Page 54 - Governing Congo Basin Forests in a Changing Climate • Olufunso Somorin

Chapter 1
1.5 Organization of the thesis
This thesis is organized into seven chapters with the introductory chapter followed by five empirical chapters, along with a final chapter with the discussion, conclusions and reflections. The five empirical chapters are published or submitted independent peer-reviewed journal articles; they are related to the four researched posed in Section 1.2.1. It is worth mentioning that the second research question on adaptation strategies is answered in two chapters: Chapters 3 and 4 as shown in Figure 1-3.
The first chapter presents an overview of the relationship between tropical forests and climate change as regards adaptation and mitigation. It presents the Congo Basin forests as the research area, and within the debates of its climate policy responses. The chapter also outlines the research problem, research objectives and the main research questions guiding this thesis. It further outlines the theoretical concepts and conceptual framework underpinning the research as well as the methodological accounts of the research empirics.
Chapter 2 analyses the policy discourses on adaptation and mitigation (with specific emphasis on the REDD+ mechanism) that are currently at the forefront within the Congo Basin region. It investigates how different actors hold divergent frames on adaptation and mitigation, and how these frames converge around dominant discourses with implications for policy making.
Both Chapters 3 and 4 seek to answer the research question on adaptation strategies in the Congo Basin forests, using the case of Cameroon. Chapter 3 explores the vulnerability of key forest-related sectors to climate risks. It further explores national-level understanding and planning of adaptation to increase adaptive capacities of the populations and economy against climate risks. On the other hand, Chapter 4 investigates household-level coping and adaptation practices of local forest-dependent communities, and how these practices and their outcomes are shaped by institutions governing forest access and management.
Chapter 5 presents an analysis of the mitigation (REDD+) strategy in the Cameroonian forest sector. The paper investigates the policy process of
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