The restitution workshop of Case Studies on Alternative Tenure and Enterprise Models (ATEMs)" held in Edéa/ Cameroon" August 12- 14" 2008 provided an opportunity for authors of ATEMs research to share their new knowledge and work at a national level" and to promote discussion and thought about alternative tenure and enterprise models. It also facilitated reflection on tenure rights and ownership of forest resources by local populations and discussion around the lessons of the ATEMs research within the context of Cameroon" and their implications on Cameroonian legal and regulatory frameworks.

The workshop was organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Cameroon office and Cameroon Ecology in collaboration with the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF)" the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)" the Tri-National Cooperative Agroforestry Association (CAFT)" and the Center for Environment and Development (CED) thanks to technical and financial support from the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)

The workshop focused on the following issues:

1.      Land tenure and forestry enterprise: Cameroon context and global tendencies

2.      Alternative Tenure Enterprises Models (ATEMs) case studies in Africa" Latin America" and Canada

3.      Community experiences in forest management and access to land

4.      Legal aspects of forest and land reforms in Cameroon

5.      Small and Medium Enterprises: legal framework" challenges" and opportunities

10 key recommendations from the workshop

All the participants acknowledged and agreed that" the recognition of local communities’ rights in land tenure is a sine qua non condition for the development of community forest enterprises in Cameroon.

For MINFOF and NINDAF to:

1. initiate a national dialogue on forest tenure and customary rights for a land tenure model based on Cameroon history and socio-cultural realities;
2. involve communities in the revision process of the 1994 law and 1974 order on forest and land tenure;
3. recognize and integrate customary rights in land and forest policies;

For MINFOF to:

4. revise the zoning plan of southern Cameroon and more specifically in all the UFAs and protected areas to ensure the respect of customary rights;
5. create a communication system such as community and rural radios to inform the population about non-timber forest products market;
6. take into account the needs of in classifying UFAs specifically UFA 07002 (of Kopongo village) and UFA no. 09026

For MINPMEESA" MINFOF" MINPROFF" and donors to:

7. revise the legal framework of small and medium enterprises to better promote community forest enterprises;
8. put in place a funding system to support community forest enterprises (this should be mainly the role of the state);
9. organize exchange programs among community forest enterprises promoters such as non-timber forest products fairs;
10. create a space for the exposition of non-timber forest products that came from the community forest enterprises.

Communique Final

Traditional Chiefs Memorandum