Resilience and adaptation in forest co-management systems

The last few decades of co-managing forests have been criticised for not ensuring cultural integrity and direct benefits for local people. This is evident in many parts of Cameroon, where neoliberal projects and restrictions on forest rights imposed by co-management systems threaten Indigenous peoples and their spiritual ties to the environment. While co-management promises power-sharing, disputes over how local and Indigenous peoples may use forest resources remain challenging. Underlying this uncertainty, too little is known about the coping mechanisms people adopt. Hence, this paper uses an interpretive stance to demonstrate how people attempt to cope with the uncertainties of co-management systems where forests contain areas of spiritual importance. Particularly, we ask whether options exist for people to sustain their cultural relations with nature in situations of disagreement within the system. Using forest co-management as an example, we synthesize secondary evidence from our previously published case studies in Cameroon, covering the Korup communities of Korup National Park (KNP), the Bakweri communities surrounding Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP), and the Baka communities of Boumba-Bek National Park (BBNP). We explore how they navigate precarious situations in co-managing national parks. The results show that, despite co-management regulations that prohibit unauthorized access to national parks, people continue their traditional use of forests through their agency and resilience. These practices show in reciprocal compliance and covert forms of resistance. For instance, some people cooperate with park officials to protect their traditions, while others circumvent the system to continue hunting and foraging despite the risks involved. Future research should explore spiritual governance that honours the forest's spiritual significance. This could improve co-management by integrating practices rooted in caring for the forest's spiritual essence.