National Forestry Development Agency (ONADEF) B.P. 1341, Yaound , Cameroon. Tel: 20 42 58, Telex: 8687 KN, Fax: 21 53 50, E-mail: onadef@camnet.cm

National directives for the sustainable development of Natural Forests

With 22 million hectares of national forest (Sapelli, Ayous, Azob , Bet ...) and an annual production of 3.5 million cubic meters, Cameroon possesses the tenth largest forest reserve in Africa and ranks sixth in global tropical wood exports.
In terms of the national economy, wood is the fourth largest export sector, contributing 10% of the country s GDP.
Added to this vital economic function, the forests bring other diverse, but complementary functions.
To the river-based population, for example, the forests have a value that is not only economic, but also social and cultural.
To the international community, the interest lies more in the ecological and scientific value of the forests, which constitute a unique and irreplaceable part of the global natural heritage. This forest is very much coveted and its exploitation raises a great deal of controversy.
Yet, Cameroon and above all the public bodies have not heeded the preoccupations and worries of the international community to take care of the sustainable development of its forests. After more than ten years, however, a number of techniques have been elaborated and progressively introduced, including:
- The techniques of forest surveying
- The techniques of production, regeneration and reseeding of the majority of current forest species
- The techniques of plant production
- The planning of zone techniques
- The classing of forests and the introduction of reseeding perimeters
- The adaptation of legislation and forest regulations to new sustainable management methods, associating the river-based and native populations
- The integral pilot development trials of the natural forests
- Etc.
In order to make these forest management techniques coherent, it was deemed necessary to introduce national directives for the sustainable development of forests and production (timber).
The project of elaborating directives for the sustainable development of natural forests in Cameroon, introduced by the National Office for Forest Development (ONADEF), supported by the International Organization of Tropical Wood (OIBT) aims to drop the new rules for the sustainable development of Cameroon s forests. This task, which will need periodical revisions, has benefited from the participation of local partners (administrations, timber companies, farmers, users, scientific and technical
organizations) as well as bilateral and multilateral partners. It has conformed to the recommendations of the International Organization of Tropical Wood regarding the sustainable management of tropical forests and has respected the new forest legislation and regulations of Cameroon.
The sought-after sustainability concerns not only wood production, but also non-ligneous products, used in particular by the local population, that maintain the essence of biodiversity.
The directives apply to timber forests, generally located in the forest zone.
This covers forests of the permanent domain belonging to the state and to the provinces. The community forests in the national domain can also be affected. Other texts will deal with the cases of natural reserves and savannah forests.

The objective is therefore to preserve the versatility of the natural forests, while authorizing a reasonable and long-term gathering of its resources.