In Cameroon’s Korup National Park, groups are seeking to overcome the “conservation or communities” conundrum by promoting sustainable forestry and wildlife management. But it’s no easy task.Project aim: Contribute preservation of high-value eco-systems in the South West Region of Cameroon and thereby contribute to improved livelihoods of the surrounding populations in a sustainable manner.
Project size: Korup National park covers an area of 126,900 ha and collaborates with 32 villages in and around the park.
Project partners: MINFOF execution agency, KFW for co-financing the programme, GIZ for technical cooperation, WWF and WCS as conservation NGOs, GFA/DFS as programme consultant to support MINFOF in the administrative, financial and technical management of the programme.
Biodiversity: The forests of SWR of Cameroon are part of an important biodiversity hotspot : the “Gulf of Guinea Forests” with a high degree of species richness and endemism (species whose distribution is limited to this area) of plants and animals.
Budget: Between 2006- 2017 the Federal Republic of Germany has supported Cameroon with 30 Million EURO for the execution of PSMNR-SWR
Korup National Park in southwest Cameroon is home to Africa’s oldest rainforest. With primates such as the red colobus monkey and the drill and living there, Korup is rich in wildlife. But for how long? Cocoa and palm oil plantations stand where trees once did. And the forest’s animal inhabitants are being hunted down.
German development bank KfW is financing a project that, with the help of environmental organizations GIZ and WWF, aim to promote sustainable forest and wildlife management. We visit Erat, a village in the middle of the forest, where conservationists and local communities show how resources can be protected and people can profit.
A film by Grit Hofmann
