Bamumbu Reaffirms Commitment To Second Echinops ABS Project
The people of Bamumbu in Lebialem Division, South West Region, have reaffirmed their pledge to collaborate with Man and Nature and other financial partners to realize phase II of the Echinops giganteus/ABS Project.
By Bertrand Shancho Ndimuh
The Bamumbu people aired their pledge Thursday, January 23, 2014 during the second launching of the promotion of Echinops giganteus at the Wabane Council hall.
The Fon of Bamumbu, Lekunze Nembo-ngwe III, expressed deep gratitude to ERuDeF for her role in conserving endangered wildlife species in the area and restoring the fragile landscape of Mt. Bamboutus.
He equally thanked Man and Nature and the French enterprise for taking the project into the next phase.
The Fon thanked the signatories of the Nagoya Protocol for instituting the ABS principle of which they are the first to benefit from it in Cameroon.
Fon Lekunze expressed lots of hopes in the project.
“After the PIC meeting we had on November 22, 2013, I realized that the project has a very big future. I believe my people will gain directly because they are the ones to plant, and market the crop through their cooperatives,” the Fon said.
Full of hope, Fon Lekunze prayed for the success of the project.
“With all honesty and straight-forwardness, myself and the population of Bamumbu are ready to join our partners in ensuring the success of the project,” he said.
Avowing this, the 2nd Deputy Mayor of Wabane Council, Richard Nankeng, representing the Mayor, said they are quite fortunate to have the project in Wabane.
In what he termed “the development phase”, Nankeng said the implementation phase will greatly restore the lost vegetation of the area, bring employment to the population of Wabane, who will get themselves more involved in the farming and commercialization of Echinops giganteus and will make the community economically viable.
In the same light, the Chief of the Magha-Bamumbu community, Abraham Nembo, expressed delight working with ERuDeF and partners during the first phase of the project. He pledged the full support and collaboration of his community as the project gets to the implementation phase.
“We will do our best to sustain the project; we will nurse seeds, encourage villagers, involve and educate them about the project,” he said.
Another significant issue regarding the implementation phase of the project was the need for community education and sustainability.
The Wabane Sub-divisional Delegate for Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Chief Aloys Forcha Alonkong, just like the President of the Lebialem Women Forum, Celine Lekunze, opined that the second phase of the project focuses more on educating the population on the production of the Echinops plant; its conservation and sustainable cultivation.
He also emphasised the involvement of women in the project.
The Private Secretary to the Sub-divisional Officer of Wabane, Robert Lekunze, expressed gratitude to ERuDeF and partners for continuing with the project.
He urged the people of Bamumbu to embrace “this transformative project” given that it takes into consideration national environmental priorities and is also in line with objective one of the Millennium Development Goal; eradicating hunger and alleviating poverty.
In her presentation, the Assistant Project Coordinator of the Echinops/ABS Project, Mrs. Alida Kenmene, lauded the collaborative efforts of the Magha-Bamumbu people toward the realization of the first phase of the project.
In spite of administrative bottlenecks that characterized the first phase, Mrs. Kenmene revealed that enormous successes were recorded during the first phase of the project.
She said principal amongst these successes are an inventory of natural resources available, an ethno-botanical survey in the area, a detailed map of the area and the distribution of targeted natural resource, and the development of a management plan for the production and supply of Echinops.
Meanwhile, the implementation phase of the project according to Mrs. Kenmene, involves but not is limited to the development of income-generating activities which are sustainable, can be equitably shared and favour the environment of Mount Bamboutos fragile landscape. For instance, about 150 beehives will be installed, 15.000 trees planted and water catchments in and around Magha protected.
Project Manager of Echinops Giganteus, Manuella Huque, on her part, expressed satisfaction with the project progress this far assuring the people of Magha-Bamumba that the project will by all means respect the people and environment.
The Project Director, Louis Nkembi, who is also the CEO/President of ERuDeF, said the echinops project will greatly contribute in the realization of ERuDeF’s goal of conserving wildlife and protecting fragile environment as it will contribute toward sustainable management of the Mount Bamboutos degraded and fragile landscape.
Over 30 indigenes of Bamumbu and Magha-Bamumbu villages, amongst other dignitaries, actively took part in this launching ceremony.
