Cameroon validates strategic ecosystem restoration project backed by GEF

Cameroon's government has advanced a significant ecosystem restoration initiative, focusing on the Western Highlands and the Mpem-Djim landscape. The project, backed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), aims to integrate biodiversity conservation with local development and climate resilience.

Minister of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, Hélé Pierre, presided over a validation workshop in Yaoundé for the project document. This program targets critical areas, including the Western Highlands, which has lost nearly 41% of its forest cover since 2002, and the Mpem-Djim landscape, home to the national park sheltering forest elephants and chimpanzees.

Over 36 months, the program plans to restore 10,000 hectares of degraded land and enhance the management of approximately 100,000 hectares. It also projects a significant contribution to climate change mitigation, aiming to reduce 5.7 million tons of CO2 equivalent over twenty years. The initiative is designed to directly benefit 5,000 individuals, with a specific focus on women and indigenous communities.

Beyond its environmental goals, the government emphasizes strengthening landscape governance and fostering nature-based economic activities. This approach seeks to embed natural resource protection firmly within local development strategies, ensuring long-term sustainability.