NEW agreement to strengthen trans-boundary conservation and protect gorillas and other endangered species in the Nigeria and Cameroun forests may be underway.
The proposed pact was agreed upon recently in a one day workshop organised by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in collaboration with government partners with the theme, “Wildlife Without Borders: Strengthening Trans-boundary Conservation Collaboration between Nigeria and Cameroun” to strengthen trans-boundary conservation between the two countries.
The participants also submitted that “a formal cooperation agreement between Nigeria and Cameroun should be signed as soon as possible (and) the issue of sustainable funding for conservation in the region should be addressed including an analysis of various trust funds options”.
Similarly, it was resolved that “law enforcement and protection; research and monitoring; community involvement and conservation education and capacity building” be put in place. “Strengthening joint patrols between Cross River National Park in Nigeria and Korup National Park and Takamanda National Park in Cameroun was identified as an urgent priority to reduce levels of poaching. The control of illegal logging requires more dialogue for improved solutions to address the trans-boundary trade in timber.”
The Regional Coordinator for West and Central Africa of the IUCN Trans-boundary Conservation Specialist Group, Mr. Andrew Dunn, explained “protected areas should be seen as providers of benefits beyond boundaries – beyond their boundaries on a map, beyond the boundaries of nation states, across societies, genders and generations. Trans-boundary conservation has potential benefits for biodiversity and people as well as political and economic benefits”.
He said, “this was the fifth trans-boundary workshop between Nigeria and Cameroun in recent years and the main purpose of the current workshop was to review and further strengthen trans-boundary collaboration between key partners on each side of the international border”.
Chairman of the Cross River State Forestry Commission, Mr. Odigha Odigha, urged the workshop “to develop robust plans for the engagement of boundary communities if we hope to succeed in our conservation efforts.
“We need them to be involved in this process and we need to recognise the fact that we can’t manage these forests as effectively as they can”.
At the workshop the Cross River State Forestry Commission was formally invited to Cameroun for follow-up talks with MINFOF in Buea and “it was agreed that there should be an annual workshop to promote trans-boundary conservation between Nigeria and Cameroun.
A total of 30 participants attended the one-day workshop including representatives from the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria National Parks Service, Cross River State Forestry Commission, Cross River National Park and WCS. From Cameroun there were representatives from the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Takamanda National Park, Mount Cameroun National Park, the Programme for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, WWF and WCS. International participants from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the North Carolina Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society also attend the forum.
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