Cameroon

WCS in CAMEROON
WCS’s activities began in Cameroon in 1988 when WCS scientists were appointed technical advisors at the Korup National Park. In 1994 WCS completed its program in KNP and began to apply and adapt the approaches tested in and around KNP to other critical areas. Currently WCS is continuing its involvement in a number of field projects across the country: the Mbam & Djerem National Park Project; the Takamanda- Mone Landscape Project; the Cross River Gorilla Project  and the collaborative anti-poaching and bushmeat trade project (generally referred to as the WCS/MINFOF/CAMRAIL bushmeat project). Activities in these areas include biological and socio-economic surveys; assistance with the implementation of effective law enforcement, education and sensitization programs; design and implementation of innovative, flexible mechanisms for involving local communities in forest resource conservation and management; building and strengthening the capacity of government personnel,  other relevant institutions involved, as well as the next generation of national  conservationists;  and securing a stronger protection status for key forest areas.

Click here for a map of protected areas in CameroonNew Link

Threats
Cameroon’s rich biological diversity is threatened by logging, mining and the often associated destruction of natural habitats due to agricultural encroachment and human settlement. Commercial hunting and the bushmeat trade is another very important threat that endangers the wildlife of Cameroon. Indirect threats include lack of law enforcement due to weak government institutions and present economic and political conditions that militate against effective management of natural resources.

The Human Aspect
Over the past few years of WCS involvement in Cameroon, we have carried out a series of surveys of commercial hunting and subsequent trade in bushmeat at selected sites, in an effort to better understand the socio-economic dimension of this traffic and its impact on wildlife. Many rural communities depend on bushmeat both for food and also for cash generated from local sales. Long distance, high-volume trade of wild meat to urban markets is almost inevitably unsustainable. WCS has been asked by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) and the Cameroon Railways Corporation (CAMRAIL) to develop and implement a strategy that will facilitate effective law enforcement to protect wildlife through limiting access to lucrative urban bushmeat markets. In other areas, we have conducted socio-economic surveys to better understand the use of other forest resources such as non-timber forest products including various plant and tree resources which provide substantial income for local communities. It is hoped that such information will help argue for controlled access systems in some proposed protected areas.

WCS Activities
Technical assistance for national park creation, planning and management;
Capacity building in natural resource management, and scientific research
Bushmeat management program;
Advocacy and influencing national policy with regards to biodiversity conservation.

Important Next Steps
Promotion of effective protection and management of protected areas in Cameroon;
Effective management of the bushmeat trade;
Promotion of eco-tourism development in Cameroon.