WWF, partners join efforts to secure rights of indigenous peoples

WWF, 20 other NGOs and representatives of indigenous peoples have agreed to work in synergy to enhance access rights of Baka and Bagyeli people to protected areas in Southeast Cameroon. For this to be achieved, the NGOs agreed, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) initiated since 2006 between indigenous communities and conservation services of some protected areas, to secure their free access rights, has to be signed.

The NGOs met in the town of Abong Mbang in the East Region of Cameroon in a bid to seek ways to accelerate the process for the signing of MoU and to extend the initiative to logging concessions and sports hunting zones. Participants including representatives of Baka and Bagyeli communities, WWF and  RACOPY (Réseau Recherches Actions Concertées Pygmées) noted significant progress towards obtaining free access rights to natural resources for this vulnerable group.

So far, WWF, working with local partners, initiated MoU processes that resulted in the signing of two agreements: one between Bagyelis and the conservation service of Campo Ma’an National Park and the other between Baka and the Ngoyla Wildlife Reserve.

“Since the signing of the MoU we have greater access to natural resources in Campo Ma’an National Park,” says Jeanne Biloa, President of Bagyeli Cultural and Development Association (BACUDA). “We have been carrying out our activities in the forest without any major problems,” she adds.

 “Like our Bagyeli brothers we need to finalise this process between our communities and the conservation service of Lobeke National Park so that we can also enjoy unrestricted access into the forest,” says Yana Nicolas, representative of Baka of Salapoumbe and Moloundou subdivisions in the East Region of Cameroon.

The NGOs agreed to continue reflecting on the implementation of a mechanism initiated to follow up cases of abuse of the rights of Baka and Bagyeli people and to elaborate a roadmap for better support for indigenous people involved in MoU processes. They called on the government to ensure the participation of the concerned communities in the entire process.

Optimism
 The meeting brought together actors with hitherto different views regarding the MoU process. They agreed to harmonize their voices and elaborate a road map to achieve free access for indigenous peoples.

To Moise Kono, WWF IP Coordinator, the meeting is a step in the right direction. “Recommendations of this meeting will be tabled to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and the endorsement by government will be an important step towards achieving free access rights for all IP communities around protected areas,” states Kono.