Page 60 - Governing Congo Basin Forests in a Changing Climate • Olufunso Somorin

Chapter 3 analyzes national-level understanding of adaptation in the forest sector using the case of Cameroon. Given the significance of the multiple functions of the forests for livelihoods, biodiversity and the national economy of Cameroon, the chapter assesses the vulnerability of the forest sector to the impacts of climate change. It does so by developing a vulnerability framework through multiple science-policy dialogues to analyze the sensitivity and adaptive capacity of the forest sector to climate change. The results show that the vulnerability of the Cameroonian forest sector has negative consequences for food security, health, energy and the overall well-being of the population. The chapter explains that the vulnerability assessment provides an evidence- based need for prioritizing and planning adaptation at the national level. The chapter further reports on two important constraints to an adaptation strategy at the national level in Cameroon: (i) many of the factors that contribute to the vulnerability of the forest sector are not entirely climate- driven but represent human pressures from unsustainable resource use; and (ii) high incidence of rural and urban poverty as the bane of vulnerability to climate risks. The implication of these constraints is that adaptation cannot be limited to responding only to climate-driven impacts, and has the ‘burden’ of reducing poverty and promoting sustainable management of forest resources too. The chapter finally recommends that an institutional response to climate change in Cameroon has to integrate: the linkages between forest and other, related sectors such as agriculture, energy and water; the multiple (and often competing) claims to forest resources; and different forest management and conservation practices.
Chapter 4 takes a step further to investigate adaptation practices at the local levels since climate variability is already happening and affecting rural livelihood systems of communities that depend on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and forestry. The study area included three community forests in southwestern Cameroon. The chapter analyzes local coping and adaptive strategies by (mostly agrarian) communities by using different forest resources for sustaining food security, income generation and livelihood diversifications. Theoretically, the chapter adopts a conceptual framework based on the relationships between livelihoods and institutions in understanding adaptation practices and outcomes. The results show that local adaptation strategies are both anticipatory and reactive within the farming systems, off-farm systems (e.g.
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