Integrating Forest Resources, Community Livelihoods and Local Governance for Sustainable Community Forest Management: Evidence from the Woteva Community Forest, Southwest-Cameroon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-jnsrr/V2E7/2026-02Keywords:
Community forestry, forest governance, livelihood, non-timber forest products, terrain-constrained logging, sustainable forest management.Abstract
While community forestry has been widely promoted across the tropics as a means of reconciling conservation with rural livelihoods, how resource allocation, livelihood benefits, and local governance interact within individual community forests remains poorly understood, with evidence scattered across disparate studies. This study addresses that gap through a case analysis of the Woteva Community Forest (WCF), a 1,845-hectare, tripartite-zoned forest on the eastern slope of Mount Cameroon, established in 1997 under Cameroon's 1994 Forestry Law. Drawing on structured and open-ended household questionnaires administered through rapid random sampling, key-informant interviews, and documentary review, the study examined the WCF's sectoral resource base, its livelihood contributions from timber, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), apiculture, and eco-tourism, and its customary–statutory governance arrangements. Results show that the WCF comprises a 1,204-hectare forest/NTFP sector, a 462-hectare grassland sector supporting apiculture and Prunus africana enrichment planting, and a 180-hectare volcanic sector for eco-tourism, managed under a 25-year rotational plan. Formal timber exploitation is currently non-operational: thirty-seven felled logs remain unextracted, as the forest's rugged, high-slope terrain renders transport prohibitively costly, a finding consistent with global evidence linking harvesting costs to slope and accessibility. Prunus africana bark remains the principal commercial NTFP. Governance is anchored in a matrilineal chieftaincy, a Traditional Council, and statutory committees, an arrangement associated with markedly lower reported inequity (4%) than in two neighboring forests (38–54%), although environmental awareness remains low (19%). These findings are interpreted against Cameroonian, African, and global tropical literature on elite capture, terrain-constrained logging economics, and cross-regional governance comparisons. The study concludes that zoning, livelihood diversification, and the integration of customary authority into governance structures constitute a transferable model for community forest management in terrain-constrained tropical settings.
References
1) Alemagi, D., Minang, P. A., Nukpezah, D., Duguma, L. A., & Foundjem-Tita, D. (2022). Community forestry in Cameroon: Insights on state institutional deficits. Trees, Forests and People, 7, Article 100195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2021.100195
2) Beauchamp, E., & Ingram, V. (2011). Impacts of community forests on livelihoods in Cameroon: Lessons from two case studies. International Forestry Review, 13(4), 389–403. https://doi.org/10.1505/146554811798811371
3) Bernard, H. R. (2017). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (6th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.
4) Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027
5) Brown, H. C. P., & Lassoie, J. P. (2010). Institutional choice and local legitimacy in community-based forest management: Lessons from Cameroon. Environmental Conservation, 37(3), 261–269. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892910000603
6) Burivalova, Z., Hua, F., Koh, L. P., Garcia, C., & Putz, F. (2017). A critical comparison of conventional, certified, and community management of tropical forests for timber in terms of environmental, economic, and social variables. Conservation Letters, 10(1), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12244
7) Cable, S., & Cheek, M. (1998). The plants of Mount Cameroon: A conservation checklist. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
8) Chambers, R. (1994). Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): Challenges, potentials and paradigm. World Development, 22(10), 1437–1454. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(94)90030-2
9) Cunningham, A. B., Ayuk, E., Franzel, S., Duguma, B., & Asanga, C. (2002). An economic evaluation of medicinal tree cultivation: Prunus africana in Cameroon (People and Plants Working Paper 10). UNESCO.
10) Duguma, L. A., Minang, P. A., Foundjem-Tita, D., Makui, P., & Mandiefe Piabuo, S. (2018). Prioritizing enablers for effective community forestry in Cameroon. Ecology and Society, 23(3), 1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10242-230301
11) Ekanayake, E. M. B. P., Xie, Y., Ahmad, S., Geldard, R. P., & Nissanka, A. H. (2022). Community forestry for livelihood improvement: Evidence from the intermediate zone, Sri Lanka. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 41, 1–17.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2020.1794906
12) Environment and Rural Development Foundation. (2015, December 10). Enrichment planting of zebra wood and other highly valued Red List plants in fragile community forests at the Mt. Cameroon region. ERuDeF. https://erudef.org/enrichment-planting-of-zebra-wood-and-other-highly-valued-red-list-plants-in-fragile-community-forests-at-the-mt-cameroon-region/
13) Ewusi, B. N., & Acworth, J. (2001, April). Commercial exploitation of Prunus africana bark on Mount Cameroon: Community participation in the strive for sustainability [Conference paper]. 16th Commonwealth Forestry Conference, Fremantle, Western Australia.
14) Foncha, J. N., & Ewule, D. M. (2020). Community forest management: A strategy for rehabilitation, conservation and livelihood sustainability: The case of Mount Oku, Cameroon. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 8(2), 1–15.
https://doi.org/10.4236/gep.2020.82001
15) Fru, N. G. (2018). Community forest use and dependence for livelihoods in Fako Division, South West Region of Cameroon. Greener Journal of Agronomy, Forestry and Horticulture, 5(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.15580/GJAFH.2018.1.122617183
16) Gadsby, E. L., Cronin, D. T., & Imong, I. (2020). Mandrillus leucophaeus (amended version of 2019 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T12753A17952490. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T12753A17952490.en
17) Ingram, V., Awono, A., Schure, J., Levang, P., Ndoye, O., & Sunderland, T. (2012). Guidelines for developing and managing sustainable non-timber forest product value chains in the Congo Basin. CIFOR.
18) Kabelong Banoho, L. P. R., Zapfack, L., Weladji, R. B., Chimi Djomo, C., Nyako, M. C., Bocko, Y. E., Essono, D. M., Nasang, J. M., Madountsap Tagnang, N., Memvi Abessolo, C. I., Mvondo Sakouma, K. R., Mamadou Souahibou, F., Palla, F. J. S., Ketchatang Peguy, T., Jiagho, R., Kenmou, T. L., Choumele Kana Jumo, U. A., Anyam Yi Andjik, B. A., & Tabue Mbobda, R. B. (2018). Floristic diversity and carbon stocks in the periphery of Deng–Deng National Park, Eastern Cameroon. Journal of Forestry Research, 31(3), 989–1003. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0839-7
19) Kenfack Essougong, U. B., Foundjem-Tita, D., & Minang, P. A. (2019). Addressing equity in community forestry: Lessons from 20 years of implementation in Cameroon. Ecology and Society, 24(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10656-240109
20) Kimengsi, J. N., & Giessen, L. (2024). Institutional change and compliance in forest landscape restoration governance: Insights from the Western Highlands of Cameroon. International Forestry Review, 26(1), 36–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2024.2322602
21) Kimengsi, J. N., & Silberberger, M. (2023). How endogenous cultural institutions may (not) shape farmers' climate adaptation practices: Learning from rural Cameroon [Working paper]. Technische Universität Dresden.
22) Monono, A. N., Oduro, W., Sarfo-Mensah, P., & Nana, C. (2016). The role of Bakweri traditional beliefs in the management of Mount Cameroon National Park. Journal of Resources Development and Management, 24, 83–98.
23) Nana, C., & Tchamadeu, N. (2014). Traditional cosmology and deities of the Bakweri people of Mount Cameroon [Field documentation]. Cited in Wewuley Consultancy technical field report (WECONS, 2026).
24) Ngang, D. F. (2015). Contribution of community-based natural resource management to livelihoods, conservation and governance in Cameroon: A comparative assessment of three community forests in Fako [Unpublished master's thesis]. Pan African Institute for Development–West Africa.
25) Nkemnyi, M. F., De Herdt, T., Chuyong, G. B., & Vanwing, T. (2016). Reconstituting the role of indigenous structures in protected forest management in Cameroon. Forest Policy and Economics, 67, 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2016.03.012
26) Oates, J. F., Doumbe, O., Dunn, A., Gonder, M. K., Ikemeh, R., Imong, I., Morgan, B. J., Ogunjemite, B., & Sommer, V. (2016). Pan troglodytes ssp. ellioti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T40014A17990330. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T40014A17990330.en
27) Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press.
28) Oyono, P. R. (2004). One step forward, two steps back? Paradoxes of natural resources management decentralization in Cameroon. Journal of Modern African Studies, 42(1), 91–111. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X03004488
29) Persha, L., & Andersson, K. (2014). Elite capture risk and mitigation in decentralized forest governance regimes. Global Environmental Change, 24, 265–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.12.005
30) Piabuo, S. M., Foundjem-Tita, D., & Minang, P. A. (2018). Community forest governance in Cameroon: A review. Ecology and Society, 23(3), 34. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10330-230334
31) Sinthumule, N. I., & Mashau, M. L. (2020). Traditional ecological knowledge and practices for forest conservation in Thathe Vondo in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22, Article e00910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00910
32) Sufo Kankeu, R., & Ayuk, M. E. (2026). Power dynamics and actor interests in community forestry: Insights from Mount Cameroon National Park buffer zones. Forest Policy and Economics, 186, Article 103774.
33) Sunderland, T. C. H., Clark, L. E., & Vantomme, P. (Eds.). (2003). Non-timber forest products in the Congo Basin Forest: State of knowledge. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
34) Tanjong, E. (2014). Death, burial and reconciliatory rites among Mount Cameroon communities [Field documentation]. Cited in Wewuley Consultancy technical field report (WECONS, 2026).
35) United Nations. (2023). Global Forest Goals report 2023. United Nations Forum on Forests.
36) van der Burgt, X., & Cheek, M. (2022). Microberlinia bisulcata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T33232A187727882.
37) Wewuley Consultancy (WECONS). (2026). Technical report on natural resource management and economic impact assessment of the Woteva Community Forest [Unpublished field report]. Wewuley Consultancy.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Paul Ekonde Nganje, Longonje Simon Ngomba, Kamah Pascal Bumtu, Ndumbe Ekema Stephen (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
