Villagers Still Invade Mt. Cameroon National Park
Investigation carried out by Mt. Cameroon National Park officials has revealed that villagers living around the park are still massively exploiting wood in the protected area for different purposes without replanting them.
By Kengah Geraldine*
The various villages were, therefore, recently invited to endorse a management programme and zoning plan for the Mt. Cameroon National Park.
The villagers and their chiefs met government authorities at a validation meeting organised by Mt. Cameroon National Park through the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) at the Pan-African Institute for Development-West Africa (PAID-WA) on September 19, 2014.
The Park Conservator, Bessong Simon, outlined the six management programmes to be implemented, amongst them; finance and administration, park protection, community development and local participation, eco-tourism development, research and monitoring and sustainable finance mechanism.
The Conservator reminded the villagers that the park was created with the aim of conserving the biodiversity of the area, to support the development of the local community and to promote eco-tourism.
Mor-Achankap, a representative of GIZ (German International Co-operation) presented the four management zones which include the core conservation zone characterised with elephant habitat, water points and lakes, fragile ecological zone which are highly degraded areas, old lava sites, gallery forest sites, areas prone to fire, limited access zones with abandoned farms, main waterfalls and watersheds and lastly the support zone, which is communal land around the park.
Discussions during the meeting highlighted the legal framework for the management of the national park. The meeting ended with the agreement that the national park will manage the six management programmes and the four zoning plans, while the Divisional Officer for Buea would implement the five recommendations arrived at: revenue from the park service should be managed by the Mt. Cameroon National Park, the park should collaborate with other stakeholders for the management of eco-tourism potentials out of the park, any plan should be made available to the park through the cluster facilitator, empower and sensitise hunters on the importance of conservation and on alternative income generating activities as well as implement a fire strategy.
It was also recommended that the grassland should be cleared some meters down to avoid fire disasters and the public should be sensitises on non-consumption of cigarettes around this area.
The Divisional Officer for Buea, Kouam Wokam Paul, advised those handling these programmes to be competent enough in order to attain the objective of the park.
He reassured the chiefs that government created the park not stop them from maintaining cultural links with the land but for the purpose of conservation for their own betterment.
Bandang William, a villager living adjacent to the national park, said he was satisfied with the plan.
“The park should be managed according to the proposed plan,” said Bandang.
“The park should work in collaboration with other stakeholders for better management of the eco-tourism,” said Ekema Steven, another villager.
*Kengah Geraldine is an intern of Corporate Communication from ASMAC
