Determinants of environmental sustainable behaviour amongst logging companies in Cameroon

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of an indepth qualitative study of the most important forest logging companies and syndicates to explore the factors which influence forest exploitation and related businesses in the Congo Basin of Africa to act or not in environmentally sustainable ways. More specifically, the study explored the motivations, the benefits and the factors which facilitate or constrain sustainable behaviour amongst forest exploitation companies in Cameroon. Data analysis was undertaken using a holistic model consisting of institutional, economic and resource based factors. Economic motivations were the most cited factors driven by increased awareness and demands from clients. Interestingly, the most cited benefit from adopting environmentally sustainable behaviour related to gains in internal organisation, transparency and productivity within the company. The regulatory institutional environment was the most cited constraint because of illegality, weak law enforcement and corruption in the country’s forest sector followed by high costs of investment and unclear financial premiums from environmentally sourced timber. The policy implications are discussed.