Pangolin-Centered Natural Resource Governance in Mbam Djerem National Park, Cameroon

Mbam Djerem National Park is located on the southern slopes of the Adamawa plateau and at the northern limits of the closed canopy humid forest of the Congo basin. The park area represents with a 416,512-ha overall surface. This site possesses the highest habitat diversity of any protected area in Cameroon including lowland, rainforest, woodland, gallery forests, woody savannah and some grass savannah. Despite its rich biodiversity, the park continues to experience increasing threats from the unsustainable human use of its resources. The situation is exacerbated by a low-income population often forced by a lack of alternative livelihood opportunities and economic hardship to exert enormous pressure on forest resources for their livelihoods such as Illegal bushmeat hunting, unsustainable agricultural activities, illegal logging, and poor livestock farming.

Mbam Djerem National Park and its peripheries host three species of pangolin namely Giant pangolin, White-bellied pangolin and Black-bellied pangolin and has been identified as a priority site for their conservation. Unfortunately, pangolin populations in this priority area continue to experience increasing pressure from poaching and habitat destruction. This project will target 7 key villages in the western corner of the Mbam Djerem National Park as well as the park’s peripheries adjacent to these villages which aims to engage indigenous people in the long-term conservation of pangolins, their habitats and associated wildlife species.Through a trans-theoretical model of behavior change supplemented with livelihood empowerment through development of pro-biodiversity green value chains, this project will transform target fringe communities from wildlife hunters to wildlife guardians.