Déterminants de la gouvernance forestière dans les forêts communautaires de l’Est-Cameroun

In Cameroon, communities are facing challenges related to community forest governance and ownership. The determinants of governance were studied in 12 community forests (FC) in East Cameroon. Focus group discussions and one-to-one interviews were used to identify supporting organisations and identify perceptions and determinants of governance in order to develop a scale of governance levels for community forests. The results show that supporting organisations greatly influence the creation of community forests. However, the FC A3 exception shows that a community can create a community forest under the sole impetus of a traditional chief, without external support. The perception of governance by communities was positive in community forests created with the support of organisations with an interest in the community (non-governmental organisations, forest authorities, churches), and negative when support came from organisations with an interest in timber production (elites, private forest operators). The diagram of relationships between communities and supporting organisations based on cohesion between governance principles (participation, transparency, legitimacy, equity, integration, accountability, capacity and adaptability) highlights potential corrective actions to help achieve the devolution level on the scale of governance.