Further evidence of the important role of community-based forest monitoring has emerged from the Yoko district of Mbam-et-Kim, Cameroon, after two logging companies had their permits suspended, following alerts of infractions sent by community monitors.
L’association Écosystèmes et Développement (EcoDev), a partner organisation of the Rainforest Foundation UK who have been implementing ForestLink since 2019, reported the confiscation of two permits from logging companies Société Forestière BOURAKA (SFB) and Nomo Felix Devalois (NOFELD). The permits were suspended with effect on the 23rd February, due to fraudulent documents and non-respect of social responsibility agreements by logging outside of permitted boundaries.
Alerts from members of the local community were sent via ForestLink, the Rainforest Foundation UK’s Real-Time Monitoring system, which allows individuals to report on potential crimes such as illegal industrial logging or land rights violations.
These alerts then led to follow-up investigations by the Standardised Independent External Monitoring System (SNOIE), with two permits provisionally withheld from SFB while the verification took place. The follow-up investigations then resulted in Cameroon’s Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife deciding to suspend SFB and NOFELD’s permits.
EcoDev has also seen success with the training and sensitising of civil-society actors in Mbam-et-Kim on rights monitoring, leading to this region seeing the highest number of ForestLink alerts sent in the 2021-2022 period. Investigations by SNOIE to verify alerts sent by EcoDev-trained communities have also led to a third logging company, SMK, having logging activities suspended in the Ngambé-Tikar district. –The Rainforest Foundation UK
