Tackling Wild Meat Quandaries to Protect Cameroon's Biodiversity
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Loading... - Bianca Adane
- 18 Sep 2024
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The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, a major international initiative, aims to address the growing demand for wild meat and its impact on wildlife populations and food security. The programme, which began in 2018, has expanded to 17 countries, including Cameroon, to develop innovative approaches to conserve wild animals and protect ecosystems while improving the livelihoods of Indigenous peoples and rural communities.
The SWM Programme in Cameroon
In Cameroon, the programme will focus on developing and testing pilot models for the organization and governance of hunting and the game trade, integrated into a broader approach to local, sustainable, and inclusive development. The research will take place in 10 Baka villages and 10 Bantu villages in the district of Mintom, in the south-eastern peripheral zone of the Dja Faunal Reserve.
Goals of the Programme
The programme has three major goals:
- Sustainable and Legal Use of Wild Animal Populations: To promote participatory management of hunting, fishing, and wild fauna, involving rural stakeholders and securing their livelihoods, while complying with legal frameworks and customary law and practices, without compromising biodiversity conservation.
- Reducing Dependence on Unsustainable Wild Meat Sources: To reduce the dependence of population centres on wild meat from unsustainable sources, in favour of healthy and sustainable supply chains.
- Preventing Zoonotic Risks: To build capacity to prevent zoonotic risks of wild origin at the human-domestic animal-wildlife interface, and within ecosystems, based on the One Health approach.
Workshop and Collaboration
A workshop was held in January 2024, coordinated by CIFOR-ICRAF and the Congo Basin Institute (CBI), to explore opportunities for synergies among implementers and the local administration with the SWM programme at site level. The workshop was successful in gathering information about projects and implementation sites, understanding strategic priorities, and making sense of implementing strategies.
Long-term Goal
The long-term goal of the workshop was to foster an operational and regular framework that coordinates strategies among different stakeholders in the same area. The active participation and positive reception underscore the potential for fruitful partnership in the Mintom site.
