By (1) Peter Mbile and (2) Ekpe Inyang
1 Sustainable Development Specialist
2 Environmentalist, Educationist &Writer
The Republic of Cameroon has, since, remained faithful to her Rio 1992 Agenda 21 commitments today repackaged as the Global Sustainable Development Goals[1]. Cameroon has nineteen protected areas, comprising ten national parks, four wildlife sanctuaries, four faunal reserves and one floral reserve. Six of the national parks are trans-boundary and five are UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS). Only Korup and the Lobeke National parks are both WHS and Transboundary protected areas. To ensure its long-term survival, Lobeke National Park is part of the TRI-NATIONAL SANGHA (TNS) Conservation Trust Fund (CTF). On the other hand, despite the best efforts of Government and International Organization like WWF,[2] Korup National Park remains underfunded and in search of sustainable funding for its exceptional biodiversity.
Korup: human refugium and biodiversity hotspot
The Korup National Park (KNP) is the result of political will by the Cameroon Government. Prior to 1986, all national parks were concentrated in the savanna region of the country. With technical and financial assistance from the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-UK) in the 80s, Korup was gazetted by Presidential Decree No. 86/1283 of 30th October 1986 as the first Rainforest National Park in Cameroon.
The KNP is 1,260 square kilometers of ancient, mainly lowland, primary rainforest[3]. Korup is believed to lie at the center of the Guinea-Congolian forest refugium, one of only two Pleistocene refugia[4] proposed for Africa. Characterized by high levels of endemism, Korup is richer than any other African forest for which comparable data exist (Richards, 1952).
More than 620 species of trees and shrubs have been recorded in Korup, almost 30% of them endemic. 480 species of herbs and over 400 tree species, including large, ectomycorrhizal and caesalpiniaceous legumes are found in Korup. Korup is the richest lowland site in Africa for birds, butterflies and herpetofauna. Korup supports 161 different species of mammal from 33 different families with almost one quarter of all African primate species represented (Oates, 1996).
Korup is a critically important site for primate conservation supporting populations of endangered primates, including drill, chimpanzee, Preuss’s red colobus monkey, red-capped mangabey, red-eared, Preuss’s monkey, and the African forest Elephant.
The Korup project opportunity
To facilitate direct participation of neighboring communities, the Korup Project was created in 1988, making it the first Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICDP) established in a tropical rainforest zone and, certainly, in all of Central Africa. A Master Plan was developed for the park and its Support Zone in 1989, and significant funding was made available by a range of donors, including the European Union, ODA-UK, WWF-UK, GIZ, WCI, DoD, and others. Despite this, the development and management of the park interior was largely neglected (KNP Management Plan, 2002 – 2007).
The Program for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources -PSMNR
From 2006 to date, although the KNP has continued benefitting from WWF support, a very significant part of funding for Korup has come as a loan to the Cameroon Government from the KfW – German Development Bank. The Ministry of Forests and Wildlife implements this Program for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the South West Region (PSMNR-SWR) on behalf of the Government of Cameroon. Since the gazetting of the KNP, three additional national parks (Takamanda, Mount Cameroon and Bakossi) and one wildlife sanctuary (Banyang Mbo) have been created in the South West Region. This means the PSMNR’s resources have had to be spread too thin across the entire region, naturally favoring the more accessible protected areas.
Tragedy strikes and a possible remedy
To compound the declining revenue emanating from the remoteness of Korup, the socio-political crisis erupted in 2016 and degenerated into armed confrontations between separatists and the national defense forces. The more remote the park, the more challenging it has been for the Government of Cameroon, the PSMNR and WWF to provide effective park assistance. The very tragic and recent murder (on December 8 2023) of a park ranger in the Korup National Park by separatists represents the height of tragedy in the park, which necessitates the need for increased funding, adapted patrol tactics, and intersectoral collaboration for security in the park.
For instance, faced by challenges of insecurity during the civil war in the Central Africa Republic, the authorities of the Lobeke National Park in the South East used an inter-sectoral approach where regular defense forces systematically reinforced patrols inside the park. Such synergies require sufficient financial resources, which the KNP often lacks. Thanks to the Conservation Trust Fund (CTF) – the TNS Foundation – the Lobeke National Park is able to deploy, on average, an annual budget of a Billion FCFA, largely from the German Development Bank - KfW. The TNS CTF uses two funding streams – interest on capital endowment funds invested in financial markets to fund park management operations and grants to fund park investments.
Light ahead: Korup’s status raised
Recently, the admission of Korup as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserve opens up opportunities for Korup to make a case for sustainable funding. Afterall, the responsibility of securing a UNESCO MAB doesn’t end with the Cameroon Government alone. The submission for the KNP through the Minister of Forests and Wildlife, Chairman of the “Man and Biosphere” National Committee, was endorsed during the 35th Session of the International Coordinating Council of the “Man and Biosphere” (ICC-MAB) of June 14 2023, UNESCO, Paris. The Korup Rainforest Biosphere Reserve submission, with the KNP as center-piece, was approved.
In terms of vocation, a Man and Biosphere Reserve “combines the natural and social sciences with a view to improving human livelihoods and safeguarding natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable.”
Lobbying for a CTF and diversified fund-raising for Korup
Short-term project cycles have not helped reconcile protection aspects with community concerns, especially the building of effective livelihood strategies expected under a Man and Biosphere program. Even the multi-year PSMNR has clearly demonstrated its limitations concerning the sustained and diversified financing of an entity as complex as Korup. Five parks are a lot for the PSMNR, and reliable indicators of performance can be rarely achieved when resources are spread so thin. The development of a more focused and sustainable funding mechanism to help ensure the long-term conservation of Korup and its sensitive peripheries, such as the Rumpi Hills watershed, Kwende Hills, and the proposed Ndongere Marine Park, etc, is a top priority.
To secure a sustainable financing future for the KNP, work started with understanding the FTNS Trust Fund. The FTNS is one of only two CTFs in Cameroon, the other being the “Foundation for Environment and Development in Cameroon” (FEDEC). The FTNS is also member, and holds the presidency of CAFÉ which is an African Consortium of Environmental Funds. Engaging and learning from these entities has been beneficial to our lobbying process. Our team has also made contact with the Politicians and Private Sector of Ndian, with the Executives of the Prime Minister’s Office, and with Directors of MINFOF and MINEPDED on the subject of a CTF. The team is also working to diversify funding support to Korup through project proposals, with seed funding in the pipeline for Red Colobus monkey conservation in Korup. To date, support and encouragement are forthcoming from the institutions and entities lobbied, and additional funding will be sought. Finally, through these numerous consultations and careful study of the functioning of a CTF for Korup to promote the vocations of a Man and Biosphere Reserve, it is emerging that the most ideal institutional home for a CTF for Korup may be the Regional Council for the South West.
The Regional Council as likely institutional home of a Korup CTF
Regional councils under a decentralized form of government are contained in Cameroon’s 1996 Constitution. Decentralization is a structural system of administering public affairs, obliging relevant central administrations to work through regional councils, entrusting the management of specialized initiatives to relevant experts with the overall objective of ensuring the best delivery of public goods and services to people for a collective interest. The case of decentralization was deepened during the Major National Dialogue of November 2019. The roll-out of decentralization was also built into the “Special Status” conferred on the South West and North West Regions in view of their history, geography and special circumstances.
Regional councils have the responsibility and duty to promote and control local cultural, economic, educational, health, social, and sports issues in the regions. Defining the conferred “Special Status”, the Major National Dialogue also mapped out the structure and operational framework of the councils, taking into consideration the cultural values and identities of the regions. One recommendation, for instance, is to allocate 20% of annual national budget to the functioning of regional councils/assemblies. The texts endow councils in Cameroon with the ability to devise alternative or additional modes of fundraising to avoid dependency on the central administration. Public-private partnerships and inter-governmental cooperation are encouraged to support the cultural, economic, educational and other programs of regional councils. It is, thus, very easy to see that the expectations of a Man and Biosphere reserve, vocation of the regional and local councils and mission of a Conservation Trust Fund are very much intertwined. A CTF is a funding mechanism of proximity while a World Heritage designation is often based on site specificities. These make the regional and/ or local councils the ideal home for a CTF for Korup.
Conclusions and Next steps
The team will maintain contact and communications with all parties relevant to the creation and functioning of a CTF as their guidance and views are critical to a successful long-term funding mechanism for Korup. Foremost, the team will continue with projects fundraising and will engage with regional and local entities to move forward with development of the profile of a Korup CTF. The next steps, therefore, will be four-fold:
· Implement funded micro-projects and develop initiatives, including media representations that continue to raise and maintain the profile of Korup;
· Engage with regional and local stakeholders, and, especially, with the regional and local councils, to deepen education about functions and operations of a CTF;
· Based on outcomes of consultations, engagements, and education, develop a CTF profile for Korup;
· Based on the profile, implement a feasibility study of a CTF for Korup and submit final report to the regional council for consideration and endorsement.
Footnotes/References
[2] World Wide Fund for Nature
[4] As the only areas of the world where Homo sapiens have clearly persisted through multiple glacial-interglacial cycles and therefore classic refugia models (human phylogeographie) can be formulated and tested. See Maley, J. (1991) The African Rain Forest vegetation and palaeo-environments during late Quatenary. Climatic
Change 19, 79-98. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2020.0485
Richards, P.W. (1952) The Tropical Rain Forest. An Ecological Study. Cambridge University Press.
Oates, J. (1996) African Primates: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Revised Edition. IUCN, Gland
Wow! This is so rich and provides a Deep insight. Indeed KNP is worth to be supported.