Cameroon has an estimated 1.2 million hectares of bamboo but current information on the economic and ecological impacts of its trade is lacking, but important given policy developments. This study evaluates the contribution of bamboo to the livelihoods of collectors, processor-traders, and consumers, and assesses the sustainability of its value chain. Guided by a social-ecological systems and value chain framework, 252 semi-structured interviews and nine focus group discussions were conducted in total of 36 locations with harvesters, processor-traders, and consumers. Key findings are that bamboo continues to be harvested unsustainably, mainly from national forest lands, with cultivated sources and plantations playing a marginal role. Processing remains basic, with informal trade predominating on the roadside (33%) and markets (6%). Bamboo contributes 3,448,632 FCFA (39%) to annual household incomes for processor-traders and is of secondary importance for collectors, providing 757,596 FCFA (26%) annually. Value-adding remains low, although consumers generally like bamboo products, rating them competitively, as affordable and durable but not high-quality. Social-ecological factors, including the nature of the resource system, governance, characteristics of users in the chain, and their interactions contribute to the overexploitation of bamboo resources. These findings suggest research, conservation, development and policy interventions are needed to improve governance: developing and enforcing a dedicated bamboo policy, improved resource management through knowledge and capacity building, promoting higher-value bamboo products to increase value and incomes, cultivating bamboo, particularly on degraded land to support restoration and carbon trading, could ensure long-term socio-economic and ecological sustainability of the chain.

Abstract Policies on natural resources were assessed both nationally and regionally to identify areas where there are still policy gaps, gaps between policies and their implementation, and areas where countries of the Congo Basin have progressed over the last decades. New emerging economic patterns were also rapidly screened. Significant progress in legislations has been made in all the countries of the Congo Basin, but there were also some inadequacies between enacted policies and legislations and their enforcement. Limited capacity, poorly paid personnel, and inadequate resourcing for enforcement explained many of these inadequacies and were linked to the overall poor governance, lack of transparency, limited freedom of speech, limited inclusion, and inequalities in the redistribution of the wealth generated by natural resources in the Congo Basin. Political and financial conditionalities imposed by western-based international financial institutions pushed the countries of the Congo Basin to search for less politically arrogant and financially less conditional economic cooperation alternatives and opened up the new scramble for Africa, whereby China, India, and South Africa have invested a lot of resources, followed by other countries such as Brazil, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey. There are new types of economic cooperation, including bartering natural resources for infrastructure or for security. Consequences of these new dynamics are not yet well documented and should be a priority for investment in science.

Sacred forests are forested areas associated with spiritual beliefs. In Africa, they serve as ritual and sacred sites with implications for biodiversity conservation. In West Cameroon, land use change has intensified with forests once classified as biodiversity hotspots becoming degraded and encroached by human activities. This study explores 24 sacred forests, examining changes in spatial areas, rates of change over time, and factors driving deforestation and degradation. Semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and cartographic mapping were used to gather data with Software ArcGIS version 2.18, ENVI, and SPSS employed for data analysis. Overall, there is a declining trend in forest cover between 1990 and 2023, on average 10.9%, with a large variation between -0.6% to -49%. Degradation and deforestation drivers include agriculture (34%) and unsustainable non-timber forest product and woodfuel harvesting (31%). Religion (89%) and eroded customary governance (11%) are indirect drivers, as traditional authority decreases and customary spiritual beliefs that previously maintained the forests are replaced by Christian and Islamic values in which sacred forest use and protection plays no role. Given decreases in area, quality and status of sacred forests, despite their continued importance for many communities and traditions, and their contribution to in-situ biodiversity conservation, we recommend integrating sacred forests into broader land-use planning and conservation policies at local, regional and national levels, promoting sustainable harvesting of forest products, strengthening traditional governance systems and connecting them to statutory forest policies, and enhanced transmission of the cultural and spiritual values associated with these forests.

The behavior and success of commercial bushmeat gun hunters in the forest landscape between the Tshuapa and Lualaba rivers, Democratic Republic of the Congo, were studied to understand hunter practices and wildlife governance challenges through the lens of optimal foraging theory. Over a period of 4 months in 2016 to 2017 and 7 months in 2022, 242 hunter follows covering 3235 km were conducted. Hunting success increased with distance from the villages and was associated with wildlife encounter rates, the quality of guns and night hunting. Prey size and the type of encounter influence prey selectivity. The results indicate the limited applicability of optimal foraging theory to commercial bushmeat gun hunter behavior in the Lomami context, high hunting pressure on ungulates and primates, and the importance of the Lomami National Park to both protect biodiversity and as a source of wildlife for adjacent forests.

Traditional production systems, agroforestry systems (SAFs) in southern Cameroon combine various types of trees of socio-economic interest which can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. The objective of this work is to analyze the contribution of these agroforestry systems based on cocoa and oil palms in the sustainable management of peripheral resources of a forest concession in southern Cameroon. The methodological approach adopted consisted of carrying out socio-demographic surveys with 66 SAF operators using survey forms. A sampling rate of 10

Community forestry has evolved from devolved forest management to the valorisation of forest resources for community development. Community forest enterprises (CFEs) now apply business approaches to enhance economic, social, and environmental outcomes. However, limited research has evaluated CFE performance in tropical countries across these dimensions. This paper proposes a contextualized multi-dimensional framework to evaluate CFEs' performance and applies it to nine CFEs in Cameroon. Data were collected from income and expenditure statements, forest land-use transects, satellite image analysis, and focus group discussions. The study evaluates the performance of Community Forest Enterprises (CFEs) in Cameroon using a multi-dimensional framework. The majority (66.67 %) are intermediate performers, with scores between 2.5 and 3. However, they score poorly on the economic dimension, making them intermediate but skewed performers with better scores on social and environmental dimensions. Only 11.11 % CFE is classified as an effective performer, with scores of three or above on all dimensions. The study found that CFEs face significant challenges in effectively allocating resources to trade in forest products and generating profits, resulting in poor economic performance. However, they perform better in investing in social projects, employing community members, and reducing illegal logging and agricultural expansion. Financial and technical support, policy coordination, and institutional collaboration are needed to improve performance.

Unilateral value chain policies have recently emerged as a key strategy of international land use governance. They're part of a broader trend towards trade-based environmental policies, from corporate due diligence to sustainability certification and trade moratoria, that has been critiqued for reinforcing inequities in global trade. Such critique has been heightened by the current rise of unilateralism, whereby states impose environmental rules on imported commodities. Debates have ensued over the political legitimacy of unilateralism, the unequal distribution of its socio-economic impacts, and the need to safeguard local producers and communities. This paper informs these debates by developing and applying a framework for monitoring equity across scales and phases of the policy process. The framework is applied to the 2023 EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR), which aims to stop EU imports of commodities linked to deforestation. We find that EUDR policy references equity as a desired outcome, but excludes affected actors from the design process. Drawing on the case of cocoa in Ghana, we identify diverse potential impacts on smallholder farmers and economies. Opportunities for the EUDR to improve equity include embedding non-EU stakeholders in international decision-making processes, enhanced and equitable partnerships with producing countries and major investments in farmer support. The paper concludes by providing an equity checklist and agenda for monitoring progress, adaptable to a wide range of unilateral and trade-based policies.

Cocoa production has increased in Cameroon since the 2000s, supported by policies to enhance productivity, yields, farmer incomes and state revenues. Other policies incentivize zero-deforestation production and forest protection. However cocoa farming practices cause deforestation and degradation. Scientific evidence of practice-policy interactions is lacking. Given this context we identified perceptions, farming practices and their on-ground impacts, policies and initiatives addressing deforestation and cocoa. A practice-based conceptual approach guided 67 interviews, 8 focus group discussions and remote sensing analysis of land cover and ground validation in 557 locations around Ntui. Increasing, small-scale cocoa-driven deforestation, totalling 4599 ha over the past decade was found. Maps show 64 % of observed cocoa farms as forest. Farmers do not perceive themselves as responsible, attributing deforestation to poverty, low yields, land unavailability, migration, population growth, and high land and labour prices. Apart from sustainability certification, farmers were unaware of zero-deforestation initiatives and policies. Policies appear ineffective in halting cocoa-related deforestation or increasing yields, but modestly effective in expanding production. Opportunities to reduce deforestation include yield improvement, information, law enforcement, and land planning. However productivity increases could drive further deforestation. Paradoxically, farmers perceive no trade-offs between livelihoods and forest use, contrary to other value-chain stakeholders. These results lead to recommendations for coherent forest and agricultural policies, pragmatic forest and agroforestry definitions, accurate (agro)forest mapping, and evidencebased reframing of discourses on cocoa, agriculture and forests. Incongruent perceptions, practices and policies challenge implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation.

The use and trade of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) may simultaneously bring about positive outcomes for conservation and rural development. This assumption underlies national strategies on NWFPs and Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) in Sao Tome and Principe. However, there is a lack of understanding of how native tree products such as Adansonia digitata (baobab), Dacryodes edulis (African plum) and Treculia africana (African breadfruit) are harvested, traded, and used. Besides, there is little knowledge about how both the landscapes these products originate from and the activities from harvest to consumption are governed. Using a value chainlandscape nexus approach, a quantitative survey with chain actors, semi-structured expert interviews and participant observations at marketplaces on Sao Tome Island, we explored the socio-economic relevance of NWFPs included in FLR initiatives and how governance arrangements impact these. Despite being seasonal and limited to the capital, the formal trade of these products was of significant economic importance to the country. Nevertheless, weak statutory governance and an absence of customary governance arrangements puts the sustainability of NWFP harvesting, and thereby the outcomes of FLR, in jeopardy. The value chain-landscape governance nexus approach helps to understand how the use of NWFPs as part of forest restoration endeavors needs to take into consideration not only socio-economic benefits but also how the chains are governed in order to ensure that trade is compatible with FLR goals. Future research could further test the robustness of this conceptualization both in Sao Tome and beyond.

Acacia plantations in Vietnam have an important role in supplying the wood processing industry and generating income for small-scale forest owners. However, it is proving difficult to improve their incomes and reduce the vulnerabilities inherent to current production systems. To address this situation, a quantitative and qualitative value chain analysis was undertaken to understand the products and profits from small-scale Acacia plantations in Thua Thien Hue province in Vietnam. The results show that Acacia plantations are profitable, require low levels of inputs and have a short minimum rotation time of five years. Harvesting and transport costs account for a large proportion of total production costs. Traders play an important role in linking producers and processors. Most of the products traded are Acacia logs for chipping and processing into other products and for saw-wood to produce timber for carpentry and domestic uses. Acacia logs with larger diameters of over 15 cm have a higher added value for wood processing companies producing furniture for export. Vulnerabilities include the highly fragmented value chain with little coordination and few information exchange mechanisms, and differences between ethnic groups that suggest a need for culturally sensitive intervention on value chains. Different options to increase profits - particularly for smallholder plantation owners - include product diversification, chain integration, and increased production to achieve efficiencies of scale.

Although international actors have intervened to improve the management of the Cameroonian woodfuel sector, the impacts of these interventions have been little explored. This study investigated the influence of international interventions on policy processes and their impacts on the woodfuel actors and resources in Cameroon. Based on a systematically conducted review of English literature and five interviews, and using the international influence pathway framework as a conceptual lens, international norms and discourses, rules, and direct access were found to have influenced woodfuel governance in Cameroon, while direct access to formal laws and policies and by programmes on the ground had more positive but also negative impacts. Due to the nature of the laws and policies which were influenced, the complex national woodfuel context, and the short-term and small-scale characteristics of programmes, positive impacts on actors and resources created by international interventions were limited. These findings lead to recommendations to increase the scale and continuity of the programmes by ensuring more synergies with informal, local and international market-based 'rules', such as REDD+ and forest certification; to focus on increasing woodfuel supply and decreasing demand; and to focus more attention on involving and empowering local people in these policy processes.