The Intersection of Green Journalism, Good Governance and Environmental Conservation

A major challenge in developing countries is balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability. According to the Millennium Development Goals, which the United Nations outlined in September 2000, achieving such a balance can help ensure political stability and promote a country’s peaceful transition towards democratic governance. 
The local media in these transitioning countries can play a critical role in holding government officials, corporate leaders, and other individuals accountable for their environmental records by collecting information from governments’ planning documents, reports on local environmental conditions and pollution records.
The long-term sustainable development of Cameroon like that of any other country across the globe is functional to the level which each government has developed and implemented her environmental policies. International experts have neatly demonstrated the strong inter-connectedness between very good environmental policies and very strong economic development in those countries that are supporting them. Countries with very weak economic policies and low levels of poverty have been shown to possess the weakest environmental policies. The introduction of the third sector is a needed stimulus in helping nations monitor, evaluate and support their governments to develop a strong and stimulus responsive green economy. This very close relationship between economic growth, human development and environmental management led in recent past to the launching of the “Agenda 21”. 
It is within the framework of Agenda 21 that Rio 20+ was held in Brazil to re-evaluate the Agenda 21 and find concrete strategies to fight climate change and generate economic stimuli that will move nations quicker towards green economies. It is in this same vein that the Cameroon Green Media has been set up to complement the actions of other national and international agencies and fill the big gap currently existing in Cameroon on Green Journalism. The launching of the maiden edition of the “Green Vision Newspaper” shows the commitment of ERuDeF to heed to calls to support government actions towards the development of a greener economy. 
The Green Vision Newspaper is coming to fill the big gap in Cameroon’s newspaper landscape and launches the introduction of the first “Green Journalism” initiative in Cameroon. This brand of journalism will use systematic research tools and international models to provide timely news on the environment and how it affects our economic and human development. The best environmental and science experts will analyse civil, political and economic decisions affecting the environment and show the consequences on our environment and long term human development. The green journalism will focus on themes such as but not limited to energy, water, climate, forests, wetlands, wildlife, avi-fauna, marine and mangrove ecosystems, mountains and all other representative ecosystems in Cameroon.
In order to meet with the commitments of this Rio 20+, the President of Cameroon sent a top level delegation to the Brazil conference and made a very strong Cameroon’s commitment to meeting the requirements of this international summit. 
It is within this government’s commitment of transforming Cameroon into a greener economy that is born the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF)’s Cameroon Green Media Project, that will consist the development and running of green media organs such as The Green Vision Newspaper, The Green Times Magazine, The Green Radio and Green TV as well as the Environmental Journalism Program at the ERuDeF’s Institute of Biodiversity and Non-profit Studies in Buea. 
By providing accurate, high quality environmental reporting and engaging the public in a policy dialogue, independent media such as this can also help citizens protect their own environmental interests, including improved access to clean and affordable water and energy services.