EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

        Mount Manengouba constitutes a high proportion of endemic species from all taxonomic groups (Flora and fauna). This area hosts over 100 species of amphibians with a high proportion of endemic species (60%).  It Host 89 reptile species with the highest number of chameleons on mainland Africa (7 species). The Area hosts 270 species of birds with 44 endemics. In order to conserve this biological diversity, the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF) and Cameroon Herpetology-Conservation Biology Foundation (CAMHERP-CBF) are implementing a three years project around Mount Manengouba funded by the Rainforest Trust for the first two years of implementation and the last one year by the two organizations sourcing funding elsewhere. For the project to be fully recognized by the government of Cameroon, a technical report has to be produced and submitted to the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife. For this reason a workshop was held in Nkongsamba to elaborate the technical report for the Mount Manengouba conservation project.

        The main objective of the workshop was to elaborate the technical note for the creation of the proposed Mount Manengouba Integral Ecological Reserve. To meet with this objective, Invitation letters were sent to all those concerned, phone calls were made to all those invited to inform them about the workshop, presentations were made during the workshop to make participants know the background, objects, results of studies carried out on biodiversity and socio-economics in this area. Presentations were made to illustrate the propose map of the area and how a technical note for the project will be developed. 

        Two committees were created. Their role was to develop a frame work for the elaboration of the technical note. Five presentations were made. After the presentation, questions and answer sessions, it was recommended the name of the proposed protected area (Mount Muanenguba Integral Ecological Reserve) be changed and the twin lake is included in the map of the proposed protected area.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

        Divisional Commission for the Classification of the Proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary under the distinguish chairmanship of the Senior Divisional Officer of Lebialem Division in the South West Region of Cameroon took place on 10th of December 2018 at the Conference Hall of Marie Louis Hotel in Dschang Menoua Division. Traditional authorities and Elites of communities around Mak-Betchou Forest area as well as the technical divisional services of Lebialem, attended the meeting. The commission consulted stakeholders at the Divisional level on the classification of the proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary, examined their views, opinions, petitions of the population concerned with the classification of the proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary, validated the proposed project and prepared the synopsis of the meeting to the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife Yaoundé in the form of a ‘communiqué’.

        The committee members resolved that:

        The process of the creation of the proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary should continue;

        That the name of the sanctuary shall be changed from Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary to Njoagwi-Fotabong III-Essoh-Attah Wildlife Sanctuary;

        After several consultations to address petitions presented by Lebang community with respect to the creation of Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary, the 1,768Ha area constituting the Lebang forest should be carved out of the 5,968Ha proposed area leaving the accepted surface area of 4,200 Ha for the sanctuary.

        The participants strongly recommended:

        That the Technical Note for the proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary should be circulated to the participants from the local communities;

        The  local communities around the project area should be continuously sensitized  about the project;

        Detail zoning of the  sanctuary  area should be done showing clearly the different land used types, core protected area and permanent used zones;

        Prior to the elaboration of the management plan of the sanctuary the relevant development needs of the inhabitants should be assessed and integrated into the Management Plan;

        Community Forests should be created in the periphery of Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary (Mbo and Lebang areas);

        Livelihood development should be extended to other communities who have not benefited;

        Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary should liaise with other Technical Ministries to develop more Livelihood options.

 Le projet intitulé «l’agriculture durable et la conservation de l'habitat pour réaliser l’intégration de la biodiversité et l'efficacité de la gestion des zones protégées au Cameroun occidental (SUFACHAC)» vise des objectifs de conservation et de développement. Le site du projet ,  qui est la Réserve Faunique de Banyang Mbo (Banyang Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary - BMWS), est localisé dans la région du Sud Ouest du Cameroun, qui est reconnue comme site de biodiversité de renommée mondiale soutenant une large diversité d’espèces d'animaux et végétales, dont certaines sont classées comme menacées ou ayant un habitat réduit.

        Bien que les programmes de conservation aient longtemps attiré l'attention des experts et suscité quelques apports financiers extérieurs, il est à noter que BMWS est toujours sans plan directeur de gestion. Pour cette raison le Projet SUFACHAC vise à transformer cette réserve en un parc national doté d’un système de gestion approprié. Le présent rapport devrait en conséquence contribuer à ce processus de changement de statut de cette réserve.

        Le BMWS est subdivisé en cinq clusters  opérés par les autorités du Sanctuaire afin d’alléger son administration, chaque cluster ayant  un facilitateur ou point focal de groupe reconnu comme interface entre les autorités et les communautés. Pour soutenir ce processus de changement du statut de BMWS, CHEDE a organisé pour le compte du Projet SUFACHAC des réunions de sensibilisation pour sensibiliser les communautés concernées du changement  en vue. Les outils utilisés à cet effet étaient des présentations PPP, des tableaux de conférence et un questionnaire, ci-annexés.

        Un total de 94 personnes ont participé à ces réunions de sensibilisation dans les trois arrondissements ciblés (Bayang, Bangem et Nguti) localisés respectivement dans les Départements de Manyu (Bayang) et de Kupe Muanenguba (Bangem et Nguti). Tout en  s’appropriant les objectifs du projet et de ses apports potentiels en faveur de leur environnement naturel, les communautés riveraines ont aussi exprimé leurs inquiétudes et attentes concernant les opérations du projet et son impact sur leurs conditions de vie et moyens de subsistance. Nonobstant ces réserves, la majorité des communautés concernées a donné son consentement au processus de changement du statut de BMWS pour devenir un parc national.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

        The Bakossi-Banyang-Mbo-Lebialem landscape (BBML) ranges from gentle slopes and undulating plains to hills and mountains, with associated vegetation that spans tropical lowland vegetation through submontane to cloud forest and presents an ideal framework for conservation of biodiversity. It is an area of exceptionally high endemism, especially the Bakossi area which is known as one of the richest in Tropical Africa in terms of plant diversity. BBML is made up of 220 settlements (villages and towns) with 45 in Manyu Division, 33 in Lebialem Division and 142 in Kupe Manenguba Division. In terms of conservation, there is 1 National park, 3 Wildlife sanctuaries, 3 Integral Ecological Reserve, 3 production forest reserves and 2 forest management units.

        This report presents methods in participatory mapping and presents some participatory maps of the area around the Banyang Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary and FMU 11-002 that are currently witnessing farming encroachment from neighboring communities. Participatory mapping was conducted within these communities as well as use of satellite imagery and field data collection using the GPS. Image analysis was conducted using 2006 and 2015 satellite imagery obtained from PSMNR South West along-side some field collected data to for a micro-zoning of the landscape that include; a settlement area, farmlands, reserve farming zone, communal land, fragile ecological zones (mainly water catchments, lakes, river basins and salt licks), mining concessions, protected areas, forest reserves, council and community forests, FMU’s, sales of standing volumes and plantations

Some management options were equally explored for the following;

• A review of activities relating to PA managements implemented in the landscape by partners using SWOT the presents the various activities with their strengths, weakness, opportunity and strengths.
• An analysis of conservation initiatives like REDD+ or PES with links to land rights, micro-zoning and community engagement in land use planning that examine different options that could be explored in the landscape.
• Institutional frame work for sustainable resource management is presented with main actors as public institutions, private sector and international organizations and the local communities.
• A proposed template of a memorandum of understanding has been presented involving PA management and the local communities in the implementation of the future BBML TOU.
• M & E tools are presented to check any potential land use conflicts and its effectiveness in the implementation of management plans.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

         Participative demarcation is a preliminary activity in the process of creating a protected area. In order to elaborate a technical note for creating any protected area, there is a need for proposed map of the area in which we wish to protect is produce.  In this regard, the full participation and concern of the community adjacent the proposed protected area is needed. It was for this reason that in July 2017, a 2 weeks field trip was conducted around Mt Muanenguba to include the villages surrounding the mountain in the demarcation of the proposed Integral Ecological Reserve.

The objectives were; to involve the local community members for the proposed area to be protected, to collect the geographical coordinates on the areas proposed by the population and to produce a map of the proposed boundaries of the Integral Ecological Reserve.

In order to identify the limits of the proposed Mt Muanenguba Integral Ecological Reserve, 3 people who know their village boundaries and their forest area were selected by their local leaders to represent their clans after a meeting with the team involve in the demarcation process. In the same meeting the community members identified land marks within the proposed protected area and sketched the maps of the area using bold marker and a card board. After the meetings in the villages the next days the various community representatives and the GIS expert went down to the field and collect coordinate points of the identified boundaries of the proposed protected area using the GPS.  The satellite images were used as to guide the community members on the identification of land features in the proposed areas.

Coordinate points collected where labelled A to Y and were integrated into GIS software (Arc GIS 10.3).

Sixteen (16) out of the 20 villages adjacent the Mt Muanenguba area in the Littoral and South West regions were involved in the identification process.  Two villages NJOUMBENG 1 and NJOUMBENG 2 were excluded from the boundary identification process because they do not have lands in the proposed protected area.  Two (2) other villages (Mouandong and Ndom) resisted due to the fact that their elites were not informed.   However after consultation of the two resistance villages   the coordinate points were integrated in to the GIS software

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

        This first visit also established a list of identified structures in each of the villages that took part in the meetings. This has facilitated the process of assessing their training needs and offering relevant capacity building opportunities.

        The team has established strong working ties not only with the communities but also with the Conservator as well as the Divisional Officers of Upper Banyang Sub Division and NgutiSub Division as well as other technical services/stakeholders as well as those in Buea, Bangem, Jandu and Nyandong bringing together representatives of villages directly link with the Bakossi National Park.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

         The team was able to Identify existing community structure with which agreement will be signed in the respective communities, organise meeting to share idea with concerned PA authorities and organise separate working session with each of the PA authorities in their respective areas.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

         The SUFACHAC Project “Sustainable farming and critical habitat conservation to achieve biodiversity mainstreaming and protected areas management effectiveness in Western Cameroon” addresses conservation and development objectives. The project, which is located in the South West Region, is designed to develop and promote integrated land-use planning and biodiversity conservation in the Banyang Mbo ecosystems in order to facilitate increased cross-sectoral investments and improved livelihoods for the local communities thanks to the restoration and improved management of ecosystem services promoting a green economy.

        In this perspective, the project aims to transform the BMWS into a national park to be managed in collaboration with the local communities. This principle of partnership with government arises from the adoption of a community-based conservation strategy founded on Decision No 1354/D/MINEF/CAB of 26th November 1999, which sanctioned the creation of Village Forest Management Committees (VFMCs) to manage, preserve, develop and use forest resources in a sustainable manner. “Forest and forestland owners are the organizations, households and individuals, to whom the State has allocated forest and forestland areas to manage, preserve, develop and use in accordance with laws and regulations” (Forest Law 2007).

         The present report identifies and profiles existing VFMCs and other structures in villages within the Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary (BMWS) and their modus operandi thanks to structured meetings and workshops with the communities concerned. Communication tools used were PowerPoint presentations and checklists, among others.

        As outcome of this effort, existing VFMCs have been identified in all five (5) clusters of the BMWS for capacity building. The concerned VFMCs were created by the communities and endorsed by the Park authorities. Some of these VFMCs operate legally and hold regular meetings in accordance with the laws governing their creation. The CHEDE team looks forward to further reinforcing these identified structures through capacity building and to create new ones where they are at present non-existent.

         Le projet SUFACHAC «Agriculture durable et conservation des habitats essentiels pour intégrer la biodiversité et l'efficacité de la gestion des zones protégées dans l'ouest du Cameroun» répond aux objectifs de conservation et de développement. Le projet, situé dans la région du Sud-Ouest, vise à développer et à promouvoir l’aménagement intégré des espaces et ressources écosystémiques de Banyang Mbo afin d’attirer et faciliter des investissements intersectoriels et l'amélioration des conditions des communautés riveraines.

        Dans cette perspective, le projet vise à créer et à transformer les sanctuaires en parcs et impliquer beaucoup plus les communautés locales dans la mise en œuvre de la stratégie de conservation, conformément aux règlements en vigueur. En effet, la décision n ° 1354 / D / MINEF / CAB du 26 novembre 1999 avalise la création de comités villageois de gestion forestiers (VFMC) chargés de gérer, préserver, développer et utiliser les ressources forestières de manière durable. «Les propriétaires de forêts et de terres forestières sont les organisations, les ménages et les individus à qui l'État a attribué des zones forestières pour gérer, préserver, développer et utiliser conformément aux lois et règlements» (Forest Law 2007).

        Le présent rapport identifie et décrit les VFMC existants et les autres structures dans les villages riverains de BMWS et leur mode de fonctionnement eu égard à la régularité de leurs réunions et efficacité sur le terrain.

        À la suite de cet effort, des VFMC existants ont été identifiés dans les cinq (5) groupes de BMWS pour le renforcement de leurs capacités. Les VFMC concernés ont été créés par les communautés et approuvés par les autorités du parc. Certains de ces comités sont légaux et se réunissent régulièrement conformément aux lois régissant leur création. L’équipe CHEDE se réjouit de pouvoir éventuellement renforcer les capacités opérationnelles des structures ainsi identifiées et  d’en créer de nouvelles selon besoin.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

       The team was able to reach and successfully hold consultation meetings in the respective areas. For example in BayangMbo, meetings were held with four (4) out of the five (5) clusters that make up the direct impact villages. Only six villages of the Lower Mbo cluster are left due to difficulty in accessing the villages. This implies that out of 31 villages in five clusters targeted, 20 took active part in the cluster sensitization meetings. Some villages such as Ntenmbang and Sumbe in Tinto Cluster; Muangwekan in Bakossi Cluster, Bejange in the Nguti/Ntale Cluster andEdikang in the Banyu cluster were absent. Despite this, it should be noted that a majority of the villages and their members participated in the meetings and received adequate information and sensitization about the upgrading of the Wildlife Sanctuary; which however led to the achievement of the objectives. The Buea meeting was more of a concertation with FORUDEF, an NGO working with WWF in the Park, during which the team got preliminary information concerning the park and approaches used in organizing meetings with the community people. After gathering all the preliminary information from FORUDEF the team then decided on the approach to better reach the concerned communities, and other field missions were then planned.

        The field missions entailed meeting some dynamic individuals and Chiefs who play key role in community management issues around the Park. Those met were representatives of each of the three WWF-FORUDEF created clusters with whom the CHEDE team planned and agreed on appropriate workshop participants and dates.

        The invitees to the workshops however were all community representatives from the agreed selected villages from North-East, North-West, South-West and South-East cluster At least 80 percent of the communities have an idea about the existence of this project and are looking forward to working with the team as key community representatives were identified and contacts fully established to ease communication with the project.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

         A meeting that was held on the 30th of August 2017 in Buea had as objective to launch the Technical Committee that will follow up the elaboration and validation of the Management Plan of Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary.

        The meeting took place at the conference hall of the Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife, South West Region. It was chaired by the Sub-Director of Wildlife Conservation represented the Director of Wildlife and Protected Area.

        During the meeting several presentations were made by ERuDeF staff and MINFOF personals.

        After the presentations and discussions, a road map was elaborated and adopted by participants.

        The following recommendations were made, the update of the socio-economic report and integrate the landscape management issues on the use of resources in Mt. Bamboutos and the existence of migration corridors in view of their consideration in the management plan.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

         The technical staffs of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Ministry of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure, Ministry of Mines–Water and Energy, as well as Ministry of livestock Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, the traditional authorities of villages around the Tofala Wildlife Sanctuary and the  Environment and Rural Development Foundation (support organization) held a meeting at Hotel Relais Saint Andre in Mbalmayo Centre Region of Cameroon to validate the Management and Business plans of Tofala Hills Wildlife Sanctuary at national level.

         The participants unanimously validated the plans for the protected area while recommending that the land certificate acquisition process of THWS should be enshrined into the management plan as an important activity including clear demarcation and limits of the Tofala Hills Wildlife Sanctuary; Valorize the fish species which is important in the development of Aquaculture in Cameroon.

         They also agreed that the management plan should be proof-read and all corrections on abbreviations and acronyms inserted as well as ensure regular follow up of livelihood activities put in place while subsidizing agricultural activities to mitigate encroachment. All these should be done before submission to the prime minister for final validation.

        They participants further suggested that investments indicated in the business plan should be rationally distributed to the surrounding villages.