5 of 6 Wildlife populations supported by AWF that are stable/increasing
Cameroon
Unsustainable development and poaching threaten the rich biodiversity of this Central African country known as “Africa in miniature.” To sustain Cameroon’s natural heritage, we combine policy engagement with people-centered, rights-based conservation, collaborating with communities to develop innovative conservation solutions.
Our holistic field programs aim to deliver results that align with the Cameroon government’s sustainable development aims. Activities include:
- Developing alternative livelihoods such as cocoa-based agroforestry, which generates revenue, produces food, and cosmetic products
- Supporting local communities and Indigenous people in the sustainable management of natural resources
- Increasing the effectiveness of anti-poaching efforts by providing tracking technology and equipment to rangers and community scouts
- Conducting biomonitoring to inform management decisions
- Creating and supporting a network of local ambassadors who mediate and strengthen communications around resource conflicts
Our conservation efforts in three landscapes benefit endangered and at-risk species including forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, and leopards.
Faro
The Faro landscape in Cameroon includes Faro National Park. The landscape is home to diverse wildlife, including elephants and the largest hippo population in Central and West Africa. Maintaining its rich biodiversity requires a holistic response to challenges including commercial poaching, transhumance (seasonal cross-border livestock herding), illegal fishing, and climate change impacts.
AWF supports the government in managing Faro National Park while ensuring that conservation supports the needs of local communities and Indigenous people. With European Union support, we are delivering an integrated program that incorporates:
- Microenterprise development
- Participatory land-use planning
- Capacity-building in protected-area management
- Training in counter-wildlife-trafficking
- Mediation of community conflicts related to transhumance
Campo Ma'an
The Campo Ma’an landscape takes its name from a national park in southern Cameroon. The park and surrounding area are a biodiversity site of global significance, home to gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, and over 80 other mammal species. However, poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, as well as logging, agriculture, and coastal development, threaten wildlife, habitat, and ecosystem services that sustain human communities.
In Campo Ma’an, local people take the center stage in participatory conservation planning and implementation. Our work includes:
- Developing alternative livelihoods that replace poaching and improve incomes
- Supporting local communities and Indigenous people in the sustainable management of natural resources
- Increasing the effectiveness of anti-poaching efforts by providing tracking technology and equipment to rangers and community scouts
- Monitoring wildlife to inform conservation planning and anti-poaching work
Dja
This remote landscape includes the Dja Faunal Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and biosphere reserve that spans over 526,000 hectares in southeastern Cameroon. The terrain is part of the Congo Basin rainforest, which is the world’s largest carbon sink and the last intact tropical rainforest.
With the support of the European Union, we and our partners are integrating conservation and community well-being through:
- Anti-poaching support
- Development of sustainable livelihoods (green cocoa production, valuation of non-timber forest products, fish farming)
- Facilitation of ecological surveys and monitoring to inform park management and land-use planning
These activities work synergistically to advance conservation goals. Results have been promising. In 2022, hunting rates in the Reserve dropped by more than half.
