‘Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary Has REDD+ Potentials’
The Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary (THWS) created by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 20145212 of September 29, 2014 has been confirmed of having colossal REDD+ potentials. The confirmation was made recently in Buea by Senior Expert of the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification Unit of the Cameroon REDD+ Technical Secretariat Mr. Achille B. Momo.
Limbi Blessing Tata
“The sanctuary has great potentials for REDD+ given that about 70% of the forest is primary forest. This however still has to be assessed critically to delineate its exact potentials. This will also entail building the capacity of staff involved in such a project,” Mr. Momo said.
A similar project with objectives in line with REDD+ themes had been implemented in the Sanctuary, the Net Positive Impact (NPI) project funded by the Channel Foundation through the French charity Man and Nature. This Project ran for three years from March 2013. It registered a 74% success rate despite the fact that it was the first of its kind in the area.
According to the REDD+ secretariat, “a landscape is given preference for a REDD+ Project if it contains threatened or endemic species or has a suite of habitat types or particularly threatened habitats as well as strong potential implementing partners which are non-state actors”. It is also based on three main criteria: carbon related technical criteria, feasibility of effective project implementation, and social and environmental co-benefits.
The REDD+ Technical Secretariat staff said amongst these criteria, the potential for poverty alleviation is prime to REDD+ hence, sites with medium to high levels of poverty are preferred given that biophysical REDD+ are more likely to make significant impact on human livelihoods in these localities than in localities with richer populations.
Tofala has a total population of about 35,000 persons, who depend solely on the forest for their livelihoods, with the main occupation being farming, hunting and fishing and less than 30% of the population living on more than $1/day.
The Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary is located between longitude 598006m and 609830m and latitude 615778m and 634006m; in the heart of the tropical rainforest thus too wet to burn. The fact that it is a protected area guarantees funding, law enforcement and ensures participatory forest management.
Beside its rich carbon stock, the area is a biodiversity hotspot harboring two great apes with one critically endangered, Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla delhi) and the most endangered subspecies of the African chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes ellioti), several species of monkeys, 8 globally threatened bird species, 03 endemic species of amphibians, over 400 plant species, 42 of which are threatened. It is also known for high species endemism. It is a major watershed that supplies Mezam in the North West, Mifi, Mbamedjin dam and Mbouda in the West and Fontem, Tinto and Mamfe in the Southwest.
The creation of the THWS was facilitated by the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF), Cameroon’s leading nonprofit organisation of the environment sector. ERuDeF has a long term commitment to the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary.
