By Leocadia Bongben
As a first step toward the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and the Sanguia Baka Buma’a Kpodé (ASBABUK) Association, sensitization of communities in the Baka language through the radio has been recommended.
In 2019, the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife signed an MoU with Baka communities, granting them access to protected areas. The MoU was renewed in 2023, granting more access to protected areas, including sport hunters, logging businesses, park rangers, and park officials.
A provision in the 2023 MoU was made to sign separate agreements between the Baka communities and private sector operators who manage important spaces outside the parks for free access through their vital zones; for example, forest concessions and sport hunting zones, which were initially prohibited to Baka communities.
Following meetings and consultations, the Baka agreed that, in addition to wise resource management, they would also contribute to and help deter poaching. They alert the park managers of the presence of poachers and also abstain from aiding wildlife traffickers.
“Initially, Baka communities had in mind that the eco-guards were there to molest or harm them. This is no longer the case; the eco-guards now discuss with the Bakas, who can now explain their problems to the guards. Since the signing of the MoU in 2019, I have witnessed a change in the collaboration between eco-guards and local Baka communities,” Bibi Johnson, ASBABUK president, told Cameroon Factfinder.
The first consultative meeting for the Boumba-Bek segment of the MINFOF-ASBABUK 2023-2026 MoU was held in the Yokadouma town hall on August 1.
LEMOUNDO LEMOUNDO, representative of the Divisional Officer of Boumba and Ngoko, chaired the meeting that planned and validated the implementation plan for the MINFOF-ASBABUK 2024 MoU for the Boumba-Bek National Park segment.
With the technical and financial support of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-TRIDOM) and the Boumba-Bek National Park Conservation Services, the ‘Sanguia Baka Buma’a Kpodé (ASBABUK)’ Association, supported by the Réseau Actions Concertées Pygmées (RACOPY), the Association pour le Développement de l’Environnement au Cameroun (Fusion Nature), coordinated the meeting.
“Alongside the presentation of the Baka community efforts, which include reporting criminal activities to the park conservation services, a major implementation activity of the MoU signed in 2023 would be its widespread dissemination,” Bibi stated.
The MoU will be made available to logging and safari firms as soon as feasible, according to a duty assigned to WWF Jengi-Tridom, Fusion Nature, and the park’s on-site service. The MoU should be shared in the Baka language via community radio stations, and conservation services, Fusion Nature, and ASBABUK should arrange meetings to educate and enlighten forest firms and safaris. MINAS should also be involved in awareness-raising efforts.
Participants urged ASBABUK, Fusion Nature, MINSAS, and WWF Jengi-Tridom to translate the MoU into the Baka language for better understanding and contact the Boumba-Bek National Park conservation department to consolidate activities before drawing up the plan of action for the following year.
“It is crucial to increase the ability of communities and relay agents regarding access rules and raising awareness of the Sapelli collection forms so they can recognize and gather the activities they engage in within the forest, fill them out, and bring them back. The coordinator of Fusion Nature, Michel Ndoedje, stated that another task is to recognize the leaders, develop their abilities, and establish a complaint-handling system.
MINFOF officials from the East Region and the Boumba and Ngoko Division; representatives of ASBABUK; the Ministry of Social Affairs; MINAS sectoral administration managers; and mayors of the Yokadouma, Moloundou, and Salapoumbé councils, representatives of the traditional authorities of the villages surrounding Boumba Bek, civil society, and local associations attended the meeting.
The absence of forestry and safari companies triggered the need to identify measures to be taken to encourage them to attend meetings.
It should be noted that the action plan for implementing the MoU around Lobeke National Park was elaborated in April 2024.