A/HRC/22/50/Add.2 The situation of agricultural workers 49. The situation of workers employed on large-scale plantations deserves specific mention. In accordance with Decree No. 2005 085 of 29 March 2005 (art. 63), the Labour Inspection and Social Security Service is tasked, inter alia, with verifying compliance with labour legislation and regulations. However, apart from the fact that it is primarily dispatched to settle labour disputes, the Service has limited capacity to inspect large-scale plantations, owing to a number of factors. There are few inspectors (between four and nine per region) and those that are poorly trained to deal with the workplace health and safety issues specific to the agricultural sector. In practice, the Service carries out very few inspections of the country’s plantations. Moreover, even when inspections do take place, administrative penalties do not seem to be applied. 50. The Special Rapporteur further points out that, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security manual of procedures for different Ministry departments, before a visit can be made to a company a letter specifying the day, date and time of the visit must be sent to the head of the company. Although, by definition, this instruction does not apply to surprise inspections, it can be viewed as undermining the authority given to labour inspectors under article 108.1 (a) of the Labour Code to enter freely and without previous notice at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection. 51. Cameroon has not ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention concerning Labour Inspection in Agriculture (No. 129), article 16 (a) of which provides that labour inspectors in agriculture shall be empowered “to enter freely and without previous notice at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection”. The Special Rapporteur urges Cameroon to ratify this instrument as soon as possible and to comply with its provisions in order to ensure that the reputation of agro-industrial companies operating in the country is better protected. C. Sustainability 52. The forests are an important source of revenue and food, particularly for the poorest rural households that harness non-timber forest products such as medicinal plants, fruit and game. 53. However, degradation and commercial exploitation are putting increasing pressure on these resources. Deforestation has accelerated over the past 10 years: the gross deforestation rate was estimated at 0.17 per cent in 2000–2005, as compared with 0.10 per cent for 1990–2000; and, while the net deforestation rate is falling (0.03 per cent per year for 2000–2005), the net degradation rate is rising (0.07 per cent per year for 2000–2005).21 54. Cameroon has 22.5 million hectares of forest, making up 48 per cent of the national territory. A total of 27.5 per cent of forests are degraded, and arable land reserves are shrinking.22 Coastal regions and the Sahelian regions in the North are particularly hard hit by climate change. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to step up its efforts to address these challenges by, for example, implementing the National Desertification Control Plan and the measures envisaged in the Growth and Employment Strategy 2010–2020 to regenerate forests, protect soil fertility and protect grazing land. 21 22 GE.12-18864 Observatory for the Forests of Central Africa (OFAC), The Forests of the Congo Basin – State of the Forest, 2010. Eds.: C. de Wasseige, P. de Marcken, N. Bayol, F. Hiol Hiol and Ph. Mayaux, B. Desclée, R. Nasi, A. Billand, P. Defourny and R. Eba’a Atyi – 2012, p. 33. African Development Bank/African Development Fund (2009), Country strategy paper 2010–2014, Cameroon, p. 7. 13