B7-6201/96-11/VIII/FOR "Assessment of Ecological and Economic Prospects and Limitations for Sustainable Management of Natural Forest in Cameroon " by The Tropenbos Foundation (1996)

Objectives:

The proposed project is part of the Tropenbos-Cameroon Programme (TCP). The general objective of the Tropenbos-Cameroon Programme is to develop methods and strategies for the management of humid tropical forests in south Cameroon, directed at sustainable production of timber and other products and services. These methods and strategies have to be ecologically sound, socially acceptable and economically viable.

The project has as its overall objective to provide ecological and economic guidelines and a planning methodology for sustainable management of natural forest. The project has close links with most other TCP sub-projects, and in particular with land inventory and land evaluation sub-project Lu1, the logging sub-project F1, the silviculture sub-project F2 and the forest management sub-project Econ1.

The specific objectives of the project are:

1. To identify ecological prospects and limitations (criteria, indicators, norms) for sustainable forest management and forestry operations;
2. To provide decision makers with a methodology for multi-purpose management planning of forest land (Environmental Impact Assessment), which takes the interests of all stakeholders involved in forest land use into account and involves these stakeholders in the planning process;
3. To provide forest managers and other stakeholders with a management plan for the project area, which can serve as an example for similar plans elsewhere;
4. To strengthen Cameroonian research institutions and research capacity;
5. To promote the knowledge and awareness of the findings of the project among decision makers, forest managers and other stakeholders, and also among EU personnel and projects in order to promote the application of results in other existing and future EU projects and environmental assessment programmes.

Results:

1. Outputs contributing to the specific objective 1: ‘Identification of (preliminary) ecological criteria, indicators and norms for sustainable forest management and forestry operations (Ecol1, 2, 3, F5)’ are:
   • Recommendations concerning criteria, indicators and norms for sustainable forest management and forestry operations in relation to plant biodiversity.
   • Recommendations concerning criteria, indicators and norms for sustainable forest management and forestry operations in relation to key ecological processes.
   • Recommendations concerning criteria, indicators and norms for sustainable forest management and forestry operations in relation to plant-animal interdependencies concerning the regeneration of timber trees.
   • Recommendations concerning criteria, indicators and norms for sustainable forest management and forestry operations in relation to ecological control of insect damage to useful trees

2. Outputs contributing to the specific objective 2: ‘To provide decision makers with an Environmental Impact Assessment method to identify wise and sustainable management options are:
   • An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) method as a planning tool.

3. Outputs contributing to the specific objective 3: ‘To provide forest managers and other stakeholders with a management plan, applying the results of the entire Tropenbos programme are:
   • Predicted effects and impacts of different management options through application of the EIA method in the project area.
   • Management plan.

4. Outputs contributing to the specific objective 4: ‘Strengthened Cameroonian research institutions and research capacity are:
   • Trained Cameroonian scientists, students and technical personnel

5. Outputs contributing to the specific objective 5: ‘Increased knowledge and awareness on the project results among all stakeholders’ (decision makers, forest managers, local population, forestry service) and other projects are:
   • Publications, brochures, meetings, seminar etc. to disseminate the results of the project to a wide range of users