Local communities want forest royalties reinstated

Their representatives made the plea at a press conference that held on the eve of the opening of the November session of parliament meant for the adoption of the 2016 finance law
By Essan Ekoninyam in Yaounde
The opening of the November 2015 session of parliament, meant to adopt the 2016 finance law, has brought some hope to civil society organizations and members of local forest village communities. They are looking forward to having the law makers adopting a finance law for 2016 in which forest royalties would be reinstated.
    This hope was made glaring by Luc Ndebe, spokesperson for members of the said communities, at a press conference organized on 11 November 2015 (that is, the eve of the opening of the parliamentary session) by the Forest and Rural Development NGO known more commonly by its French acronym FODER.
At the press conference, Luc Ndebe, who doubles as president of the local management and follow-up committee for forest royalties meant for the local Manga’a-Ndokok communities of the Sanaga Maritime division, shouted the point that the suppression of forest royalties handicaps their communities in no small way.

    “The suppression of forest royalties has come to frustrate all hopes of our development,” he said. “These royalties used to help us send our children to school…This money used to help us contribute to education by building classrooms and paying part-time teachers, for example.”
    For his part, a traditional chief whose only name The Median got as Mvondo, complained bitterly:
“The state asks us to consume with moderation and to conserve biodiversity, while the ministries in charge of the management of forest resources…give licenses to exploiters who cut wood abusively and sometimes destroy protected species.”
    Luc Ndebe joined Mvondo in his bitterness by asking a searching question. “How do you expect us to succeed in conserving biodiversity when we no longer receive revenue for our forest resources?” This question came up when the global climate change conference that begins on 30 November was mentioned.
It should be recalled that resources for local forest village communities were paid in the past but were suppressed by parliament in the 2015 finance law.