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La foresterie communale est un modèle de gestion des ressources forestières qui se déploie en Afrique centrale depuis plus d'une décennie. Le concept est juridiquement consacré dans six pays sur les dix qui composent l'espace géopolitique de la COMIFAC et traduit l'ambition des États d'associer les collectivités territoriales décentralisées à la gestion des ressources naturelles de manière à en faire des pôles de développement. Le présent chapitre fait le point sur les progrès de la foresterie communale et montre que le développement de ce concept a tiré avantage du contexte juridique et institutionnel lié aux processus de décentralisation politique qui sont actuellement en cours dans la sous-région. Globalement les niveaux de mise en oeuvre de la foresterie communale sont assez contrastés. La revue des différentes expériences montre que les dispositifs légaux réglementaires sont selon le cas dépourvus d'effectivité matérielle, inadaptés ou balbutiants. Dans les pays qui mettent au moins partiellement le concept en oeuvre, les expériences réussies reposent sur le soutien actif des partenaires techniques et financiers. En conclusion, le chapitre suggère des voies pour améliorer l'effectivité du concept de foresterie communale.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the first REDD+ target countries due its huge forest ecosystem potential. Since 2011, the country has been creating key pieces of legislation as well as implementing REDD+ readiness activities and making pilot investments to mitigate some of the key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation identified in the country. Despite this progress, the country’s poor governance climate creates a significant challenge in future progress towards implementing REDD+. Endemic poverty, weak state authority, and widespread corruption characterize the DRC’s current political environment. It is within this socioeconomic and political backdrop that the REDD+ mechanism is expected to be implemented in the DRC. The main objective of this study is to assess national-level corruption risks and possible anticorruption strategies in REDD+ implementation in the DRC, using a combination of desk and field-based research. The findings from this research suggest that four types of corruption have arisen in relation to national-level REDD+ implementation: (1) kickback payments; (2) the politicization of government forestry positions; (3) financial mismanagement by international development cooperation agencies and non-governmental organizations; and (4) non-transparent hiring practices of international consultants. The key recommendation of this paper, based on these findings, is the establishment of an independent agency in the DRC to monitor REDD+ finances and projects. Such an agency could play a strong role in enhancing and enforcing the DRC’s legal and institutional framework, enhancing transparency through the publication of license and REDD+ information, providing ethics education, and helping to ensure merit-based employment in REDD+ institutions.

La République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) est l’une des cibles principales du programme REDD+ en raison de la capacité potentielle de son écosystème forestier. Depuis 2011, la RDC a adopté des lois importantes, mis en œuvre les activités de préparation de REDD+ et investi dans des projets pilotes pour réduire les facteurs favorisant le déboisement et la dégradation des fore^ts du pays. Malgré ces progrès, la mauvaise gouvernance reste l’un des défis majeurs que rencontre la RDC dans la mise en œuvre effective du programme REDD+. Le climat politique actuel est caractérisé par une pauvreté endémique, un manque d’autorité des pouvoirs publics, une mauvaise gouvernance généralisée et un niveau de corruption très élevé. C’est dans ce contexte socio-politique et économique que le mécanisme REDD+ doit se concrétiser et e^tre mis en œuvre. L’objectif principal de cette étude, qui combine une recherche documentaire et un travail de terrain, est d’évaluer les risques de corruption au niveau national et d’identifier des stratégies anti-corruption pour la mise en œuvre de REDD+ en RDC. Les résultats de ce travail de recherche suggèrent l’existence de quatre types de corruption dans la mise en œuvre de REDD+ en RDC : 1) les pots-de- vin ; 2) la politisation des postes de gestion forestière ; 3) une potentielle mauvaise gestion financière des agences internationales de développement et de coopération ; 4) des pratiques de recrutement opaques de consultants internationaux. Sur la base de ces conclusions, ce rapport recommande le renforcement du cadre juridique et institutionnel et son application effective; plus de transparence par la publication

International audience; La foresterie communale constitue l’une des options qui structure la gestion forestière en Afrique centrale. Le relatif échec de la foresterie communautaire et la désillusion de l’impact des revenus forestiers décentralisés sur le bien-être des populations locales ont réorienté le discours des partenaires au développement et de la société civile internationale vers la foresterie décentralisée, perçue comme une opportunité pour une gouvernance environnementale améliorée et le gage de la participation effective des populations locales à la gestion des ressources forestières. Le discours sur la foresterie décentralisée est séduisant non seulement en raison des opportunités qu’elle ouvre pour le développement local, mais surtout parce que la conjoncture internationale et les dynamiques sous régionales s’y prêtent au regard du discours global sur le changement climatique et le rôle que les collectivités publiques infra-étatiques pourraient jouer dans la mise en œuvre du processus REDD+

Le cadre de réglementation camerounais sur les forêts, la faune et la pêche oblige les exploitants forestiers à payer une redevance forestière (RF), dont la moitié doit être reversée aux communes rurales (40 %) et aux villages riverains (10 %) des concessions forestières. La RF a pour objectifs principaux d'apporter des contributions régulières au budget de l'État et d'améliorer les moyens d'existence en milieu rural, par le biais d'une redistribution équitable et efficace des bénéfices tirés de la forêt. Après une décennie de mise en oeuvre et la redistribution d'environ 85 millions € à une cinquantaine de communes, les avis dont font état les publications sont unanimes pour dire que les impacts sur les moyens d'existence de la distribution de la RF aux communautés sont faibles. Les évaluations exhaustives des impacts de la redistribution de la RF sur les administrations locales sont moins nombreuses. Cet article examine si la RF peut être un outil de développement local par le biais des autorités locales (les communes), en accordant une attention particulière aux aspects économiques, ainsi qu'aux aspects liés à l'équité et à la gouvernance. Une des conclusions les plus importantes est que les maires, bien qu'ils soient élus et unanimement accusés de détournements de fonds et de mauvaise gestion de la RF, ne sont bien souvent que des boucs émissaires dans un système politique complexe qui ne permet pas à la population rurale de sanctionner directement les utilisations abusives de la RF par l'intermédiaire du système électoral actuel.

The domestic timber sector, and the drivers behind its expansions and contractions, have generally been under-researched in the countries of the Congo-Basin. Cameroon, for instance, experienced a steady and substantial growth in timber production during the economic boom, from 1970 to 1986, which was mainly driven by a growing domestic market. Later on, official timber production stagnated during the economic crisis, and then boosted again after the devaluation of the CFA Franc in 1994, but it became too expensive for the local population, and was entirely exportoriented. The gradual improvement of the economic conditions in the last 15 years, and the lack of alternative sources of income, pushed many Cameroonians to become small-scale loggers and source hundreds of local markets, as well as to develop flourishing timber exporting networks on routes reaching as far as the countries of Northern Africa. Notwithstanding its importance for national economies, the domestic timber sector is neither part of official statistics nor considered by public policies and normative frameworks in the countries of the Congo Basin. In fact, it has kept growing in what is commonly referred to as the informal sector, with most activities taking place without logging titles, and with no formal taxes collected. The provisional results of this research quantify the unprecedented scale of the domestic timber market in Cameroon, with about 1 million m3 of processes timber products sold per year. Morever, we show how the sector generates important revenues, making it one of the most important source of livelihoods for a growing number of people. We argue a formal legal framework is needed to regulate and professionalise the domestic timber market in Cameroon and in other countries of the Congo Basin, in order to streamline forestry operations, improve the governance of the sector, and manage its ecological impacts.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in developing countries. In order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress in the implementation of an effective, efficient and equitable REDD+, this paper examines national policy settings in a comparative analysis across 13 countries with a focus on both institutional context and the actual setting of the policy arena. The evaluation of REDD+ revealed that countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are showing some progress, but some face backlashes in realizing the necessary transformational change to tackle deforestation and forest degradation. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) undertaken as part of the research project showed two enabling institutional configurations facilitating progress: (1) the presence of already initiated policy change; and (2) scarcity of forest resources combined with an absence of any effective forestry framework and policies. When these were analysed alongside policy arena conditions, the paper finds that the presence of powerful transformational coalitions combined with strong ownership and leadership, and performance-based funding, can both work as a strong incentive for achieving REDD+ goals. Key policy insightsThe positive push of already existing policy change, or the negative stress of resource scarcity together with lack of effective policies, represents institutional conditions that can support REDD+ progress.Progress also requires the presence of powerful transformational coalitions and strong ownership and leadership. In the absence of these internal drivers, performance-based funding can work as a strong incentive.When comparing three assessments (2012, 2014, 2016) of REDD+ enabling conditions, some progress in establishing processes of change can be observed over time; however, the overall fluctuation in progress of most countries reveals the difficulty in changing the deforestation trajectory away from business as usual. The positive push of already existing policy change, or the negative stress of resource scarcity together with lack of effective policies, represents institutional conditions that can support REDD+ progress. Progress also requires the presence of powerful transformational coalitions and strong ownership and leadership. In the absence of these internal drivers, performance-based funding can work as a strong incentive. When comparing three assessments (2012, 2014, 2016) of REDD+ enabling conditions, some progress in establishing processes of change can be observed over time; however, the overall fluctuation in progress of most countries reveals the difficulty in changing the deforestation trajectory away from business as usual.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in developing countries. In order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress in the implementation of an effective, efficient and equitable REDD+, this paper examines national policy settings in a comparative analysis across 13 countries with a focus on both institutional context and the actual setting of the policy arena. The evaluation of REDD+ revealed that countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are showing some progress, but some face backlashes in realizing the necessary transformational change to tackle deforestation and forest degradation. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) undertaken as part of the research project showed two enabling institutional configurations facilitating progress: (1) the presence of already initiated policy change; and (2) scarcity of forest resources combined with an absence of any effective forestry framework and policies. When these were analysed alongside policy arena conditions, the paper finds that the presence of powerful transformational coalitions combined with strong ownership and leadership, and performance-based funding, can both work as a strong incentive for achieving REDD+ goals. Key policy insightsThe positive push of already existing policy change, or the negative stress of resource scarcity together with lack of effective policies, represents institutional conditions that can support REDD+ progress.Progress also requires the presence of powerful transformational coalitions and strong ownership and leadership. In the absence of these internal drivers, performance-based funding can work as a strong incentive.When comparing three assessments (2012, 2014, 2016) of REDD+ enabling conditions, some progress in establishing processes of change can be observed over time; however, the overall fluctuation in progress of most countries reveals the difficulty in changing the deforestation trajectory away from business as usual. The positive push of already existing policy change, or the negative stress of resource scarcity together with lack of effective policies, represents institutional conditions that can support REDD+ progress. Progress also requires the presence of powerful transformational coalitions and strong ownership and leadership. In the absence of these internal drivers, performance-based funding can work as a strong incentive. When comparing three assessments (2012, 2014, 2016) of REDD+ enabling conditions, some progress in establishing processes of change can be observed over time; however, the overall fluctuation in progress of most countries reveals the difficulty in changing the deforestation trajectory away from business as usual.