Cameroon’s wildlife in the spotlight: Launch of a new initiative to sustainably manage the Grand Tridom-Tri-National de la Sangha landscape and support communities.
- Millions of people depend on wild meat for food and income. Wild meat is an important source of protein, fat, and micronutrients, particularly for Indigenous Peoples and rural communities in South America, Africa, and Asia.
- The overall aim of the SWM Programme is to contribute to the conservation of wildlife, ecosystems, and their services, as well as to improve the living conditions and food security of the people who depend on these resources.
- Cameroon is the latest country to join fifteen other countries that are participating in the SWM Programme. In Cameroon, the SWM Programme will work with ten Baka villages and ten Bantu villages next to the Dja Faunal Reserve in the Mintom district.
- The objective of the SWM Programme in Cameroon is to improve and strengthen the sustainability of community-based management of forest resources, particularly wild meat, while guaranteeing the livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
- The SWM Programme activities in Cameroon are funded by the European Union and implemented by CIFOR-ICRAF in collaboration with FAO and MINFOF.
(EBOLOWA, 25 March 2024) – Wildlife in the tropical rainforests of southeast Cameroon is increasingly under pressure from overexploitation driven by a burgeoning human population and uncontrolled commercial interests. To tackle these major challenges, an international initiative – the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme or SWM Programme – is partnering with Baka and Bantu villages around the Dja Faunal Reserve to develop new sustainable approaches to address wild meat hunting and consumption throughout the entire food chain.
Following Cameroon’s expressed interest, an EU-funded project was signed in September 2023 between the government and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) has been designated as the lead partner organisation to coordinate the country project and fieldwork.
A workshop is being organised to mark the official launch of the project, which will take place in Ebolowa from 25 to 26 March 2024. Leaders from the Mintom district – where the project will be implemented – and other technical and financial partners of the project are expected to attend. The implementation phase of the SWM Programme work in Cameroon will run through to July 2026.
This work in Cameroon has three specific objectives.
Firstly, achieving sustainable and legal use of wild animal populations for the food and livelihoods of rural stakeholders whilst conserving biodiversity.
Secondly, reducing the dependence of population centres (urban or otherwise) on wild meat from unsustainable sources, in favour of healthy and sustainable supply chains.
Thirdly, strengthening capacities to prevent zoonotic risks of wild origin at the human-domestic animal-wildlife interface and in ecosystems.
The SWM Programme pilot site in Cameroon is located on the edge of the Dja Faunal Reserve, more precisely in the Djoum-Mintom landscape.
The Dja Faunal Reserve is a priority for biodiversity conservation actions.
Ten Baka villages and ten Bantu villages are targeted by the project, which encompasses most of the population centres in the Mintom district (around 6,000 inhabitants, 5,000 of whom live in rural areas, including 2,000 Baka).
The EU and Cameroon are working together to meet these challenges!
The SWM Programme is implemented by a dynamic consortium of four partners with expertise in wildlife conservation and food security. It is led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and implemented with the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
