and Climate Change:

There’s no doubt about it: the best thing we can do to fight climate change is keep forests standing. That’s why we works with farmers in the Cameroon and Congo Basin to advance a variety of strategies to develop livelihoods that don’t hurt forests or ecosystems. We stand more of a chance in this fight with forests standing strong since trees capture greenhouse gases (GHGs) like carbon dioxide, preventing them from accumulating in the atmosphere and warming our planet.

That means that, when people clear forests, they’re not only knocking out our best ally in capturing the staggering amount of GHGs that humans create—primarily by burning fossil fuels at energy facilities, and of course, in cars, planes, and other transportation—we’re also creating additional emissions by deforesting. When trees are felled, they release into the atmosphere all the carbon they’ve been storing and, in the end, deforestation on its own causes about 10 percent of worldwide emissions.

Our accounting of the ugly impacts of deforestation only considers emissions and doesn’t even touched on how the lives and traditions of forest communities are ruined when forests are razed, or how many species of plants and animals are lost, upsetting the delicate balance of ecosystems. The uptick in mosquito-borne diseases, for example, or the rapid spread of roya, an insidious plant disease that threatens our supply of coffee are indirect consequences of deforestation and global warming.

Not surprisingly, agriculture causes emissions, too. In fact, farm emissions are second only to those of the energy sector and—in 2011—responsible for about 13 percent of total global emissions. Even more concerning is the realization that agriculture is responsible for at least 90 percent of tropical deforestation. For farming and forest communities around the world, the impacts of climate change are already real. And in today's hyper-connected world, fighting climate change and building resilience to its impact are urgent priorities for us all.

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