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More than 1.6 billion people around the world depend on forest to some degree to sustain their livelihoods (Vedeld et al., 2004). One billion people depend on drugs obtained from forest plants; around 60 million indigenous people are almost entirely dependent on forest (The World Bank, 2004), and half a billion extremely poor people need the forest to sustain their livelihood (World Bank and IUCN, 1994). About 27% of people in the world today living in the vicinity of the forest depends on the forest for their livelihoods. The forest remains a source of important cultural and socio-economic products, termed non-timber forest products. The tropical forest in the world and Cameroon in particular is a cornucopia of plants and animal species which constitute the source of livelihoods for local communities (Agustino et al., 2011).
To avoid the degradation of natural environment many countries thought it wise to create forest reserves to limit the anarchical and devastating exploitation of its resources. The institution of “forest reserve” areas in Cameroon dates back to the colonial era and was done without the consent of the people living around them. Globally, the dependence on forests for livelihoods tends to be highest in areas with high forest cover and pervasive poverty (Sunderlin et al., 2008). It is estimated, for instance, that 1.5 million people in the Brazilian Amazon derive part of their income from extractive products (Non-Wood News, 1994). Some NTFPs have strong market value and was postulated that the long-term value accruing from the harvest of these products could override the short-term gain of converting that forest or individual trees to other uses such as timber, agriculture or plantations (Peters et al., 1989; Godoy & Bawa, 1993).
Population pressure has increased the need for more food and fuel wood while aggravating poverty. The communities living around forest reserves languish in poverty whereas they have abundant resources that have been carved out as reserves. These forest reserves are often used by man for the collection of NTFPs. The NTFPs which are used for food and medicine are often the only means for forest dwellers to enter the cash economy (Tieguhong et al., 2009).
In Cameroon, the timber sector provides an estimated 45,000 jobs, domestic timber sector employs some 163,000 people, whereas non-timber forest products provide employment for an estimated 283,000 people and generating a market value of US$ 54 million in the 2007-2008 season, compared to US$ 870 million in the timber export sector and US$ 58 million in the domestic timber sector (Ingram et al. 2010). Using parts of plants for food, particularly fruits (Irvingia gabonensis), nuts (Cola spp.), seeds (Ricinodendron heudelotii), and animals (commonly known as ‘bushmeat’), is one of the most common uses of non-timber forest products in Cameroon (Ingram & Schure, 2010).
NTFPs play an important socio-economic role in the livelihood of the local people around the BFR, yet its limited resources are unsustainably managed. The unsustainable exploitation of natural resources by the local communities of the BFR have resulted to a reduction in the quantity of NTFPs collected and a loss in biodiversity. Unsustainable management is mainly triggered by poverty and this has made the local people powerless and vulnerable. As a result, the people are deprived of better choices other than those easily attained. According to Barrow (1991), the poor and powerless may react to problems of degradation in a fatalistic way. They may be perfectly aware of the problem and long-term implications but are unable or unwilling to do more than practice what they know just to simply scratch a living. The BFR management suffers from limited financial and human resources, a hindrance to its evolution. This has made most of the projects and innovations carried out by the forest management team of the reserve doomed to failure.