Monetary and non-monetary benefits from the Bimbia-Bonadikombo community forest, Cameroon: policy implications relevant for carbon emissions reduction programmes

This article assesses monetary and non-monetary benefits from the Bimbia-Bonadikombo community forest in the Mt. Cameroon region, South West Cameroon. The assessment is carried out through a financial audit of revenues and expenditures of the Bimbia-Bonadikombo Natural Resources Management Council which manages the community forest, and through semi-structured interviews of community forest users, waged employees, and local elites involved in managing the community forest. The article finds that monetary benefits from the community forest is meagre, but this has not discouraged a group of elites motivated by a desire for land control from taking an active interest in managing the community forest. This article contributes to an understanding of non-monetary incentives behind the establishment of community forests. The article uses its findings to draw the attention of advocates for the inclusion of community forestry in climate change mitigation programmes, to not only focus on the financial benefits of such programmes, but to also vigorously promote the non-monetary benefits of such programmes, especially the possible resolution of communal land tenure issues.