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Combating Corruption and Illegal Logging in Bénin, West Africa

Abstract The article provides a thorough analysis of the forms of corruption and the actors involved, as well as a critical review of national forest policy and economy in Bénin, West Africa. Empirical data shows that the current state of affairs is not unalterable. Observable differentiations in the local perception of corruption and illegal logging show that a latent majority of people disapproves and that they can be mobilized for sanction activities. The policy-oriented recommendations of this article offer ways to systematically reduce corruption and illegal logging: strengthening civil society (i.e., national NGOs) and promoting media coverage of these issues; introducing local sanctions in the framework of donor-assisted community forestry; adding anti-corruption conditions to foreign-sponsored forestry projects and forest policy reforms; enforcing decentralization in order to decrease the monopoly over forest resources currently enjoyed by state personnel; creating alternative income streams for local actors currently involved in illegal logging; and introducing land tenure reforms in order to increase local incentives for sustainable forest management.