The Colonial heritage and post-Colonial influence, entanglements and implications of the concept of community forestry by the example of Cameroon

In literature on Natural Resource Management related policies in Africa and Cameroon in particular, Colonial heritage was defined and identified. The question of this paper is whether ‘community forestry’ which promotes giving back the forest to people breaks with this tradition. The key elements of Colonial heritage in resource management were deduced from literature. Based on these benchmarks the program and practice of community forestry in Cameroon were evaluated. Data about community forestry in Cameroon was collected in 10 selected communities in 2009/10. Today in practice community forestry favors techno‐scientific knowledge about the forest, separate nature from human life, is a bureaucratic controlled engagement with nature and is aimed to make nature and people productive. The benchmark identifies a strong Colonial heritage within community forestry in Cameroon and questions whether the aim of including the local people in forest management, correcting their previous exclusion by the Colonial policy in the management of their forest resources, thus, the self determined life of people within the forest can be reached.