Institutional Change and Compliance in Forest Landscape Restoration Governance: Insights from the Western Highlands of Cameroon

ABSTRACT

The debate regarding whether, in sub-Saharan Africa, exogenous¹ and endogenous institutions² have witnessed significant changes to facilitate contemporary Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) processes remains inconclusive. Additionally, there is insufficient knowledge of their compliance levels. To address these lacunae, we used content analysis of policy documents, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and expert interviews to examine the evolution of FLR-linked exogenous and endogenous institutions and their compliance levels in rural Cameroon. Using thematic and content analyses hinged on a hybrid endogenous-cum-exogenous institutional analytical lens; we conclude that in Cameroon’s FLR context, exogenous institutions have transitioned from focusing solely on forest plantation establishment to encompass natural/artificial regeneration and agroforestry. More recent approaches have incorporated FLR financing mechanisms, capacity building, collaboration, and research. However, the significant exogenous institutional transformation does not necessarily imply higher compliance. Future studies should unravel actors’ interests and power dynamics that potentially shape compliance with institutions in FLR.

KEYWORDS:

• Customs
• formal
• informal institutions
• FLR policy
• traditions

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Gadinga Walter Forje and Mr. Russel Ngoh Tita, for their assistance during the data collection. We also thank all the respondents that provided responses to our study questions.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2024.2322602

Notes

1. Exogenous institutions are the structures or processes (institutions) designed outside the community of their implementation or influence (e.g. forest restoration policy, forestry office, etc.).

2. Endogenous institutions are community-designed institutions or community members’ daily practices and/or ways of life that regulate human behaviour (e.g. traditional councils, customs, norms, etc.).

3. Forest landscape restoration is a ‘planned process that aims to regain the ecological functionality and enhance human well-being in deforested or degraded forest landscapes’ (Lamb & Gilmour, 2003, p. 14) – It is manifested through diverse processes like agroforestry, new tree-plantings, managed natural regeneration, or improved land management to accommodate a mosaic of land uses such as agriculture, managed plantations, riverside plantings and protected biodiversity reserves (IUCN, 2022).

4. Institutions (processes) are the rules that define the enforcement mechanisms, and the composition and functioning of organisations/structures (Fleetwood, 2008).

5. Institutions (structures) are the organisations or agencies that (re)define rules and enforcement mechanisms (ibid).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the “Sächsisches Landesstipendium” (2021-2024 PhD cohort); and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – Projektnummer (437116427), Grant ID: F-010300-541-000-1170701.