Among the reforms undertaken by Cameroon to implement its forestry policy formulated pursuant to its commitments and in accordance with the major guidelines of international policies, the country has adopted a set of regulatory instruments, amongst which is the 2005 National Forestry and Wildlife Control Strategy. The latter was developed and implemented with support from development partners. However, its operational framework has lapses, which highlight its vulnerability to, among other things: rising wildlife crime, the complexity of its ramifications with other forms of illegal activity, the explosion in demand for wildlife products, and expansion of industrial facilities on the national landscape.
This strategy is therefore an update of that reference document. It was developed in four phases: characterization of the magnitude of poaching, analysis of political discourse and the control front, strategic analysis drawing on lessons learned, and needs assessment, followed by their valuation and formulation of hypotheses. The strategy, which encompasses both conceptual aspects and statistics, is formulated in such a way as to take into account the values and principles of sustainable development, the changing institutional landscape, and the need for adjustments.
To this end, the objectives of the current strategy have been remodelled, its thrust areas reformulated, and new implementation approaches proposed. This strategy aims, overall, to reduce the risk of species extinction to maintain a healthy ecosystem and human well-being. It breaks down into 7 strategic areas: (1) legal and institutional framework; (2) protection and surveillance; (3) national, sub-regional and international cooperation; (4) communication and awareness raising; (5) involvement of communities and other stakeholders; (6) training and capacity building; and (7) sustained resource mobilisation. These areas further break down into objectives, expected outcomes and main activities.
There was need to step up the professionalization of wildlife management actors, resort to the shared governance model and build the capacities of actors of the control chain. Given the considerable resources to be mobilised, public-private partnership is also a recommended approach. In order to facilitate performance monitoring of the strategy, a monitoring-evaluation mechanism has been proposed.
