In West and Central Africa, forest ownership is a source of many problems.
Disputes over it cause conflict; among other things, a lack of it causes poverty. In most countries the state has claimed legal title since the colonial period. Yet the customary ownership of the same areas dates back centuries, perhaps millennia. The disconnection between the legal and customary systems results in confusion, misery and lost opportunity.
19 No 2
Owning Africa’s forests
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19 No 2
The ITTO Tropical Forest Update is published quarterly in English, French and Spanish; the French and Spanish editions are usually posted about a month later than the English.
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Forest-tenure reform ‘too slow’
Photo: J. Blaser
The conference background paper found that Africa lags behind other tropical forest regions in forest tenure reform
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The opening session
The conference was an unprecedented opportunity for the sharing of experiences between countries in Africa
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Daring to hope
Photo: A. Sarre
Africa must set ambitious goals for land-tenure reform
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Land and development
Photo: E. Mansur
Africa’s land-tenure problems are complex and deep-rooted
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Africa’s big question
Photo: E. Mansur
Can the continent find solutions to its colonial landownership legacy?
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Another look at the law
Photo: A. Sarre
The Cameroon government is embarking on a process to revise Cameroon’s forest law
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Legal dimensions to providing customary rights
Photo: A. Sarre
Tanzania has introduced a legal approach to forest ownership that builds on the customary system
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Declaration of African women
The African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests, formed during the conference, made this declaration on the conference’s final day.
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Yaoundé statement
Statement made by participants at the International Conference on Forest Tenure, Governance and Enterprise: New Opportunities for Central and West Africa, convened in Yaoundé, Cameroon, 25–29 May 2009
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