Achieving customary-statutory rights compromise in Cameroon's forest & wildlife policies: extending forest benefits sharing to communities living in wildlife protection zones and to indigenous groups in Cameroon

To-date forest fees and royalties due forest zone communities are tied to timber concessions not parks or are inadvertently contingent on the presence of conventional chieftaincies. Both policy results disfavour communities whose customary lands have been taken up by parks and racial minorities who have not naturally evolved conventional chieftaincies. These situations need to be changed because they fall short of the constitution of the Republic of Cameroon which resolves to; harness all natural resources to ensure the well-being of every citizen without discrimination; to raise living standards and uphold their right to development; affirming that all citizens have equal rights and obligations and the State commits herself within the possibilities of her laws and resources to provide all conditions necessary for human social development. There is need therefore within the current review of forest and wildlife policies for reasonable compromise to be reached based on terms negotiated by affected communities themselves to minimize these injustices while ensuring long term biodiversity conservation and good social relations between all races in the forest zone

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