A modest start. WWF has supported council and community forests in Yokadouma, East Region of Cameroon, to restore 32 hectares of degraded forest and create three tree nurseries. Some 1000 young trees were planted and managers of three communities and one communal forests were provided technical equipment to create and manage a tree nursery.
The reforestation was the result of a WWF project dubbed “Support for the responsible management of communal and community forests in the TRIDOM Cameroon landscape", implemented since July 2021. The project involves six community forests and two local council managed forests covering an area of approximately 109,256 ha in Ngoyla and Yokadouma council areas in the Trinational Dja-Odzala-Minkebe (TRIDOM) Landscape.
Through the project, WWF hopes to shore up compliance with the prescriptions of management plans and the use rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, as well as stem low valuation of timber and non-timber forest products and the non-restoration of degraded areas in communal and community forests.
During the first phase of the project, WWF trained members of the Baka and Bantu communities and technical staff of the Yokadouma Council resulting in the creation and management of three community nurseries, each containing around 1,150 forest and fruit seedlings, and the planting of 800 fruit trees on fallow land of almost 1.5 ha.
With regard to respect for the rights of indigenous and local populations, a participatory mapping exercise was carried out in the communal forest and the results and the recommendations made will be integrated into the annual management document of the forest. The Council and its partners are expected to respect and implement the recommendations.
The second year of the project was launched on 30 August 2022 in the Ngoyla Municipality, Haut-Nyong Division of the East Region of Cameroon, in the presence of communal and community forest managers, administrative authorities, representatives of Baka and Bantu community groups as well as civil society actors working in the forestry sector.
The Forest and Climate Coordinator of WWF Cameroon, Alphonse Ngniado, encouraged local actors to fully participate in the implementation of the project activities. "We will like to see everyone participate (men, women, Baka...), because in years to come the fruit and forest trees planted will help protect the environment and improve the living conditions of the people," said Ngniado.
In the Cameroon segment of the TRIDOM Landscape, there are 10 communal forests and 100 community forests covering an area of 491,460 hectares, representing about 16% of this landscape.
The reforestation was the result of a WWF project dubbed “Support for the responsible management of communal and community forests in the TRIDOM Cameroon landscape", implemented since July 2021. The project involves six community forests and two local council managed forests covering an area of approximately 109,256 ha in Ngoyla and Yokadouma council areas in the Trinational Dja-Odzala-Minkebe (TRIDOM) Landscape.
Through the project, WWF hopes to shore up compliance with the prescriptions of management plans and the use rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, as well as stem low valuation of timber and non-timber forest products and the non-restoration of degraded areas in communal and community forests.
During the first phase of the project, WWF trained members of the Baka and Bantu communities and technical staff of the Yokadouma Council resulting in the creation and management of three community nurseries, each containing around 1,150 forest and fruit seedlings, and the planting of 800 fruit trees on fallow land of almost 1.5 ha.
With regard to respect for the rights of indigenous and local populations, a participatory mapping exercise was carried out in the communal forest and the results and the recommendations made will be integrated into the annual management document of the forest. The Council and its partners are expected to respect and implement the recommendations.
The second year of the project was launched on 30 August 2022 in the Ngoyla Municipality, Haut-Nyong Division of the East Region of Cameroon, in the presence of communal and community forest managers, administrative authorities, representatives of Baka and Bantu community groups as well as civil society actors working in the forestry sector.
The Forest and Climate Coordinator of WWF Cameroon, Alphonse Ngniado, encouraged local actors to fully participate in the implementation of the project activities. "We will like to see everyone participate (men, women, Baka...), because in years to come the fruit and forest trees planted will help protect the environment and improve the living conditions of the people," said Ngniado.
In the Cameroon segment of the TRIDOM Landscape, there are 10 communal forests and 100 community forests covering an area of 491,460 hectares, representing about 16% of this landscape.
