Assessing participatory GIS for community-based natural resource management: claiming community forests in Cameroon.(Geographic Information Systems)

Introduction

This study addresses participatory-GIS (PGIS) and participatory mapping in participatory spatial planning applications for community-based natural resource management. It queries the implicit assumption that the participatory application of GIS at the local level is effective, simultaneously meeting the content needs and satisfying the underlying interests of stakeholders, and thus is a tool for better governance. We use 'good governance' dimensions (Figure 1) in an ex-post evaluation of the process of applying PGIS in the planning and authentication of a Community Forest Management (CFM) project.

In the first section we critically review PGIS applications in local level Natural Resource Management (NRM) in developing countries in terms of participation and good governance. The following section assesses the application of PGIS over a period of years in a community forest management project in Tinto, Cameroon, by employing key dimensions of good governance. The third section concludes by discussing salient issues in empowerment impacts and functional effectiveness in PGIS processes that should contribute to well-governed resource management.

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Participatory spatial planning and good governance: principles and practices

PGIS and participatory mapping have two decades of applications in participatory spatial planning, whether manifested as rural-located 'community-based natural resources' (for examples, see Poole 1995; McCall 2004), or as 'participatory neighbourhood planning' in urban settings (for examples, see Craig et al. 2002; McCall 2003):

* 'Claiming land'--legal recognition of customary land and resource rights, or demarcating neighbourhood boundaries.