Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society
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Un atelier d'élaboration des lignes directrices des directives pour l'élaboration et la mise en œuvre des plans d'aménagement des aires protégées marines et autres mesures de conservation efficaces par zone marine au Cameroun s'est tenu recemment a Nkolafamba, dans le banlieu de Yaounde.
L’une des recommandations prises à la fin de l’atelier vise à étendre le champ d'intervention du projet « Supporting effective management and community surveillance in the Douala-Edea Marine Protected Area, and advocacy campaigns to end destructive industrial fishing in Cameroon (in Marine Protected Areas, territorial seas and beyond) » déployer par CWCS dans le Parc National de Douala[1]Edéa, à d'autres écosystèmes marins, notamment au Parc National Marin Manyangue na Elombo Campo et au projet de création du Parc National de Ndongore.
Some 100 hectares of degraded mangrove areas are now being restored in the Douala-Edea National Park in the Littoral Region of Cameroon. The project supported by non-governmental organization Planete Urgence, is being implemented by a consortium of civil society organizations including Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society (CWCS), Watershed Target Group (WTG) and Cameroun Ecologie (CAMECO).
The restoration project that began in March 2022, comes on the heels of a pilot project that saw the successful reforestation of six hectares of degraded mangroves area in Youmi, in the Douala Edea National Park.
This first phase of the project runs for one year and will witness the planting of 100000 trees, with the CWCS planting 47000. The restoration is taking place within the mangroves of the Wouri river around the villages of Bonendale, Sodiko and Akwa Nord in Douala, Littoral Region of Cameroon.
Local people are participating in these activities and will be in charge of surveillance of the sites where the trees are planted to ensure protection against vandalism.
Mangroves provide essential habitat for thousands of species. They also stabilize shorelines, preventing erosion and protecting land and people from waves and storms. Their dense roots help bind and build soils. Unfortunately, in Cameroon mangroves have been seriously degraded in the last four decades due largely to human activities and natural factors, according to a State of Mangroves report published by Cameroon’s Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED).
Before the launch of the restoration, stakeholders conducted a feasibility study for the establishment of the project. “Field visits were carried out in the mangroves area in the estuary of Cameroon, from Mouanko to Manoka in the Douala Edea National Park and their peripheral zones, passing through Douala, Tiko and Dibamba in the Southwest and Littoral Regions, respectively,” says Eugène DIYOUKE, who is in charge of programs at CWCS.
“We identified and categorized degraded mangroves areas in the Cameroon estuary, according to their vegetation cover, factors and drivers of degradation, main threats to the ecosystem and the management approach to be implemented,” explained Diyouke. “We retained areas with less risks of being perturbed after reforestation and eliminated urban areas and places in which local people carry out their customary rites,” he added.
Created in 2018, the Douala Edea national park covers 262,935 ha with 300,000 ha of surrounding multiple use zones comprising community forest areas, farmlands and agro-industries. The national park is the first marine-terrestrial protected area in Cameroon. Its rich biodiversity includes forest elephants, primates (chimpanzees, black Colubus), forest antelopes, West African manatees, sea turtles etc.
More than 60000 tree plants have been planted in an effort to regenerate the mangrove ecosystem in Mouanko-Bolondo localities in the Douala-Edea landscape, Littoral Region of Cameroon. The Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society (CWCS) is leading the initiative with the financial support of Planete Urgence. The project involved more than 300 local people from five villages who participated in sensitization meetings and activities in the field.
Some 60,000 seedlings were planted on six hectares of land spread over two sites, one of which was four hectares for 40,000 seedlings and the other two hectares for 20,000 seedlings. The reforestation drive included community sensitization and training.
The local population collected propagules and plant material necessary for the construction of shades that housed the nurseries. They also participated in the preparation of pots and seeds for the nurseries. With the help of local communities, the seedlings were gradually planted in the selected planting sites.
At the end of the project, more than 71,000 propagules were collected and 68,335 seedlings were put in nurseries. The planting operations have been completed with 64,317 trees planted, of which 4,317 were used to replace dead plants (replanting) and 4,017 in the nursery for follow-up. The mortality rate is currently 7.20%.
The mangrove ecosystem, one of the most powerful natural carbon sinks in the world, has been identified locally as one of the priority options that can help restore the environment of this sensitive agro-ecological area and its role in mitigating climate change. It will also support the emergence or strengthening of value chains based on biodiversity, in favor of the local development of communities and strengthening their capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change.
The Cameroonian coastline has more than 220,000 ha of mangrove, which is already partially degraded or even destroyed. This pilot project dubbed “Mangrove restoration in support of community resilience and biodiversity protection in Mouanko-Bolondo” aimed to contribute to the sustainable management of the coastal forest ecosystems of the zone by reducing the economic and social vulnerabilities of local communities.
The Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society (CWCS) actively participated in the first African Protected Areas Congress (APAC) held in Kigali Rwanda from 18-25 July 2022.
Take a deep breath. We are at the foot of the Manengouba Mountain that straddles part of the Southwest and Littoral Regions of Cameroon. The physical beauty of this mountain dazzles first time visitors as they wheel on up its valley views. But you are even more awe-struck when you begin to see and feel the exceptional biodiversity richness of this verdant mountain coupled with the languid and enigmatic Manengouba twin lakes.