AWF and Peter Gilgan Foundation Launch Two-Year Initiative to Support Women and Strengthen Community Resilience Cameroon’s Faro Landscape

FARO, Cameroon — The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), with support from the Peter Gilgan Foundation, has launched a two-year project to strengthen women-led livelihoods that reduce reliance on unsustainable natural resource use and support community resilience to climate shocks in Cameroon’s Faro landscape - an ecologically significant region where communities and nature are closely interconnected.

Running from June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2028, the initiative will support women and communities living around Faro National Park by expanding access to sustainable livelihood opportunities, strengthening their participation in governance and decision-making, and promoting nature-friendly practices that benefit both people and nature.

Communities living around Faro National Park have long depended on the landscape for food, water, income, and their way of life. Farmers, herders, mothers, and young people have developed strong connections with the land, but increasing pressures are threatening both community wellbeing and the ecosystems they depend on. Climate change is contributing to longer droughts and unpredictable rainfall patterns, while growing pressure on natural resources is creating additional challenges for communities and biodiversity.

Women are particularly affected by these challenges. Despite playing a central role in agriculture, household livelihoods, and community wellbeing, many women continue to face barriers to accessing land, credit, training opportunities, and decision-making spaces. Addressing these inequalities is essential to building resilient communities and achieving lasting climate-resilient outcomes.

“When women have economic independence, they invest in their families, their communities, and their environment. Supporting women in the Faro landscape is not just the right thing to do; it is the most effective path to long-term sustainability,” said Anthony Agbor, AWF Project Lead, Cameroon.

Through this initiative, AWF will work alongside communities in the Faro landscape to develop sustainable, nature-friendly livelihood opportunities, particularly for women. Through the Rural Resource Centre, a hub operated in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre, participants will receive training and support in beekeeping, fish farming, fruit and tree-crop cultivation, and climate-smart farming practices that help protect the soil and water resources communities depend on.

The project will also focus on strengthening community participation in governance and decision-making platforms that influence women’s livelihoods and access to resources.  AWF will support women and community members to participate in stakeholder forums and local decision-making platforms that influence the natural resource management of Faro National Park and surrounding areas. By ensuring that communities, especially women, have a voice in decisions that affect their livelihoods, they become stronger partners in protecting natural resources and ensuring long-term sustainability efforts.

The initiative will intentionally include groups that are often underserved, including marginalized pastoralist and Indigenous communities such as the Mbororo-Peulh and Udah communities, as well as youth and people with disabilities.

This initiative builds on AWF’s long-standing presence in the Faro landscape since 2018 and complements the EU-funded CaSeVe programme, which supports infrastructure and governance across the landscape. Together, these efforts address critical gaps by strengthening community-level livelihoods and resilience while protecting the environment in the Faro landscape.  

By investing in women’s empowerment, and climate-resilient sustainable livelihoods, the initiative aims to strengthen the relationship between communities and the ecosystems they depend on. Through this work, AWF, with support from the Peter Gilgan Foundation, is supporting a future where people and ecosystems can thrive together in Cameroon’s Faro landscape.

About The Peter Gilgan Foundation  

The Peter Gilgan Foundation is a private family foundation based in Toronto that invests in high-impact charitable initiatives to support the flourishing of people and the planet. The Foundation’s funding pillars are climate change; Indigenous youth; international development; children, youth and families; and health care. For more information on the Foundation, its grant programs, and its partners, visit petergilganfoundation.org.