Biodiversity is a major challenge for humanity, in view of the initiatives of the international community for its sustainable management and conservation. Cameroon ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1994, and is committed to activities to implement this convention. However, having reliable and comprehensive information on biodiversity is the prerequisite for managing it effectively.

Cameroon is a country in Central Africa that has significant biological diversity in various ecosystems, including some of the richest forests on the continent. This ecological potential is an asset for the socio-economic development of the country. However, most of the public and the various development actors are not always aware of the importance and challenges of maintaining this biodiversity. In order to remedy this, after the signing of the Rio Convention on the Conservation of Biodiversity (CBD) in 1992 and its ratification in 1994, Cameroon, through the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection (MINEP), has undertaken activities to implement this convention. These activities include the establishment of an information exchange center for the Convention on Biodiversity, better known by its English acronym CHM (Clearing House Mechanism). The CHM was established at the very first Conference of the Parties (COP 1), to promote and facilitate scientific and technical cooperation. (Decision I/3, Paragraph 6). First of all, it is a CBD implementation center. It is also a place for channeling, receiving, disseminating and sharing all information relating to biodiversity.

Thus, in order to make information on its biodiversity available to the general public, the Government of Cameroon through MINEP has developed a strategy for the collection and dissemination of data on biodiversity for the CHM Cameroon. The methodology that led to this work is divided into several stages, namely:

1. Surveys, inventories, consultations, observations and documentary analyses;
2. Synthesis and critical analysis of the information obtained;
3. Methodological framework workshop and adjustments;
4. Drafting the draft strategy project on the basis of a diagnosis;
5. Workshop for the validation and participatory adoption of the national strategy;
6. Drafting of the validated strategy with the amendments.

Download the strategy here