The Cameroonian government is calling for national unity around biodiversity. Deforestation and poaching have not yet reached the alert level in the country that has the second largest forest area in the Congo Basin. However, nature is confronted with serious attacks of natural or anthropogenic origin.

Cameroon intends to maintain, or better still, improve its biodiversity potential. With a forest cover rate of 45%, or 22 million hectares, the Central African country has the second largest forest area in the Congo Basin. ^{According to a ranking established by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 2018, Cameroon's wildlife and plant biodiversity is 21st in the world and 4th in Africa.} However, this rich environmental potential “is suffering serious impacts of natural or anthropogenic origins such as climate change, drought, floods, desertification, deforestation, multifaceted pollution, coastal and fluvial erosion with numerous consequences on the well-being of populations and the country's economy”, declared Pierre Hele, the Cameroonian Minister of the Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development.

Thus, the Cameroonian government took the opportunity of the ^48th edition of World Environment Day, celebrated on 5 June 2020 under the theme “biodiversity, a source of concern that is both urgent and existential”, to raise awareness among the general public about the importance of protecting fauna and flora. Due to the epidemiological context of the coronavirus, which prompted the authorities to ban popular gatherings, awareness was raised through the media and social networks, radio contests and quizzes. The aim is to involve businesses, communities, and sectors in actions to protect the environment.

Launch of a “Green Campus” operation to introduce young people to reforestation

According to the Cameroonian authorities, the destruction of biodiversity has not yet reached the alert level in the country. But they recognize that it is urgent to act now to prevent possible serious and irreversible consequences on fauna and flora.

Among the recent actions carried out in the flora sector in Cameroon, there is the “Green Campuses” project, which consists of planting trees in all public and private schools (primary, secondary and university). The aim of this project is to raise awareness among young people about the importance of trees and involve them in reforestation operations.

Boris Ngounou