REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace – Work - Fatherland NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN VERSION II (NBSAP II) December 2012 i CITATION THIS STRATEGY DOCUMENT WILL BE CITED AS: @ Republic of Cameroon 2012, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan – Version II – MINEPDED OR @ Republic of Cameroon 2012, NBSAP II – MINEPDED CONTACT: FOR AN ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS DOCUMENT CONTACT THE FOLLOWING: o Website of the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development www.minep.gov.cm o Website of the Convention on Biological Diversity www.cbd.int FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE FOLLOWING: o Tel/Fax: (237) 22 22 94 80 o [email protected] o cc: [email protected] ii PREFACE In May 2012, along the margins of the Celebration of the International Day of Biodiversity, Cameroon launched the revision of its maiden National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan. This document, presented as a second version of Cameroon’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP II) is the outcome of this process. The validation of NBSAP II demonstrates the recognition of Cameroons rich biodiversity as an invaluable natural asset for the wellbeing and development of its people, and the need to safeguard this asset. This document further consolidates the commitment of the Government within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity to develop a planning tool that translates into national reality, the global vision of living in harmony with nature where man benefits from biodiversity while ensuring an ecological sustainability. Over the last decade, Cameroon has invested great efforts to preserve its rich heritage. As an outcome, the trend in protected area management depicts an escalating increase beyond the set global target. Increasing discoveries of plant and animal species endemic to the ecosystems today establish the national domain as a gold mine of biodiversity for science and development. Notwithstanding these efforts, increasing threats from human behaviour and emerging issues of climate change and natural disasters largely undermine the gains in protecting biodiversity. The benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem services are yet to significantly contribute in improving livelihoods and in the fight against poverty. In developing this second version of the NBSAP, a focused attention has been given to understanding the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss. On the basis of a renewed vision of responsible behaviour in the use and the sharing of benefits from biodiversity as a means to ensure development that is sustainable, a more dynamic and targeted intervention approach has been adopted in this document. The four strategic objectives set by NBSAP II are an urgent call to reverse the current trend in biodiversity loss. Increasing awareness on the value of biodiversity is critical to ensure a change in human behaviour and attitudes that today favour loss in biodiversity. Again strengthening our efforts in mitigating or restoring degraded ecosystems and species is critical to redress the consequences of the loss of biodiversity on the ecological environment. A third priority focuses on human wellbeing calls for more proactive measures to generate wealth from biodiversity and the services offered by the ecosystems. And finally, the fourth strategic objective recognizes mainstreaming as the most appropriate approach to ensure the effective appropriation of NBSAP II by key sectors and decentralised authorities. It is important to highlight that the foundation for developing the rural production sector within the 2035 national Vision for development and its Growth and Employment Strategy is the rich biological diversity of the nation and the services offered by its diverse ecosystems. Conceived in a timely manner, the NBSAP II therefore provides a major contribution for planning reference in all biodiversity related programs and development projects to be carried out in the key production sectors by government departments, private investors and other stakeholders in the effort to promote growth that is sustainable. This justifies the wide consultation process that was employed in the preparation of this document. Specific sector and ecosystem-based consultations carried out, have secured the iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan Version 2 is the output of the valuable contributions from key actors involved in the protection of the nation’s biodiversity and national and international experts in biodiversity protection. These included individuals and representatives from the Focal Institution for Biodiversity, relevant sector ministerial departments, local community groups, private sector and National and International Organisations and NGO’s as recognized below. The revision process was carried out under the watchful supervision of the Minister of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development, H.E. HELE Pierre, assisted by the Minister Delegate in the said Ministry, H.E. NANA ABOUBAKAR DJALLOH . To guarantee the technical orientation required in the revision process and safeguard the cross sectoral character of biodiversity issues, a Biodiversity Inter-ministerial Advisory Committee was set up with representatives from key sector Ministries. The contributions of the members of the Committee in reviewing and adopting the project work plans and technical documents submitted were highly invaluable to the successful realisation of this work. The members were: • Mr. AKWA Patrick KUM, Secretary General in the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED) representative of the Minister as Chairperson of the Committee, • Mrs. GALEGA Prudence Tangham, Technical Adviser No.1 MINEPDED and National Focal Point for the Convention on Biological Diversity, • Mr. WANGNOUN Valentin, Inspector No 1- MINEPDED • Dr. WASSOUNI – Director of Conservation Monitoring and the Promotion of Natural Resources- MINEPDED; • Mr. LINJOUOM Ibrahim - Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife • Mr. KUETE Fidele – Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife • Dr. CHEPDA Vitalis –Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries • Mrs. EKOBO Edith-Collette - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development • Dr. TCHATAT Mathurin – Institute of Agricultural Research for Development The Inter-ministerial Advisory Committee worked closely with a Project Team set up to ensure an effective coordination of the NBSAP revision process. These were: • Mrs. Prudence Tangham GALEGA, appointed as Project Coordinator and, • Cecilia MUNJI and Wilson NJING SHEI who served as Project Assistants. The critical review and observations of the coordination team was highly useful in improving the quality of the document. Green works Company Ltd, hired as the consultant firm for the production of the document engaged a team of experts with long standing experience and expertise in biodiversity conservation and management of specific ecosystems and thematic areas. These were: • Dr. TATA FOFUNG Thomas – Director of Greenworks and Team Leader. • Dr. AJONINA Gordon Mwutih - Marine and Coastal Ecosystem expert. • Dr. CHUYONG B. George – Tropical Dense Humid Forest Ecosystem expert. • Dr. MBAH David – Tropical Savannah and Montane Ecosystems expert. • Dr. MESSINE OMBIONYO Anatole – Semi-arid Ecosystem expert. • Dr. CHIAMBENG George Yongbi – Freshwater Ecosystem expert. This work also benefited from a significant contribution of NGOs under the coordination of NESDA- CA/GREG-Forêts. Realising this work called for specific thematic studies carried out by a series of experts. These were OSSOU Zolo, Antoine EYEBE, NDO Angeline, DINSI Stanley, Simeon EYEBE, v Julie GAGOE and ENDAMANA. Specific to finalizing the indicators, significant contributions were made by Dr KENFACK Jean, Mr. FORGHAB Patrick and Mrs. WADOU Angele of MINEPDED. Contributions on CITES considerations were made by Mr. KPWANG Abessolo (Representative of MINFOF, Administrative Focal Point of CITES) and MBARGA Narcisse of ANAFOR and National Flora Focal Point for CITES . Several reviewers dedicated valuable time in the review of draft documents and the proof reading of the document. These included experts from the SCBD, WCMC-UNEP, CARPE, IUCN, TRAFFIC and GWP-Cameroon. For the translation of the original English version into French, Mr. Emmanuel NCHAMUKONG and a team of translators were engaged while the proof reading of the French version was ensured by M. NYONGWEN Joseph and Mme WADOU. The activities in the development of NBSAP II were carried out with the financial support of the Forest Environment Sector Program (FESP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1. THE VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY ........................................................................................ 1 1.2. COMMITMENT TO GLOBAL RESPONSE ON BIODIVERSITY ..................................... 2 1.3. RATIONALE FOR REVISION OF NBSAP .......................................................................... 2 1.4. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 3 1.4.1 SCOPE OF THE NBSAP ................................................................................................ 3 1.4.2 METHODOLOGY OF THE REVISION ......................................................................