Biodiversity conservation in North Cameroon

Snapshot Solution

by Nyugha Denis, Bristol Zoological Society

This project was part-funded by IUCN’s Save Our Species African Wildlife Initiative, with European Union International Partnerships support.

IUCN and European Union International Partnerships

Bénoué National Park (BeNP) is one of Africa’s Key Landscapes for Conservation (KLC) in the EU’s 2015 ‘Larger than Elephants’ strategy. It is home to 23 ungulate species, including the Critically Endangered sub-species of giraffe: the Kordofan giraffe. Numbering <2,000 in the wild, the larger Bénoué landscape represents one of its few remaining strongholds. However, the park is being rapidly degraded by the activities of illegal gold miners, charcoal production, illegal hunting and encroachment from cattle herders. There is now an urgent concern that other large mammals like giraffe and giant eland may be extirpated from the park unless immediate intervention occurs. This project aims to improve the conservation outlook for giraffe and other mammals of conservation concern in this area by 1) increasing the patrol frequency, effectiveness and range and 2) generating baselines of target species abundances and distributions, which informs the parks management.

Last update: 13 Jan 2025

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Context

Challenges addressed

Ecosystem loss

Poaching

Physical resource extraction

Lack of infrastructure

Poor monitoring and enforcement

Scale of implementation

Local

Ecosystems

Tropical grassland, savanna, shrubland

Theme

Habitat fragmentation and degradation

Species management

Poaching and environmental crime

Protected and conserved areas governance

Location

Banda, North, Cameroon

West and Central Africa

Impacts

For this project we shall share the ecological, social and economic impacts.

On Ecological impacts, our project provided the first robust data base as it was the first ecological survey project that deployed camera traps across the whole park. We collected 56,700 images from 68 camera trap deployments, detecting over 20 wildlife species over 9,620 sampling days. Data from this survey are now being fed up to develop the National Biodiversity Strategy Plan for Giraffe Conservation in Cameroon. Additionally, by transitioning park management from routine traditional patrols to SMART led patrols, it greatly improved patrol efficiency and over the project duration, arrest rates drop from over 2,300 arrests in phase one to just over 300 arrests in phase 3.

Socially, our project improved park management and co-existence with local communities as it provided a forum for locals opinions to be shared during meetings with the village forest committees. Economically, the project provided employment opportunities from highly skilled labor across different work packages ranging from solar station repair works, heavy engine operators for road works down to manual labor for supplies during road works. Additionally, the park witnessed its first road rehabilitation after over 10 years, during which over 110 kilometers of road were repaired within the park to facilitate team deployment during patrols and other activities.