The human dimensions of restoring degraded forests and lands : case of Cameroon

Abstract

Forest and land degradation are persistent and are perceived as global problems whose impacts are felt at multiple levels in terms of food insecurity, livelihoods, and biodiversity loss. In response, efforts to restore degraded forests and lands is gaining momentum at the global and regional levels through ambitious commitments. However, the challenge is to translate these commitments to concrete large-scale actions on the ground. Many countries are currently developing national and subnational strategies and plans for forest and land restoration. Understanding the human dimension of restoration, which has been recently dominated by ecological dimension assessments is important for strategic planning. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the human dimension of forest and land restoration in Cameroon with the view to generating knowledge and information to inform policymakers, practitioners and local communities, involved in restoration. The study employed a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods in the data collection and analysis process. The whole study was guided by two conceptual sets of thinking – the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Human dimension frameworks. Data for the study were collected from the tree-growing restoration policy process at the national level and from tree-growing restoration activities at the landscape and farm levels. The study dealt with the policy level factors relevant for enhancing tree-growing restoration actions (Chapters 3 and 4), farm level tree-growing decision-making drivers and behavioural persistence (Chapters 5 and 6) and the diverse viewpoints of restoration stakeholders regarding strengths, weaknesses, threats, interests, and priorities (Chapter 7). The study found that the policy and governance related conditions are currently weak and insufficient to enable large-scale restoration and efforts towards improving these conditions have been insufficient. A strong political will is required to improve these conditions. The provision of tree-growing incentives, a key policy instrument for enhancing restoration needs to build on key good governance features such as accountability, transparency, monitoring and performance evaluation, collaboration, and coordination. Farmers decisions to involve in tree-growing restoration practices were influenced by a combination of socio-economic and biophysical factors. Furthermore, farmers decision to continue restoration practices on their farm plots after the end of support programs were influenced by a mix of factors, among which positive attitude and perception of farmers, constant motivation, financial profitability, community influence, played an important role. The design and implementation of restoration plans, and programs needs to take into consideration the lessons from past tree-growing restoration efforts where - source of additional income for families, tenure insecurity, improvement of livelihoods and natural resource base of communities and inadequate supply of quality inputs for restoration emerged as key factors in terms of strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat respectively. The study concludes that factors that influence the role of human actions in tree-growing restoration practices are crucial to support large-scale restoration endeavours and the achievement of national and international restoration objectives.