article · Forest Policy and Economics
Research around the Campo Ma'an landscape in Cameroon examines how different groups shape conservation and livelihood outcomes. State and civil society organisations currently dominate the area, prioritising ecological interests such as habitat preservation and biodiversity protection. Economic operators form the second most prominent group. While agricultural expansion has historically driven forest loss, economic operators show potential to pivot from expanding plantations towards ecotourism enterprises, including gorilla habituation initiatives. Despite current conservation efforts, severe ecological threats persist across the landscape, with poaching and forest conversion identified as highly significant negative outcomes, overshadowing positive resource conservation gains. Aligning the goals of enterprise operators with conservation actors through ecotourism offers a collaborative, non-coercive approach to achieving environmental preservation alongside local economic development.
Balancing biodiversity preservation with economic livelihoods is a critical challenge in tropical conservation zones. Demonstrating that commercial operators can align with ecological goals provides policymakers and conservation agencies with viable alternatives to coercive enforcement, encouraging sustainable local economic activities that protect critical habitats.
The research highlights an applied opportunity for ecotourism ventures, specifically initiatives such as gorilla habituation, to engage private economic operators instead of expanding agricultural plantations. Relevant users include ecotourism developers, conservation managers, and community enterprises. While the interest in shifting toward ecotourism is identified, the practical implementation appears to be at an early planning stage rather than a market-ready deployment.
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The extensive literature highlights the link between protected area conservation and livelihoods. However, theoretical evidence on actor constellations and their interests in the pursuit of conservation and livelihood goals remains nuanced. Using the Actor Centered Power (ACP) lens, we contribute to provide clarity around the Campo Ma'an Landscape of Cameroon by: (1) exploring the interests of diverse actor typologies, and (2) determining the outcomes linked to actor engagement around the landscape. Data was collected through key informant interviews ( n = 25) and focus group discussions ( n = 10) in four sectors around the landscape. Based on directed content analysis and narratives, the following conclusions are drawn: Firstly, a constellation of state-civil society actors dominate the landscape, followed by enterprise-based actors (economic operators). Second, while the state-civil society actor constellation significantly manifest ecological interest (biodiversity conservation and habitat preservation), potentials exist for enterprise-based actors to switch their interest away from the expansion of plantations in favour of ecotourism enterprise development (e.g. gorilla habituation). Thirdly, ecological outcomes predominate the landscape; while bio-resource conservation is positive and less significant, poaching and forest conversion as negative ecological outcomes, are highly significant. The empirical evidence contributes to the furtherance of the ACP theoretical framework on two fronts; it emphasizes the role of enterprise-based actors' interests in defining protected area management outcomes. It further demonstrates the potentials for convergence between conservation and enterprise-based actors in the frame of ecotourism enterprise development. This represents a useful pathway to advance non-coercive power exercise in the pursuit of conservation and livelihoods. • A nuanced link between protected area conservation and livelihoods exists in the literature on actor-centred studies. • We contribute to the search for clarity by analysing shifts in the interests of actor constellations and their outcomes in the Campo Ma'an Landscape of Cameroon. • The civil society-state actor constellation dominates the landscape, followed by enterprise-based actors (economic operators). • Civil society-state actor constellation manifests ecological interest, while enterprise-based actors demonstrate potentials to switch towards ecotourism enterprise development. • The evidence contributes to the advance the ACP theoretical framework with emphasis on the potentials for convergence between conservation and enterprise-based actors.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2025.103493
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