
Illegal logging hasn’t stopped in Cameroon. There's a lot of forest conversion, especially for agricultural use. Most of it is happening illegally. When you go there, you see hundreds of trucks on the road laden down with huge logs, and ask yourself, how is that possible?

The Voluntary Partnership Agreement has moved at a snail’s pace for few years now, but in 2018 there were efforts by donors and also the Cameroonian government to get it back on track.
On the positive side, there’s a new draft of the Forest Code, and in some key areas it reflects what civil society wants: including a better recognition of customary rights and support for community forestry.

Cameroon was the first county in Central Africa to promote community forestry and adopt a legal framework. Although the practice of Community Forestry on the ground is far from perfect, it enables local communities to directly benefit from forest management, and is a way to help fulfil the aims of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Lessons learned in Cameroon are inspiring others to move towards viable alternative models contributing to sustainable community livelihoods and the empowerment of women in Cameroon as well as elsewhere in Africa.