Knowledge transfer processes in the context of Forest Management in Central Africa: Hybrid bottom-up and top-down governance strategies for sustainability

The combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches is generally considered essential for governing sustainable forest management (SFM). However, little research has been conducted on how and in what forms knowledge is incorporated into and transferred within these processes, especially for countries in the global south. This article applies the Research, Integration, and Utilization (RIU) model to examine how scientific and traditional knowledge interact within forest governance in Cameroon, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It analyzes the mechanisms through which knowledge circulates and assesses how these mechanisms shape policy and practice. The findings reveal distinct national patterns. In Cameroon, knowledge transfer is largely donor-driven and project-based; in Gabon, it is centralized and technocratic; and in the DRC, it is more participatory but institutionally inconsistent. Across all three cases, gender exclusion and chronic underfunding limit the integration as well as local knowledge is marginalized. The study shows that knowledge transfer in the Congo Basin is a negotiated and unequal one, shaped by power relations, and institutional constraints. In this context, the RIU model helps explain not only how knowledge moves, but also whose knowledge gains authority and whose remains marginal. The article argues that strengthening forest governance in Central Africa requires a more cyclical and co-creative understanding of knowledge transfer, supported by gender-responsive platforms, stronger feedback loops between local actors and national policy, and financing arrangements that are able to support a more complementary integration of scientific and indigenous knowledge as dual sources of wisdom for governance.