Promotion of NTFPs in 4 community forests of the Dja Biosphere Reserve

The Dja Biosphere Reserve, (RBD, 525,000 ha, in the heart zone, and 950,000 ha, for the peripheral zone), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to more than 109 species of mammals, (including lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and forest elephants), 360 species of birds, 62 species of fish and 207 species of plants. It is the largest reserve in Cameroon which is also one of the largest humid forests in Central Africa.

UNESCO’s 2016 annual report highlighted numerous threats to RBD, including mining, forestry, agro-industrial activities, poaching and shifting slash-and-burn agriculture to which is added the development of road and hydroelectric infrastructure.

The RBD also includes an important ethnic diversity, (Badjoué, Nzimé, Djem, Baka, Bulu, Fang, Kaka), and the status of Biosphere Reserve shows the importance of associating the communities all around the protected area and of taking into consideration the economic development aspects in the implementation of conservation actions, which has been neglected in the past.

This project is carried by the NGO AAFEBEN, whose main purpose is to encourage female entrepreneurship projects, with a strong ethnic minority component. AAFEBEN has already successfully completed a similar PPI project to improve the governance of natural resources and enhance NTFPs and has been integrated into a more global project led by Man and Nature and funded by the French Development Agency which provides very good results with in particular the establishment of a platform for processing NTFPs in Yaoundé.